Free PDFs Are they safe?

BrickyBrian · 04-08-2018, 06:49 AM

I am looking for a PDF of the following, "An Alternative View of Churchill". Gavin Fowells so I keyed the title into the Internet and the following came up. I opened every one up only to find that I was obliged to sign up. Whilst not wishing to look a gift horse in the mouth I wonder if any or even all of these web pages are safe.

[List of dodgy sites deleted]

Sarmat89 · 04-08-2018, 08:27 AM

If a pirate site asks you to sign up, it is fake. Such sites use the catalogs from Amazon or other places to create fake listings.

pdurrant · 04-08-2018, 09:51 AM

Please don't post links to pirate ebook sites on MobileRead.

It it's an out-of-copyright book, check first at Project Gutenberg and then at the Internet Archive.

It's an in-copyright book, you need to borrow it from a library, or buy it.

Checking, it looks like this book was self-published in 2003. It's clearly still in copyright. It hasn't yet been released in ebook form as far as I can tell. It is available second-hand form.

You might want to try contacting the author directly, although I couldn't find contact info for him.

BrickyBrian · 04-08-2018, 10:36 AM

Thank you all very much for your advice but how disappointing to find so many nasties on the Internet.
When I'm writing something I find that between finding a quote I would like to use and typing it on my desktop I've forgotten what it was I wanted to copy. I suspect that is a symptom of the dyslexia I experience.
As a result I used to scan the sections I would like to use onto my desktop, work on them and then delete them. I then discovered E Books and PDFs can be found some of which are free which make the process much easier.
The problem is to find the appropriate E Book or PDF such as: Winston Churchill As I Knew Him. Violet Bonham Carter. I have found some secondhand copies at a good price but as I wrote above, I would prefer an E Book or PDF but I'm yet to find either for sale.
Many thanks all.

BrickyBrian · 04-08-2018, 11:07 AM

I keyed in, "PDF Winston Churchill as I knew him”. Violet Bonham Carter.
The following came up clearly stating it's "Amazon"
Amazon ebooks Winston Churchill As I Knew Him PDF | Read books ...
The next thing that came up was a block carring the following:
"You need to sign up to download"
Please create a free account at gravenfun to access unlimited downloads and streaming.
I then deleted it.

pdurrant · 04-08-2018, 12:28 PM

Unfortunately, it looks like there isn't an ebook of that book either. The page mentioning Amazon almost certainly wasn't actually from Amazon. Amazon do not sell PDFs of books at all.

What you could do is get a paper copy, scan the page(s) with the bits you want to quote, and use OCR to convert the page images to editable text.

BrickyBrian · 04-08-2018, 01:31 PM

Right, it looks as though I'm back to hard copy and scanning. I'm over 80 and thought I was past being shocked. Surely the authorities could do something about these sharks.

GtrsRGr8 · 04-08-2018, 03:08 PM

For what it's worth, the book apparently now is published by an outfit called Waterstones (https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/fowells). It seems that it is published by them in paperback only.

Putting it mildly, I not at all am adept at sensing when a company, whose name is not familiar to me, is an indie or self-publisher. But I suspect that that is the case here.

pdurrant · 04-08-2018, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrickyBrian

Right, it looks as though I'm back to hard copy and scanning. I'm over 80 and thought I was past being shocked. Surely the authorities could do something about these sharks.

Book pirates have been around since the printing press first came along. They've just moved on to ebooks.

Alastair_S · 04-08-2018, 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

For what it's worth, the book apparently now is published by an outfit called Waterstones [snip]

Waterstone's (though of late they seem to have dropped the apostrophe) is a British high street bookshop and not a publisher, so they are unlikely to be any assistance in producing ebooks or PDFs of any work.

Little.Egret · 04-08-2018, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrickyBrian

Right, it looks as though I'm back to hard copy and scanning. I'm over 80 and thought I was past being shocked. Surely the authorities could do something about these sharks.

Anyone can put up a web site anywhere in the world. If they don't actually charge credit cards but only steal the numbers even the credit card issuers will have problems stopping them.

Check the geographical location of the site?

DNSB · 04-09-2018, 12:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alastair_S

Waterstone's (though of late they seem to have dropped the apostrophe) is a British high street bookshop and not a publisher, so they are unlikely to be any assistance in producing ebooks or PDFs of any work.

Last time I looked at the Waterstones website, they did offer advice on publishing and independent publishing though with enough hoops to jump through to keep a solicitor's soul happy.

GtrsRGr8 · 04-09-2018, 02:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alastair_S

Waterstone's (though of late they seem to have dropped the apostrophe) is a British high street bookshop and not a publisher, so they are unlikely to be any assistance in producing ebooks or PDFs of any work.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DNSB

Last time I looked at the Waterstones website, they did offer advice on publishing and independent publishing though with enough hoops to jump through to keep a solicitor's soul happy.

OIC.

I noticed that they had an item in the menu for "used books." I thought that quite strange for a publisher. Also, they have a webpage which searches for used books, from among 150 million (or something to that effect) used books out there. Once again, I thought that strange. I suppose that the "bookshop" aspect that you had in mind is the used book part of the business, and the part of the business dealing with new books from a variety of publishers, as a traditional "bookstore" in the U.S. would. We have bookstores like that in the U.S.--the first name that comes to mind is Powell's.

I've never heard of a bookstore in the U.S. devoting part of their business to giving advice on publishing and independent publishing. If I was writing a book (which I am, by the way), I think that I would want advice from a company who actually did at least some publishing.

WorldCat states that the book was published by "Gavin Fallows" in 2008.

Oh, in case anyone on the East Coast of the United States would like to borrow the book, the nearest library that holds it is about 4,000 miles away . . . . in Ireland.

BrickyBrian · 04-10-2018, 08:55 AM

I feel that in spite of all the useful advice and information I have received from this forum I'm still hunting in the dark.
Does anyone know of a forum or service that offers the service of looking for PDFs or E Books with a specific title? Failing that could you please continue posting details of likely Internet pages covering serious historical publications. Many thanks all.

pdurrant · 04-10-2018, 09:02 AM

If it's not at Amazon, Gutenberg, Smashwords, Google books or Internet Archive*, then it's almost certainly in-copyright and not yet available as any kind of ebook. So if you do manage to find it on some random internet site, it's almost certainly a pirate copy.

In which case, a paper copy and scanning is your best bet. There are lots of companies that will (for a smallish fee) scan a book for you, although the process is usually destructive (they cut off the spine).

*Internet Archive, unfortunately, often also has unauthorised copies.

04-08-2018, 06:49 AM	#1
BrickyBrian Connoisseur Posts: 50 Karma: 2136218 Join Date: Mar 2018 Device: None	Free PDFs Are they safe? I am looking for a PDF of the following, "An Alternative View of Churchill". Gavin Fowells so I keyed the title into the Internet and the following came up. I opened every one up only to find that I was obliged to sign up. Whilst not wishing to look a gift horse in the mouth I wonder if any or even all of these web pages are safe. [List of dodgy sites deleted] Last edited by pdurrant; 04-08-2018 at 09:42 AM.

04-08-2018, 09:51 AM	#3
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 71,496 Karma: 306214458 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Voyage	Please don't post links to pirate ebook sites on MobileRead. It it's an out-of-copyright book, check first at Project Gutenberg and then at the Internet Archive. It's an in-copyright book, you need to borrow it from a library, or buy it. Checking, it looks like this book was self-published in 2003. It's clearly still in copyright. It hasn't yet been released in ebook form as far as I can tell. It is available second-hand form. You might want to try contacting the author directly, although I couldn't find contact info for him. Last edited by pdurrant; 04-08-2018 at 09:58 AM.

04-08-2018, 03:08 PM	#8
GtrsRGr8 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,334 Karma: 27815322 Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Southeastern U.S., ya'll Device: Kindle; Kindle (10.1.1) for PC; Kindle Cloud Reader	For what it's worth, the book apparently now is published by an outfit called Waterstones (https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/fowells). It seems that it is published by them in paperback only. Putting it mildly, I not at all am adept at sensing when a company, whose name is not familiar to me, is an indie or self-publisher. But I suspect that that is the case here. Last edited by GtrsRGr8; 04-08-2018 at 03:12 PM.

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04-08-2018, 08:27 AM	#2
Sarmat89 Evangelist Posts: 482 Karma: 2267928 Join Date: Nov 2015 Device: none	If a pirate site asks you to sign up, it is fake. Such sites use the catalogs from Amazon or other places to create fake listings.

04-08-2018, 10:36 AM	#4
BrickyBrian Connoisseur Posts: 50 Karma: 2136218 Join Date: Mar 2018 Device: None	Thank you all very much for your advice but how disappointing to find so many nasties on the Internet. When I'm writing something I find that between finding a quote I would like to use and typing it on my desktop I've forgotten what it was I wanted to copy. I suspect that is a symptom of the dyslexia I experience. As a result I used to scan the sections I would like to use onto my desktop, work on them and then delete them. I then discovered E Books and PDFs can be found some of which are free which make the process much easier. The problem is to find the appropriate E Book or PDF such as: Winston Churchill As I Knew Him. Violet Bonham Carter. I have found some secondhand copies at a good price but as I wrote above, I would prefer an E Book or PDF but I'm yet to find either for sale. Many thanks all.

04-08-2018, 11:07 AM	#5
BrickyBrian Connoisseur Posts: 50 Karma: 2136218 Join Date: Mar 2018 Device: None	I keyed in, "PDF Winston Churchill as I knew him”. Violet Bonham Carter. The following came up clearly stating it's "Amazon" Amazon ebooks Winston Churchill As I Knew Him PDF \| Read books ... The next thing that came up was a block carring the following: "You need to sign up to download" Please create a free account at gravenfun to access unlimited downloads and streaming. I then deleted it.

04-08-2018, 12:28 PM	#6
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 71,496 Karma: 306214458 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Voyage	Unfortunately, it looks like there isn't an ebook of that book either. The page mentioning Amazon almost certainly wasn't actually from Amazon. Amazon do not sell PDFs of books at all. What you could do is get a paper copy, scan the page(s) with the bits you want to quote, and use OCR to convert the page images to editable text.

04-08-2018, 01:31 PM	#7
BrickyBrian Connoisseur Posts: 50 Karma: 2136218 Join Date: Mar 2018 Device: None	Right, it looks as though I'm back to hard copy and scanning. I'm over 80 and thought I was past being shocked. Surely the authorities could do something about these sharks.

04-10-2018, 08:55 AM	#14
BrickyBrian Connoisseur Posts: 50 Karma: 2136218 Join Date: Mar 2018 Device: None	I feel that in spite of all the useful advice and information I have received from this forum I'm still hunting in the dark. Does anyone know of a forum or service that offers the service of looking for PDFs or E Books with a specific title? Failing that could you please continue posting details of likely Internet pages covering serious historical publications. Many thanks all.

04-10-2018, 09:02 AM	#15
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 71,496 Karma: 306214458 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Voyage	If it's not at Amazon, Gutenberg, Smashwords, Google books or Internet Archive, then it's almost certainly in-copyright and not yet available as any kind of ebook. So if you do manage to find it on some random internet site, it's almost certainly a pirate copy. In which case, a paper copy and scanning is your best bet. There are lots of companies that will (for a smallish fee) scan a book for you, although the process is usually destructive (they cut off the spine). Internet Archive, unfortunately, often also has unauthorised copies.

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