FREE/BARGAIN - DRM-Free - 2015

[eschwartz]

This thread is for pointing out free and bargain DRM-Free ONLY titles to each other. Please don't post any self-published books (unless you have read them yourself, think they are excellent, and you're not connected to the author in any way) and please do a search before posting to avoid duplicates.

As always -- if a deal could span multiple subjects, please cross-post to ALL applicable deals megathreads.

Keep in mind, most freebies last only for a day or two, so grab them fast!

Permalinks:

• Open Books (by calibre) -- collects info about DRM-Free books, some are free or bargain-price.
• Tag search: drm-free ebook -- past and present single-thread deals (or otherwise) marked as DRM-Free. Remember to add this tag to any other threads you find about DRM-Free deals.

Some people are ideologically interested in buying ebooks only if they are DRM-Free (no one here needs to be reminded of why DRM can be annoying ), but it can be difficult to tell which ones those are in the current stickies.

So let's try this out and see how many people are interested. Hopefully lots, so we can justify being a sticky -- so let's collect those DRM-Free deals!

[ATDrake]

Here's the tag auto-search for all the freebies I remembered to mark as DRM-free which at the time of posting/updating were so in at least one format in at least one store (sometimes as a publisher-direct PDF, mind you): drm-free ebook

I went through and pruned out all the currently expired ones, and while it is a bit short, the list does go back a couple of years because there are a few things that have pretty much been made permanently free from their rights-holders, which maybe some of the more recent MR members might have missed.

Hope this helps.

[Calenorn]

Thanks for starting the thread, eschwartz!!!!

I've been looking at some hefty fantasy novel / short story bundles. The following are all selling for $0.99 at Kobo in DRM-free epub2 format. (Probably available from other sellers as well.)

EPIC: Fourteen Books Of Fantasy - The freshest voices in fantasy bring you fifteen New York Times, USA Today, and Amazon bestselling authors. With fourteen stories and over one million words of captivating fiction, this epic fantasy set will keep you entranced.

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/eb...oks-of-fantasy

Gods & Dragons: 8 Fantasy Novels - High fantasy at its finest! Demons, goddesses, dragons, outlaws and paladins—find everything you love in a great adventure in this bundle of 8 full-length novels.

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/gods-dragons

Magic, Myth & Majesty: 7 Fantasy Novels - Find half-orcs, thieves, wizards, tested loyalties, magicked weapons, dragon wars and more in these first books of 7 popular series. No cliff-hangers!

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/eb...c-myth-majesty

Fantasy 101 (SFF Box Set) - Be prepared for adventure! Go exploring with a band of dwarves. Decode mysterious runes while the fate the world rests on your shoulders. Infiltrate an impenetrable fortress against all odds. And finally, go hunting with the one dwarf that no monster would ever want to tangle with.

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/eb...01-sff-box-set

FIERCE: Sixteen Authors Of Fantasy - Over one million words and sixteen realms of fantasy brought together for your reading pleasure. Discover courageous characters fighting for justice and order. Journey between kingdoms of dragons and lands of anarchy as tales of magic and mayhem unfold.

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/eb...ors-of-fantasy

And if you like paranormal romance, you should also be able to find some nice 99 cent bundles out there waiting for you!

If you're on a budget, like me, these bargain bundles are great finds! And Kobo makes downloading easy! Just remember to look for books marked EPUB2 (DRM-Free).

[Calenorn]

Today we have:

The Arsène Lupin MEGAPACK™

A contemporary of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Maurice Leblanc (1864-1941) was the creator of the character of gentleman thief Arsene Lupin who, in French-speaking countries, has enjoyed a popularity as long-lasting and considerable as Sherlock Holmes in the English-speaking world.

http://www.wildsidepress.com/freebie.htm

This book will be offered for free today only! But Wildside's Megapacks only cost $0.99, so they qualify as bargains every day! And remember, all Wildside's books are DRM-free!

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by Calenorn

Today we have:

The Arsène Lupin MEGAPACK™

A contemporary of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Maurice Leblanc (1864-1941) was the creator of the character of gentleman thief Arsene Lupin who, in French-speaking countries, has enjoyed a popularity as long-lasting and considerable as Sherlock Holmes in the English-speaking world.

http://www.wildsidepress.com/freebie.htm

This book will be offered for free today only! But Wildside's Megapacks only cost $0.99, so they qualify as bargains every day! And remember, all Wildside's books are DRM-free!

Meh, despite finally getting subscribed, I'm not getting E-mails from them about new freebies. Guess I'll leave the page up in a tab from now on.

Thanks for this one, it's something I'm interested in and I would have missed it otherwise.

[Dr. Drib]

The Arsène Lupin MEGAPACK has some BIG, BIG problems in format:


ePub
The epub has no indents and no spaces between paragraphs. It does have a crummy looking TOC that starts on the same page where the text starts. Heuristic processing through Calibre FAILED TO FIX THE PROBLEM.

The file is 2.1 megs in size before processing.




Mobi
The Mobi version looks beautiful, but has NO TOC in ANY FORM WHATSOEVER.

The file is 18.3 megs in size. [WHAT!?]

---------------------------

This is shoddy crap from a pretty good publisher. If you want to do what the publisher failed to do and fix the problems, then I say, "Go for it!"

For me, this ebook is not worth the trouble.

[Calenorn]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

The Arsène Lupin MEGAPACK has some BIG, BIG problems in format:


ePub
The epub has no indents and no spaces between paragraphs. It does have a crummy looking TOC that starts on the same page where the text starts. Heuristic processing through Calibre FAILED TO FIX THE PROBLEM.

The file 2.1 megs in size before processing.




Mobi
The Mobi version looks beautiful, but has NO TOC in ANY FORM WHATSOEVER.

The file is 18.3 megs in size. [WHAT!?]

---------------------------

This is shoddy crap from a pretty good publisher. If you want to do what the publisher failed to do and fix the problems, then I say, "Go for it!"

For me, this ebook is not worth the trouble.

I wonder if the free offerings are a way to beta-test new products.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Calenorn

I wonder if the free offerings are a way to beta-test new products.

This is the first time I've encountered something so atrocious [from them], that if I owned the company I would fire whoever is in charge.

This is, frankly, embarrassing.

[Calenorn]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

This is the first time I've encountered something so atrocious [from them], that if I owned the company I would fire whoever is in charge.

This is, frankly, embarrassing.

I've let them know about it by email. Mr. Betancourt says that the wrong files were uploaded by mistake and that they have been replaced with the correct ones. I won't be able to look at them until I get home from work.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Calenorn

I've let them know about it by email. Mr. Betancourt says that the wrong files were uploaded by mistake and that they have been replaced with the correct ones. I won't be able to look at them until I get home from work.

Well, I don't know about "wrong files."

I do know that about 20 minutes ago I downloaded it again, and the same exact problems are present in both files.

Also, how does one account for a mobi file that is over 18 megs, while the Epub is only a bit over 2 megs?

They need to scrap the whole project on this title and put it through a quality control situation and, in the meantime, release a different freebie for this week - in my opinion.

[Calenorn]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Well, I don't know about "wrong files."

I do know that about 20 minutes ago I downloaded it again, and the same exact problems are present in both files.

Also, how does one account for a mobi file that is over 18 megs, while the Epub is only a bit over 2 megs?

They need to scrap the whole project on this title and put it through a quality control situation and, in the meantime, release a different freebie for this week - in my opinion.

Try it now. I just downloaded a .mobi file under 4 megs.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Calenorn

Try it now. I just downloaded a .mobi file under 4 megs.

Will do.

Thanks.

[Dr. Drib]

The file is now fine and looks very good.

Thank you, Calenorn.

[Calenorn]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

The file is now fine and looks very good.

Thank you, Calenorn.

No problem. Have a nice evening.

[Calenorn]

Exploring the Kobo store I've discovered another publisher exclusively using EPUB2 (DRM-Free) books!

Our Pack Press offers a collection of serial cliff-hangers in popular genres. Individual books seem to go for $0.99, collections of early episodes are offered, but best of all the first book in each series is free! I haven't read any of these yet, so I can't vouch for quality, but the covers are well-executed.

Here are links to the freebies. You'll be able to tell by the titles which genre flavor you'll be getting:

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/eb...kout-episode-1

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/eb...-one-dead-eyes

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/eb...island-vol-1-2

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/eb...sle-volume-one

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/eb...ume-1-maryhill

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/eb...-1-isolation-1

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/eb...y-volume-one-1

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/eb...nk-adventure-1

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/eb...-the-mutants-1

I'd love to hear from someone who has read any of these. Are they worth the time?