Free (iTunes CA & AU) dozens of Penguin glitch freebies Canada/Australia [All Genres]

ATDrake · 08-31-2014, 01:02 AM

So, if you happen to be Canadian and in possession of a working iTunes Canada account
(ETA: melmac has noticed that this also seems to be going on in the Australian store as well), there are literally dozens upon dozens* of glitch freebies right now from publisher Penguin, across all genres, some by quite well-known authors.

For example, here's a Stephen King that I managed to pick up which is still free as I type this: Four Past Midnight

Every single category has quite a number of books free, including major authors like Nora Roberts, Harlan Coben, Clive Cussler, John Grisham, C. J. Cherryh, a lot of the annotated Penguin Classics, some vintage Nancy Drew novels and lots of non-fiction as well (including some nice biography, history, and science stuff), which have been steadily climbing the Free bestseller listings in the Top Charts section of the iTunes store.

I spot checked a few, and none of them seem to be free in the US iTunes store when I futz with the URLs, and they're definitely not free in the other stores, either.

Under the spoiler is a quickie list of just a few of the authors I grabbed freebies from, before I decided it was just too much to keep track of for posting here. I apologize for the poor formatting and lack of alphabetization/categories:

Spoiler:

I have no idea what's going on with Penguin (they had nearly a dozen multi-store freebies yesterday that only lasted a few hours), but if you want to pick them up, here are some tips:

1. Absolutely make sure that you've gone into iTunes/iBooks preference and reset all the dialogue warnings so it will warn you if you click on a Free book which is no longer free and ask if you want to buy it.

Some of the books will do this, so it's best to be prepared.

If you're paranoid, you can check your receipts via the main iTunes store in the Purchase History section under the main Account, which should all say 0.00/FREE.

You may also want to keep screenshots of the iTunes store listings saying the book is Free, just in case.

2. If you already know your favourite Penguin-published authors, do a search for their name and filter for free books if you're using the iBooks Mac app, or just keep scrolling down and clicking whatever you spot which says Free.

Trust me, this is considerably more efficient than trying to browse the standard categories after a publisher name search, even with the filter on.

3. If you're stumped for authors or just want to browse, type Penguin Group US as your search term and then filter if you can. The main page will load a huge amount of books with many freebies at the top, but that won't be nearly all that's available.

Click the various subcategories after your initial search to filter down further.

4. Even the subcategories don't contain all the freebies, it seems. So if you spot a freebie by a favourite author, do a search for their name again to see if they've got more.

5. Some of the subcategories sortings are kind of surprising. Romance readers will want to click on both of the Historical categories that show up, as well as Suspense (where they seem to have filed all the romantic suspense), and the Fantasy & Ghost stories category as well.

SF people will want to check out Adventure, where it seems a lot of space operas went.

6. For best results, don't click more than two things at a single go, wait for them to download before going onto your next two. This will minimize the chances of your getting an error message (check your library after seeing one though, sometimes it means that you got the book but it couldn't download due to server load and is sitting in the cloud).

7. Expect the iBooks store to regularly freeze and crash on you as you do this. If you have a memory cleaning app which frees up your RAM again after an app crashes, use it.

If you start to get a lot of freezes, it's time to reboot the computer and try again.

You may want to turn off everything else on your computer, and let iTunes/iBooks hog all the resources. This does make it marginally more responsive, at least on a Mac.

I don't know how much longer this is going to last (I just found out about it myself when I went to check the other FT Press freebie which I found out had expired, and it definitely wasn't happening yesterday when I did a general Penguin freebie check because of the others that got missed), but it's past 9PM Pacific Time, which is usually when the iTunes servers roll over, so if they were going to fix this glitch by fiat, they would have done so by now and maybe you get an extra few hours/days due to the long weekend.

As for myself, I anticipate another sleepless night (thanks, insomnia!). And I'll have to find some reasonably-priced Penguin books I want in the Kobo store and throw some money at them by way of thanks.

And this has been the selected 3rd (non-repeat) free ebook thread of the day.

Enjoy†!

* Tempted to make a Sagan-style billions and billions joke, but no, there aren't quite that many. It just seems that way.

† If you manage to grab anything you like before it disappears. You weren't planning on doing anything this weekend anyway, were you?

melmac · 08-31-2014, 02:29 AM

It would seem that this may be in the AU store as well Just grabbed Robert Crais Taken & Suspect started to get very excited but then remembered that iTunes books have DRM up the wazoo and are essentially useless to me as I don't have an iPad, last I checked you can't even read them on a PC in iTunes

ATDrake · 08-31-2014, 02:36 AM

Well, one day you may own an iDevice or a Mac. Or Apple might finally release iBooks for Windows. Or pigs may fly like a Pink Floyd concert balloon*.

Maybe think of the freebies you've already picked up as a future investment? You never know.

* This will probably happen around the time that I personally have success with the iTunes DRM-removal thingy which is floating out there, which I have never been able to get to work.

melmac · 08-31-2014, 02:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATDrake

* This will probably happen around the time that I personally have success with the iTunes DRM-removal thingy which is floating out there, which I have never been able to get to work.

I gave that a go once but only got it to work on a few and it kept require all books to be re-downloaded each time pita course I may do some googling it may have improved #doubt it

Ps stealing your list to post on the existing Ronald Dahl bargain over at ozbargains

ATDrake · 08-31-2014, 02:48 AM

Sure, you're welcome.

Here's a few more that I've been hunting myself tonight:

Spoiler:

melmac · 08-31-2014, 02:54 AM

Tom Clancy too

melmac · 08-31-2014, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATDrake

Sure, you're welcome.

Here's a few more that I've been hunting myself tonight:

Thanks for posting this one, I ended up going a bit overboard on it

Bit surprised it hasn't been more popular, don't know if that's because its itunes or because its limited to certain regions perhaps if the title is still editable you could add in AU

Synamon · 08-31-2014, 10:30 AM

Wow, tons of free books. Thanks much ATDrake!

49Kat · 08-31-2014, 11:27 PM

I downloaded a few freebies, thank you ATDrake. I also took screen captures of the 'free' entries, just in case.

ATDrake · 09-01-2014, 01:01 AM

This is still ongoing, and the glitch freebies are in a definite state of flux, with some actually seeming to be added.

For example, there was only one Aaron Elkins freebie yesterday when I searched directly on his name, but then another one showed up today. So it may be worth your time to check back on a favourite author/category.

Also, I just had a look at the iTunes vs iBooks versions of the store, and I'd forgotten how hard it is to find things on iTunes.

So an additional tip:

Use the Top Charts sidebar feature at the bottom left of the main Books within iTunes page, and click on it to take you to the actual top charts, which you can then filter by category, and then to free.

It'll give you a lot more authors/books than you can see directly via keyword search on just Penguin Group. Unfortunately a lot of the really good non-fiction freebies don't show up that way, as well as the more obscure literary fiction types.

Here's a couple more lists of authors I was checking on previously, who yielded up freebies in the store search listings, if it helps anyone. I may have misspelt some names or shortened them if the first name was distinctive enough that it could be used as the sole search term:

These were taken from the kids/YA category

Spoiler:

Mostly sf/fantasy & cozy mysteries with some literary fiction:

Spoiler:

melmac · 09-01-2014, 01:51 AM

Just when I thought I was done you drag me back in again lol

Can't believe they haven't fixed this yet and they have definitely added more. There is a Robert Crais that wasn't free yesterday and is today as well as some Robert B Parker

08-31-2014, 01:02 AM	#1
ATDrake Wizzard Posts: 11,517 Karma: 33048258 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Roundworld Device: Kindle 2 International, Sony PRS-T1, BlackBerry PlayBook, Acer Iconia	Free (iTunes CA & AU) dozens of Penguin glitch freebies Canada/Australia [All Genres] So, if you happen to be Canadian and in possession of a working iTunes Canada account (ETA: melmac has noticed that this also seems to be going on in the Australian store as well), there are literally dozens upon dozens* of glitch freebies right now from publisher Penguin, across all genres, some by quite well-known authors. For example, here's a Stephen King that I managed to pick up which is still free as I type this: Four Past Midnight Every single category has quite a number of books free, including major authors like Nora Roberts, Harlan Coben, Clive Cussler, John Grisham, C. J. Cherryh, a lot of the annotated Penguin Classics, some vintage Nancy Drew novels and lots of non-fiction as well (including some nice biography, history, and science stuff), which have been steadily climbing the Free bestseller listings in the Top Charts section of the iTunes store. I spot checked a few, and none of them seem to be free in the US iTunes store when I futz with the URLs, and they're definitely not free in the other stores, either. Under the spoiler is a quickie list of just a few of the authors I grabbed freebies from, before I decided it was just too much to keep track of for posting here. I apologize for the poor formatting and lack of alphabetization/categories: Spoiler: nalini singh roald dahl robert crais lora leigh jill shalvis charlaine harris j. r. ward lauren dane robin cook ken follett stephen king clive cussler dick francis emma wildes catherine coulter j.d. robb jim butcher madeline hunter jayne ann krentz amanda quick julie garwood john sandford daniel j. levitin marie force beth kery /linwood barclay harlan coben william brinkley lauren dane karen rose michelle reid? richelle mead jack campbell tracy garvis? maggie sefton john lescroart jordan ellenberg margaret frinth? r.a. dickey dean koontz kathy reichs michka assayas daniel silva iris murdoch lori foster shannon k. butcher nevada barr lila dipasqua carolyn keene franklin w. dixon janet chapman jojo moyes anne calhoun jayne ann krentz janet pascal stuart woods penelope douglas penelope lively lynn kurland Lora Leigh Jo Beverley Jack Higgins Craig Johnson angela liddon erin mccarthy margaret frith robert crais laurell k. hamilton karen white claire donally lisa jackson ilona andrews s.m. stirling kate elliott mercedes lackey carol berg Nina Bruhns Rebecca York Jaid Black Shiloh Walker Elizabeth Jennings Christina Dodd Louise Bagshawe Maggie O'Farrell I have no idea what's going on with Penguin (they had nearly a dozen multi-store freebies yesterday that only lasted a few hours), but if you want to pick them up, here are some tips: 1. Absolutely make sure that you've gone into iTunes/iBooks preference and reset all the dialogue warnings so it will warn you if you click on a Free book which is no longer free and ask if you want to buy it. Some of the books will do this, so it's best to be prepared. If you're paranoid, you can check your receipts via the main iTunes store in the Purchase History section under the main Account, which should all say 0.00/FREE. You may also want to keep screenshots of the iTunes store listings saying the book is Free, just in case. 2. If you already know your favourite Penguin-published authors, do a search for their name and filter for free books if you're using the iBooks Mac app, or just keep scrolling down and clicking whatever you spot which says Free. Trust me, this is considerably more efficient than trying to browse the standard categories after a publisher name search, even with the filter on. 3. If you're stumped for authors or just want to browse, type Penguin Group US as your search term and then filter if you can. The main page will load a huge amount of books with many freebies at the top, but that won't be nearly all that's available. Click the various subcategories after your initial search to filter down further. 4. Even the subcategories don't contain all the freebies, it seems. So if you spot a freebie by a favourite author, do a search for their name again to see if they've got more. 5. Some of the subcategories sortings are kind of surprising. Romance readers will want to click on both of the Historical categories that show up, as well as Suspense (where they seem to have filed all the romantic suspense), and the Fantasy & Ghost stories category as well. SF people will want to check out Adventure, where it seems a lot of space operas went. 6. For best results, don't click more than two things at a single go, wait for them to download before going onto your next two. This will minimize the chances of your getting an error message (check your library after seeing one though, sometimes it means that you got the book but it couldn't download due to server load and is sitting in the cloud). 7. Expect the iBooks store to regularly freeze and crash on you as you do this. If you have a memory cleaning app which frees up your RAM again after an app crashes, use it. If you start to get a lot of freezes, it's time to reboot the computer and try again. You may want to turn off everything else on your computer, and let iTunes/iBooks hog all the resources. This does make it marginally more responsive, at least on a Mac. I don't know how much longer this is going to last (I just found out about it myself when I went to check the other FT Press freebie which I found out had expired, and it definitely wasn't happening yesterday when I did a general Penguin freebie check because of the others that got missed), but it's past 9PM Pacific Time, which is usually when the iTunes servers roll over, so if they were going to fix this glitch by fiat, they would have done so by now and maybe you get an extra few hours/days due to the long weekend. As for myself, I anticipate another sleepless night (thanks, insomnia!). And I'll have to find some reasonably-priced Penguin books I want in the Kobo store and throw some money at them by way of thanks. And this has been the selected 3rd (non-repeat) free ebook thread of the day. Enjoy†! * Tempted to make a Sagan-style billions and billions joke, but no, there aren't quite that many. It just seems that way. † If you manage to grab anything you like before it disappears. You weren't planning on doing anything this weekend anyway, were you? Last edited by ATDrake; 08-31-2014 at 11:06 AM. Reason: Thought of something else.

08-31-2014, 02:48 AM	#5
ATDrake Wizzard Posts: 11,517 Karma: 33048258 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Roundworld Device: Kindle 2 International, Sony PRS-T1, BlackBerry PlayBook, Acer Iconia	Sure, you're welcome. Here's a few more that I've been hunting myself tonight: Spoiler: iris murdoch john steinbeck linda gerber maya banks lydia michaels gayle forman bailey cates jennifer ashley s.e. hinton c.j. box nevada barr c.s. harris margaret coel james r. hannibal kari lee townsend david ellis hazel holt eric jerome dickey randy wayne white jack hanson mickey spillane jon sharpe margaret frazer naomi king brenda l. baker carl hiaasen maeve binchy shem thomas pynchon lilian jackson braun tabor evans john le carre j.r. roberts dusty richards stuart maclean don delillo stone wallace wendy wax emily brightwell jo ann brown ann burton jill gregory tina welling

09-01-2014, 01:01 AM	#10
ATDrake Wizzard Posts: 11,517 Karma: 33048258 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Roundworld Device: Kindle 2 International, Sony PRS-T1, BlackBerry PlayBook, Acer Iconia	This is still ongoing, and the glitch freebies are in a definite state of flux, with some actually seeming to be added. For example, there was only one Aaron Elkins freebie yesterday when I searched directly on his name, but then another one showed up today. So it may be worth your time to check back on a favourite author/category. Also, I just had a look at the iTunes vs iBooks versions of the store, and I'd forgotten how hard it is to find things on iTunes. So an additional tip: Use the Top Charts sidebar feature at the bottom left of the main Books within iTunes page, and click on it to take you to the actual top charts, which you can then filter by category, and then to free. It'll give you a lot more authors/books than you can see directly via keyword search on just Penguin Group. Unfortunately a lot of the really good non-fiction freebies don't show up that way, as well as the more obscure literary fiction types. Here's a couple more lists of authors I was checking on previously, who yielded up freebies in the store search listings, if it helps anyone. I may have misspelt some names or shortened them if the first name was distinctive enough that it could be used as the sole search term: These were taken from the kids/YA category Spoiler: john green scott speer marie lu robert mcloskey henry winkler war of werelords karen kinneyfrock lauren myracle janet lee carey diana wynne jones donald j. sobol lauren child geoff rodkey t. a. barron daniel vega nancy krulik peter linenthal amanda ashby stephen mccranie veronica wolff mari mancusi lili st. crow jean fritz john a. flanagan shani petroff sharyn november peni r. griffin robin mckinley madeleine george tedd arnold steve stevenson jonathan london enhanced editions anne osterlund meg wolitzer tomie de paola enhanced lisa papademetriou peg kehret will hill andrew clements lauren child michael spradlin rachel isadora gordon dahlquist heather brewer paula danziger kristin walker jacky davis nancy werlin enhanced catherine fisher piper banks nancy krulik kieran scott laurie halse anderson natasha wing kieran scott elisa carbone deborah cooke mike lupica altbacker finneyfrock rosemary wells richard peck jan brett stephanie green betsy byars joseph slate naomi rich tanish lee brian james terry border ann hood jessa holbrook loren long judy schachner dam watkins sophie bell mary sullivan yxta john bellairs jim arnosky david soman mary hoffman dave aikins oliver jeffers gianna marino cathy hapka michael cadnum elizabeth hand sally gardner donna jo napoli maira kalman dori hillestad maryrose wood sally warner jacqueline resnick phil bildner r.a. nelson ashley fedor sarah quigley ann hood marilyn singer d.l. garfinkle nikki grimes elizabeth cody kimmel lori nicholas ame dyckman esther friesner jeff mack melissa guion lauren tarshis jordan cooke robert paul weston nancy springer michael carroll linda johns michael garland neal shusterman alden r. carter amy goldman koss sonya sones j. press jessica wollman beckie weinheimer julie gardner berry eva ibbotson rebecca mccarthy nic bennett Mostly sf/fantasy & cozy mysteries with some literary fiction: Spoiler: kristin cashore tad williams sharon shinn dennis mckiernan c. s. friedman irene radford lisa shearin devon monk diana rowland simon green jim hines patricia mckillip glen cook anne bishop p.n. elrod gayle greeno nina kiriki hoffman celia jerome juliet marillier robert silverberg craig shaw gardner brian jacques nnedi rachel caine alastair reynolds nick hornby nuruddin farah sue ann jaffarian sue henry christopher farnsworth anthony zuiker james kimmel walter mosley michael mcgarrity john lamb elizabeth spann craig georges simenon anna maclean kate carlisle selma eichler dave barry maureen ash judi mccoy livia j. washburn sarah atwell john mortimer c.j. sansom meg gardiner carly phillips john berendt

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08-31-2014, 02:29 AM	#2
melmac Wizard Posts: 1,399 Karma: 5573651 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Perth AU Device: Sony PRS650, Sony T3	It would seem that this may be in the AU store as well Just grabbed Robert Crais Taken & Suspect started to get very excited but then remembered that iTunes books have DRM up the wazoo and are essentially useless to me as I don't have an iPad, last I checked you can't even read them on a PC in iTunes

08-31-2014, 02:36 AM	#3
ATDrake Wizzard Posts: 11,517 Karma: 33048258 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Roundworld Device: Kindle 2 International, Sony PRS-T1, BlackBerry PlayBook, Acer Iconia	Well, one day you may own an iDevice or a Mac. Or Apple might finally release iBooks for Windows. Or pigs may fly like a Pink Floyd concert balloon. Maybe think of the freebies you've already picked up as a future investment? You never know. This will probably happen around the time that I personally have success with the iTunes DRM-removal thingy which is floating out there, which I have never been able to get to work.

08-31-2014, 02:54 AM	#6
melmac Wizard Posts: 1,399 Karma: 5573651 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Perth AU Device: Sony PRS650, Sony T3	Tom Clancy too

08-31-2014, 10:30 AM	#8
Synamon Lunatic Posts: 1,691 Karma: 4386372 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Land of the Loonie Device: Kindle Paperwhite and Keyboard, Kobo Aura, iPad mini, iPod Touch	Wow, tons of free books. Thanks much ATDrake!

08-31-2014, 11:27 PM	#9
49Kat Fanatic Posts: 580 Karma: 1309104 Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: BC,Canada/NV, USA Device: iPad 9th Gen, iPhone 11, Paperwhite 10th Gen.	I downloaded a few freebies, thank you ATDrake. I also took screen captures of the 'free' entries, just in case.

09-01-2014, 01:51 AM	#11
melmac Wizard Posts: 1,399 Karma: 5573651 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Perth AU Device: Sony PRS650, Sony T3	Just when I thought I was done you drag me back in again lol Can't believe they haven't fixed this yet and they have definitely added more. There is a Robert Crais that wasn't free yesterday and is today as well as some Robert B Parker

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