In which I discover that I am lazy and jaded...

llreader · 12-12-2009, 05:06 AM

... in my advancing years.

I have this great, really neat-o Sony Reader Touch Edition that syncs with my Mac and I want to use it to read books. I have lots of articles and books on there, nothing with DRM.

Right now, I would like to buy books by China Mieville and read them. I like his writing. The results of availability and formats from addall.com are confusing. Prices are high for the books in the formats I could just use without lots of twiddling. I will also need accounts on several different stores and manage all of my purchases in different formats with different versions of DRM (PDF, EPUB, etc.).

If I want to do any format shifting, I have to strip the DRM off several different formats, which seems like a lot of work that I might have been excited about when I was younger, but doesn't thrill me now.

I would not be surprised to discover a person in my situation downloading pirated copies of books and then purchasing kindle versions of the same texts and leaving them on their hard drive, unread (until such time as Amazon offers new formats, or the DRM on the PC Kindle software crumbles under the weight of the unsatisfied demand for ebooks). [As for the PC Kindle software, I can run Win7 in emulation, but then library management is a big hassle]

What strategies do you all use to fill your Readers? Is there a good site for Sony-friendly formats? If I set up format-shifting from one format, which would it be (well, it would be Kindle, but if it was a different one?).

PM's welcome. And thanks.

EDIT: Also, I am using calibre to manage books, but I am fairly sure that I need to use the Sony software to manage DRM-ed EPUB files. Is this true? I downloaded one from somewhere, and it won't sync with the reader (although I can read it in the Reader Library). I expect this to just be a big hassle. Any tips?

Terisa de morgan · 12-12-2009, 05:23 AM

I can't tell you about Sony but I can tell you my case. I have a Cybook (Mobipocket) and an iPhone (ePub without DRM) that I use according to the day (weekends, for example, iPhone, which always is at the bag). So, as you can see, if I buy for Cybook I couldn't read them at my iPhone. Besides, some books are only at DRM-ed ePub. And publishers usually make a poor edition (no cover, for example). Finally, and most important for me, I don't trust on having my books bounded to a remote server or codification that I don't know when it's going to die. So, I buy them at the cheapest format I can strip DRM (preferably Microsoft reader, because it converts better), I strip DRM, edit the file to get the look I want and create Mobipocket with Mobipocket Creator, and Microsoft Reader and ePUB with Calibre. The longest task: editing the file. The others? About two minutes in a book (and automatic with only some small data in a file).

llreader · 12-12-2009, 05:29 AM

So you have a setup for stripping DRM from epub and Microsoft Reader formats? Any chance more details about how that is done could appear in my Inbox as a private message?

igorsk · 12-15-2009, 10:27 AM

PanMacmillan has Mieville's books in EBUB, DRM-free and worldwide. And right now they have 3-for-2 thing going for Sci-fi.

llreader · 12-15-2009, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by igorsk

PanMacmillan has Mieville's books in EBUB, DRM-free and worldwide. And right now they have 3-for-2 thing going for Sci-fi.

Oh, perfect! Thanks for the heads-up!

12-12-2009, 05:06 AM	#1
llreader Mesmerist Posts: 331 Karma: 506558 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Spain Device: PRS-600 Silver. Much nicer than I expected.	In which I discover that I am lazy and jaded... ... in my advancing years. I have this great, really neat-o Sony Reader Touch Edition that syncs with my Mac and I want to use it to read books. I have lots of articles and books on there, nothing with DRM. Right now, I would like to buy books by China Mieville and read them. I like his writing. The results of availability and formats from addall.com are confusing. Prices are high for the books in the formats I could just use without lots of twiddling. I will also need accounts on several different stores and manage all of my purchases in different formats with different versions of DRM (PDF, EPUB, etc.). If I want to do any format shifting, I have to strip the DRM off several different formats, which seems like a lot of work that I might have been excited about when I was younger, but doesn't thrill me now. I would not be surprised to discover a person in my situation downloading pirated copies of books and then purchasing kindle versions of the same texts and leaving them on their hard drive, unread (until such time as Amazon offers new formats, or the DRM on the PC Kindle software crumbles under the weight of the unsatisfied demand for ebooks). [As for the PC Kindle software, I can run Win7 in emulation, but then library management is a big hassle] What strategies do you all use to fill your Readers? Is there a good site for Sony-friendly formats? If I set up format-shifting from one format, which would it be (well, it would be Kindle, but if it was a different one?). PM's welcome. And thanks. EDIT: Also, I am using calibre to manage books, but I am fairly sure that I need to use the Sony software to manage DRM-ed EPUB files. Is this true? I downloaded one from somewhere, and it won't sync with the reader (although I can read it in the Reader Library). I expect this to just be a big hassle. Any tips? Last edited by llreader; 12-12-2009 at 05:15 AM.

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12-12-2009, 05:23 AM	#2
Terisa de morgan Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,596 Karma: 12595249 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Madrid, Spain Device: Kobo Clara/Aura One/Forma,XiaoMI 5, iPad, Huawei MediaPad, YotaPhone 2	I can't tell you about Sony but I can tell you my case. I have a Cybook (Mobipocket) and an iPhone (ePub without DRM) that I use according to the day (weekends, for example, iPhone, which always is at the bag). So, as you can see, if I buy for Cybook I couldn't read them at my iPhone. Besides, some books are only at DRM-ed ePub. And publishers usually make a poor edition (no cover, for example). Finally, and most important for me, I don't trust on having my books bounded to a remote server or codification that I don't know when it's going to die. So, I buy them at the cheapest format I can strip DRM (preferably Microsoft reader, because it converts better), I strip DRM, edit the file to get the look I want and create Mobipocket with Mobipocket Creator, and Microsoft Reader and ePUB with Calibre. The longest task: editing the file. The others? About two minutes in a book (and automatic with only some small data in a file).

12-12-2009, 05:29 AM	#3
llreader Mesmerist Posts: 331 Karma: 506558 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Spain Device: PRS-600 Silver. Much nicer than I expected.	So you have a setup for stripping DRM from epub and Microsoft Reader formats? Any chance more details about how that is done could appear in my Inbox as a private message?

12-15-2009, 10:27 AM	#4
igorsk Wizard Posts: 3,442 Karma: 300001 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Belgium Device: PRS-500/505/700, Kindle, Cybook Gen3, Words Gear	PanMacmillan has Mieville's books in EBUB, DRM-free and worldwide. And right now they have 3-for-2 thing going for Sci-fi.

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