How To Buy An Ebook – And Keep It

(from Derek Haines Blog "A Vandalism of Words")


When you buy an ebook, do you buy it, or do you really only rent it? Then after this consideration, what restriction come with either choice?

In recent months, the issue of ebook ownership has been discussed at length in both the news and on publishing blogs. The most popular ebook platforms, although very convenient, often impose limitations on ebook purchases. Limits such as the inability to back up, copy, lend or update are just a few of the restrictions that can be placed on a file. While proprietary file types lock your purchase into a ‘walled garden’, the use of Digital Rights Management (DRM) is the most common form of controlling the after purchase use of an ebook.


The much publicised stories of a user’s Kindle being wiped of all purchases by Amazon and Barnes and Noble’s limit on updating an ebook after a credit card expires are just two examples of ebook control gone mad.

So what can you do to ensure that when you buy an ebook, you actually buy it with no, or next to no limitations? The easiest answer is ebooks in the .epub format and DRM free. Most popular ereading devices use .epub, with the exception of Kindle. For Kindle users, the most suitable is the .mobi file type, DRM free.

A number of online retailers are now offering ebooks that are both DRM free, and in the popular file types to suit almost all ereading devices. Smashwords, Kobo and Diesel are at the forefront of DRM free ebook sales.


Another very useful tool to use in ensuring you actually own your ebooks is Calibre. If you can’t locate a DRM free version of an ebook for you device, you can buy or download an .epub version of an ebook and then use Calibre to convert the file to the type used by your device.

While ‘one click’ purchasing and instant delivery to your device may seem appealing, the drawbacks often outweigh this convenience. Perhaps when you would like to lend you purchased ebook to your spouse, and then discover you can’t for instance. So just an extra few seconds at time of purchase may bring you many more advantages.

One of the simplest way to load ebooks onto most devices is old fashioned email. As almost all ereading devices are equipped with an email facility, it is just a matter of downloading or buying the correct file type, or converting using Calibre, and then email the file to your ereader. Open and start reading! Then know that you have really purchased an ebook that you can share, lend, copy, back up and keep forever.

A little fun

I was having a little fun this morning when this started running through my head.

Twas the night before Christmas, I awoke with a shout
The undead were stirring, just outside my house
Holding the shotgun ready to shoot them all down
My heart in my chest, so loudly it pounds

100th copy

A little over ten years ago I awoke to find that my first wife Patricia had passed away while we were both sleeping. She of course didn't wake up. I'll never forget the abject feeling of loss and emptiness for the rest of my life. It was as if my life ended also for a while. I even had to force myself to eat. To help with the final healing I produced two different versions of a poetry book that was meant as a memorial to Patricia and the renewal I went through. I called the book "Into Renewal" and it's permanently free. Today marks quite the occasion for me as it has been downloaded 100 times on Smashwords
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/211410

27 times on Barnes and Noble.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/into-renewal-brian-bigelow/1112572285?ean=2940044766921

Have another slightly different version on Free e-books.net with 305 downloads so far. http://www.free-ebooks.net/ebook/Into-Renewal

I'm now quite glad I put out that memorial.

Book reviews

These are reviews for other books, not mine. These are ones I selected for my own personal reading.

Last night I read Into The Flames by Wendy Steele.

This is a great book especially if you don't have a lot of time on your hands. It's possible to read the entire book in a little over an hour. Really excellent imagery has been used throughout in this well written book. It also delves into the characters mindset well. This book is a permanent freebie from what I understand.

http://www.amazon.com/Into-The-Flames-Anthology-ebook/dp/B0094KFLB0

(Since I used to do most of my reading while commuting on a city bus being able to have quick reads has been important to me. I hate to say it but I personally am not a fan of novels but that is strictly my own taste. It's also one of the reasons why most of what I write is short stories.)

My other little foray I will talk about here is a really good one.

Pride and Prejudice and Vampires by PJ Jones

OMG, this book is a *&^%$ riot. Can't say I've laughed as hard as I am while reading this one. Of course my sense of humor is a little coarse at times. On top of it, this parody is well written and edited.

One thing I'll add here, you can't go wrong with the 99 cent price tag.

http://www.amazon.com/Pride-Prejudice-Vampires-ebook/dp/B009M7G7HC

An award.

This is cool this morning, just received an award for the shorter version of "Witchery Afoot" that I posted in this competition. All the hard work of learning how to write effectively, relearn grammar I should have learned in school, create decent dialog and decent story lines is paying off.

The Visitation

This little short story was an interesting one for me to write, it is classic horror but its not scary and there's even kind of a romantic element to the story. A widower (which I have been) who has been alone for six years is the central character. He's extremely lonely and though I don't directly mention he's rather elderly. There's no other woman Seth would ever want than his beloved Beverly. He's always been a one woman man. Finally, its time for him to go and his wife comes back to  lead him into the afterlife. It was a very refreshing story to write and I've made it permanently free.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/259956

Horror Bent release

Just uploaded the book to Smashwords, Amazon and Barnes & Noble and it's now available on all three sites. I'm even making a paperback version which will also be available through Amazon I believe by December 4th.

If you're in the mood for some occult horror, demon possession, reanimation of corpses this might be the book for you.

99 cents with this code XY22L https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/258825

Also available at Amazon  http://www.amazon.com/Horror-Bent-ebook/dp/B00ADKIQ3U/
 and Barnes & Noble   http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/horror-bent-brian-bigelow/1113848581?ean=2940015786569