Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion
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Liade wrote: " I googled up this site http://www.2epub.com/ you can convert epub files without having installing anything on your PCIt doesn't convert epub files to anything useful (for me), though."
Have you tried Calibre? As long as the file doesn't have DRM, it can convert to PDF. I've found it very easy to use, and I'm pretty much the anti-techie.
Suhi, from what I understood, this site will convert any document into an epub file, but in case I ever buy anything from Carina Press again, which I doubt, I will get it in epub format and will need something which would convert epub into pdf, i.e. the other way around. ..."
It will convert epub into LIT which is a very good format for any PC and mobile device with Windows OC. You need Microsoft Reader to open this format. But yeah... it gets cumbersome if you need to make double and triple conversion and get rid of DRM on the way... And frankly, I despise Amazon for several reasons. If a book is to be found only on Amazon, I'd rather give up on it.
It will convert epub into LIT which is a very good format for any PC and mobile device with Windows OC. You need Microsoft Reader to open this format. But yeah... it gets cumbersome if you need to make double and triple conversion and get rid of DRM on the way... And frankly, I despise Amazon for several reasons. If a book is to be found only on Amazon, I'd rather give up on it.
I'm getting the feeling I'm in the minority by loving the epub format.Then again, I don't have a kindle, so I'm glad I don't have to convert everything.
Even though my Sony can read pdfs, it is a lot slower than epub (or even the sony lrf format), so I convert all pdfs to epub.
Becky wrote: "Liade wrote: " I googled up this site http://www.2epub.com/ you can convert epub files without having installing anything on your PC
It doesn't convert epub files to anything useful (for me), thou..."
Dl'ing Caliber ATM, I keep seeing this app mentioned here and there through the group discussions
It doesn't convert epub files to anything useful (for me), thou..."
Dl'ing Caliber ATM, I keep seeing this app mentioned here and there through the group discussions
Becky wrote: "Have you tried Calibre? As long as the file doesn't have DRM, it can convert to PDF. I've found it very easy to use, and I'm pretty much the anti-techie. "One tedious thing about Calibre is that it duplicates all files as it converts them so you end up with two copies of your files in two separate folders.
But I suppose for me it's the principle of the thing: as was said earlier, none of the other e-publishers (Amazon excepted) have a problem with offering a range of file types, and Carina think even two to choose from are too much trouble.
Barb wrote: "I am in Australia and Amazon is the only true international seller for ebooks so kindle was my only choice really"I'm a little puzzled by this remark: I live in Germany and buy my ebooks from various publishers, mostly in the US, without any problems. And what is more, at the same price as customers in the US. Whereas Amazon - were I to buy ebooks from them - would charge me an extra $1.99 for the privilege of letting me read a Kindle book even though I would be downloading it over the internet and not via 3G as I do not own a Kindle.
I am in Australia and Amazon is the only true international seller for ebooks so kindle was my only choice really Amazon won't allow me to buy and I live in Indonesia. They said the books are not allowed to be sold to Asia Pacific country. I assume Australia is a Pacific country, but I am wrong?
Anyway, there are many ebook sellers who sell to anyone, anyplace. I get most of my books from ARe, but they specialize in romance books. Fictionwise offer much wider choice. Wowio.com also sells ebooks, with lower price, but their collection is not too complete. The other option is to buy directly from the publishers, which I do if the books haven't been sold in ARe yet.
Oh, LC, I own a Kindle, but I only very rarely buy books from Amazon. Look at me lendable shelf here on GR -- something under 30 books. And I own well over 700, maybe in the 800-900 range now. I buy direct from publisher or from fictionwise or ARe. Most times, I can get whatever format I want there. And if I can't, WTH, that's what God created calibre for. ;-)
Liade wrote: "I'm a little puzzled by this remark: I live in Germany and buy my ebooks from various publishers, mostly in the US, without any problems. And what is more, at the same price as customers in the US. Whereas Amazon - were I to buy ebooks from them - would charge me an extra $1.99"Same here (Netherlands).
I was so disappointed when one of Josh's books was a 'free' book at Amazon and I realised I'd have to pay anyway ... (and in a format I don't like)
And Amazon.co.uk wouldn't let me buy ebooks even if I wanted to, because they don't sell ebooks to people outside the UK.
Cleon wrote: "www.allromance.com or www.allromanceebooks.com"
Thank you! I found it and deleted the post but not fast enough :)
Thank you! I found it and deleted the post but not fast enough :)
Kari wrote: "Oh, LC, I own a Kindle, but I only very rarely buy books from Amazon. Look at me lendable shelf here on GR -- something under 30 books. And I own well over 700, maybe in the 800-900 range now. I bu..."
Kari, can you please, elaborate a little? You say you can put any book on Kindle, not necessarily in kindle (whatever it is) format? Will it read pdf's, epub's and lit's?
Kari, can you please, elaborate a little? You say you can put any book on Kindle, not necessarily in kindle (whatever it is) format? Will it read pdf's, epub's and lit's?
Suhi wrote: "Kari, can you please, elaborate a little? You say you can put any book on Kindle, not necessarily in kindle (whatever it is) format? Will it read pdf's, epub's and lit's?"Okay, let's take Carina Press for an example. Buying direct from them, you're stuck with their format...is it epub? Whatever. I buy from them, run it through calibre to convert to mobi then email it to my Kindle. With the original, if I decide to go with another ereader later...All I have to do is run the lot through calibre again for the different format.
With calibre, you can convert any book into any format you want. You can read pdfs on K3s, but they read very clunky, if you ask me, so I even run my non-fic pdfs through calibre.
Oh, should add that if you buy from a vendor (fictiowise, ARe, whatever), they usually give you a list of formats to choose from. Several publishers will also allow you to pick whichever format you want, though sadly not all. =( So that's another way to not be married to a single format if you don't want to fool with calibre.
I have a kindle and I love it. I don't buy many books from amazon, but that is actually the most convinient. Also I love how those books will sync across multiple devices like my Blackberry and ipod. So I can stop reading on one device and pick up directly where I left off on another device. I don't have any trouble finding books in kindle format. If I do, I just convert it using calibre or mobi pocket creator
Kari, Heather, thanks! I buy books in LIT or PDF and convert to LIT to read them on my ancient HP IPAQ which is going to die very soon, so seems. So I'm starting to look for replacement.
For me...I love my Kindle, but I don't so much love the corner the Amazon Kindle store tends to create on the market when you buy there. If I later decide to go with a kobo or a nook or whatever, I don't want to be yanking my hair out over swapping formats. So I use Kindle, but I buy elsewhere and if need be, convert the files myself. Adds an extra step, I guess, but it's not like I wouldn't back up all my books to a flashdrive or four anyhow. LOL
Suhi wrote: "Kari, Heather, thanks! I buy books in LIT or PDF and convert to LIT to read them on my ancient HP IPAQ which is going to die very soon, so seems. So I'm starting to look for replacement."Suhi, I read in lit format on my laptop before my Kindle was delivered in last fall. I had ZERO problems converting my old lit files to mobi for the Kindle in calibre. And once you switch over, I guarantee you'll love the freedom of the Kindle. My lit library was A MESS compared to Kindle, to say the least. :D
Suhi wrote: "Kari, Heather, thanks! I buy books in LIT or PDF and convert to LIT to read them on my ancient HP IPAQ which is going to die very soon, so seems. So I'm starting to look for replacement."I used to use my ipaq too!!! I willed it to my mom until I bought her a kindle for christmas
Barb wrote: "a lot of books are available as paperback from overseas but for whatever reason downloads are blocked "Does that mean you cannot buy m/m ebooks (or any ebooks) from Dreamspinner, Samhain or Loose Id? This is indeed horrible.
I live in Germany, but I'm Bulgarian. I was afraid that ebook downloads could be restricted for Eastern Europe, but it turned out that it worked exactly as well as in Germany. While I was in Bulgaria during Christmas time, I was able to shop as usual.
Hey Josh, do you know if/when the 2nd. vol. of Petit Morts (print ed.) is being released?
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This is really it. All the other things you mentioned from cover art and titles to recs from friends or a good review all boil down to making me read a sample of the work. And then the writing is either there or it's not.
That doesn't mean I don't go against my better judgment and buy books that are insanely bad. I think it was Kari mentioning a WTF file. I think that's a Collection I need to add to my Kindle. Sometimes a book is so appallingly bad you know you want to read it. :-D
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It's funny because I asked this question on my Facebook and nobody really thought much about it -- most people seemed to have ereaders or aps.
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The stories will be available in Kindle and EPUB both. I don't think they're doing it to rob readers of choice, I suspect the PDF sales must have been low enough to make it seem like a reasonable move.
I suspect the PDF sales must have been low enough to make it seem like a reasonable move. I believe that people outside of US who don't have Kindle prefer PDF. How low is low? Even if only 3 books / title are sold in PDF format, there is no reason not to include it. Converting files is so easy this day, this step doesn't make sense.
Cleon wrote: "I suspect the PDF sales must have been low enough to make it seem like a reasonable move. I believe that people outside of US who don't have Kindle prefer PDF. How low is low? Even if only 3 boo..."
PDF was never the ideal format for ebooks, it takes up more space, it has limitations when you want to zoom or rotate your content. ePub arranges the content in reflowable manner, so it's more flexible and the text never goes out of the margins. Lots of PDF ebooks are actually scan copies of print books. I can see PDF going out of fashion in the future as an ebook format. Maybe Carina just doesn't believe PDF will stay long in this aspect, they just decided not to invest in it.
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The thing about Carina is they're new and they're eager to learn and they're very, very responsive. So the best way to deal with them is to communicate, and then if the numbers are there, I guarantee that they will respond. I've truly never seen a more ambitious or eager to succeed publisher. They will listen to readers -- assuming the consensus is there.
PDF is the best format to read on laptop or PC though. Now I have eReader for Fictionwise at my iPod it is less of an issue for me. However, converting files into PDF and vice versa takes very little time and can be done for free.
Cleon wrote: "PDF is the best format to read on laptop or PC though. Now I have eReader for Fictionwise at my iPod it is less of an issue for me. However, converting files into PDF and vice versa takes very litt..."Sorry to sound like an ePub advocate (I swear I don't work for them) but it is really a more suited ebook format (and i have 200+ ebooks on pdf myself) and even if you don't have an eReader, there are many free apps to read ePub files on PC and Mac. Bookworm, and firefox add-on and Stanza are all free and easy to use.
Try it ;)
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It is going to print! Just heard from Jordan. Not exactly sure of the dates, but I'll try to keep you posted.
Thelastaerie wrote: "PDF was never the ideal format for ebooks, it takes up more space, it has limitations when you want to zoom or rotate your content. ePub arranges the content in reflowable manner, so it's more flexible and the text never goes out of the margins. Lots of PDF ebooks are actually scan copies of print books. I can see PDF going out of fashion in the future as an ebook format."I believe you. I'm absolutely sure that what you're saying is true, but what am I supposed to do with the supposed flexibility of the epub format when I don't have an ebook reader and it doesn't look like I'll be getting one soon? The epub format is unusable for me. I haven't found a better format for my ebooks to read on my laptop than pdf, and trust me, I've got some lit files and some html and doc files as well. It doesn't matter much, because Carina's main customers are ebook owners, mainly from the USA, and mainly straight romance readers, so I'm in the minority with my issues. I just hope that some other publishers won't follow their example.
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Cat, I truly don't think that most publishers are going to go in this direction at this time. I frankly think it's a mistake on Carina's part. But that's just me.
I truly think the best way to get the message through is to contact Carina directly and let your unhappiness be known. If the numbers are there, they'll respond to it. If not...well, that's the way it goes.
Josh wrote: "Cat, I truly don't think that most publishers are going to go in this direction at this time. I frankly think it's a mistake on Carina's part. But that's just me. "Thank you, Josh! I certainly hope so!
BTW, happy release day for you! And not to miss - you're yet again #1 on Carina's bestseller list! Congratulations!!!
Ok, final suggestions on the ebook format subject. Yes, write to the publishers if you want them to include your chosen format.While ebook formats are still fighting to be winner, in the meantime, check out free app like Calibre, it's the latest ultimate ebook library organiser, it sorts and converts whatever ebook format you may have into whatever you prefer. It's only for Windows though.
Personally, I'm more concerned about Carina not able to download ebooks directly on iPad ;)
Josh, I clicked on the link to Carina Press for Snowball in Hell on your newsletter, but what I got is this: "We're sorry, but an unexpected error has occurred.If this problem persists, please contact customer support." OUCH!
Anyway, good luck on the release!
I got the same error message - Josh always crashes their site with his new release ;)
And here our Josh killed Carina's page again... :-D
Hey! Carina is back and this time I can open the ebook directly on iPad. So, they do listen to readers :)
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Thelastaerie wrote: "While ebook formats are still fighting to be winner, in the meantime, check out free app like Calibre, it's the latest ultimate ebook library organiser, it sorts and converts whatever ebook format you may have into whatever you prefer. It's only for Windows though."Err ... Calibre is available for all three platforms, windows, mac and linux
Anita wrote: "Thelastaerie wrote: "While ebook formats are still fighting to be winner, in the meantime, check out free app like Calibre, it's the latest ultimate ebook library organiser, it sorts and converts w..."Great. It's about time.
Cleon wrote: "Josh, I clicked on the link to Carina Press for Snowball in Hell on your newsletter, but what I got is this: "We're sorry, but an unexpected error has occurred.If this problem persists, please co..."
Oh, I had no problem this morning ... I guess being in a different time zone can work for me, because sometimes I hate waking up in the morning seeing all the discussions that I missed because I was asleep :(
I do hope the problem will be solved soon *keeps fingers crossed*
And Josh, congrats on being number 1 again :D You deserve it!!
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True!
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It's always such a thrill to see that.
Thelastaerie wrote: "While ebook formats are still fighting to be winner, in the meantime, check out free app like Calibre, it's the latest ultimate ebook library organiser, it sorts and converts whatever ebook format you may have into whatever you prefer."I have used Calibre occasionally in the past and it converted files ok. However, I found it to be one of those aggravating programmes like iTunes that thinks it knows best.
It insisted on copying every book, original and converted version, into its own folder system. I already have all my ebooks well organised into folders and subfolders and back those up regularly. I don't want to hunt for books in several locations or forget to include them when backing up.
Re. epub: there may be good readers for computers though I'm still looking for one I really like. However, none of these programmes can be installed on my work computer *g*. There only PDF or plain old plain text will do.
Liade wrote: "It insisted on copying every book, original and converted version, into its own folder system. I already have all my ebooks well organised into folders and subfolders and back those up regularly. I don't want to hunt for books in several locations or forget to include them when backing up."LOL! I bet you do - have a better filing system than Calibre. I don't use it myself, cos my sorting system but some friends swear by it, These days I'm storing all ebooks in cloud (great as back up too) and sort them the way I want.
Bought SiH, successfully converted it into LIT, thanks to all involved! <3
Q&A with Josh Lanyon
Books mentioned in this topic
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Don't Look Back (other topics)
Don't Look Back (other topics)
Just Making Out (other topics)
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Suhi, from what I understood, this site will convert any document into an epub file, but in case I ever buy anything from Carina Press again, which I doubt, I will get it in epub format and will need something which would convert epub into pdf, i.e. the other way around. I'm aware there is software for epub to find and install on my computer, but frankly, CP and their het titles, which make about 99% from all titles they offer, are not worth the bother, because I stopped reading straight tomance about 10 years ago. I'll just get Josh's books with them from Fictionwise or All Romance Books - I think they do offer pdf.
Liade wrote: What's wrong with PDF? It may not be the industry standard for ebooks but it's still the industry standard for documents that can be read on any computer, anywhere. Is it really so much extra work for the publisher?
I doubt it. They did offer pdf before: I just checked and saw that the last book I've bought from them, One Real Thing by Anah Crow and Diane Fox, is in pdf format. How come Samhain and Dreamspinner can offer about every format that's available, and for Carina, with Harlequin behind their back, it's suddenly too much?