E pub books for the nook question

[Tamra]

I'm not sure how E pub books work and am wondering if those are the books you purchase from google, borders, Kobo and other sites other than B&N. Also, I have heard that books that are e pub can be shared, just wondering how this works and if it's legal. Thanks so much.

[willaful, dedicated nookworm]

The format will depend on the site and sometimes on the book. Google, Borders and Kobo all have the epub format available, I think. Many smaller, less known sites have it as well.

Epub books can't be shared if they have DRM; even if they don't, sharing may not be legal. For example, a small company called Smashwords sells DRM-free books, but under the "honor system." Some Nook books can be loaned one time; those will have a "lend me" symbol after them on your Nook.

[Shanna]

There are legal ways to share your books, they should be marked as lendable but there are limits on it just like with the Kindle. So yes epub files can be shared if the publisher has authorized it.

[James]

Tamra wrote: "I'm not sure how E pub books work and am wondering if those are the books you purchase from google, borders, Kobo and other sites other than B&N. Also, I have heard that books that are e pub can b..."

The epub format is really a zip file. This enables a whole series of files to exist in a folder that contain figures, text, and yes probably the dreaded DRM file.