A question for those with large epub collections . . .

[Rae]

I've noticed several people on here have 200+ epub books, as well as some lendable nook books. That's a hefty collection! Where are you obtaining all of your books?

[Ann]

We get a lot from each other....and I also buy from www.ioffer.com

[Carlissa]

I got a lot of ebooks free at Barnes & Noble. Every Friday they offer a free ebook, plus they have a link on their site to other free books. If you search on 0.0 you will also find lots of free books.

Another place I get free ebooks from is from Project Gutenberg. These are ebooks that are in the public domain.

I also use Twitter; I follow different publishers, bookstores, and authors and sometimes pick up on free or very cheap ebooks that way.

[[deleted user]]

What about all of the "Lend Me" books that people seem to have. I only have 4 since November. I almost never buy a book as I can get most of them free or through the library. I would feel so guilty ever asking to borrow one as I have so few to lend out!

[willaful, dedicated nookworm]

The free books are often lendable.

[Kenna]

Another member posted a site called inkmesh a few yesterdays ago and I have been using that in addition to several others. Inkmesh tends to bundle them all up into one easy place however I do go site to site to make sure that Im not missing out on anything.

I use:
http://inkmesh.com/

http://www.kobobooks.com/ (a little tricky to use but SO worth figuring it out!)

http://www.smashwords.com/

And I check this thread at least twice sometimes three times DAILY because there are books that are free for less than 12 hours that are posted on this thread. Doug often does updates to tell you which books are free and which are no longer free. There is a summary post often.

http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t...

I dont have many lend me books either and thats ok. You can also borrow books from your local library. Check the website, it will tell you how to go about "borrowing" the books. I havent done it yet at my library because I have "overdue" book charges. Thats another story. :/

[Joyce]

I like to buy alot of my epub books from ereader.com. They often have sales codes in their emails. (I just had a 50% off all books code). They also give a percentage of the cost as a reward that can be used for future purchases.

[[deleted user]]

I get all that with buying from all of those epub sites, but can they be lent then?? I am just wondering how so many can have so many lendable books. I borrow most of mine from our local library and can hardly keep up with getting those read.

[Angie]

Not sure what you are trying to ask? A lot of lendable books are epubs that you are looking at. You do not have to give those back normally but I usually ask as soon as I am done reading just because I feel it is the right etiquette.

[[deleted user]]

so there are some epub books that can be lent out more than once ? or is it always just one time like the ones you get from B & N?

[Fran]

Pat, I have the same questions that you do. I thought only specifically lendable books from B&N and Amazon were legal. If there are other ways to legally lend epub books I would love to know!

[Dixie]

Some epubs do not have DRM and can be lent/traded/etc legally. I suspect that a lot of the epubs you see being "lent" permanently on here have had the DRM stripped through not-so-legal means. For example, the Harry Potter books are not legally in any ebook format because JK Rowling has not licensed those books in ebook format yet. However, I often see Harry Potter books on epub lists. I also see the Hunger Games series on epub lists a lot and those definitely have DRM. So at some point someone stripped the DRM to allow these books to be provided over and over again.

I suppose it depends on how you feel about DRM/sharing files. This controversy is much like digital music was in the late 1990s/early 2000s.

There is a whole movement against DRM - https://readersbillofrights.info/

As a librarian/archivist, I am torn on the matter. I don't think books should be restricted. But I also think authors should be paid. My decision: I do not participate in DRM-removed epub sharing, but I borrow ebooks from the library. :)

[Fran]

Thanks Dixie for explaining it to me, I really appreciate the info :)

[[deleted user]]

Yes, thanks so much! I think I am understanding the whole thing a little better now.

[willaful, dedicated nookworm]

A note on DRM-free books. The absence of DRM does not necessarily mean free right to share the books. Here's the statement from Smashwords, a publisher that sells DRM-free books:

What is DRM, and do you have it?
DRM stands for Digital Rights Management, and it refers to schemes in which a digital book is copy-protected, or limited to reading on only certain devices. Books on Smashwords do not contain DRM. However, these works are still the property of the copyright holder, and they are only licensed for only the personal use of the purchaser. It is illegal for customers to share their ebooks with other people.

read more here: http://www.smashwords.com/about/suppo...

[Fran]

Willaful,that's what I thought, but wasn't sure and didn't want to add to the confusion. Usually when I buy an ebook it states on the first page that this is for me only, no copying, sharing,etc.

[Angie]

If we want to get technical which it what I think you are trying to do it is illegal to share epubs PERIOD. I guess that is what you want us to get down to. But it is nice of people to lend it, I suppose if you are uncomfortable with it then don't ask for any epubs only B&N lendable books which are legal. Also epubs could contain viruses.
I always ask the person I get an epub from if they want it back when I am done as if I am borrowing a book.

[Fran]

Angie, I'm not saying I'm uncomfortable or in any way against it, I thought there were ebook lendable rules out there that I didn't know. I'm just trying to get all the info. I really don't have a stand one way or the other, I just don't want to do anything myself that could cause any issues.

[willaful, dedicated nookworm]

Angie wrote: "If we want to get technical which it what I think you are trying to do it is illegal to share epubs PERIOD. "

No, there are perfectly legal ways to share epubs. I was just pointing out that just because some forms of sharing are possible does not mean they're necessarily legal. I'm not making any kind of judgement about the practice -- from either side -- just pointing it out as something to be aware of.

[Dixie]

willaful wrote: "A note on DRM-free books. The absence of DRM does not necessarily mean free right to share the books."

Yes, I left that off because it seemed too hard to explain. I was recently provided with an e-galley PDF and it does not have DRM, but it does state that it should not be shared.

[Pam]

sorry I'm pretty new at all this lending. I've only lent out one book and that was a few months ago. so I have a couple of questions about the ePUBs.

how do you know if a book has a DRM or not?

and do the ePub books that you are lending do the same as the B&N books? by that I mean, lets say Fran has a ePub I want to borrow. So Fran emails it to me. Is there a time limit on how long I can keep this to read or is this now a copy of my own to keep forever?

[[deleted user]]

Not an answer to your question, but I also want to know if you have to use Calibre or is my ADE all I need

[willaful, dedicated nookworm]

I don't think there is a way to know if a book has DRM, unless the publisher tells you. (Would love to know if I'm wrong!) If you have the book, you can try converting it to another format using Calibre, and it will either tell you it can't convert because of the DRM or go ahead, in which case you know it doesn't have any.

If people are mailing epubs outside of the B&N lending system, it's not really a loan, it's giving you your own copy.

[[deleted user]]

So I can just use ADE and not worry about downloading Calibre and if it doesn't work, Oh well!!??

[willaful, dedicated nookworm]

I'm sorry Pat, I don't understand your question. What are you trying to do?

[[deleted user]]

I have ADE loaded. I am able tho check out anything I want to from the library with no problem. It seems like everyone downloading the epubs is talking about Calibre. Is that required to get the epubs or is ADE OK?

[willaful, dedicated nookworm]

Calibre is free organizational software and is not required for use with any epubs. It's simply a tool that many people find useful. Many vendors and public libraries require ADE to work and Calibre can't replace it.

[★Meghan★]

When borrowing from other people on here it seems that ADE works when pulling up the copy...however when wanting to put it onto your Nook, you will have to just copy and paste the file from your Downloads folder into the Digital Editions of your Nook folder.