I’m looking for a store where I could buy e-books which are usable by Kindle. I don’t use the e-reader that much, so I don’t want to buy a completely new device as the old one is perfectly fine. But I also want to have an option to use it from time to time (Amazon already got their money so it would be a waste to buy a new device)
My main problem (and please correct me if I’m wrong) is, that stores which I found mostly contain books in epub format (with DRM) which can’t be opened by the Kindle and which would need to be converted via 3rd party applications.
Are there some good stores with ease of use that’s similar to the Amazon’s one? Buy a book, send it to device, done. Or do I need to accept, that I will need to somehow convert books before using them?
Calibre is fantastic software for loading books not from Amazon on to the kindle completely bypassing Amazon, and you can permanently leave your Kindle in airplane mode to not let Amazon collect data on you.
Also, side bar on [email protected] has a nice megathread that provides info on getting ebooks that might not be available to purchase outside of Amazon. Which you can then send you your Kindle with calibre.
Some models also have the option of ditching amazon for cfw which means out the box pdf and epub compatibility.
That sounds like a great option, but my problem is that my main device is not a PC, but rather a tablet where this software can’t be used. That’s why I hoped for some store that provides books also in mobi format. We already have one such store in my country, but the problem is that their e-book selection is not great (as they’re mostly a physical book store)
But thank you for a specific software recommendation. I’ll keep it in mind and probably make it work somehow. Much appreciated.
That depends on what OS your tablet is running. Calibre is cross-platform, so chances are it can run on your tablet.
It’s iPad OS, which is (based on Calibre webpage) not supported.
Empik sells epubs, Legimi has a kindle friendly plan but somehow their ebooks expire when the subscription runs out.
You forgot to tell us which language you’re reading.
Not European, but Rakuten offers a page with DRM-free ebooks: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/p/drm-free
Just FYI, Kindle does not support ePub directly. You have to send the file through Amazon or use something like Calibre.
You can also use your Amazon-provided email address to send the books as an attachment − I do this a lot when I don’t have my computer with me :)
Indeed!
Could you use https://github.com/dstark5/Openlib ?
Then you have access to Anna’s Archive
Are there some good stores with ease of use that’s similar to the Amazon’s one? Buy a book, send it to device, done. Or do I need to accept, that I will need to somehow convert books before using them?
You better be ready to accept that as, to the best of my knowledge no one but Amazon sells DRM-protected ebooks that works on the Kindle.
You can fin DRM-free ebooks that for now you can still upload on a Kindle, but seeing how Amazon has started removing features (like the ability to download your purchased ebooks and transfer them trhough USB), I would not bet this option will be there forever.
Thank you for hint. That sounds like the easiest solution. Find a DRM-free book and upload it to Kindle. I’m fully aware that it might not be a future-proof solution, but I’m fine with that. I’ll use it while it still works and afterwards, I’ll look for other options.
I am not aware of any stores that sell Kindle’s MOBI format books. But there are stores that sell DRM-free EPUBs. You can use Amazon’s SendToKindle service to send them to your Kindle. There are also online converters that can convert EPUB to MOBI.
As a Finn, these are the only stores I know that sell DRM-free e-books. I don’t know if any of them sells e-books to other countries, but they all sell non-Finnish books as well. The DRM-free books are watermarked, which means the store adds some identifying information (your email address) to the books when you buy them.
- Adlibris is a Swedish store that operates also in Norway and Finland. They among other things sell DRM-free e-books. Just be warned that some of the e-books have Adobe DRM.
- Ellibs is a Finnish e-bookstore that sells both DRM-free and Adobe DRM’d e-books. This is the only one of these stores that has an English page.
- Suomalainen Kirjakauppa (Finnish Bookstore) is a … Finnish bookstore. All their e-books are DRM-free EPUBs. Their prices tend to be a bit on the high side, though.
You can try to find more bookstores if you search for stores selling DRM-free or watermarked EPUBs.
And if anyone knows other stores that sell DRM-free e-books in English, do let us all know.
That’s the thing that confuses me. We have a Slovak bookstore https://martinus.sk/ which sells ebooks in epub/mobi/PDF formats. Unfortunately they’re mostly in Slovak/Czech language. Also frequently the ebooks marked as “sale ended”. So technically it works, but the offering could be bigger. That’s why I thought there might be something like that, but on a bigger scale.
But as I mentioned in other comment, for now I will manage with using DRM-free epub books. That should be sufficient for me while it still works. Thank you for suggestions.
If I were you, I’d be looking for another ebook reader. Even more so because Amazon is owned by Bezos, who supports the Trump regime.
I’m aware of that, but that sounds like a waste to me. And I don’t mean financially. I’m just not a fan of getting rid of a piece of hardware while it’s still working perfectly fine, just to “prove a point”. I’m not willing to send any additional money to Amazon for books, but the hardware is already paid for.
But of course once the time comes for a new device, it will be a different brand.
