I recently got a boox go color 7 because I dont have space to buy physical books. the only platforms I can find that have a decent selection are ones like kindle where you dont get the book, only the ability to read it through their app. i want to use the built in reader on my device and I dont want to be able to get rugpulled by Amazon or lose access to my books when a smaller company goes under.

I'm fairly comfortable on the high seas but whenever a book is available without DRM I'd prefer to buy it so I can support the author. do you guys know any platforms with a good selection of drm-free ebooks? Manga too, but I'm pretty sure the only place you can get it in the us anymore is viz through an app. also as a side question, what format is best?

top 19 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] mesamunefire@piefed.social 22 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Baen library was one of the first back when amazon first started. They still do. You can even get free books. All books free or paid are drm free.

https://www.baen.com/categories/free-library.html

[–] unknown1234_5@kbin.earth 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

their selection seems a little lacking but free books is nice

[–] pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 week ago

Louis McMaster Bojould is a great author who publishes through BAEN.

[–] CannonGoBoom@lemmy.world 17 points 1 week ago (1 children)

https://lemmy.world/post/42441458

This is a good list

[–] unknown1234_5@kbin.earth 2 points 1 week ago

thanks

[–] IcedRaktajino@startrek.website 8 points 1 week ago

I get mine from ebooks.com

Not all are DRM free, though, but there's a good selection available. It's up to the author/publisher whether to release them DRM-free, though, so it's not their choice.

For the DRM-free ones, you can just straight-up download the epub for them which is fantastic.

[–] fujiwood@piefed.social 6 points 1 week ago

https://standardebooks.org/

These are public doman ebooks that are free because they are old.

[–] ImUsuallyMoreClever@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Anna's Archive!

If you want to support the author you can still buy the physical book and donate it, or see if they have a patreon (or similar) to donate to.

[–] unknown1234_5@kbin.earth 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

could do that, but I'd rather actually buy the eBook bc it is less likely to have weird errors than a pirated copy.

[–] ImUsuallyMoreClever@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

That's fair. There are often errors in the pirated copies.

[–] fizzle@quokk.au 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Just buy from wherever and then pirate the copy you read.

[–] unknown1234_5@kbin.earth 11 points 1 week ago

ive been doing that so far but I also want to support the people/platforms that will just straight up sell me the book so they dont go out of business. also, pirated copies sometimes have weird issues.

[–] pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

I find that searching for "[book title] DRM-free ePub" reliably gets results... And sometimes allows me to compensate the author.

Of course, I no longer care about compensating authors who don't publish DRM-free.

By which I mean I abstain from their work (obviously!)... even though a DRM-free version is nearly always a tantalizing click away.

[–] unknown1234_5@kbin.earth 4 points 1 week ago

don't worry, if they won't sell me the book I have no issue pirating it. I'm looking for the ones that will, so I can compensate them for their work and (though one person doesnt make much difference) discourage the use of DRM.

[–] MrQuallzin@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I no longer care about compensating authors who don't publish DRM-free

I'd direct those feelings at the publishers, not the author. Authors could very well have no control over the DRM their publishers use, and trying to go about distribution without a publisher (who can provide marketing and advertising) more often than not leads to their books not being read.

[–] pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Yes.

I'm not angry at the authors, I'm just done jumping through hoops for them.

It is so many extra steps to buy a DRM infected file and separately go find a free file. I just find another author. DRM prevents sales, while doing nothing against Piracy.

There's plenty of indie authors who deserve my attention, anyway.

I stopped purchasing Humble Bundles because they're about 50% DRM infected, now.

But Story Bundle finds fantastic indie authors and has no DRM.

I am finding that Many of those authors sell their books through Patreon, which is a perfect format for an author who I know 100% I'm buying their next book on day one anyway.

[–] Kronusdark@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Tor Publishing books are usually DRM free wherever you by them, so I think technically any ebook store can sell DRM free books, Make sure you check the product listing. I've gotten a couple off Amazon (although I don't recommend them for ebooks anymore because of the kindle lockdown)

[–] unknown1234_5@kbin.earth 1 points 1 week ago

yeah, but most platforms dont let you download the actual file

[–] swelter_spark@reddthat.com 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Smashwords. And I prefer epub.