Wednesday, July 7, 2010

How to buy an e-book without buying an e-reader first

I've had a few friends and relatives tell me how sorry they are that The Sergeant's Lady is an e-book, because they'd love to support me by buying my novel, but they can't afford or have no interest in an e-reader.

Good news!

If you're reading this blog post, you can read The Sergeant's Lady once it comes out. You don't need a Kindle, a Nook, or an iPad. Any computer or smartphone should do the trick. All you have to do is either buy the PDF version of the book or download a free Kindle app for your computer or phone.

PDF: Carina, along with many other electronic publishers, allows you to buy books in PDF format direct from their website. You add the book to your shopping cart, choose the PDF version when prompted to do so, and after you pay you're given the opportunity to download the file. You'll then have a PDF, which you can read on your PC or Mac. If your workplace is anything like mine, you've seen a ton of the things. Your PDF of The Sergeant's Lady will function just like those workplace files, only it's a fascinating story of star-crossed lovers in a war zone in 1811 Spain instead of a dry listing of lab protocols or NIH policies.

Free Kindle apps: Amazon wants your e-book business too much to limit sales only to customers who've bought a Kindle. With that in mind, they've created free Kindle apps for Macs, PCs, iPhones, iPads, BlackBerries, and Androids.

All you have to do is go to the Kindle Store, choose the appropriate application for your device, and follow the instructions to download. Then, go back to the Kindle Store and pre-order The Sergeant's Lady! (Hey, it's my blog. I get to self-promote.)

And while you're waiting for my Aug. 23 release, try a few more titles to get comfortable with the interface. If you're on a tight budget, you can get tons of books for free or very cheap. Most classics are available in free or $0.99 editions, for example, so this could be the perfect time to re-read Little Women or Pride & Prejudice. Many publishers offer the occasional free or cheap release of a newer book, too.

18 comments:

  1. Very helpful, Susanna. Thanks for posting! I will link on Twitter too.

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  2. It's sort of embarrassing that as the author of 3 dozen e-books, I still don't own an e-reader. What I do have is an old Dell PDA. I use the free-to-download Mobi-Pocket software and it works just fine!

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  3. How exciting, Susanna! I can't wait to read your book! I don't have an ebook reader but love reading on the Kindle (for Mac) app. Or I also read PDF all the time.

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  4. Great advice! When Cattitude is out, I'll be directing readers to this link.

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  5. Yes, although it all sounds complicated it's actually very easy to read e-books. I'm using iBooks and the free Kindle app on my iPhone and iPad but PDFs can be read easily enough on computer or laptop. Adobe Digital Editions (again, it's free) does a super job with epub format on computers too.

    Interesting post, Susanna.

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  6. I'll have to learn more about Mobi-Pocket and Adobe Digital Editions and add them to a future update of this post. I started with Kindle for iPhone about a year ago, then got a Kindle as an anniversary present a few months later, so that's the only format I know from personal experience. Aside from PDFs, of course, though I wouldn't choose to read a novel that way if I had other options--maybe it's just too strongly associated with lab protocols and NIH rules for me!

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  7. Thanks for this post Susanna. I too do not have an e-reader. And I'd like to support friends who have e-books coming out. Woo hoo! I can buy those books and actually be able to read them!

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  8. I started off reading PDF files on my computer and still do read the odd book on my laptop instead of my PDA.

    Also for all those people who own modern phones that do everything - try an ebook. Then, instead of texting during a quite time or a wait in a queue you can read a book about 1811 spain.

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  9. Will Carina books be available for printing on one of those Espresso machines? (I'm still really attached to paper.)

    And oh, man. I just saw Betsy-Tacy on your Librarything. Now I will have to read your book for sure :)

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  10. Ah, yes, reading an e-book on a smart phone is wonderful. You LOOK like the kind of Serious, Hardworking Person who reads important work emails while waiting in line for coffee, but REALLY your mind is thousands of miles and hundreds of years away, having adventures!

    Cecilia, I don't know about Espresso, but I'll check.

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  11. You can also download ereaders from Kobo and Stanza, which is my favorite for the iPod touch. I have all my ebooks on both my touch and my nook. That way I can carry my touch with me everywhere and read it while in waiting rooms, but keep my nook on my side table for serious reading.

    And oh, wow--I forgot about those Espresso machines! It would be cool to direct readers to that but I wonder how much more expensive it would be?

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  12. I have an actual Kindle plus the Kindle apps for iPhone and PC. Since they synch, I can go to whatever device is currently handy and pick up my book wherever I left off regardless of whether I was reading it on the same equipment the last time.

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  13. A great reminder to everyone that ebooks are easy to obtain. When it's raining outside and you don't want to drive to B&N for a book to read, just download your favorite author.

    ~~Angi

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  14. Great post. I just Twittered a link to this blog (do you have a Twitter account Susanna?).

    I read many ebooks on my laptop with MS Reader and iTouch before finally breaking down and buying a Nook. Now, I love my Nook so much, I feel like I'm cheating on it if I read a paper book.

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  15. Saw Becky's Twitter link and came over to comment. I can't believe your Carina release is coming next month already! Wow!

    I don't have an e-reader either, so I read e-books on my computer using Adobe Digital Editions - it's a free download.

    Also, I have a little netbook and figured out how to turn it into a pseudo e-reader. Open Digital Editions first. Then, hit cntr+alt+arrow keys to shift the screen layout and use space bar to turn pages. It's a little bulkier than a Kindle or Nook, but it's a nice compromise.

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  16. It used to be true that ebooks were hard to read on a computer. But that was back when we had only those clunky old monitors. Every year computer and laptop screens improve and today the images are sharp, precise and clear and don't produce the eye strain of the older monitors. I read on my big laptop, but prefer my mini netbook, which goes on trips, to meetings or to Starbucks shut-up-and-write sessions. I had an ereader but the screen was too low in contrast for me.

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  17. Forgot to mention I got the Kindle for PC software free, and it's my favorite now. I also use Adobe Acrobat for pdf, or oh heck what's the other one that Sony uses. My books come in almost all formats so I want to be able to read them if I need to.

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  18. Very interesting! I' m waiting to buy a reader thingie.

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