Regarding the free books from either b&n or
amazon..are they really books you'd want anyway?
Who has better pricing for ebooks usually...amazon or b&n?
I have never found any of the free eBooks to be a new bestseller, or soon to be bestseller. Some are the older books of an author who is releasing a new book. They want the advertising hype, get people hooked on their writing, and hope they will BUY their new book after reading their old book.
Outlander, was free a couple months ago. That one is very famous in that genre. But,
Outlander, is a 10 year old book.
Most are 2nd rate authors wanting exposure. And a good handful at Amazon are independent authors. Amazon has started their own eBook publishing program. Many authors who could not get published at a publishing house are using Amazon to get known by releasing their eBooks free for a short period of time.
Some established authors are going the route of self-publishing, but it's slow going. Publishers not only publish books, they do all the advertising, arrange book tours for the authors, and deal directly with bookstores to get the books IN the stores and in prominent places on certain book shelves.
Personally, as I've been reading more & more badly written, free eBooks, I am turning into a Bestseller snob.
There is a good
reason why publishers have turned down some people.
As for pricing, Amazon tends to be cheaper. But several months ago, the largest publishing houses banded together to stop Amazon selling eBooks so low. They actually wanted to RAISE their prices much higher - about the equivalent price of their actual hardcovers. The publishing houses want to set the price, not the individual stores or websites. They want an "industry standard" pricing.
Many of the houses took ALL their books (paper & eBooks) away from Amazon, until Amazon was forced to give in a few weeks later.
It was a dark day for all eReaders - the humans, not the devices.
) So, basically, for newer eBooks, you will find the same price no matter where you buy from. On Amazon's website, the price will often say something like, "Price set by publisher."
From my research, it appears Amazon's prices are cheaper than B&N, but again, I'm a cheapskate and going the freebie route as long as I can.
The kicker for me in deciding was the LACK of epub support with the Kindle. Most ebooks are in epub format and Kindle does not, yet, support that. Who knows if they ever will.
Good luck deciding.
Google (the huge, unstoppable Internet giant,) has joined together with
Sony, (one of the largest recording industry giants,) to try to make ePub the eBook standard.)
They are going up against
Amazon, a giant unto itself, who just wants to sell their mobi format eBooks.
It is truly the "VHS vs. Beta" wars for eBooks.
My library, the NYPL, has 15,
000 free eBooks. Roughly 3,000 in the genres I read, and most of them are the latest NY Times bestsellers, as this is NY. So, when I finally invest in an eReader, it will have to be a Nook or Sony. Unless, the Kindle becomes so cheap that I decide to buy both.
.You have to be on the same BN account and then you can share the "library". I read somewhere that there can be up to 6 Nooks on one BN account. Don't quote me on that, but I think it's up to 6....
It is basically the same with Amazon too. 5-6 accounts can share the same library.
As much as I believe the Kindle is the better e-reader if library books are important to you, you can still get a membership through the Free Library of Philadelphia. It costs $15 per year for non-residents.
http://libwww.freelibrary.org/register/getcard1.cfm
Here is the link to actually see what eBooks are available there:
http://freelibrary.lib.overdrive.com/A888BB6A-1C31-46CD-8F46-A02BABDB22BD/10/354/en/AdvancedSearch.htm
I'm hoping more libraries will start doing non-resident memberships once they see how successful this program is for Philly. Every $15 membership brings in much needed funds, while city's library budgets are being cut during this economic downturn.
I missed the 
smiley.
since he was in the area. We don't have a B&N up here in Southern Maine. But I did see that Walmart was also selling the Nook for the same price. I try really hard not to shop Walmart(long story so no flames please) so I was happy to support another retailer and getting it for the same price.
