Finally committed to an e-reader

[SC Minnie]

We got DD a Nook for Christmas. She is going to be sooo excited. I am glad to hear others like it. We were torn between the Nook and Kindle but decided on Nook.

 

[golfgal]

And today is Friday, so B&N is offering two free books today! Don't forget to download them to your library, so you'll have lots of books waiting for you when you do finally open your nook!

Do those only show up on your actual Nook or are they the same ones on their website? Was the James Patterson one of them?

 

[MrsPete]

I'm getting a Nook for Christmas too. You can go to B&N website and start putting free books in your account. Just sign in or create an account then follow the links or tabs.

I have the Kindle, not the Nook, but I bet this advice is universal: If you see a FREE book that looks interesting, grab it while it's free. Many authors seem to be putting their books up for free just for a limited time, then days later they're suddenly available at cost. I think they do this because being free gets them into the bestseller list, and that gets them attention. It's the equivalent of having your book right in front of the door at the mall's bookstore -- more people will see it, and more people will buy it. So don't wait! Tomorrow that "eh, I might read it" free book may cost $9.99.

 

[bas71873]

So after a lot of thought(mostly because I am just an indecisive person) and nagging from my husband I decided to get the Nook for Christmas. I hope it is a choice I will be satisfied with I'm actually excited to open it on Christmas morning!!!

ME TOO. I think I've spent more time researching these crazy e-readers than I did planning my wedding

 

[bas71873]

I'm getting a Nook for Christmas too. You can go to B&N website and start putting free books in your account. Just sign in or create an account then follow the links or tabs.

THANKS for this tip!

 

[bas71873]

They are whole books. It is very different from the buttons for the sample previews. The price will simply be $0.00. I'm not sure about nook eBooks, but Kindle eBooks are only free for a very limited time somewhere between hours to a few days.

Unless it is one of those books in the public domain, expect the books not to be always be there as a free download.

HOWEVER, once you have "bought" the free eBook and it is part of your eBook library at B&N, it is yours to keep, free, forever and can be downloaded later once you finally have the Nook, or re-downloaded if you delete if off the Nook. So it's best to get them when you find them. Save copies to a back-up, like a flash drive.

Here is a list for some of the free eBooks at B&N.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/Free-eBooks/379001668/

There are new free ones that come out all the time. I don't know how B&N lists those as some of them aren't on this list but I know they are currently free.

Question. I just put 7 free books into my Nook account (getting it for Cmas) and then I archived them all. I have NOT downloaded them. Are they safe there in my B&N account under Archive? Do I have to archive? I'm new to this and not a big techie??

 

[bas71873]

Can anyone offer some websites where I can download some FREE ebooks for my Nook (so I'm ready to go on Cmas morning)? Other than B&N obviously. Thanks.

 

[shinysparklybubbles]

Ugh I got my mom a kindle for Christmas and now I am wondering if I made a mistake. I didn't realize you couldn't get library books on the kindle. I was thinking of getting her the color nook but I read if you read longer than 30+ mins the kindle is better. What to do, what to do?!

 

[bas71873]

Ugh I got my mom a kindle for Christmas and now I am wondering if I made a mistake. I didn't realize you couldn't get library books on the kindle. I was thinking of getting her the color nook but I read if you read longer than 30+ mins the kindle is better. What to do, what to do?!

I went back & forth between the Kindle & the Nook. The Nook (3G Wifi) ultimately won out because of the library access. I plan to stick with mostly the free B&N books (and other websites) and the library access. I'm just not one to buy books ordinarily. I didn't go for the Nook color because 1) it's backlit and I didn't want that; 2) the battery life is only 8 hours; 3) and it just has a bunch of "stuff" I'll never use. I won't use the apps and I'm not an electronic magazine reader. I just wanted a true Ereader and the nook just appealed to me more.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[MickeyBA]

Question. I just put 7 free books into my Nook account (getting it for Cmas) and then I archived them all. I have NOT downloaded them. Are they safe there in my B&N account under Archive? Do I have to archive? I'm new to this and not a big techie??

I'm wondering this too. I am giving a nook to my 13 year old and I set up an account with some free books that I thought she might like. I also had some in my library that I didn't put there. Is that normal? I didn't archive. Just left them where they went for them to be downloaded.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

Probably a really dumb question but asking it anyway...The ebooks on Amazon, can they only be read on a kindle or can they also be read on the nook?

Only if you resort to somewhat unethical behavior.

You have to strip the DRM (encryption) in order to put an Kindle book on the Nook and Vice Versa (not that I know anything about that )

 

[aprilvaca04]

ME TOO. I think I've spent more time researching these crazy e-readers than I did planning my wedding

Definitely....for some reason I felt sooo much pressure that I could make a "wrong" decision. It was getting insane and we actually started to have to argue over the gift. I feel like a child and can't wait to open it to make sure I made the "right' decision...it's kinda sick

 

[Imzadi]

Question. I just put 7 free books into my Nook account (getting it for Cmas) and then I archived them all. I have NOT downloaded them. Are they safe there in my B&N account under Archive? Do I have to archive? I'm new to this and not a big techie??

I don't know. I don't have either eReader, either. So I've just been leaving them where they are waiting to be downloaded. I had thought they'd be okay as there is a record that I "bought" them.

With Amazon, you buy an eBook, it stays in your account until Amazon falls into the ocean. I thought it's the same way with B&N. But, this is a good question, as they may have different rules.

Probably a really dumb question but asking it anyway...The ebooks on Amazon, can they only be read on a kindle or can they also be read on the nook?

Kindle books are in mobi format and cannot be put on a Nook or Sony. There are Kindle apps for mobile devices and the Kindle for PC software so you can read those eBooks on your computer - just not on a Nook or Sony. It's the great "Format Wars" of the 2010s, like which will win out: VHS or Beta. Only time will tell.

 

[Imzadi]

Amazon ebooks can only be read on a Kindle, and B&N ebooks can only be read on the Nook.

This is not quite accurate. There is a free converter called Calibre, which can convert some eBooks to be read on a Kindle. Don't know much about that though.

What about ebooks from places like borders.com, can they be read on either?

I think the eBooks from Borders are in ePub format only. So either they can be converted to the Kindle as stated above, or they will only work on Nooks & the Sony eReader.

You can get an eBook from ANYWHERE as long as it's in the proper format for the eReader.

Nook & Sony format are: PDF, EPub, TXT

Kindle are: Mobi or their own .azn format. And sometimes if a book can be converted with a converter to be read on them.

Remember: (general you)
Library eBooks can NOT be converted to be read on Kindles.

Library eBooks can NOT be converted to be read on Kindles.

Library eBooks can NOT be converted to be read on Kindles.


Even the library's mobi versions canNOT be converted to Kindles. They are for other mobile devices which can download a Mobi app.

Library mobi format eBooks can NOT be converted to be read on Kindles. Complain to Jeff Bezos, Amazon's owner about this.

 

[bas71873]

I'm wondering this too. I am giving a nook to my 13 year old and I set up an account with some free books that I thought she might like. I also had some in my library that I didn't put there. Is that normal? I didn't archive. Just left them where they went for them to be downloaded.

OK. I found the answer to this, in of all places, the FAQ on the B&N Nook site. Short answer is, leave them in your library until you register your Nook and then they will appear in your library on your Nook once that's up and running. When you archive your downloaded books, they will still be available in your B&N account, but not on your Nook (until you move them back to your library). So when you have finished a book, move it to the archives, so you have it, but it doesn't bog down your Nook library

Christmas morning just needs to hurry up already

 

[bas71873]

OH, I found another great little tip on another thread.

If you go to the B&N nookbook website and instead of just goingto the freebooks link, type 0.00 in the search bar at the top (where you ordinarily put in a title or an author) and TONS of freebies come up. Over to the left you can filter that by genre. I don't even have my gadget yet and have about 25 freebies waiting in my account....all from B&N.

 

[Kycha]

Can anyone offer some websites where I can download some FREE ebooks for my Nook (so I'm ready to go on Cmas morning)? Other than B&N obviously. Thanks.

Here are some websites I have found that offer free ebooks.

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page
http://booksontheknob.blogspot.com/
http://manybooks.net/
http://books.google.com/ebooks

If you are downloading ebooks for the Nook at a website other than B&N.com, make sure you download the proper format(ePub, pdf or pdb).

You will also need to download Adobe Digital Editions. This program helps you manage the ebooks that you download. It is pretty easy to use.

 

[Imzadi]

OK. I found the answer to this, in of all places, the FAQ on the B&N Nook site. Short answer is, leave them in your library until you register your Nook and then they will appear in your library on your Nook once that's up and running. When you archive your downloaded books, they will still be available in your B&N account, but not on your Nook (until you move them back to your library). So when you have finished a book, move it to the archives, so you have it, but it doesn't bog down your Nook library

Christmas morning just needs to hurry up already

Thanks for looking up that info. it would have really sucked had I archived the eBooks and then finally hooked up a Nook or the laptop software and none of the eBooks showed up. I probably would have thought B&N simply deleted the books from my account, rather than that I accidentally put them elsewhere.

OH, I found another great little tip on another thread.

If you go to the B&N nookbook website and instead of just going to the freebooks link, type 0.00 in the search bar at the top (where you ordinarily put in a title or an author) and TONS of freebies come up. Over to the left you can filter that by genre. I don't even have my gadget yet and have about 25 freebies waiting in my account....all from B&N.

Thanks, I couldn't get their Search working for me before. I was imputing $0 and nothing was coming up. I know I had missed out on older deals and I wanted to see if they were still available.

Plus, I had just downloaded 3 of the latest free promo books and it wasn't appearing on the Free eBooks link. So I knew that link was all inclusive or updated accurately.

Make sure you look at the KB of an eBook. A normal, full size book of 300 pages is about 300 KB. I've noticed several short stories of 50KB, that weren't described as such, for free. I think the short stories or novellas take up the majority of the free listings.

You'd do better checking out your local library. Also, some of the larger libraries in your STATE may offer statewide memberships. You just have to provide state residency to get one of their membership cards, and be able to download their eBooks. Check your state libraries' websites.

Here are some websites I have found that offer free ebooks.

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page
http://booksontheknob.blogspot.com/
http://manybooks.net/
http://books.google.com/ebooks

If you are downloading ebooks for the Nook at a website other than B&N.com, make sure you download the proper format(ePub, pdf or pdb).

Booksontheknob.com is my favorite site to look for free eBooks.

She gives the full description of each book, plus she cross-checks to see if it is free in the other formats and posts a link so you don't have to hunt for them. This way, if you don't have an eReader yet, you can download both/all formats and have them for when you finally do choose an eReader. You won't have lost out on getting the free eBooks because you don't have an eReader yet. (The freebies are free for only a few days.) AND you won't have compiled all the free eBooks in the wrong format for the eReader you finally get.

The links for the Nook & Sony are always at the END of her posts. It is really a Kindle blog, so she always links her books to Amazon first. The links for the Nook & Sony are always at the END of her posts, where it says to get the Nook edition click "HERE." And if you ever land on a page and the eBook is not coming up free, you are either on the wrong website, or the promotion is over. Don't expect it to show up free during check out, if Karen hasn't stated that will happen.

She's great about explaining stuff like that. There is a book currently free at Borders but it doesn't download correctly. (Borders is a very badly designed site.) She tells how to get around their software glitches.

Karen also explains about the Calibre conversion stuff with each eBook, if there is any. So if there is a free eBook you really want for Kindle, she will also say whether it can be converted - before anyone wonders.

 

[Kathi OD]

their favorite free books?

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

Library eBooks can NOT be converted to be read on Kindles.

Library eBooks can NOT be converted to be read on Kindles.

Library eBooks can NOT be converted to be read on Kindles.

I actually have about 5 library books on my Kindle right now