Bringing down the walls: how to buy US ebooks
Posted on 30. Oct, 2009 by JD in News, Tips, blog
We all know that reading ebooks in Australia is a battle for content. We can buy any printed book we like from Amazon.com, but ebooks are a different story (for no good reason). Here’s how to buy from some US sites:
For PC/eReader
1. Sign up for an account at Mobipocket.com
2. You’ll need to get “creative” about your address. Are there any towns/suburbs in the US with the same name as yours? Makes things easy to remember.
3. Add your credit card details. Oz cards seem to work). Bestsellers: up to $US14.99
4. Download and transfer/read. If you have to convert the format, there’s a wiki here. Do a small liturgical dance of joy.
PS: Hey – this works at ebooks.com too! Loooovely.
For iPhone
1. Sign up for an account at Kobo (formerly Shortcovers.com)
2. Again you’ll need to develop a split personality, address-wise.
3. Add your credit card details. (Oz cards work OK). Bestsellers: up to $US9.99
4. Download the iPhone app (yep – it’s in the Oz app store) and download. Pine away for a kindle app and wonder why it isn’t here yet.
Are the mobipocket downloads DRM-protected? I have an Australian-registered Kindle which can support non-DRM protected mobipocket but not the DRM kind.
All of Mobipocket’s books have DRM, except their free books and (trial excerpts). Other vendors sell DRM-free Mobipocket books – check out http://www.Fictionwise.com for the “Multiformat” list. They should work too, but the range is limited. There are Python scripts that can strip the DRM from encrypted mobipocket files, but you’ll need a bit of tech knowlege. If you’re keen, Google “MobideDRM scripts”. Also, some people report that ebook reading/converting program calibre http://calibre-ebook.com can convert DRM-ed Mobipocket books to non-DRM. I haven’t tried that. Good luck