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B&N Removes Download Buttons from Website, Stranding Millions of Customers’s eBooks

nook itunesReports are coming in from multiple sources today that Barnes & Noble is locking down the Nook platform.

Nook customers on MobileRead Forums and on B&N’s own support forums are reporting that the download buttons for their Nook ebook purchases are no longer present in the My Nook section of the B&N website. These buttons enabled readers to download a copy of their ebook and transfer said ebook to another app or device. (While B&N is known for having mutant DRM, there are a number of apps that support it.)

Many of the reports echo this post from MobileRead:

I have a Sony, Kobo, and Nexus tablet, but not a Nook. I have purchased books from B&N in the past (mostly due to some good sale prices) and they have the books I purchased from Fictionwise there (I think it was Fictionwise. It was one of the multitude of now closed stores anyway).

It seems they have suddenly removed the "download" option from all of the books in my library.

There are numerous other reports, and I can confirm myself that the buttons are gone – for the most part.

my nook page barnes noble

I can’t speak for other B&N customers, but I checked my Nook account and noticed that one particular subset of the ebooks in my account could still be downloaded.

While I can’t download the ebooks I bought from B&N, I can download some of the titles which had been transferred to B&N when they shuttered Fictionwise. In particular, the ebooks which had been self-published through Fictionwise can still be downloaded.

I don’t know why some of the buttons are missing, but I can add that I have apprised B&N of the problem and asked them to fix it. I will update this post if I receive a response.

Update: I just read on MobileRead that an official Nook Twitter account tweeted, the following, confirming that this was not a technical snafu.

But until they say they can fix it, let’s assume they can’t or won’t and start looking for a workaround. I’m not throwing dirt around, just suggesting that readers look out for their own interests.

One could download the ebooks o the Nook for PC app (and then strip the DRM), but since that has been formally abandoned I don’t know how long before B&N decided to cut off that app. It’s also illegal here in the US.

There is also talk over on MobileRead about a GreaseMonkey script which added the download button to all of the purchased ebooks; sadly that script has itself gone missing.

Do you know how we can solve this?

I’d like to know for my own sake, and I also want to help readers. The comments are open.

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Comments


fjtorres September 18, 2014 um 12:43 pm

I can’t even download the multiformat fictionwise titles.


Geoffrey Kidd September 18, 2014 um 1:07 pm

Ditto. ALL downloads are gone. And my transferred library from FW is large enough that the PC App chokes itself to death.


Jesslyn September 18, 2014 um 1:38 pm

This is a perfect example of why early ebook buyers were distrustful of DRM.

LoganK September 18, 2014 um 10:39 pm

To be totally fair, this decision has little to do with DRM. This is more of an argument against the "cloud", similar to how Apple was (is?) no longer letting customers re-download their Disney movies.

It stills seems like a terrible idea unless Barnes & Noble is simply trying to get attention. No such thing as bad press, right?

If this is a DRM issue, they are playing a really long game. First, take away the download button. Then update all applications to start using protected storage. Then get every one of your customers to upgrade to the latest version. Then hope that no one figures out an easy method to access the protected storage on one of the multitude of platforms you are supporting.

Yeah, it could work, but it’s a decent amount of money to spend and a lot of wishful thinking to solve a problem that isn’t significant. It also makes the more-friendly DRM that B&N uses completely useless and no longer an advantage.

It’s not like Amazon is any better in this regard, but it seems like Kobo is a somewhat viable alternative. Even though I have no problems with LCD/OLEDs, I was already eyeing the Aura H20 as a nice vacation reader.

I am usually on here defending B&N, but there is nothing I can offer up to justify this decision. They are still one of the better booksellers, but they seem pretty insistent on making sure that doesn’t remain true much longer.


Angry Reader September 18, 2014 um 2:10 pm

The GreaseMonkey script BN-Dload can be recovered via the Wayback Machine:

https://web.archive.org/web/20131112172430/http://userscripts.org/scripts/review/152985

Nate Hoffelder September 18, 2014 um 2:14 pm

Thank you!


fjtorres September 18, 2014 um 2:14 pm

I was able to download the files to my android tablet with the Nook App version 3.4.1.20.
They imported fine into Aldiko.
Don’t know if newer versions allow it but I’m not updating it, just in case.


Basem September 18, 2014 um 3:27 pm

"I was able to download the files to my android tablet with the Nook App version 3.4.1.20."

In the current Android app you can locate the file in the Nook content directory but it won’t open with an external e-reader app (you are prompted by a DRM notice). However, you can copy the e-book from the directory and then transfer it to your PC and then see if you can use an application to remove the DRM (haven’t tried it). With Nook HD+ , B&N purchased e-book are locked to the native e-reader app (they won’t open with other epub reader apps).

I downloaded all my Nook books before this new policy B&N policy. It’s disappointing that B&N continues to move in this direction – first, they won’t allow you to export your highlights and annotations but now this too! They keep trying to lock the user and add further restrictions; I’m considering migrating to Kobo now, with the quality of their hardware. I’ll research Kobo and if they do this too or have a history of it, then I’ll go somewhere else.

fjtorres September 18, 2014 um 5:37 pm

The old version should be available at Freeware lovers…

eschwartz September 18, 2014 um 7:55 pm

Kobo has traditionally offered KEPUB and EPUB, allowing you to read on other devices.

Now they have stopped offering ADE EPUBs for many of their books. And the number of affected books is only growing.

At least B&N ebooks can still be transferred from an e-ink Nook and opened in ADE.

LS September 18, 2014 um 8:48 pm

I’ve found that Kobo doesn’t have ADE ePub downloads for any book sold in the ePub3 format. I now check the format before buying there to avoid ePub3’s.

millieska September 19, 2014 um 1:37 pm

Apparently this is a short-term (but too long IMO) issue that is supposed to be fixed by the end of the year. Not at all sure if it is entirely Kobo’s issue or if the format the books are submitted in and a lag from Adobe has something to do with it.

LS September 20, 2014 um 9:16 pm

Good to know! At the time Kobo told me something about the publishers not allowing downloads of ePub3’s yet, or something similar. Basically they just blamed the publishers for the problem & gave me my money back. Then they told me two ways I could tell if a book was downloadable before I purchased it, but of course only one of those ways actually worked. (save preview to library, then go to library to see if there was a download option under the title, then go back & purchase title if there is) It’s time consuming, but it works.


Syn September 18, 2014 um 3:47 pm

I see Barnes and Nobles is back to making customers warm and fuzzy over them. So many of my customers only shop there because they WANT to keep them in business. Thats fine, but make them work for it.

Nate Hoffelder September 18, 2014 um 7:53 pm

Yep. B&N just turned away a lot of their pity customers, as well as all the Epub users who may have price-shopped and occasionally wandered into the Nook Store. But hey, who needs customers?


purple lady September 18, 2014 um 4:11 pm

My workaround? Don’t buy from B&N anymore. I haven’t for a while because their prices are too high, but I definitely won’t anymore. They will probably go out of business quicker now, but that’s what happens to idiots.

Nate Hoffelder September 18, 2014 um 7:49 pm

Hear, hear!

Edhoel September 19, 2014 um 11:24 am

I stopped buying from b&n last year because of their higher prices. Farewell B&N, suicide by stupidity.


Juli Monroe September 18, 2014 um 4:13 pm

I read in the comments thread on Dear Author that someone used this as a reason to change any potential Apple settlement credits from B&N to a check. I thought that was an excellent idea and did the same. At least they made this move before the deadline to request a check. I bought way more from B&N than Amazon during the covered period, so potentially that’s several books worth of credit that I’ll be spending at Amazon instead of B&N.

Nate Hoffelder September 18, 2014 um 4:21 pm

That’s a good idea.

I never bought much from B&N, but I do have an extensive ex-Fictionwise library there. I think all of it is already in calibre, though, so I won’t miss it when Nook goes away.


Ed Bear September 18, 2014 um 4:26 pm

I have only one question left about B&N. Was it a Browning 1911a1 .45 or a Smith and Wesson .44 Magnum that they used on their foot?

fjtorres September 18, 2014 um 5:41 pm

Smith and Wesson model 500.

Ed Bear September 18, 2014 um 5:45 pm

Well, they still have an ankle to stand on. 😛

fjtorres September 18, 2014 um 6:20 pm

Wait ’till next week.
Those boys are creative…

Timothy Wilhoit September 18, 2014 um 7:56 pm

Nah, they don’t bother with guns. They’re so intent to destroy Amazon they create the perfect weapon: strap C4 to a boomerang. What could go wrong? (Besides the obvious) Randall Munroe does *not* approve. 😀

puzzled September 19, 2014 um 5:28 am

I thought they used an atomic hand-grenade…


Jason September 18, 2014 um 4:50 pm

More negative news for a company that is wallowing in it.


Bob W September 18, 2014 um 5:26 pm

The publishers need to get together and ensure that none of the other book stores allow side downloading of ebooks so we don’t lose competition. ;^)


Geoffrey Kidd September 18, 2014 um 5:31 pm

And just HOW will a cabal of publishers enforce such a demand on publishers who sell from their own websites and not only permit but encourage downloading and choice.

Baen Books springs to mind. They’re the reason I went all eBook all the time back in 2000.


Fbone September 18, 2014 um 5:33 pm

I wonder if it’s a publisher requirement as none of the major retailers now permit it.

fjtorres September 18, 2014 um 5:46 pm

It likely is.
B&N is too dependent on payola to deny them.
Typical of the BPHs, they’re aiming at one target and killing somebody else.
They think they can kill piracy? Watch them kill ADEPT instead.


Ed Bear September 18, 2014 um 5:59 pm

Excuse me. What is ADEPT, please?

Nate Hoffelder September 18, 2014 um 6:07 pm

Adept is one of the technical names for Adobe’s Epub DRM platform. It’s the DRM that Kobo, B&N, and Google use, among others.

fjtorres September 18, 2014 um 6:13 pm

And, which becomes irrelevant if all ebooks become app locked, right?

Ed Bear September 18, 2014 um 6:24 pm

Not necessarily. The moment you create a safe, you create safebreakers.

fjtorres September 18, 2014 um 6:34 pm

But Adept has already been cracked.That is why they’re doing this, to keep their precious from being shipped via insecure epub downloads.
If the stuff never gets out of the app, it might as well be iSilo or Tomeraider as epub.


Karl September 18, 2014 um 7:48 pm

While B&N has dropped the direct download / side load ability Amazon has not. I just checked my account and they still permit you to download and then side load on your device. Hate to say it but I guess I will be talking my wife into doing her eBook shopping at Amazon. She already stopped using an ereader and is using her iPad mini. Since I don’t trust B&N to be around in another year I think she needs to do her shopping else where. Especially if there will be no way to back up or recover her B&N ebooks.

Fbone September 18, 2014 um 9:55 pm

Amazon only permits download and side load if you have a Kindle.

Byrdie September 18, 2014 um 10:31 pm

No Kindle here, just the Kindle for PC App and I have no trouble digging my books out of that, then running them thru Calibre to decrap, convert to plain epubs & sideload them onto my Samsung tablet. Takes a little bit of help from Apprentice Alf & his wonderful Tools, but yes, it can be done.

Marc Cabot September 19, 2014 um 11:23 am

If you buy a DRM-enabled book from Amazon, or any publisher, you have to be logged into an app (and/or using an ereader) that can verify the credentials of the app/ereader to load the content. So in that sense, you can only down/side load, for some purposes, to an app or ereader linked to the source of purchase.

If you buy a non-DRM-enabled book from Amazon, you can do pretty much whatever you want with it.


Chris Meadows September 18, 2014 um 9:58 pm

As I said over here, I wonder if this might have something to do with that recent announcement that HarperCollins was going to watermark its e-books so it could tell where any piracy leaks came from? Perhaps B&N realizes that if people can download its books, they can crack them, so it wants to remove the ability to download its books?

Nate Hoffelder September 18, 2014 um 10:28 pm

I think that’s a stretch. It would require a level of technical ignorance that I don’t think even B&N senior management could have/.

LoganK September 18, 2014 um 10:56 pm

The HarperCollins thing was about finding leaks in the supply chain and shouldn’t apply here at all.

I posted in brief above that, yes, B&N crippling themselves in this way could result in it becoming more difficult to crack books, but it’s a really long game (years, at the least).

However, it’s still for nothing. Even if you make it so only 0.01% bother to access your content (and they will easily find a way) rather than the current 1% (pulled out of my ass), all it takes is 1 leak for everyone to get a copy. That’s how digital information works. It won’t stop outright copyright infringement. It may slow casual copying (e.g., giving the book to a relative), but is that really a problem and is it worth the cost of solving (again, by crippling your service)?

I guess B&N doesn’t think people want to buy books on vacation where hotel WiFi is frequently available on only one device…


Nighty September 18, 2014 um 11:52 pm

They should not be allowed to do this. If you bought a book at a time that downloading was a viable option you have every right to expect it to continue to be so. If they wanted I could see an argument in favor of removing the functionality from new purchases. But if they wanted to remove it from the old purchases. The LEAST they should do is send an e-mail to their customers apprising them of the fact and that they have x number of weeks to download their books.

At least with Kobo any book that was originally downloadable still is.


Richard Adin September 19, 2014 um 4:19 am

As many of you know, I have been a supporter of B&N largely because I want there to be competition. But now I need to reassess my support of B&N as regards ebooks. I plan to let management know that they have lost me as an ebook customer. I’ll still buy my hardcovers from B&N, but the truth is if I end up moving to Amazon for ebooks, hardcovers are likely to follow. Another dumb B&N move.


puzzled September 19, 2014 um 5:31 am

I looks like B&N has come up with a mechanism to guarantee zero piracy: if they sell no books, no one can pirate them.


Feda September 19, 2014 um 7:06 am

That is the price of buying stuff with DRM. You will never own it and they can take it away whenever they want. Never buy anything with DRM there are plenty of great books that you can get that don’t have it.


Kaetrin September 19, 2014 um 7:47 am

Nate, didn’t you tell me a while back that it’s not ePub3 that’s the problem at Kobo, but rather KePub? I am hearing that people are coming across difficulty downloading books from Kobo from time to time. Their CS will tell you it’s because of the ePub3 format but that’s not the real reason as I understand it.
There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to which books are affected. I’m hearing that some Tor books (which are supposed to be DRM free anyway) can’t be downloaded. Sometimes it’s the 3rd book in a series when the books on either side are fine.
I’m not buying any books from Kobo I can’t download but the sudden increase in frequency makes me wonder if there is some plan by Kobo to move to more KePub books. I *so* hope that doesn’t happen. Because I won’t buy from Kobo at all in that case. All Romance ebooks, Amazon and Smashwords will be the big winners there.

Nate Hoffelder September 19, 2014 um 10:43 am

TBH, just because the old problem was kepub doesn’t mean that the new problem is the same. It is equally frustrating, but it might have a different cause.

Kaetrin September 19, 2014 um 10:16 pm

Could it be that the problem is actually ePub3 though? (Which is what Kobo CS is telling people.) I understood that ePub3 downloads just fine.

Nate Hoffelder September 19, 2014 um 10:56 pm

I was thinking perhaps Kobo had configured their system to block the download of Epub3 format, specifically. There’s no technical reason for them to do this, but it is not out of the question.

Kaetrin September 19, 2014 um 11:26 pm

Wow. Why would they even do that? (That’s a question I’m asking about B&N too but as they don’t sell to Australians I have no dog in that fight).


DavidW September 19, 2014 um 8:59 am

I’m glad that I downloaded all of my nook books and saved them on my dropbox years ago and stopped buying from them. This is the problem with DRM’d ebooks– our rights as a consumer are not protected! Why pay for a license that might be revoked? For some people this policy change is the same as revoking their library. We should not support anyone in the publishing industry that would make such an anti-consumer decision. Even if it means Nook dies, let them die.


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Fair Warning: Going Amazon Exclusive for 3 Months – Becton Literary September 19, 2014 um 12:02 pm

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Kate September 19, 2014 um 12:56 pm

Google still offers ADEPT compatible ebooks in their store, as well as over 4 million DRM-free public domain books.

Funny how seldom Google comes up in a discussion of ebookstores, even though they’re one of the largest.

LoganK September 19, 2014 um 1:35 pm

Google’s Android application is pretty decent and supports immersive (fullscreen) mode. And they synchronize user content. And follow most of the standards.

I initially wrote them off because their offering was so poor and I couldn’t get my content to download (since they don’t have Windows or Mac readers). Wonder of wonders, though, Google got better. I am guilty of forgetting about them, as you say, but I can heartily recommend their store.

I think my two major complaints are that their page numbering doesn’t match Adobe’s page numbering, and it won’t let you download content you uploaded. Both are rather minor complaints.

fjtorres September 19, 2014 um 2:41 pm

Their strategy is to wait for everybody but Amazon and Apple to fold.
Then they’ll uncloak and come out with disruptors blazing. 🙂


Alexander Inglis September 19, 2014 um 1:36 pm

It is still possible to download "Nook for PC" from the Barnes and Noble website; last updated 2011; runs fine on Windows 7. I just installed this now. Logging in gives complete access to my purchased library and anything selected gets downloaded as an epub. From there you can backup and/or transfer your purchase to read on another device. It’s extremely customer unfriendly to drop downloading; but it’s still possible to do — at least on older Windows desktop / laptop computers.

Sarha November 24, 2014 um 3:27 pm

I can’t find where any of my nook books are stored on my PC when I downloaded them using Nook for PC.
Apparently they are encrypted?

Can anyone help?

Nate Hoffelder November 24, 2014 um 5:21 pm

I have Windows 7, and I found it under (user name) – My Documents – My B&N eBooks.


SethDove September 19, 2014 um 1:46 pm

I just bought two Nook Books from the BnN site, and they downloaded to my Mac via the Nook for Mac app. I have $40 left on a gift card that I am going to use fast and get my books. Then I am dropping BnN for good ( as far as ebooks go). I always strip the DRM from all my books on principle, and don’t share them. Stoopid company.


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Anna Erishkigal September 19, 2014 um 6:36 pm

I’ve avoided DRM from almost the beginning. It’s so disheartening to see my paranoia all along was right. 🙁 Amazon isn’t any better, though. They’ve got DRM jacked up to the ying-yang unless you use their apps (my globe-trotting daughter runs into trouble with her Kindle all the time whenever she crosses country zones and can’t access her books). Too big brother … nope. I ran into problems with Kobo lately, so I stopped buying from them as well. GooglePlay is nice. That’s my current backup store if Smashwords doesn’t have a book.

LoganK September 19, 2014 um 7:07 pm

This isn’t DRM, and is orthogonal to the issue. I feel like a broken record. 😛

If Google shut down the web interface for their music and forced you to use their client, would that be DRM? (There is already a weird 2-download limit when using the web interface that is likely tied to some dumb contract with the publishers.)

The move might be a part of a larger attempt to curb so-called "casual" copyright infringement, but, if so, it’s part of a larger, multi-year effort that is almost guaranteed to fail. Or maybe the publishers want B&N to count the number of downloads and pay for different usage levels (hey, they do it with libraries…). But it’s not really DRM in the common meaning.

No, this is just B&N or the big publishing houses deciding that the best way to capitalize on their customers is to screw them as hard as possible. I think I’m done with them and hopefully enough make a similar decision so that B&N are forced to re-think their hostile attitude. I should take a lesson from you, Anna, and just frequent Smashwords more.

Anna Erishkigal September 19, 2014 um 8:28 pm

While platform-specific, this is still a flavor of the 'DRM' argument (yeah, it’s B&N being weiners, but it all boils down to limiting the customer’s right to access books they paid for).

Whenever I download an ebook to my desktop, I -immediately- load it into Calibre, convert it (if it’s from Amazon) into .epub, and then save a copy into a separate file (as Amazon can reach into your desktop app and wipe out your files on a whim. Yes, this has resulted in some loss-of-convenience of relying on my desktop to be the 'server' in my home for all things digital.

I don’t mind GooglePlay’s 2-download limit. I download once, I have a backup copy on their cloud. Once it’s on my desktop, I can convert and sideload it at will. Do that for music files as well. But Smashwords is the best … I can download it as many times as I need to, from wherever I need.

Nate Hoffelder September 19, 2014 um 9:12 pm

Also, if these ebooks did not have Adobe DRM then you could simply copy the files and be okay.

So this actually is a DRM issue.

LoganK September 20, 2014 um 2:50 am

Assume we are talking about DRM-free (without Adobe) books. If you can’t download them, how do you "simply copy"?

If you can "simply copy" and this is a DRM issue, then what value does removing the download link provide?


Rachel Smith September 20, 2014 um 12:11 am

This does nothing to stop sidloading, B&N. All you’ve done is screw up. Unless the ability to download via the Nook for PC app is removed (which makes the app useless), sideloading can and will continue.

There are ALWAYS ways around it. Always. You just have to look. I download and strip just about everything I buy, because it’s MINE. I’m not renting it. I bought it and I have the right to do with it as I please, and the stupid DRM terms and conditions be damned.


Elizabeth Burton September 21, 2014 um 2:19 pm

I don’t think this is just a "keep the customers from side-loading their ebooks" issue. New titles aren’t being posted for sale and apparently haven’t been for the last several days. These are titles I know are DRM-free, as are all our books in the NOOK store. If B&N is prohibiting people from downloading any of our titles, they are doing so in direct violation of our stating we do NOT want DRM used.

Second, a fellow publisher was unable to log in to her account on Friday to make a meta data change. When she contacted customer service, she was informed she would have to wait to hear from "the business team." So did an author whose latest title was uploaded for sale early last week.

Whatever they’re up to, it is totally screwing up the entire NOOK publishing environment.


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thekidsmom September 26, 2014 um 8:55 pm

Transcript from B/N Customer Service chat:

Customer Service: We’re sorry but the ability to sideload NOOK purchased content has been discontinued. If you are attempting to unlock a sideloaded file, you will not be able to do so. We apologize for any inconvenience. However, your NOOK purchases are available for re-download from the NOOK cloud, and you may continue to sideload any other supported file format. [8:47:58 AM]

The ability to download from the NOOK® website and then sideload certain NOOK eBooks has been discontinued as part of a recent security update. Content that has previously been downloaded can continue to be sideloaded to NOOK devices. You can continue to access all of your content through the NOOK Library® on any NOOK device or Free NOOK Reading App™ as you have always been able to do. You can also continue to sideload other supported file formats (PDF and ePub). [8:48:02 AM]

The only way to download the NOOK Book is by connecting the NOOK to Wi-Fi. [8:49:49 AM]

Me: I will no longer purchase from B/N unless sideloading returns. If B/N goes out of business, I will no longer have access to my hundreds of B/N purchased books. Any ebook I purchase is mine…..I don’t rent it from B/N, I buy it. Therefore, I should be able to download it and save it forever. Please add me to the list of unhappy customers.

Nate Hoffelder September 26, 2014 um 9:09 pm

A lot of us feel that way.

On a related note, may I suggest this as a way of freeing yourself of B&N:
https://the-digital-reader.com/2014/09/19/bn-says-took-away-download-option-security-measure-heres-get-around/


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James Bupp October 5, 2014 um 8:40 am

I can confirm that I can use the Nook app on Android, download the ebook purchase to the Android device, then save it from there to Dropbox or to the folder for my alternate reader. I have an older version of the Android App which I have not updated.


pablob October 8, 2014 um 12:17 pm

I have been using Nook devices since V1.0, and they seem adamant to make me regret buying them as each year passes. My next device, regardless of how much I hate Amazon, will be a Kindle. 😛


thekidsmom October 8, 2014 um 5:56 pm

Thanks Nate for the link…I downloaded my new ebooks from via Nook4PC, then through Calibre to my tablet.

@Pablob–just go straight to a tablet and avoid both B/N and Amazon’s closed world environment. I use my Galaxy Tab for most reading and my old Nook Simple Touch for outdoor reading ( I sideload what I want via Calibre to the Simple Touch).


E. K. Hornbeck October 18, 2014 um 11:05 am

Up to now, I’ve made a point of buying my digital books at Barnes and Noble instead of Amazon, because I’d like to support an alternate provider to the near-monopoly Amazon has, and because Barnes and Noble uses the industry-standard epub format for their books. I’ve been willing to do this, even though B&N’s prices are usually a few bucks more than Amazon’s prices.

But it’s a requirement, for me, that I be able to download the books I buy onto storage that *I* control, not the bookseller — as soon as I buy a book, I download it into the file system of my computer. Now that B&N has removed this ability from their website, I’m dropping them — I’ll consider coming back if they change this policy, but until that happens, I’ll be taking my business elsewhere.

The easy thing to do is simply buy my digital books at Amazon. But I’m wondering if there is a third choice. So I’m asking here. Does anyone know of a bookseller, who carries the major publishers, who sells books in epub (preferred) or mobi format, that permits downloading purchases? (Besides Amazon, that is.)

Don’t reply to my email address above; it’s fake. Just post an answer here — it’s probably of general interest to the people who bother reading the comments on this particular original post.
-EKH

Kate October 18, 2014 um 12:20 pm

Google Books.

Kaetrin October 18, 2014 um 9:41 pm

Smashwords or All Romance eBooks/Omni–Lit


Melanie October 28, 2014 um 9:47 am

I just discovered this latest development with Barnes and Noble. Like many of you here – I decided to purchase a Nook and purchase my many ebooks from B & N b/c they came in an epub format and were downloadable to my PC for storage. *I* want to control my files – I don’t trust the cloud.

Barnes and Noble has lost a customer and I will not be back unless I can download the files again.

I’m further upset by the company – as yesterday I posted an inquiry on Barnes and Noble’s official Facebook page asking why the download option has been removed – the comment was PROMPTLY removed from the FB page.


El Fraser November 24, 2014 um 7:25 pm

11/24/14 – Barnes and Noble will lose my business permanently – I cannot download books either (too)!! Luckily I did not 'purchase' a Nook – I got it as a promo after purchasing tires for my son. I do not have WiFi – cannot afford WiFi – so they are blocking out all potential sales in my case, by doing this. I can find lots of 'classics' I can download… and I get books from my library. But I would say as a POLICY – this is pure nonsense (a kind term to use)!


B Howard August 24, 2015 um 2:39 pm

Is Nook still being difficult? I have been buying/reading Kobo ebooks for years because their ebooks show both the chapter and page numbers. But I did buy a couple of Nook ebooks years ago. I thought I’d try them again but won’t if they are not user-friendly. I now read only on an iPad or an Android phone. I gave up on all proprietary e-readers too.
Is Nook still being difficult? Do their ebooks show the Chapter Number and Page Number on each page? This is important to me. It’s why I won’t buy Kindle ebooks anymore either.
Thank you.


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