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Why Amazon Doesn’t Add ePub Support to the Kindle

22723715796_107737a23b_hMy colleague with the confusingly named blog pondered this morning on whether Amazon should add support for Epub on the Kindle platform.

I’ve wondering about that point for the past few years (in fact, I asked this very same question back in 2011), so I’d like to answer his question:

Fire tablets support ePub with apps available through Amazon’s own appstore so what’s the big difference?

Adobe DRM’d ebook are obviously out of the question; Amazon will never in a million years pay Adobe for rights to use their crummy DRM. But why not add support for DRM-free ePub ebooks?

Why should Amazon care if someone is reading an ePub they got five years ago when the odds are the person is going to use the Kindle to make future ebook purchases?

It seems like an easy way to convert a bunch of longtime Kindle holdouts into new customers. Lots of people have acquired vast numbers of ePub ebooks over the years and that keeps them from wanting to get a Kindle. Even though converting ePubs to Kindle format is an easy process with Calibre, it’s still a hassle that some people don’t want to work through.

Amazon should at the very least add ePub as a supported format to their Kindle format conversion service. Being able to send ePubs over email or with a Send to Kindle app and have them get automatically converted to Kindle format would be a big advantage for Amazon.

I have been wondering about this same point for years, and while I can’t speak for Amazon I do have a few ideas about why Amazon has the no-Epub policy.

If I were in Amazon’s position, I would avoid supporting Epub simply because it cuts down on my tech support headaches and software development hassles.

No Epub support means not having to maintain yet another rendering engine so the ebooks can be displayed, and it means not having to tell users that yes the Kindle supports Epub – just not the DRMed ebook the user has. It also means not having to explain to users who a Kindle Epub files doesn’t work on other ereaders due to the DRM restrictions.

Speaking as a reader, I would much prefer Epub being supported on the Kindle platform, or at least through the email conversion service. (Other services will take an Epub and send it to your Kindle, but not Amazon). This would help me a lot.

But how would it help Amazon? And would it be worth their time and expense?

Remember, the Kindle platform controls the majority of the trade ebook market, and most of the remainder is claimed by iBooks – which has proprietary DRM and restrictions on downloading even DRM-free ebooks.

Those Epub users who want to load their ebooks on to the Kindle represent a tiny fraction of a market which has arguably already chosen the Kindle formats as the standard.

Why should Amazon support a non-standard format when it already supports the market standard?

image by pasa47

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Comments


Hrafn June 19, 2016 um 1:36 pm

Why would they want to? Kindles exist to read books purchased through Amazon’s ebookstore. Books from other sources (free or otherwise) amount to being 'the competition' — supporting them would be counterproductive to Amazon’s business model. You don’t grow a 'walled garden' by encouraging weeds to invade from outside it.


EditingPlus June 19, 2016 um 2:01 pm

Why should Amazon support a non-standard format (…) ? »
— Epub IS a standard format. A free and open standard format.
« iBooks – which has proprietary DRM and restrictions on downloading even DRM-free ebooks ».
— You are totally allowed to load ebooks in ePUB with Apple iBooks. AND NOT all ebooks sold in iTunes iBookstore have DRM, it’s actually a choice for publishers to do so or not.

Fjtorres June 19, 2016 um 4:53 pm

ePub is a specification
Stardards come in two flavors:
– certified, tested standards vetted by an international standards body like ISO, ECMA, etc
– defacto standards vetted by the marketplace

Epub is neither.
It is simply a wishlist spec defined by a bunch of publishing industry insiders that is increasingly diverging from the needs of the commercial ebook buyers.

Peter June 19, 2016 um 8:00 pm

^^ This. To say nothing of the practical reality that commercially-available epubs are encumbered with DRM scams that aren’t compatible with hardware or software from other epub vendors, much less Amazon.

It’s hard to make the case that epub is a standard after you’ve had to explain to a new, non-tech-savvy buyer that despite all saying "epub" you can’t open books purchased from Apple on a Nook, can’t open books purchased from B&N on a Sony reader, and can’t open your purchases from the Sony store (back when there was such a thing) in iBooks.

Adding epub support to the Kindle would be a huge customer service expense that offered very little in the way of benefit – the handful of people who care are generally savvy enough to have a copy of calibre.

Moriah Jovan June 20, 2016 um 8:51 am

And to buttress your point: http://b10mediaworx.com/b10mwx/epub-verb-or-noun (5.5 years ago).

Moriah Jovan June 20, 2016 um 8:41 am

To put a finer point on it (although I did it 5 years ago).

http://b10mediaworx.com/b10mwx/mobi-wins


Scott Lewis June 19, 2016 um 2:57 pm

Simple. Ecosystem. Amazon has a huge one. And over the lifetime of a Kindle they probably make a heck of a lot more profit off content than the original hardware purchase. ePub opens the door to third party store fronts. Amazon has no interest in doing that.


carmen webster buxton June 19, 2016 um 3:05 pm

Interesting. An editor at a small (but not tiny) press I know told me they provide EPub files to Amazon, and Amazon converts them to Kindle format. But it might be that Amazon has to do this for publishers, because software like InDesign, which many publishers use for print layout, can produce EPub but not MOBI. I guess they don’t see any incentive for the average customer/

Scott Lewis June 19, 2016 um 3:07 pm

Amazon is no doubt happy to convert ePub to Amazon’s proprietary format, to get content into the store they can sell. Not the same thing as making it easy or convenient for others to sell ePub direct and get it easily onto a Kindle.

Same way Apple treats their ecosystem. Sell anything you like – we get a cut. Want to use your own third party eCommerce system, no.

Moriah Jovan June 19, 2016 um 3:18 pm

Yes, they do, although conversion results aren’t predictable, even with straight text unless you’ve built the epub with Kindle limitations (CSS classes honored or not) in mind (which I do if the client tells me they’re going to upload it to Kindle).

Here’s the thing: If you create a MOBI/PRC from an epub using KindleGen, it packages the epub WITH the MOBI, making it twice as large (thereby increasing whispernet fees). If you upload an epub to KDP, it packages the epub with the AZW, etc etc etc. If you upload a MOBI/PRC made specifically for Kindle using Mobipocket, it stays the same file size, but there’s no EPUB packaged with it.

Why do they do this? The Fire reads the epub, not the AZW.

Michael June 19, 2016 um 6:28 pm

Moriah, I had the same concerns regarding file size and Whispernet fees, but last I looked at the size of delivered files, Amazon was stripping the embedded epub before sending to a device. I think the main reason Kindlegen bundles the epub by default is for potential debugging purposes.

If I were you though I wouldn’t trust the anecdotal tale of one guy you don’t know on the internet, so here’s something more useful: you can prevent Kindlegen from bundling the epub in the first place by using the following switch: -dont_append_source

Moriah Jovan June 20, 2016 um 8:34 am

I can’t really disagree with you, in that I’ve cracked those MOBIs open before and IIRC couldn’t see duplicate files, but the size is twice as big as the original epub. Those kilobytes have to come from somewhere.

As for your tip, THANK YOU!!!!! 10000000000 times THANK YOU!

Rob Siders June 21, 2016 um 11:06 am

My testing confirms that Amazon calculates delivery fee based on the smallest ebook file in the Mobi package … so, the one intended for legacy devices. Yes, the extra source is in the Mobi but authors/publishers aren’t penalized for it.

Caution, tho, on using that switch: I don’re recommend using it for fixed layout books, comic books or any other books that need hi res images. I’m not 100 percent sure, but I think the switch prevents kindlegen from keeping hi res images in the package.

Michael June 21, 2016 um 1:36 pm

Unfortunately Kindlegen will recompress images even with the source included, so I’ve gotten in the habit of including higher quality than should be needed for anything where clarity really matters. There’s a tantalizing -preserve_img option referenced in the binary, but it’s always thrown an Unsupported Argument error for me.

Richard November 12, 2018 um 4:01 pm

Who provides a service to convert pdf files to Epub or Mobi for Kindle. Caliber is a mess for converting!


Barry E Marks June 19, 2016 um 5:29 pm

One reason Amazon might want to support epub is to help it’s few competitors. While that might be a silly thing for companies to do in most cases it might not be so silly in the case of a company that’s often accused of being a monopoly. The single worse thing that could happen to Amazon is losing their few competitors.

Barry

Fjtorres June 21, 2016 um 11:16 am

Point.
But one of those competitors is Apple and they are too proud to get out of ebooks after the mess they made. 🙂
Plus, they do make a few pennies here and there off ebooks. As long as they don’t lose money operationally they’ll stick with it…
…at least as long as it takes to recoup the fine and legal costs. 😀


Sergej December 21, 2017 um 3:56 am

i programmed a website that could convert and send files directly to your kindle

https://uptokindle.com/


Mike D December 21, 2017 um 7:51 pm

ePub mailed to the [email protected] addie will be converted

see thread
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3563590#post3563590

But you have to rename the file extension first (I use .txt).


Aryn November 10, 2018 um 4:28 pm

Trying to get a copy of an older style of Kindle for PC. The new one has pictures of the book covers; the older one is just a list. Amazon says not a chance to get an older one from them. Anyone have any ideas? Am willing to pay a reasonable cost.


J K Price September 13, 2019 um 7:48 am

"Why should Amazon support a non-standard format when it already supports the market standard?"

This is an odd statement. Epub has always seemed to be the standard, mobi files are rare in comparison.


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