Friday, January 22, 2021

Audible Changes Their Return Policy

One of the reasons why many subscribers are fond of Audible is that Audible has a liberal return policy, where people can return audiobooks and get a credit refund, within 365 days. And Audible always actively promotes returns as a feature of an Audible subscription. 

The thing is, Audible doesn’t sell audiobooks as a subscription. They sell credits, so when an audiobook is returned, they give a credit back to the subscriber. Audible then deduct royalties from authors and narrators while at the same time keeping the money they were paid for the credit. Well, this is absolutely unfair for rightsholders. This return policy costs Audible nothing while costs creators everything.

So last November, author groups, like the Authors Guild, RWA, ALLi, SFWA, etc, have jointly published an open letter to Audible, demanding that Audible end its practice of encouraging easy returns and exchanges. “This is not an exchange policy, but an unauthorized audiobook rental arrangement supported by authors’ reversed royalties, and it must stop.” 

Out of the publisher pressure, Audible have been working to address some ACX authors’ concerns about Audible’s overall exchange policy. In recognition of these concerns, starting January 1, 2021, Audible will pay royalties for any title returned more than 7 days following purchase. This adjustment does not impact our customers’ current benefits of membership.

In a blog update, Audible said: “the intent of this program is to allow listeners to discover their favorite voice, author, or story in audio. In instances where we determine the benefit is being overused, Audible can and does limit the number of exchanges and refunds allowed by a member. But as designed, this customer benefit allows active Audible members in good standing to take a chance on new content, and suspicious activity is extremely rare.

Anyway, only a win-win situation can benefit both creators and providers. 

Bonus tips: if you want to back up your purchased contents for personal uses, you can follow this guide to convert Audible books to MP3 directly. 

Thursday, January 21, 2021

What is Kepub Format? How to Convert Kepub to ePub/PDF/Mobi?

How much did you know about the Kepub format? Did you ever tried to convert Kepub format to common ePub, PDF or Mobi format, but didn't know how? Keep reading. You'll learn everything about the Kepub format. 

Part 1. What is Kepub format?

Kepub is a term used to describe the ebook format designed for Rakuten Kobo ebooks. The file name of a Kepub file is a string of characters, such as "2df3ecb2-3af6-48ee-afb7-d145cc41b895". Actually, these Kepub files are protected by Kobo DRM. It's the Kobo DRM that doesn't allow you to read Kobo books on any device freeely. Compared with Kobo ePub format, Kepub format has the following advantages:

  • Quicker to respond to page turn gestures (especially tap gesture).
  • Faster text selection (e.g. when highlighting large areas of text).
  • Support for footnote previews.
  • Can double-tap to zoom images.
  • Shows number of minutes of reading left until end of chapter.
  • Shows title of ebook in the header (negative for some people).
  • support for ePub 3.

Part 2. Where can we download the Kobo Kepub files?

As for now, the Kepub file format has been widely adopted by Kobo books. All the Kobo ebooks downloaded from the Kobo for PC/Mac desktop app and the Kobo devices are Kepub files. 

Part 3. Where are Kepub files stored?

If you download your Kobo Kepub files from the Kobo for PC/Mac desktop app, you can find them here:

For Windows :\Users\username\AppData\Local\Kobo\Kobo Desktop Edition\kepub
For Mac: \Users\username\Library\Application Support\Kobo\Kobo Desktop Edition\Kepub

If you download your Kobo Kepub files from your Kobo device, you'll find them here when you plug the device into your computer:

KOBOeReader\.kobo\kepub
Part 4. How to convert Kepub format to ePub/PDF/Mobi?

Although the Kepub files are DRM-protected, there are still some tools out there that can help us to remove the DRM and convert the Kepub file to common ePub, PDF, or Mobi format.

Tool 1. Calibre + Obok Plugin.

Calibre is an open-source and free tool for ebook management and ebook format conversion. After the Obok plugin is installed, Calibre can also be used to remove Kobo DRM from the Kepub files. 

For a detailed guide, please read my previous post:

How to Remove Kobo DRM with Calibre Obok Plugin

Tool 2. Epubor Ultimate - the easiest-to-use Kobo Kepub Converter.

In this part, I would like to share you with a much easier-to-use Kobo Kepub Converter, that is, the famous ebook DRM Removal and eBook Converter tool called Epubor Ultimate

Download Epubor Ultimate here for Free
 

When using Epubor Ultimate, you don't have to install any other plugins to get it to work. Just drag your Kobo Kepub files and drop them to the main interface of Epubor Ultimate. And then choose your expected output format. 

Bonus Tips: if you don't want to or couldn't find your downloaded Kobo Kepub files manually on your computer, that's totally OK. Epubor Ultimate can automatically detect and upload them. You can see all your downloaded Kobo Kepub files at the left column of Epubor Ultimate, whether you download them from the Kobo for PC/Mac or your Kobo eReader device. 

Just drag and drop them from the left column to the right main window, and choose the output format as PDF, ePub, Mobi, AZW3, or TXT. All done!

Notice:

Kepub files downloaded via Kobo for PC/Mac can be found under the "Kobo" tab.

Kepub files downloaded via Kobo eReader can be found under the "Kobo dev" tab.




Thursday, January 14, 2021

How to Read Kindle Books on Kobo

Many users want to buy some books from Amazon and read them on Kobo devices instead. How to make this happen? The answer to this issue is quite simple, which is to remove DRM protection from encrypted Kindle books in order to do the conversion (convert Kindle to ebook formats that are supported by Kobo). Then you are able to read Kindle books on your Kobo. Below is the step-by-step guide to help you read any Kindle book on Kobo. 

1. Remove Kindle DRM

Step 1, download and install DRM Removal to your computer. 

Epubor Ultimate software is the most powerful all-in-one ebook tool designed to help users to remove DRM from Kindle/Kobo/Google Play/Nook books and convert ebooks to other formats effortlessly, like Mobi/epub/pdf/txt/azw3, etc. As far as we are concerned, there’s no DRM removal tool that can compete with this top-notched Epubor software. 

Download link for Epubor Ultimate for Windows.

Download link for Epubor Ultimate for Mac.

Step 2, download Kindle books via Kindle for PC/Mac.

Notice:

For Windows users, downgrade Kindle for PC to version 1.24 is required to make Epubor Ultimate work. Luckily, Epubor Ultimate allows you to automatically downgrade the Kindle app to an older version

For mac users, you can use the command line to remove Kindle DRM without downgrading Kindle for Mac. But this method requires you to download Kindle books through Kindle for Mac by right-clicking the book cover and click the Download option. And remember not to open the Kindle file after downloading.  

After understanding this fact, now you can sign in to the Kindle app and start downloading your Kindle books. 

Step 3, remove Kindle DRM.

Launch Epubor Ultimate, click the Kindle tab on the left sidebar to detect all of your Kindle books downloaded via Kindle for PC/Mac. Then drag and drop these titles to the right main window to remove Kindle DRM. 

2. Convert Kindle Books to EPUB/PDF

After removing the DRM, next, you only need to convert Kindle books to epub or pdf. In the drop-down menu of the output formats, you can select epub or pdf as the output format, then click the convert button to start the conversion. When the conversion is done, you can find the converted files by clicking Succeeded or the book folder icon on the lower right corner of the software. 

Last but not the least, you can transfer the converted Kindle books to Kobo via USB for reading. 

Friday, January 8, 2021

Seven Top Audiobook Apps of 2021

Audiobooks are getting more and more popular. The main reason for their success is the fact that they are more accessible than ever before. Today we are going to introduce seven top audiobook apps of the year.

1. Audible

If you have tried audiobooks and realized they are your thing, you should definitely try Audible. It’s the largest and most advanced audiobook service in the world, offering exclusive titles, audio shows, and book series. Audible lets you choose the preferred way of getting the content.

2. Kobo Books

If your primary source of ebooks is Kobo, you should look no further if you are also getting interested in audiobooks. Kobo added audiobooks to their e-bookstore in September 2017. Now, in this single online destination, you can buy both e-books (including comic books and textbooks) and audiobooks.

3. Audiobooks.com

Are you looking for an audiobook service that gives access to both free titles and paid bestsellers? Audiobooks.com is the right place to check out. The site offers over 100,000 premium audiobooks. Over 7,000 can be downloaded for free. The company claims hundreds of new audiobooks are being added to the catalog every week.

4. Google Play Books

Google brought audiobooks to Play Store in January 2018. The same day, Play Books App in the Android Store was updated with audiobook support. The app is now a usage hub for different kinds of digital content: ebooks, textbooks, comic books, and eventually audiobooks.

5. Scribd

Scribd is an American e-book and audiobook subscription service that includes 60 million titles. It is a modern solution for reading lovers that lets them access millions of e-books, audiobooks, magazines, music. All the content after getting a premium membership will be unlimited to read, listen, and download. 

6. LibriVox

LibriVox is a free volunteer-run public domain audiobooks platform. LibriVox audiobooks are free for anyone to listen to, on their computers, iPods or other mobile device, or to burn onto a CD. It offers unlimited access to audiobooks that is in the public domain in the United States. 

7. Overdrive

If you want to enjoy ebooks and audiobooks for free through your local public library or school. Overdrive is perfect for you. 

OverDrive is the largest digital content provider in the world to libraries and schools. With a library card, you can enjoy ebooks and audiobooks for free through your local public library or school.



Thursday, January 7, 2021

How to Download Kindle eBooks to PC/Mac

Do you want to download your Kindle ebooks to your computer for a backup? What if you don't have a Kindle device? There are several different methods to download Kindle eBooks to Windows/Mac computers. Here I conclude all the easiest methods to download Kindle ebooks to the computer. Whether you own a Kindle device or not, you will get what you want. 

Method 1. Download Kindle Books via Kindle for PC/Mac - No Need for a Kindle

As not everyone owns a Kindle e-ink device, first I'd like to introduce the most common way to download Kindle books by using the Kindle for PC/Mac desktop app. This is available to all users as long as you own a Windows or Mac computer, no matter what OS version it is. 

Step 1. Download Kindle for PC/Mac to your computer. 

Step 2. Run Kindle for PC/Mac, and then log in with your Amazon account. 

Step 3. In the Kindle library, right-click the book cover and then choose "Download". 

When it's downloaded completely, you can find your Kindle books by following this path: 

For Windows: C:/Users/Your PC username/Documents/My Kindle Content

For Mac: /Users/Your Mac username/Library/Application Support/Kindle/My Kindle Content

When you search the folder, you can find there exist several folders. Open a folder, you can see many files with strange names. To be frank, each folder is for storing the content of an ebook, and the .azw file is just the ebook file. 

Do you want to convert such Kindle AZW books to PDF or any other format? Follow this guide: 

The Easiest Ways to Convert Kindle AZW to PDF


Method 2. Download Kindle Books from Amazon Website - A Kindle E-Ink Device is Needed

Step 1. Go to the Amazon website page https://www.amazon.com/hz/mycd/myx, and then log in with your Amazon account if necessary.

Step 2. Under the "Content" tab, you will find all your book titles. Now find the books you want to download, and click the "Actions" button before that book title. And then click "Download & transfer via USB" in the pop-up window.

Step 3. Then a window will appear asking you to choose your Kindle device. Please choose the Kindle device that you have registered with your Amazon account, and then click "Download".

A note "Downloaded your Kindle content to your computer via Your Media Library" will show up when you are downloading the content.

Immediately, you will find the Kindle books are downloading to your computer. Most of them will be in AZW3 format.

Having problems when downloading the content from Amazon? Read this guide to fix the problem: 

Trouble Shotting - Download & Transfer via USB Not Working

Do you want to remove DRM from such AZW3 files or convert the format? Follow this guide: 

How to Remove DRM From AZW3 eBook Files