Amazon ebook question

[Overread]

So I tried googling for this and google failed.

So earlier today I tried to purchase an e-book on amason uk and it said I could not purchase it because I had no registered e-reader. This confused me greatly because I most certainly do and had purchased another e-book not seconds away without error.

Upon further investigation I found a small tab on the error page that displayed the devices that the book was active for and it confused me even more. For instead of an e-book just being an e-book it appears that Amazon breaks it not just into a format but into devices as well. And under that list every single device was listed- except for their entire range of e-readers. Their fire was in the list; their tablets and IOS and PC and all were listed; but not their e-readers.

This gave me pause to wonder why such a thing would even happen and, if its not an isolated error; if there is something else going on that would explain why a publication would be so limited.

 

[tinkerdan]

I would guess that it might have to do with the list of formats below that are somewhat different from e-reader to fire.

e-reader
Kindle Format 8 (AZW3), Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; HTML, DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion

fire
Kindle (AZW), KF8, TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively, Audible Enhanced format (AAX), DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, non-DRM AAC, MP3, MIDI, PCM/WAVE, OGG, WAV, M4V, MP4, AAC LC/LTP, HE-AACv1, HE-AACv2, MKV, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, HTML5, CSS3, 3GP, VP8 (WEBM)


If it actually is of a format for your device I would guess that someone might have somehow checked a box somewhere on that pages setup that mistakenly identifies it.

I seem to recall at least one incident where I couldn't get a book to download on my older kindle and it turned out to be that the actual format wouldn't work on the older device.

 

[Vertigo]

So I tried googling for this and google failed.

So earlier today I tried to purchase an e-book on amason uk and it said I could not purchase it because I had no registered e-reader. This confused me greatly because I most certainly do and had purchased another e-book not seconds away without error.

Upon further investigation I found a small tab on the error page that displayed the devices that the book was active for and it confused me even more. For instead of an e-book just being an e-book it appears that Amazon breaks it not just into a format but into devices as well. And under that list every single device was listed- except for their entire range of e-readers. Their fire was in the list; their tablets and IOS and PC and all were listed; but not their e-readers.

This gave me pause to wonder why such a thing would even happen and, if its not an isolated error; if there is something else going on that would explain why a publication would be so limited.

What was the book? It sounds like it was probably an epub format which Kindle can't read (a little unlikely as I didn't think Amazon sold any epubs) or is it possibly a Graphic novel which I also suspect a Kindle cannot display?

 

[tinkerdan]

You also have to be careful because at some point Amazon pops up an option for the audio book and if you somehow say okay, it will definitely balk about sending that to an e-reader.

 

[Overread]

It's Darganau by Cathbad Maponu; which far as I know is just an ebook not a graphic novel (unless its got more artwork inside than I imagine it has - or its been miss listed)

 

[Paul_C]

according to Amazon.co.uk it's a "print replica" and I can't download it to my Kindle (v 2.0) either, but can to my Kindle Fire or the PC Kindle reader.

 

[Overread]

Amazon.co.uk Help: Kindle Textbooks

At bit of searching shows this - so print-replica is basically akin to a PDF.
So now comes the question of why this book requires it. I can totally understand it as a feature for textbooks or indeed any publication where images are frequent and where formatting is thus very important (in my experience kindel e-readers just can't do images well. Not only are they hard to see but it gets confused what is on a page before and after so you can't flip back and forth on pages near any image as the content of the "page" will change

 

[Vertigo]

Might be worth messaging Cathbad (he is a Chronner after all!) - it sounds like a mistake to me.

 

[Brian G Turner]

@Cathbad - problem with your book here!

 

[Overread]

Any update on this ebook mystery? Anyone heard anything from @Cathbad ?

 

[Cathbad]

Very odd - and disturbing. Darganau is a Kindle book, and I have sold several copies. I even bought it myself. It downloaded fine, and reads fine.

I have just checked the details, and nothing has changed.

I cannot get to the Kindle version on the UK site, but on the US site, all fire and free apps are listed. I'm afraid I am not familiar with older readers?

Anyway, I'll try to find out what's up, and I've sent you a pm, @Overread .

 

[Overread]

Strange, the only thing I can guess is that the format is somehow wrong on the UK edition. Did you send a support ticket/query to the UK team? That might resolve matters if its miss-listed or they can provide more detail as to why it won't function on the e-ink kindle e-readers (which would be worrying for you because I suspect that they are a significant portion of kindle users)

 

[Cathbad]

Inquiry sent.

 

[tinkerdan]

Whoever published the book used the print replica format - that is why that shows up with the title on the page.
[Print Replica]

Amazon.com Help: Kindle Textbooks

Some of the POD publishers offer that as the e-book option.
If you check the link and scroll down to Print Replica heading you will see list of devices that can read the file.

 

[pambaddeley]

That wouldn't be a format you would want for a straightforward novel where it needs to be a reflowable text that will adjust as a reader changes font type and size to suit themselves. It's for textbooks where the layout is more complex and reflowing it would mess up the layout e.g. of tables. So sounds as if something has gone wrong.

 

[Cathbad]

UPDATE

Received an answer to my Kindle inquiry.

When I learned what I'd lose to format so non-Fire Kindles could read my books, I was torn, whether to change the format I've been using.

Then Adobe informed me of an $8.00 per month increase to keep my Acrobat DC active. I need that to keep doing things as I have.

Since I'm on a fixed income, my decision has been made for me.

I am currently working on the Darganau update. The 2nd Edition will be available in about a month (or less). You'll be able to d/l it for Kindle and Kindle Fire.

 

[pambaddeley]

Sounds an expensive option compared to some combination of Word/HTML editor/Calibre or Sigil - or do you mean you're going to stop using Adobe?

 

[Cathbad]

Sounds an expensive option compared to some combination of Word/HTML editor/Calibre or Sigil - or do you mean you're going to stop using Adobe?

Yes. I'll stop using Adobe.

 

[pambaddeley]

Sounds wise. It's really annoying how companies like Adobe and now Microsoft are going over to a subscription model so you have to keep paying loadsamoney every year to keep the same basic package you started with.

 

[Vertigo]

We run a photographic lab and we have simply refused to do it. We bought the last 'proper' release of Adobe Photoshop and refuse to switch to the subscription model. It's just not worth it for the relatively small increments in function.