The Top 13 DRM-free eBook Sites
January 4, 2008 at 6:44 am | In eBook | 24 Comments
With the holidays upon us, many of us can think of nothing better than curling up with a good book. Therefore I thought it a good time to compile a list of the top DRM-free eBook sites. If you want to know what DRM is and why it’s bad when it comes to eBooks, see my previous post on The Perils of DRM-protected eBooks.
The following sites contain either completely free or DRM-free eBooks. Note that you may still be required to pay for a DRM-free eBook, although the cost is usually very reasonable, often around the price of a cup of coffee.
So without further ado…
UPDATE 5th November 2008 – I’ve created a new site called eBooks Just Published that announces new DRM-free ebook releases. Readers can subscribe using RSS or subscribe to a weekly email newsletter. The site is very new but I’m hoping to be able to announce at least one new ebook every day. Only completely DRM-free ebooks will ever be announced on the site.
1. Project Gutenburg
The grand-daddy of eBook collections, Project Gutenburg has over 20,000 free eBooks and contains classic works from authors such as William Shakespeare and Jane Austin.
2. Project Gutenburg Australia
A sister project to the main Project Gutenburg site, the Australian site has 1500 additional eBooks which are public domain in Australia (the works of authors who died before 1955). These may be still under copyright in your country, so check before you download them. The site also includes Australian literature, eBook reviews and various listings based on different categories such as children’s literature, classics, bestsellers, etc.
3. Manybooks.net
Another very large collection, sourced mainly from Project Gutenburg. There are some additional public domain and creative commons works from other sources. What Manybooks.net offers over Project Gutenburg is the ability to download the eBooks in a huge variety of formats suitable for display on a wide range of mobile devices. The site also receives several book reviews per day from readers.
4. Baen Free Library
The most well-known free Science Fiction collection around is the popular Baen Free Library. I’ve mentioned this site before and I’ve found the books on this site to be of a very high standard. There is also a subscription model that allows you to read 4 serialized novels per month.
5. Fictionwise
This site has both DRM-protected and DRM-free eBooks. DRM-free eBooks are listed as ‘Multiformat’ and it’s possible to restrict searching and browsing to just Multiformat eBooks. This site is well laid out and easily searchable. For example you can browse a specific genre and sort by Bestseller or Most Highly rated.
6. Double Dragon Publishing
A small independent Canadian publisher, Double Dragon Publishing has over 500 eBook titles in various genres, including Science Fiction, Fantasy and Romance. Most are priced at $5.99 but there’s a collection of 74 ‘Dollar Downloads’ which range in price from ‘free’ to $1.99.
7. Dr Who Classic Series
The BBC has made a number of rare and acclaimed Dr Who novels freely available. These can be read online or downloaded in PDF or the popular mobile formats.
8. BooksForABuck.com
This site has a good collection of very affordable eBooks but seems to have suffered from inflationary pressures as eBooks from BooksForABuck.com range in price from $1 to $3.99. Still you can’t really complain when you can buy an entire novel for the price of a cup of coffee. Each book is reviewed and also provides links to any external reviews. Many of the books allow you to read the first chapter for free.
9. Cory Doctorow
A science-fiction novelist who makes his novels available as free downloads at the same time as they go to print. All his books have received rave reviews.
10. Only-Free-Fiction.com
The URL says it all. Only-Free-Fiction.com has a good collection of free eBooks in various genres. Each book includes reader ratings and reviews.
11. Speculative Fiction Review
A publisher of science fiction, suspense, thrillers, topical and mixed-genre fiction, Speculative Fiction Review has a small but highly rated selection of eBooks in Adobe Acrobat format. None of their eBooks have any DRM.
12. iFiction
The iTunes of eBooks, iFiction allows you to read the first part of a novel for free and then you can pay a small amount (usually less than $1) to read the rest. It doesn’t have as many eBooks as iTunes has music tracks yet. The site is maintained by author Andrew Burt.
13. Steve Jordan Books
I’m currently reading and enjoying Steve Jordan’s latest novel ‘As the Mirror Cracks’. Steve Jordan is an author who publishes his own works in eBook format. His novels are $2.50 and he also has a number of short stories available for free.
UPDATE - A few great sites I missed the first time around
14. Free TechBooks.com
FreeTechBooks has a nice collection of free Computer Science, Mathematics and Computer Programming books.
15. Feedbooks.com
FeedBooks.com has a pleasant Web 2.0 look. One feature I like is the ability to browse books by publication date, so you can quickly find recent works.
16. MobileRead Forums
Check out the ‘eBook Uploads‘ forum group which has over 3000 hand-compiled eBooks available for download. MobileRead Forums is also a great place to find any eBook / Mobile reader related news and information.
Let me know of any great sources I’ve missed.
If you don’t like reading from a screen or just can’t be bothered, why not try converting your eBook from text to speech so that you can listen to it on your iPod or MP3 player. Check out this recent post 4 Quick Tips When Converting eBooks from Text to Speech
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[...] I hope the same trend will occur with eBooks. In the meantime, there are a lot of great sources of DRM-free eBooks. [...]
Pingback by The Perils of DRM-protected eBooks « Text2Go Blog — January 4, 2008 #
[...] For more great sources of eBooks, have a look at The Top 13 DRM-free eBook Sites. [...]
Pingback by Passing time during a long holiday drive « Text2Go Blog — January 6, 2008 #
[...] You may be able to find content from this list as well top 13 DRM Free eBook Sites [...]
Pingback by Where to Find Kindle Content « FreshTech. — January 6, 2008 #
Baen’s Webscriptions service is only “subscription-like” in that they give phased early access to the books during the months before publication (first-half 2.5 months ahead; 3/4 of the book 1.5 months ahead; full book .5 months ahead). Once a month goes up, it’s permanently up in full. Webscriptions also sells single books and bundles of eBooks that aren’t part of Baen’s paper publication stream. Recent examples include Lee & Miller’s complete Liaden books, Niven & Pournelle’s complete CoDominium future history, a re-issue of all of A. Bertram Chandler’s ‘Grimes’ stories, and several others.
You may also want to point out the existence of two DRM-free magazines from Baen: ‘Jim Baen’s Universe’ at http://www.baens-universe.com and ‘The Grantville Gazzette’ at http://www.grantvillegazette.com. JBU is now the highest paying market for SF and Fantasy short fiction. It’s published 6 times a year, packed with good stories (see earlier comment about highest paying market…), and is completely DRM-free. The Grantville Gazzette carries stories in Eric Flint’s ‘1632′ series. It’s a pro magazine (according to SFWA) that is published 6 times yearly, packed with good stories and fact articles, and is completely DRM-free. Back-issues of both are available.
Btw… I’m not affiliated with Baen, the Grantville Gazzette, or JBU in any way (except as a satisfied customer). Did I remember to mention that all their books and magazines are completely DRM free?
Comment by Dean — January 8, 2008 #
Thanks for sharing these ipod thoughts. I’m bookmarking this for future reference.
The new features may satisfy almost all requirements and may meet almost all expectations. Digital entertainment, the superior quality of the sound, the best technology in MP3 domain, great battery life and huge memory are only few features that are worth being mentioned.
I am currently on holiday so, for this reason, I’ve nothing better to do than surf the web for ipod music, lie around and update my blog. Well, more or less anyway.
Doug C
Comment by ipod man — January 12, 2008 #
[...] Leaves Town eBook Review January 16, 2008 at 9:59 pm | In eBook | During my recent search for DRM-free eBook sites, I discovered Cory Doctorow and thought I’d try his most recent novel. As always, I used [...]
Pingback by Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town eBook Review « Text2Go Blog — January 16, 2008 #
enjoy it
Comment by iqbal — January 23, 2008 #
Great post thanks dude
Comment by Freeebooksdwonload — February 1, 2008 #
another good ebook site, only thing is……..some ebooks are commerical
you can even submit your ebook to them and make money
http://www.vooba-ebooks.com
Comment by Kitch — February 3, 2008 #
[...] your favorite books for free and upload them to your laptop, iPod Classic, or iPod Touch. Here are 13 great sources for free [...]
Pingback by foXnoMad » How To Keep To A Single Carry On — February 14, 2008 #
[...] Books – They take up space and weight and are only good until you’ve read them. Another good reason to bring a laptop is you can download any number of eBooks (and many of the classics are free). [...]
Pingback by foXnoMad » What You Don’t Need For International Travel — April 9, 2008 #
[...] free eBooks instead and stick to a single carry [...]
Pingback by foXnoMad » Unconventional Ways To Raise Funds For Your Travels — October 8, 2008 #
[...] that publishing an annoucement on a site. I also have a steady stream of readers who visit my post The Top 13 DRM-free eBook Sites on the Text2Go blog who I can direct over [...]
Pingback by eBooks Just Published » Chicken & Egg Problem — November 2, 2008 #
the ebook library, over 10,000 e-books are waiting for your reading.
Comment by yuval cohen — January 1, 2009 #
Ready for an ebook and reader?…
The Amazon Kindle version 2 is out and appears to be an improvement over the first version. However, it is still quite expensive. It’s cousin, the Sony ereader is a little less but still within the price range of a Netbook which, in my opinion, …
Trackback by RAW Data — February 17, 2009 #
Thank you for the excellent list! (Please correct the spelling of Jane Austen’s name in the paragraph about Project Gutenberg.)
Comment by George — March 18, 2009 #
This is an excellent list! Do you think you could add Free Book Quest to it? I like that site too.
Comment by Jasmin Stellar — March 27, 2009 #
Ignore the poster about ebooks.com, it is completely full of bad bad drm crap.
Comment by ian — April 30, 2009 #
[...] The Top 13 DRM-free eBook Sites at Text2Go was of some help in compiling my list; there are a couple that I would have overlooked. [...]
Pingback by Stalking the Wild eBook « Blackwood’s Journal — June 5, 2009 #
[...] for DRM-free science fiction suggested by the BoingBoing community with the excellent “13 DRM-free ebook sites” resource by Mark Gladding at Text2Go [...]
Pingback by Top 20 Websites For DRM-Free Science Fiction Ebooks « digiphile — August 25, 2009 #
[...] The Top 13 DRM-free eBook Sites « Text2Go Blog Interesting list of good DRM-free eBook sites. Since we'll be heading off on a three month sabbatical next year and I read voraciously when on holiday (on average 2 books per day!) I'm thinking I'll need to invest in some sort of reader closer to the time. (tags: drm ebooks free) Posted by delicious @ 11:02 PM on September 06, 2009 Permalink [...]
Pingback by Meriblog: Meri Williams’ Weblog » links for 2009-09-06 — September 7, 2009 #
AKW Books (akwbooks.com) publishes DRM-free eBooks in all genres, both fiction and non-fiction (no porn or erotica). Writing quality is comparable to paper books by the big NY publishing houses.
Prices generally vary around $4 depending upon value and length. Free Book Club discounts are available starting at 10%. Club members receive a monthly newsletter with additional discounts.
We currently publish in five formats: ePub, Microsoft’s LIT, MobiPocket’s prc, unprotected Kindle, and Adobe’s PDF.
New feature: Free samples available in PDF format for many of the books.
Comment by Al Kalar — December 17, 2009 #
http://www.sharingebooks.com offers free ebooks as well as audio books for you to share, and lets you trade yours for others you may want to read.
Comment by mike smith — January 23, 2010 #
Fantasy readers might like to know that I do not put DRM on any of my fantasy novels found at http://www.braveluck.com. The first novel is completely free. 7 formats including epub available.
Comment by Tracy Falbe — February 9, 2010 #