The Kobo DRM-free epub fiasco

[DiapDealer]

In the hopes that someone else might benefit from this info ...

I purchased a Tor ebook from Kobo because I knew it would be DRM free. So when I went to my Kobo library, lo and behold, there was the shiny blue "DOWNLOAD EPUB" button. Yay!

But when I click said button, I get a "whoops! 404" error. Over and over and over ...

... for hours.

Crap! Oh well, I can always go the obok route (yuck, but doable). Except after I sync my Kobo Desktop (and my shiny new book appears in my Kobo Desktop library--Yay!), my drm-free book doesn't show up in the obok list of titles. Double crap.

So I go spelunking in the AppData/Local hell where Kobo Desktop hides its very ridiculously-named and fairly-unidentifiable kepub files on Windows, look for the most recent one, copy it out of there, slap an '.epub' extension on it and pop the hood to discover a drm-free kepub version of my ebook. The ebook I decided to buy because I thought it would be the easiest to download and put on the reader of my choice (which is one of the main reasons Tor Books gives for going DRM-Free).

Cleaned out all the kepub gunk (changing it from an ePub3 to an ePub2 just for good measure) and put it on my tablet to read! Yay?

So yeah ... note to self: Buying a DRMed Kindlebook and turning it into an epub is quicker and easier than buying a DRM-free epub from Kobo and turning it into an epub. Go figure.

[eschwartz]

I thought everyone knew that already.

[DiapDealer]

I'm a little slow.

[eschwartz]

It is rather sad they cannot get their act together, I must admit.



Wait, if this was an EPUB3 book, I thought they don't provide download buttons for that?

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Wait, if this was an EPUB3 book, I thought they don't provide download buttons for that?

Well technically, the kepub I spelunked from the third-circle of Kobo Desktop Hell was EPUB3. Who knows what kind of EPUB the "DOWNLOAD EPUB" button that wouldn't work didn't provide me.

[Fbone]

Similar thing happened to me last week only it was a self published DRM free epub. I contacted Kobo and received a refund. Repurchased at B&N without any problems.

I wonder if Kobo is transitioning to device or app access with no direct downloads.

[cromag]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Similar thing happened to me last week only it was a self published DRM free epub. I contacted Kobo and received a refund. Repurchased at B&N without any problems.

I wonder if Kobo is transitioning to device or app access with no direct downloads.

That seems to be the trend. Which means even vendors want Amazon to be a monopoly.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Fbone

I wonder if Kobo is transitioning to device or app access with no direct downloads.

If so, they need to get rid of that big-ass, non-functioning blue button that's screaming; "DIRECT DOWNLOAD OF DRM-FREE EPUB RIGHT HERE!"

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Well technically, the kepub I spelunked from the third-circle of Kobo Desktop Hell was EPUB3. Who knows what kind of EPUB the "DOWNLOAD EPUB" button that wouldn't work didn't provide me.

What Kobo is doing is when they get any eBook in ePub 3, they convert it to kepub. And as more and more new ePub (from multiple publishers) are needlessly being created in ePub 3. Kobo will convert those to kepub.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

What Kobo is doing is when they get any eBook in ePub 3, they convert it to kepub. And as more and more new ePub (from multiple publishers) are needlessly being created in ePub 3. Kobo will convert those to kepub.

I know this. But that doesn't explain why a button that says DOWNLOAD EPUB doesn't actually let me DOWNLOAD AN EPUB. The fact that it was an EPUB3 was the least of my worries once I got my hands on the DRM-free file I paid for. A file that Tor Books graciously provides with no Digital Rights Management so I can enjoy it on any of my personal devices I feel like reading it on, I might add.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

What Kobo is doing is when they get any eBook in ePub 3, they convert it to kepub. And as more and more new ePub (from multiple publishers) are needlessly being created in ePub 3. Kobo will convert those to kepub.

Nothing new, they convert all books (not just ePub3) to kePub and always have.

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I know this. But that doesn't explain why a button that says DOWNLOAD EPUB doesn't actually let me DOWNLOAD AN EPUB. The fact that it was an EPUB3 was the least of my worries once I got my hands on the DRM-free file I paid for. A file that Tor Books graciously provides with no Digital Rights Management on it so I can enjoy it on any of my personal devices I feel like reading it on.

I guess be glad it at least had a kePub download. . I've gotten books there in the past with no download at all, ePub, PDF or kePub.

[DiapDealer]

Burnt by B&N, burnt by Kobo--I'm rapidly running out of ways to give money to Amazon's competitors. You're on the clock Google.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I'm rapidly running out of ways to give money to Amazon's competitors.

OmniLit isn't bad either.

[darryl]

Originally Posted by cromag

That seems to be the trend. Which means even vendors want Amazon to be a monopoly.

To me Amazon may as well be a monopoly now, though at least for the moment a benign one. Just about all of the others make you jump through hoops to get a liberated file you can read on the device you want. Amazon files can be downloaded and imported straight into Calibre, with or without Apprentice Alf, as you choose. Kobo and Google both require an intervening step using ADE, which for the moment is fine and will remain so until the switch is flicked on the new DRM scheme, which for the moment remains unbroken. As apparent from this thread Kobo has other problems as well, which also includes an emphasis on marketing tricks to hide prices which are rarely competitive. B&N does not want you to download your ebooks at all, and though there are of course ways around there are yet more hoops to jump through. Baen is excellent but not a major player in the same sense as the others.

At the moment my preferences are Baen, for those books they stock and at a good price, then Amazon. I haven't bought anything from Google but have no objection to doing so, though I expect to travel a lot and would have to ensure that I can get the best prices when I do so and not be stuck in one over-priced location like Australia for my purchases. Not interested in buying from B&N. Not only have they behaved appallingly with the downloads issue, but their future in ebooks to me is very much in doubt. From a major player in E-Ink devices they now offer only one, and a basic model. For many people tablets are their best reading option, but their are also many who love their e-ink devices. Though I may ultimately prove to be wrong, it seems to me that B&N has made on bad decision after another, and there seems to be end in sight to this trend. I'm also happy to buy ebooks on an ad-hoc basis from vendors provided that they are drm-free and in a format that I can at least import to Calibre and convert as necessary. I am not interested in buying from any of the plague of "publisher-friendly" platforms which are usually introduced with great hype and touted as offering alternatives to Amazon, but which are so user-hostile that they won't even allow the download of your books.

So far as I can see, the only really good reason to buy from any of the major players other than Amazon is to provide support in the hope that Amazon will have at least one major competitor. If that is to happen, it looks like it will be Google, but it could be Kobo as well if they get their act together.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by darryl

To me Amazon may as well be a monopoly now, though at least for the moment a benign one. Just about all of the others make you jump through hoops to get a liberated file you can read on the device you want. Amazon files can be downloaded and imported straight into Calibre, with or without Apprentice Alf, as you choose. Kobo and Google both require an intervening step using ADE [...]

Is there a way of getting a direct download from Amazon? Right now, my workflow is:

Kobo (non-kepub-only, obv, which is most of them): Download via ADE, pull file out (easy because it usually is named transparently), deDRM (either via standalone app or third-party Calibre plugin), Calibre.

Kindle: Download via Kindle for Mac, pull file out (somewhat less easy because it has a nonsense filename; find hidden Kindle for Mac folder and sort by date, then find file), deDRM (either via standalone app or third-party Calibre plugin), Calibre.

These seem pretty similar to me. I continue to use an old version of ADE (1.7.2).

Kepub: download via Kobo app, usu Obok third-party Calibre plugin, done.