The third part in the series A Guide to Ebooks series for Read an Ebook Week.

Part 1: What are ebooks? Advantages and Disadvantages of Electronic Books

• What are eBooks?
• Why aren’t eBooks more popular? Tactile Loss and the eBabel problem
• ebooks are Great! Here’s Why

Part 2: How to Read an ebook: Formats, Devices, Dedicated Readers and Applications

• eBook Formats
• How to Read an eBook: Devices and dedicated eBook readers
• Applications to read eBooks on the iPhone / iTouch

Part 3: Where to Buy and Find Free Ebooks, and Learning Resources

• Where to Find and Buy Ebooks
• Where to Find Free Ebooks
• Learning Resources

Where to Find and Buy Ebooks

Intersted in finding popular, rare and current books? You have a lot of choice, and it’s growing every day. For more information on each of these formats, make sure you read How to Read an ebook: Formats, Devices, Dedicated Readers and Applications

• Fictionwise.com – Secure Mobipocket, eReader, PDF formats. Multiformat books, which are usually non-DRM books. A list of supported formats and devices. Note: Fictionwise was bought by Barnes & Noble in March 2009.
  • eReader.com – eReader is actually powered by Fictionwise and is a separate site carrying only eReader /.pdb files.
• Barnes & Noble – they bought Fictionwise (above) but books are also available through bn.com – eReader/.pdb files.
• Books on Board.com – a mixture of EPUB, Mobipocket and eReader formats. Check Books on Board supported formats.
• Diesel ebooks – Adobe, Mobipocket, eReader, Microsoft formats.
• Mobipocket.com – Mobipocket format (owned by Amazon).
• Amazon.com Kindle Store (Kindle format only)
• eBook Store from Sony (Sony format) – Sony is also teaming up with Google to offer a half million of public domain books for the Sony Reader.
• www.ebooks.com – Microsoft Reader, Mobipocket, Adobe Digital Editions (secure EPUB) formats – they have a handy Reader comparison table.
• eHarlequin eBooks (U.S.) and Mills & Boon (UK) – only romance, but someone to watch since they are often cutting-edge with free book offerings, embracing technology and experimenting in the “e” category.
• Penguin – eBooks (U.S.) and Penguin eBooks UK – in the UK they are supporting the secure EPUB format, while in the US eBooks are available in Microsoft Reader, Adobe secure PDF and secure eReader.
• WHSmith eBookShop (UK) – books in secure Adobe EPUB, secure Adobe PDF, secure Mobipocket, secure Microsoft Reader.
• Waterstones (UK) – for Sony Readers, utilizes secure Adobe Digital Editons (EPUB).
• Wizz-e.com is a site that focuses on electronic books for children.
• EPubBooks.com – a list of places to find EPUB format books.
• O’Reilly eBooks – the classic technology publisher embraces eBooks and offers DRM-free(!!) bundles of their books in three formats (EPUB, Kindle Mobipocket and PDF) so you’ll have some mobility amongst your devices.

Where to Find Free Ebooks

There are several places to find free books which can be downloaded in various formats and converted if necessary. Many of them will be “the classics” – books that are in public domain, but converted and released in different formats.

• Project Gutenberg mentioned above is a great site with more than 27,000 books available in the public domain. Classics from Austen, Shakespeare, Mark Twain, even the Kama Sutra!
• ManyBooks.net – 23,000+ books, and they’re all free! Multiple formats available for download.
• FeedBooks.com – more free books, compatible with most mobile devices and Kindle / Sony / iPhone, it supports the EPUB format.
• Google Book Search – use “Advanced Book Search” and select “Full view only” for some creative commons / public domain books.
• Free Kindle format books – a great list of free Kindle format books from Kindle 2, Kindle Books Reader 2.0 – Amazon Kindle 2 Review
• Kindle Formatting is offering a few free books during Read an Ebook Week.
• Suvudu – a new science fiction portal Suvudu from Random House which has monthly free books to download. You can sign up for their newsletter to get notified when new titles are available.
• Girlebook.com – “free ebooks by the gals” –  classics and titles by lesser-known female authors, all free.
• F+W Media offers some free ebooks to those that sign up for their newsletter.

Learning Resources

Still want to know more about eBooks? Here are some resources to continue your quest. Send me your questions as well via my Contact Page.

• TeleRead.org – a blog all about eBook news and eBook readers
• Three Open Source E-book Readers Worth a Look from OStatic
• A very useful E-book Reader matrix from MobileRead
• ePub Resources and Guides – O’Reilly Labs
• Dear Author.com – a blog mainly about romance books, but check their ebook technology category for some very informative posts including device comparisons and some hot eBook topics. After all, romance readers are one of the most powerful reading markets – we read a lot, we buy a lot, and we are pushing the eBook market to get their act together. Some posts to jump straight to: Dear Author’s 2nd Annual Buying Guide, Parts 1 and 2 – How to borrow eBooks from your local library using the Sony Reader, and 2008 eInk Readers
• How to Choose an Ebook Reader from Wired.com
• International Digital Publishing Forum – proponents of the EPUB format, statistics and news regarding the eBook market.
• MobileRead – information for reading digital content on your mobile/cellular phone, but lots of crossover with the format wars in general.
• Read an E-Book Week – March 8-14, 2009.
• Read Write Web ebooks category

What doubts or questions do you have regarding electronic books? Leave them in the comments, or send it to me via Ask the Geek.

Image from gi