Hello. Does anyone here know where online to buy ebooks in an epub format in the US? I’m trying to buy a German book so I can upload it and read it on LingQ. I’ve looked on Amazon and Barnes and Noble but it looks like they’re only selling the book I want for their own prioprietary platforms, therefore I can’t upload them here. I also tried to buy the book on a German bookstore’s website, but according to their support team they are unable to sell ebooks to anyone with a billing address outside of EU countries.
2 Likes
I’ve been buying ebooks from https://kobo.com
Some titles there still have DRM, but it can be stripped
1 Like
If you bought an ebook you can get rid of its DRM by using Calibre and the DeDRM plugin. I’ve done so for ebooks bought both on amazon and in the google play store (those are Adobe ebooks). From what the readme says it should also work with mobibooks, other Adobe formats including Kobo and eReader ebooks.
The usage is fairly simple:
- install Calibre (freeware)
- install the DeDRM plugin via the program itself
- configure the plugin (you need to add your personal key their you can find on the respective platforms, you can google where to find them)
- on importing an ebook the DRM will automatically be removed, and you can then modify and export it (either as epub, pdf or in some other format)
1 Like
Hi,
I use epubor ultimate and it works great for ebooks from Amazon and major sellers (Nook, Kobo…). I have only tried Amazon though.
Pierpaolo
1 Like
I also use Epubor Ultimate. It’s a great tool for language learners!
1 Like
I’ve had mixed results with both calibre and Epubor, sometimes it seems to work with Amazon and others it says it’s protected and despite following the instructions and installing plug ins doesn’t work. It’s so time consuming I’ve given up and search for pdfs instead.
1 Like
This link might be of help if looking to try the calibre de-drm route. There is a link about halfway down in the thread in one of my responses to the full instructions:
E-books copy protection prevents imports to LingQ - Support & Feedback Forum - LingQ Language Forums
I’ve personally had good success with Calibre on Kindle books, but I also have an old kindle and downloading via usb I think puts it on an older drm model. I think they have or are eliminated that. So using epubor may be more straightforward to use if that still works.
As for german bookstores that don’t require a German or EU address, I’ve been able to buy from this one:
genialokal - Bücher Online kaufen mal anders
You can even enter your American (or wherever address). Not sure why all the other online German booksellers are such a pain about this when all you want to do is buy an ebook. These books can be bought as epub. I’m not sure about the DRM though. I’ve not tried to import anything I’ve purchased here, or use calibre or epubor to remove any potential DRM on these.
1 Like
What an odd page. If you select a language, it kicks you back on the main page.
Most likely it’s due to our tax law. There is a value added tax that booksellers have to pay if they are selling the book to someone living in Germany. Maybe some of them fear that if they don’t check whether a foreign address entered does actually exist and matches the IP or that users could use VPN to get the books cheaper they might end up getting problems with the German tax office.
Just an assumption, though.
1 Like
Hmmm, you mean when filtering books? I didn’t have that issue…but I searched first, then filtered. Not sure whether that matters or if there’s something funny with different browsers maybe? (I was using edge and/or chrome)
1 Like
Searching first and than filtering works. Not useful, though, when searching especially for something in a specific language and not so much a specific topic. 
Maybe what you searched for isn’t available in that language, but probably I’m not doing specifically what you’re doing.
1 Like
Oh oops, there I did it…all ebooks, norwegian language. bam, back to home page. weird.
1 Like
So this site is in Swedish but if you right click the webpage you should be able to auto-translate it. E-böcker hos Bokus - läs direkt
As you can see at least for the larger languages it has quite an extensive selection, these are the e-books. They have DRM, but the DRM varies, for most books it’s usually just a tracking device for if you were to redistribute the books online. But since you read E-Books privately, it won’t be a problem. Might vary depending on book you order though.
2 Likes