The Official OT Free NOOKbook summary thread [ Edited ]

[bga_reviews]

I didn't try to sideload the book, but I tried to download it directly to each of the three Nook eReaders, unsuccessfully, before posting my OT comment.  Each time I selected download, it would pause for a moment or two and then go back to showing the Download option. I'll try sideloading one of them tonight. Even so, I think the point of that Free Nookbook thread is to alert readers to free for a limited time Nookbooks, and not point out people's favorite public domain, always free, Google Books.  I'm sorry if I'm rude for pointing out that there are difficulties downloading these books to Nook eReaders, and asking somewhat politely (I did say "please") to not post them to the list because they are always free. 

[bga_reviews]

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Desert_Brat wrote:

bga_reviews wrote:

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kathylcsw wrote:

Boots and Saddles  

This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'ed book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. 

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I'm sorry to be OT on this, but this is a book from the Google Digital Library scans, and can not be downloaded to any of the Nook eReaders, just the Nook desktop applications.  All of the books with this description are from Google Books, in the public domain, and free.  Please don't clutter this discussion with these books.

_______________________________________________________________________

Google books has been part of the B&N catalog for a long time.

Any ebook listed in the B&N catalog will auto-download to the nooks -- with the exception of enhanced content, which only download to the Nook Color (Read To Me books, etc.)

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Did you even try to "purchase" this and download it to your Nook?  I did, and it did not download to my Nook 1st Edition, Nook Color, or Nook Touch.  On each device, it attempted to download it, and then immediate showed the Download option again. At the same time, I downloaded other books from my library to my Nooks, so it's clearly a problem with Google Books with this description (i.e., not OCRd).

[bga_reviews]

Boots and Saddles  

This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'ed book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. 

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I'm sorry to be OT on this, but this is a book from the Google Digital Library scans, and can not be downloaded to any of the Nook eReaders, just the Nook desktop applications.  All of the books with this description are from Google Books, in the public domain, and free.  Please don't clutter this discussion with these books.

_______________________________________________________________________

Google books has been part of the B&N catalog for a long time.

Any ebook listed in the B&N catalog will auto-download to the nooks -- with the exception of enhanced content, which only download to the Nook Color (Read To Me books, etc.)

[Desert_Brat]

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bga_reviews wrote: 

Did you even try to "purchase" this and download it to your Nook?

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As a matter of fact, I do have this book on all of my nooks. I did have trouble with a similar book. To fix it, I deleted it from my online library, synced the nook, did a power off/power on of the nook, and then "purchased" the free book again and it downloaded. Archiving and unarchiving the book didn't solve the problem like it usually does.

When all else fails, with the browser on the nook color, find the book at Google Books and download it directly to the nook. It will show up under My Files/My Downloads. This does not work with the e-ink models because the browsers aren't very functional. For those, download it to the computer and then sideload it.

There are many organizations that digitize books, not just Google. Project Gutenberg, Internet Archive, Open Library and others are working on getting old books into digital format so they are not lost to future generations.

[bga_reviews]

I tried it again, on a couple of the versions of Boots and Saddles which had the description above, as well as several other NookBooks with the same description.  A couple of the books downloaded on both my Nook Touch and Nook Color (the Nook 1st Edition is traveling), and several books refuse to download, even after reboot, including two copies of Boots and Saddles. At least one of them won't download from "My library" from the BN website, either. Apparently I picked the wrong two to download before complaining about it on the free book thread, because at least three copies did download for me today.

So as to my other point, is the free book thread meant to bring attention to any free book, or just the ones that are available for a limited time? I realize that Doug's original post says "free books of note", but I think it would get tedious if a lot of people started posting public domain works that have one or more free digitized editions from Google or IA, or other sources.

In the future, I'll be sure to post any rude comments about other people's free books of note here. I've learned my lesson, and there's no reason to start any more new threads clearly directed at me (of course,  not mentioning my handle because that would be impolite).

[Omnigeek]

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bga_reviews wrote:

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Did you even try to "purchase" this and download it to your Nook?  I did, and it did not download to my Nook 1st Edition, Nook Color, or Nook Touch.  On each device, it attempted to download it, and then immediate showed the Download option again. At the same time, I downloaded other books from my library to my Nooks, so it's clearly a problem with Google Books with this description (i.e., not OCRd).

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I did and I got it on both my Nook Color and Nook Simple Touch.  I have other free books I've "purchased" through the B&N bookstore that refuse to download on one or both devices.  This wasn't one of them.  I appreciate what you were trying to do but your response to her was both rude and incorrect.

[javabird]

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bga_reviews wrote:

So as to my other point, is the free book thread meant to bring attention to any free book, or just the ones that are available for a limited time? I realize that Doug's original post says "free books of note", but I think it would get tedious if a lot of people started posting public domain works that have one or more free digitized editions from Google or IA, or other sources.

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The free book thread was intended to bring attention to free books for a limited time that people might miss. That's why the "perennially free" books weren't posted there.

[beeyebickiebuy]

So what is really up with this?  Does anyone know?

I have had two titles that were listed as free charge me for them.  I have had to call customer support to get the charges credited and that will happen "in a few days."

I am getting gunshy now.

Is there any way to truly know if a book is really free?

[blemons]

Issues like this have not been uncommon when BN switches a new book to Free.

But they are good about reversing charges, when required.

Sometimes it's just a timing issue, and settles down after it's been free for awhile.

If the summary page for the book says free - they should reverse the charge and you should be able to keep the book  for free.

You just need to watch whether you are charged - to see if you need to give them a call.

As far as I know, there is no way to tell in advance which books will act like this - other than seeing if others post about it.

So, you can either download, check for charges, and call to reverse (if necessary).  Or you can wait awhile to download to see if it settles down (and hopefully not have the problem)... although there are no guarantees.

[beeyebickiebuy]

Perhaps the posters of free book on any thread here should indicate whether they were able to download them for free or not?

[Pink_Maiden]

What really bothers me is it only takes them one second to take your money, but 1-2 billing cycles before your money gets refunded.

I wish they would not have automatic download, you don't know if you are being charged until "AFTER" you hit that button.  I wish they would have a "CART" so that we could see the prices we are being charged before purchasing.  We can't count on the price being accurate and don't find out until it's too late!

I hate dealing with their customer service, all they know how to say is "I'm sorry for the inconvenience ".  They don't realize what an inconvenience it really is and the hoops we have to jump through to straighten out the mess they have caused.

Thank you for letting me rant,

Pinky

[beeyebickiebuy]

Can someone let us all know when it is safe to download free books again?

[quiltergns]

I downloaded 6 of them yesterday and wasn't charged for any of them.  I have received the emails on all of them that have free for the cost within the email confirmation.  Georgia

[tweezle]

I downloaded them all at about 12pm EST and they all showed up free in my account and the email receipts.

[sarahdee2007]

The only time I have had a problem with my free books is when I tried to pay with a visa gift card. I talked to customer support and they explained that it had to be a card with a registered address. I have never been charged for a free ebook though. Good luck!

[KC_Hughes]

What is an OT post?

[beeyebickiebuy]

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KC_Hughes wrote:

What is an OT post?

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OT = Off Topic

With respect to the free NOOKbook summary thread this is interpreted by some, e.g., me as well as others, as any post that does not list a free book that is available.

[beeyebickiebuy]

Hey everyone.  The following book is not free.

The Help  

I hope that is helpful to those who may have been wondering.

Of course you would have known as soon as you hovered over the title or clicked on the link.

   

[bga_reviews]

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Pink_Maiden wrote:

What really bothers me is it only takes them one second to take your money, but 1-2 billing cycles before your money gets refunded.

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I once had purchased one of the "free" books, and B&N charged me $43 or so for it.  When they told me it it would take 1-2 billing cycles for the refund to show up, I thought they were saying it might take several months, but the refund actually showed up one or two days later.

[Colleen_Rose]

Big THANKS to Pink Maiden for starting up free book lists again!

[Pink_Maiden]

@ Colleen_Rose

You are very welcome!

Pinky