iPad app and eBooks from other B&N Companies: eReader.com and Fictionwise.com

[crashmstr]

I have purchased over 1000 titles at Fictionwise.com, and a dozen or so from eReader.com in the last 10 years. I've considered myself a loyal customer and have continued to enjoy my eBooks for many years across many devices.

As they are now Barnes and Noble companies, will there be a way to load (or "sideload") those into the B&N eReader on the iPad, or will there be an updated non-B&N branded eReader that will continue to support purchases from Fictionwise.com and eReader.com?

[RicanChuloinFla]

you beat me to the punch as I have the same question and was hoping the B&N eReader would let me import the Fictionwise books. If not, when is the standard eReader app coming out that supports Fictionwise?

[netlola]

I have the same question! I can read all my eReader books purchased at Fictionwise with the B&N Desktop application on my Mac with no problem at all. It would therefore make sense that the iPad B&N Reader should be capable of doing the same!

On the Fictionwise website, there is a section to upload personal content, where I have added ebooks purchased from other stores. Barnes & Noble need to add this feature so their own site, after all Fictionwise IS their subsidiary.

[VermontHobbit]

Agreed... this fragmentation of our eBook libraries is a big turn-off to using electronic media. With BN owning several of the companies, I was kind of shocked that I didn't get a nice fuzzy email telling me how to merge accounts.

[Doug_Pardee Distinguished Bibliophile]

B&N owns Fictionwise, but the two operate separately. From the press release about the acquisition:

Barnes & Noble intends to keep Fictionwise as a separate business unit and the founders will continue to operate the business.

So far, there's no sign that's changed. Fictionwise is Fictionwise, B&N is B&N.

[crashmstr]

I'm fine with them being separate, but if that means killing off any new development of new/advanced versions of the eReader app (non-B&N branded) for new platforms, not good. That means they are killing the subsidiary as a viable source going forward.

[swandy]

Perhaps when the iPad gets it's firmware update. Supposedly that will allow one access to a file and folder structure we will be allowed to "side load" the books. Though since the BN reader is currently only set up to add books over the net, I would not hold my breath. The unfortunate part of this situation is that people who have legitimate, purshased copies of Fictionwise and eReader books will end up having to find solutions on the Net to remove the DRM and then convert the PDB files into ePub files which are very easy to add to iBooks.

[crashmstr]

I tried using the bnreader:// link format, and it did not work with the iPad app. On the other hand, the ereader:// link format still works with the iPhone eReader app on the iPad. I know this might not be the best solution for most users, but at least it would give me access to my books with the way I have things set up.

[donncon]

It really is too bad they won't get their act together (literally).  They purchase companies with long established clients that are wanting to be loyal, and instead they are forcing us to look for work arounds (some questionable) instead of expanding on the customer base!  Publishing and distributing ebooks should be one of their higher profit margin products, and the iPad is taking it more into the mainstream.  I can't belive they aren't paying more attention to their own forums and taking advantage of such an opportunity.

[VermontHobbit]

Right on, donncon! People have good reason to be skeptical when buying electronic media... will that company be in business, and supporting the format on current devices, in say 5, 10 or 20 years? My paper book library will still be working for sure in that timeframe!

Personally, I trust Apple to be around, and to a lesser extent Amazon, but is my $20 copy of Iron Man in HD on Amazon or AppleTV really as valuable to me as a Blu Ray disc would be?

B&N has acquired other eBook companies. If they do not move quickly and clearly to bring all these formats under their tent, I can see no reason to trust any B&N purchase to be more than a short-term "rental" until the next smartphone or tablet comes along.

When you set yourself up to sell electronic media, and put yourself in the position of being a lifetime steward of the customers' purchases, you need to garner trust above all else.

[romsfuulynn]

Deep breath people. I don't even have an iPad (yet) but this discussion led me to take the radical step of ASKING how to do this. I would be curious to see if it actually does work but here is the prompt answer I received from customer service. (Doesn't solve the OTHER problem of those purchased books not available for download, but is progress.) Thank you for your inquiry. To add books to your iPad OS device's bookshelf from a store bookshelf, tap the + button in the lower right-hand corner of the navigation bar. Then choose "eReader/Fictionwise shelf". This will open a screen to allow you to enter your login information which includes your account name and password. Press Go and your information will be verified and then the contents of you on-line bookshelf will be listed for you. Browse the list of books to determine which books you would like to download. An indicator appears next to books in the list that you already have on your device. Tap the book listing to view a detailed description and press the Download button to download the book to your device. It will download to your iPad OS device in the background, and you'll be notified when it has finished downloading.

[lparsons21]

That method works on the older iPod Touch/iPhone app I think, but there is no + sign on the screen for the newer iPad B&N reader.

[Splicer]

Romsfuulynn, what you describe works for the ereader.com ereader software but not for the Barnes and Noble ereader software either for the iPhone or iPad. No such plus sign appears anywhere but the ereader.com/fictionwise app. Reportedly, B&N bought fictionwise specifically for that software (but who knows). Since they updated the B&N-branded version and added an iPad version but did not update the original ereader.com ereader nor add an iPad version, it looks as though they bought a competitor just to strangle it. That would be very sad

[MrMLK]

Swandy:

> Perhaps when the iPad gets it's firmware update. Supposedly that will allow one access to a file and folder structure we will be allowed to "side load" the books.

This fuctionality already exists on the iPad. I currently have three 3rd party apps on my iPad that allow me to load files via itunes; Goodreader, Cloudreader, Crossword. Itunes allows me to see the file and folder structure specific to that specific app and copy files to/from the iPad.

My guess is that if BN isn't doing it now, they arn't ever going to. Which is strange to me, unless they really believe that burning the people who have been buying ebooks the longest will cause them to buy more books from BN.

[dafaolta]

I have 5 ebook readers on my iPod: FFictionwise eReader,Stanza, Kindle for iPod and 2 pdf/doc readers. I have resisted adding BN's eReader because my connection to eReader as a reader goes back to my Palm 3 and Peanut Press, and being unable to load the 800+ ebooks I have from them into the BN eReader has been the biggest turn off.

Now I'm finding ebooks on BN that I can't get from Fictionwise and I'm looking at it again.

So the question is: is there a way to blend the two yet? Is there a way to get my .pdb ebooks to play nice with the BN eReader on my iPod Touch?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[Ed_Mart]

I have the Fictionwise and BN readers.  Each handles their own books.  If there is a way to combine the books in one reader I have not found it, either in the ipod or in itunes.

[donncon]

What a poor business model!  I just downloaded the new BNeReader for iPad, thinking I could read some of my eReader books (I have a TON, and quite a few I never got to read) formatted for the iPads larger screen, now I find out the two are completely separate!  Guess I'll just delete the BNeReader and keep using the iPhone version on my iPad.  What a bummer!

[dafaolta]

I asked primarily because I know that I could side load them onto a Nook, so I thought there might be a way to do the same thing with a different device. I knew I couldn't be the only one with the problem.

I may wind up adding their eReader back on, but I just hate to waste the space on Another reader program. My Touch is only 8gig, so the space is not infinite.

Sigh.....

[lparsons21]

I too am a bit puzzled as to why B&N hasn't made their reader compatible with Fictionwise and eReader.com books, but I have my own workarounds.

For the old books that are pdb format with no DRM, I use Calibre to convert to epub and then read them in iBooks.  And any new books I buy will be in epub even though that sometimes means paying a tad more for the book.  

For my old books that won't convert, which is fortunately not many, I guess the iPhone version of the old ereader program is going to have to be good enough.

[Splicer]

Just in case someone from Barnes and Noble ever reads these forums, let me point out what a customer relations fiasco this is. B&N bought another company with a bunch of customers and some good software. They took the software and converted it for their own purposes, and left the customers out in the cold. If there isn't ever an iPad version of the Fictionwise/eReader.com software, I'll start buying books somewhere else. I would normally be happy to start buying my books from the parent company of the company I've been buying from all along. But the eReader software was first to the iPhone and it's the best reader for the iPhone in my opinion, so I'm convinced that if B&N hadn't bought eReader that there would be an iPad version already. The point is, if you want my business, don't leave me out in the cold. If B&N eReader lets me store and read my old eReader books, I'll switch over to the B&N eReader and start buying books from both sites if not switching over entirely. But if you don't accommodate me, I know it was you who tried to make my existing library of books obsolete, and I'll be damned if I buy a single book from you. If you want me as a customer, you have to treat me like a valued customer. End of story. So from here on out, unless something changes, it's Kobo or Kindle or iBooks for me. You can't treat me poorly and expect me to be your customer. I would have thought that was just common sense and good business, but maybe that's too much to expect from Barnes & Noble.