UPDATE2-4, 2/6/11 - Original posting was 8/27/09, Update1 was made 4/22/10. Google has combined its free Google books with ones they sell now, and the earlier instructions (below) on how to find downloadable, free files no longer apply.
The rest of it is the same, however.
Google seems to have combined the free books with the paid books and now may require you to (1) have a Google account for downloading Google e-books as well as (2) a credit card even to download a free book *IF it's not a public-domain book* (corrected information from @mikecane).
I had a credit card with Google already because I had experimented with buying a web-version of a paid Google Book when the Google web Bookstore was launched, and I was asked for it when I tried to download "The eBook Insider" - which is free but is NOT a public domain book.
I used it today to 'buy' this $0.00 Google eBook to test whether these are still easily convertible to Kindle format AND uploadable to Retroread (see details below), who will convert free *public-domain* Google files for the Kindle community, at no cost. If someone else has already requested a particular free Public Domain Google eBook, it'll be listed on the Retroread site as downloadable by everyone else for their Kindles.
The basic steps when I 'bought' this currently-free NON-public-domain book:
. Click on a book you want and it'll give you the option to 'buy' it even if its $0.00 AND if it's NOT a public-domain book. It'll give you the option to "Get" it if it's in the public domain, and you can then click to download it.
. After 'buying' it, I received these alerts:
"This book has been added to My Google eBooks" and
"Access all your Google eBooks at books.google.com"
. After clicking on "My Google Books," you can see the books you've downloaded, both paid and free.
. Click on the book you just received and you're given options to
"Read now" (which would be in web-browser version) OR
"Read on your device" (Nook, Sony, Kobo etc but not Kindle)Google then offers you the following choices to be able to read the new book:
1. Installing a Smartphones app (Android) or a Tablet app (iPhone & iPad)
2. Laptop and computers (reading in web browser)
3. eReader and other devices
a. ePub
b. Adobe PDF (*IF* included)
Choose "ePub"
*NOTE*: Retroread could NOT convert my free Google book because it isn't a public-domain book and is therefore not successfully searchable on their site. I then converted it via Calibre as described below.
Again, when a Google eBook IS public domain and free, you are given the option to "GET" the book without purchasing it. When you click to accept that option, the eBook winds up in your Google library.
The earlier section below explains how to get and use Calibre to easily convert any free ePub Google file to Kindle format or use Retroread site to have it done for you if the book is in the public domain.
UPDATE1, 4/22/10 - Original posting was 8/27/09 (Kindle model info updated)
I've added, at the bottom of this post, a section about a new service that will convert a Google Book FOR you (using the method below) and send it to your Kindle if you want (Amazon charges 15 cents per megabyte of a file if Whispernet delivery of a file) OR to the email address you use for correspondence with Amazon (no cost involved).
Aug. 27, 2009 -- Yesterday Google offered over a million free e-books in EPUB format as well as in PDF format.
These are easier to work with because they involve text-reflow instead of keeping a page exactly as originally laid out and therefore with words too small on e-screens. Also, Google has done that text-reflow for us, which should bring more reliable to-MOBI conversions for files that had originally been among the more-complex PDFs.
This will also allow highlighting, note-adding, font-size adjustments, and will be included in search results when the full Kindle is searched for key words. We just need to convert them to MOBI files.
Some newspapers are reporting the million+ free Google files are not readable on the Kindle.
They are. They just need a simple conversion.
There are currently at least three popular free tools that can convert ePub files to Kindle-compatible MOBI files: (1) mobigen.exe (not intuitive); (2) Mobipocket Reader 6.2 (loses some of the styling); and (3) Calibre, which has a nice interface, is easy to use, works with pc's and Macs, and gets the best results.
So, Calibre it is. Many use it already for organized computer records of their Kindle files or for retrieving combinations of newspaper feeds for their Kindles (not as easily navigated as the paid subscrptions).
This blog article focuses only on converting the ePub file-format to a Kindle-readable one.
If you don't already have this free software, created and maintained by Kovid Goyal, download Calibre here.
GET A FREE GOOGLE BOOK OR TWO
To get a free Google book (most written before 1923 but there are some nice older magazines there as well), go to Google's book site.
To find a free book (they are all mixed with $$$-books), click on "Full Preview" as those tend to be the free ones. Then do a search for what you want.
At the top right, once you choose a book, you'll see "Download" which will be a pull-down menu showing a choice of PDF or ePub. (See update of Feb. 6, 2011, above.)
If you have a Kindle DXG, you might prefer to just get the PDF. If the words on the PDF are too small though, then get the ePub file. IF you download an ePub file, then:
CALIBRE
Open and run Calibre. On the LEFT will be your choices for set-up when you're converting a document. Hovering over anything will usually bring a help tip.
Accepting defaults is fine. The ability to change the "meta information" is nice - so you can have names and authors as you like them. If there is no Table of Contents you can 'force' Calibre to create one.
At the top are choices to "Edit meta information: as well as "Convert E-books." Follow the instructions, and then press the 'OK' button and the conversion will take a few minutes. I did one and moved it to the Kindle DX and it looks great.
Oh, Calibre gives you the option to optimize your converted file for the Kindle 2 or the Kindle DX.
So, yes, those million+ free Google books are fully useable on the Kindle - it just needs this added step, but it's also great to be able to customize so much of the layout if you want. Play with the software a bit.
THE BOOK STORES - MASHABLE'S POINTS
The report by Mashable's Stan Schroeder makes some good points:
"... the first major difference between the Kindle and this Google-Sony open book strategy: while Amazon only offers 300,000 titles, Google’s million books aren’t, for the most part, the most attractive ones, and Sony’s own ebook library doesn’t offer a choice as good as Amazon – at least when it comes to modern titles.Sure, if you’re interested in an oldie, such as the Memoirs of Granville Sharp, Google’s library is a good choice, but if you’re looking to buy a digital copy of the latest bestseller, you’re more likely to find it on the Kindle than in Google’s library and Sony’s ebook store combined. You can sometimes buy an ebook online and then transfer it to your Sony ebook reader, but on the Kindle it’s simpler and easier to do.
Also see:
Read foreign-language Google-books in English online
Google describes the book conversion process
How to download any of the 30,000 Project Gutenberg books to your Kindle, direct.
UPDATE 4/22/10 - RETROREAD'S AUTOMATED GOOGLE BOOK CONVERSIONS
RetroRead (BLTC Press) offers free conversion of any free ePub Google Book to Amazon Kindle format for delivery to your Kindle or to your computer via your normal email address. As RetroRead's David Eyes describes in his Blitzes at BLTC blog you will be able to create an account through which you may upload any free Google ePub book (but ONLY Google book files), and have it converted and forwarded directly to you. He adds that the quality of the converted book can vary greatly depending on the quality of Google’s optical character recognition (OCR) conversion. The site is self-explanatory.
Once you've registered and read the Terms of Use, you can go to http://books.google.com and choose a free Google book to read, downloading the ePub version to your computer, at which point you're given the option to have that downloaded file automatically uploaded to Retroread for immediate conversion to Kindle format (using RetroReadhelper -- Windows for that though) and then either sent to your Kindle* or to your email address or linked at the Retroread site where you can download the converted file and then move it to your Kindle via the USB cable.
* If you do want the direct-to-Kindle option, you need to have created earlier a special address for files to your Kindle -- [you]@kindle.com ...
So be sure you've set up a [you]@kindle.com address first. This setup is done at your Amazon "Manage Your Kindle" page. Here's a guide for using that management page.
This would involve letting RetroRead have your [you]@kindle.com address and, as mentioned, the Amazon fee for whispernet delivery would apply (15 cents per megabyte of a book -- with most ePub books under 1 megabyte -- but the one I uploaded tonight was over 2 megs because some pages were image scans). However, you can also choose to just get the converted file and move it to the Kindle yourself. Read his blog for the additions he's made to the site's capabilities. Lots of good things.
You can also choose recently converted Google books that are listed as available for download on the left side of the RetroRead page.
For those looking for interesting less-seen free books, it's hard to do better than David's list of the Latest Converted files.
At any rate, this is a quick intro. I tried it last night and it works well. The book I converted for this blog article was used at Retroread, and the results were the 99% the same, since RetroRead uses Calibre also, although the last half of the final page, which happened to be the Table of Contents page at the end, was missing.
Many will find this service very convenient. But the service is not offered for any ePub books other than the Google books. However, you can use this blog guide to do that yourself as needed. Your own conversion from ePub to Amazon format should take about three minutes after you've had a chance to work with it.
Kindle 3 (UK: Kindle 3), DX Graphite
Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources. Top 100 free bestsellers.
Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.
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