Books/Preorders missing from Amazon
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@Kalessin Other than Kobo, which I usually use to buy Japanese stuff, Google Playstore is also an option. When it comes to JNC novels with no significant premium content, it's my platform of choice simply because for some reason, the price on all ebooks gets a considerable discount in my home country's region. Both of them use Adobe DRM so same method of stripping.
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@nofairytale The main issue with the Google Play Store is the lack of regions where Yen Press titles are available.
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@nofairytale Yes, Google Play Books is another options, though in at least some cases, with manga, they have pdf files instead of epub for some reason (which is extremely undesirable IMHO). I'm also able to get better prices with Kobo with quite a few books thanks to Kobo's VIP membership (it doesn't apply to all books, since it depends on the publisher, but it's 10% off per book where it does apply, which can definitely add up). Obviously though, where the best prices are for you is going to depend on a variety of factors, including your region.
Nook is another option whose DRM can be removed, though it's actually very annoying to do so now, because it can no longer be done with their PC application (the DRM could be stripped from older versions, but those don't work anymore). Instead, you have deal with a rooted Android device (or emulated Android device).
The big one to avoid is Bookwalker, since if anyone has cracked their DRM, they haven't made it available.
Regardless, for JNC, I always just get the premium editions and don't have to worry about stripping off any DRM, but it's definitely something to be concerned about with e-books in general.
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@Raitoiro said in Books/Preorders missing from Amazon:
Unfortunately as much as would love to stop using amazon, especially after thoose stupid ban, they're still the only bookstore where I can remove DRM, which doesn't have some strange region-locking thing, and isn't lacking some publishers.
Amazon does restrict regions for their ebooks for certain titles while physical books will still be ordeable. Happened to me in the past with a volume of I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years, bought it from Kobo instead.
Amazon is definitely not the only service where you can strip the DRM. Doing so with Kobo is trivial, as mentioned in replies same for Google Play Store. Even Nook is manageable, despite what Kalessin says the rippers have been updated since late and should handle Nook too.
For BookWalker, I think the issue has to do with critical mass, while it has a lot of English manga and novels it doesn't have that much English literature over the board, making the incentive to solve the drm stripping issue low...
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@sniper_samurai Hmm, that about having to re-authenticate the Bookwalker app all of the time is news to me. I am using it on an old WiFi-only tablet that is still on Android 8 and have never encountered that problem.
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@Korppi said in Books/Preorders missing from Amazon:
Even Nook is manageable, despite what Kalessin says the rippers have been updated since late and should handle Nook too.
Well, the pre-Windows store Nook PC applications can no longer sign in to B&N, and the latest that the DeDRM blog or documentation says about the Nook stuff is that DeDRM does not work with the Windows store Nook application. So, unless the code was fixed so that it does work with the Windows store version, but it wasn't reported, then there's no way to remove the DRM from the books downloaded with the current Nook PC application. Of course, if the code has been updated to work, then that's great, and it would be good to know.
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@Tube I already buy all of my JNC title directly on the site, but I can't find titles from yen press and vertical on Google-book and Kobo.
Do you like death, war and misery ?
Do you like badass op loli who let nobody got in their way ?
Do you like vengeance story?
If so then then vote for The girl who ate a death god -
@edowaado Every time you open the app it needs an internet connection to check if you have a license for the book you are reading. It re authenticates your licences every time.
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@Korppi Maybe Amazon does region lock some title but I've been using it a lot for the last 4 years and so far I've never had that problem, whereas I can't even find yen press or vertical titles on kobo and Google-book. Nook as a whole is region lock I can't even download it.
The best would be if all publisher did the same as JNC and sold their eBook DRM-free directly on their on site. -
@Raitoiro said in Books/Preorders missing from Amazon:
@Tube I already buy all of my JNC title directly on the site, but I can't find titles from yen press and vertical on Google-book and Kobo.
Well, they're available from those stores in the US, so it's probably a regional issue. I don't know that it will do any good, but if the e-books are available on Amazon in your region, then I would think that they'd be able to make them available on the other stores in your region. So, you might as well contact Yen Press and Vertical / Kodansha and request that they make them available on Kobo and/or Google Play in your region. I'm sure that it wouldn't change anything immediately, but it might encourage them to make them available.
Seven Seas didn't used to have their books available an Kobo. I contacted them about it, and eventually, they made them available there. I don't know that it had much to do with my contacting them, but it doesn't hurt to try.
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@Kalessin Yeah, good idea I will try sending them a mail.
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@sniper_samurai It doesn't though. I just turned the wifi and data off on my phone and started bookwalker. It opened a book fine to the last position I had open, and just gave a message that it couldn't sync the place of the book.
This is pretty standard from my experence as I have used the app multiple times on flights when the phone is on flight mode.
I've never had an issue with viewing books while offline. I also have a tablet that only has wifi, and have had no issues with reading books while out and about with no internet connection.
I have never seen it require logging in every time I open the app in my experience. -
@Timmaaah Must have changed since the last time I used it. The last time I used it locking and immediately unlocking my tablet required it to check my licences via the internet every time.
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About that DRM-free manga from J-Novel Club... You know, to not depend on third-party stores and their restrictions...
I buy most of the non-JNC books on Kobo since quite a while now. Still a few from Kindle however, and they were just because they were not available on Kobo in first place (looking at you, Seven Seas.) There seems to be some lower priority on publishing things to Kobo from what I've seen.
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@edowaado said in Books/Preorders missing from Amazon:
You know, everything that has come up in this thread makes me glad that I switched the bulk of my LN/manga e-book buying from Amazon to Bookwalker a couple of years ago. Sure, I had to re-purchase some things and I know that sme folks have issues with Bookwalker, but at the moment that seems to be the better option. (I have no experience with Kobo or anyone else so cannot comment on them.)
I just buy everything JNC directly from them; price is the same or less, DRM-free and not locked to a platform, extra content. What's not to like?
Non-JNC is a problem.
I've bought a few things from Amazon, and promptly converted the format because I don't like the Kindle reader - but I don't like Amazon as a company either, so that's not what I want to do.
Nook used to be fairly reasonable to convert to something other than their reader, but they locked things down hard a couple of years ago. No more.
Kobo I don't know about either.
Bookwalker? I took a look and ran screaming; they appear to be even more hardcore 'you will read it our way or not at all, citizen' than Nook. No thanks.
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Yeah I'm getting really worried about the direction this could go... dropped a ton of cash getting all the physical copies I can for now lest they become purged in the future...
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Well, one good thing about this for me is that it introduced me to this place and a bunch of other publishers I didn't really know about. Thank you for discussion and I will be following along. After deciding that while I love physical books, I just am at a point in my life where I don't want shelves upon shelves of them so I opted to get a Kindle. I've already have hundreds of dollars of LN and Manga on it and now this. I seriously was going to buy several of these titles and that's how I became aware of this. If it is a flagging issue, fine. But if this is an Amazon decision I need to know because despite all that I put on my Kindle - I will get something else instead. I hate Amazon I just bought it because I heard it was the best for reading manga.
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Looking through Amazon it appears Infinite Stratos V3 and Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash V1 have been removed recently.
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Yeah now this has started I doubt it's stopping any time soon. Now if something offends anyone it has to go... humanity as a species isn't covering itself with glory recently...
Time for the dolphins to take over, all hail our aquatic overlords
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@Swiftnissity Stratos v8 as well.
