Stores for US readers other than Amazon? (Kindle a bonus)
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For JNC, I just buy the premium editions here and can move them to my Kindle with Calibre.
Now that Amazon is on an anti-LN crusade, what about Yen Press, Seven Seas, etc.?
Ideally I can keep using my Kindle, though I understand that might not be possible because of DRM. It's a waste, but I'm not opposed to getting a second e-ink reader. I do prefer e-ink over using an android or IPad tablet,
What store(s) do you use, and what do you like and dislike about them?
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I have no personal experience with this since I'm still primarily a physical collector, but I've heard that many people buy from Kobo because it's pretty easy to remove the DRM, allowing you to keep on using your Kindle device.
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In general, Kobo has the best quality for images, but both it and Google Play use the same DRM, which is easy to remove. Nook's DRM can also be removed, but it's far more of a pain to do so. Bookwalker has great availability for manga and LNs, since that's basically all it sells (it's owned by Kadokawa), but its DRM cannot currently be removed, so at this point, it's best to avoid Bookwalker (which is particularly annoying given that they're the one place that you can pretty much guarantee won't remove LNs or manga in the way that Amazon has been).
Personally, I buy pretty much all of my non-JNC books from Kobo.
Regardless of which store you buy from though, if you want to read them on a Kindle, you'll not only need to remove their DRM, but you'll need to convert them like you need to convert your e-books from JNC, since they all use epub (though for some stupid reason, sometimes the manga on Google Play is pdf files, so that's something to watch out for if you want to buy manga from Google Play).
If you want an e-ink reader other than a Kindle, then Kobo is probably your best option, though personally, I much prefer to read on tablets, since they have proper color, are far more responsive, and can have far more storage than e-ink readers ever do (which doesn't necessarily matter for light novels, but it very much matters for manga).
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@Kalessin thanks. Yes, a tablet makes more sense for color and images, but I'm not reading any manga right now and I do have a 10" Lenovo tablet if that changes. It's what I use for pre-pubs here, but it's a lot heavier than my kindle and LCD isn't as good as e-ink for long stretches of reading text.
I looked at the Kobo store last night and saw a title I already own was in "Epub 2 (Adobe DRM)", is that the normal, breakable format? I realize we shouldn't discuss the actual DRM removal steps here.
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In regards to e-ink e-readers not having color, there are color e-ink readers coming out now.
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@HarmlessDave said in Stores for US readers other than Amazon? (Kindle a bonus):
I looked at the Kobo store last night and saw a title I already own was in "Epub 2 (Adobe DRM)", is that the normal, breakable format? I realize we shouldn't discuss the actual DRM removal steps here.
Yes. It's what both Kobo and Google Play use. It involves opening the file in Adobe's e-book reader application and removing the DRM from there (so, it's really removing Adobe's DRM as opposed to something specific to Kobo or Google Play). I'd link you to what you need, but I don't think that I'm allowed to do so here. If you search online about removing kobo drm, it shouldn't be hard to find, though the place that I'd like to send you doesn't seem to be coming up first. The tool you'll want to use is free, and I'd suggest avoiding anything that requires paying. If you ask somewhere like the LightNovels reddit, then folks can give you direct links if you'd prefer, but since JNC is a publisher, they don't want folks giving out that kind of information.
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@Village-Idiot said in Stores for US readers other than Amazon? (Kindle a bonus):
In regards to e-ink e-readers not having color, there are color e-ink readers coming out now.
Yeah, but they don't have the same color range as you'll get from an LCD display. They're an improvement, so if you really want e-ink, they're definitely a step forward, but I very much doubt that you're ever going to get the same kind of color with e-ink that you can get with an LCD screen or with real paper. If anything, given how e-ink works, it's pretty amazing that they've now managed color at all.
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Yey a topic where i can post too !
For me, i buying all JNC books on their own website.
Easier, without DRM, and i feel like i gave them ALL my moneys.
For Seven Seas, Yen Press i use Kobo ... because i have a Kobo Forma.
So i don't have soo much choice, hahaha ! My only complain about Kobo is :- Not so much sales
- They removed some mangas from Ghost Ship (Like Creature Girls).
Anyways, Bookwalker doesn't give us the luck to put their files on my Kobo, i never bought on them...
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@ShiroiRyu I really like Kobo, though I just wish Yen Press was eligible for the VIP discount like every other light novel/manga publisher is.
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@LegitPancake said in Stores for US readers other than Amazon? (Kindle a bonus):
@ShiroiRyu I really like Kobo, though I just wish Yen Press was eligible for the VIP discount like every other light novel/manga publisher is.
Yeah. That bites. But at least it actually makes it reasonable to pre-order their titles. With the other publishers, the discount doesn't kick in until the book has been released, so it never makes sense to pre-order any of their stuff. Of course, having the discount affect pre-orders and having Yen Press have the discount would be best, but alas, it isn't so.
