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So I was out looking for books on amazon for my phone's kindle and I noticed (maybe incorrectly) that Black Library books aren't for sale electronically. What up with that?! With all of the new electronics being bought for and gifted for the holidays you would think at sometime before now that Black Library would have gone Kindle and Nook. Have they? If they did would you purchase them? I mean through Barnes and Noble and Amazon the prices are pretty much set and there's no physical production - peole can just buy and buy and buy. Or do you think that Black Library is in the camp where limited edition is good and not everyone gets to see their stuff unless they pay up the wazoo for it. Thoughts?

You can buy black library ebooks directly from their website, however they are quite expensive and it's a bit of a pain in the arse.

I noticed the same thing a few months ago. Ridiculous.

They're missing out on easy money.

So now I'm wondering if it's like a cultural thing. I've never been to the UK or Europe. Are tablets popular over there like they are in the US? iPad, Kindle, Nook, etc. Because it's not even that much to get a book E'd out and onto the web scene. My cousin has his first book of a series out on the eScene and it cost him less than $5,000USD to promote himself and get out there. So I'm thinking if individuals can get out onto the web with their own dime, then a company with actual money should be able to as well. So I briefly wonder if it's a cultural thing, only because I got no idea about the culture across the pond. And if it's not the culture then I'm just wondering WTF.

I'm not sure why they don't sell through Amazon, but I imagine they want to earn more profit from their customers due to our niche nature by selling through their own stores.
Tablets seem reasonably popular here in the UK, especially with commuters.

Many of the books are available on Apple's iBooks service.

Maybe it's a commision thing.

as Balance said, they are available through Apple...
the BL app is free to download, and the ebooks are simple to buy, download fast, stay in your library with the last page bookmarked, and can be paid for with itunes gift cards...

a huge range of titles are available, and a bunch of cool e-exclusive stuff like Hammer and Bolter magazine, shorts stories exclusive to the omnibus collections, individual short stories from each anthology, as well as free sample chapters from upcoming novels...

good excuse to get an ipad...
as if all the free games are not enough to temp you...
i love mine, and think it is the best thing to happen to computers since they got rid of punchcards, and i'm not even a Mac user (my laptop, camera, and console are all Sony)...

cheers
jah

So are they in some proprietary format then?

hard to say, as i know next to nothing about computers...

the BL app takes you to a BL webstore for the books...
it doesn't just take you to the Apple app store...
same look as the Bl sight, just that all titles are digital...

forgot to mention that they have a bunch of out of print titles as well...
good stuff...

i was very happy to see the stuff from the omibus editions seperate, as i buy each new release from the BL (i still prefer the feel of a real book in hand), i was always a bit bummed that there was exclusive stuff in the omnibus...
now i can get each short story for $2.99...

cheers
jah

In addition to eh BL App, there's also the iBooks service, which has them. I believe they are in a DRM-encumbered format, sadly. Although the DRM on iTunes stuff (when present, music is DRM free now) is pretty laid-back.

As far as I can tell there is no DRM on the ebooks purchased directly from black library, and I have obtained a considerable amount.

When you buy ebooks direct from Black Library you get access to both ePub and Mobi files

When I was living abroad it was great that BL were offering the service to buy books in an ebook format. In that regard they are light years ahead of the rest of GW, who are still struggling to come to terms with the microchip revolution.

However what puzzles me is the 6.50(pounds) price tag for a novel. Are they not aware the books are purchasable from Amazon for 3.99?

Pacific wrote:However what puzzles me is the 6.50(pounds) price tag for a novel. Are they not aware the books are purchasable from Amazon for 3.99?

Go to the top of the page and select Australian dollars. You might want to be sitting down.

Yes, you saw that correctly. An eBook downloaded from a UK website costs twice as much to download if you're in Australia than it does if you're in the UK or the US. The reasoning given by the Black Library when I asked them about it was essentially 'Books are expensive in Australia'...

Yes, Black Library person, they are. Books in Australia, like a lot of other imports, are still being priced based on outdated exchange rates. That's why the Australian book market is dying a slow and gruesome death, and why I'm trying to buy an eBook from a website that isn't in Australia.

I just purchased Helsreach a few days ago through TBL e-book website. As someone mentioned before you get .mobi and epub formats. I connected my kindle and moved the files over. Voila. Excellent.

And thanks to those of you who suggested Helreach. It's been a great read so far.