How to use my ebooks
I’m very excited to announce that the ebook for The Flower and the Plough is available for purchase now in the shop, both on its own and in a bundle with the printed book. If you’re used to buying your ebooks through online retailers with proprietary devices, you might not know how to load ebook files onto your devices manually. Hopefully the instructions below will make things clearer, but if you have any problems feel free to send me an email, preferably with some screenshots to show me what you’re seeing.
Files
You will receive a .zip file which you’ll need to extract/unzip before the files work correctly (some computers let you see inside the zipped folder, but the files won’t function properly). This folder contains two folders:
- One labelled ‘iPad or tablet,’ containing a .epub file which should work on iPads, Kobos and generally most non-Amazon e-reader devices. This is the best-looking file, I think. Reading poetry on an e-reader is never ideal, because the variable screen- and font-sizes can make the line structure more fluid than is desirable, so to get the best experience start off with the screen in portrait orientation and with a smaller font size, so you can see how the poems ought to look.
- One labelled ‘Paperwhite or Fire,’ containing a .mobi file which should work on all later Kindles, from the 3rd generation onwards.
The third option makes the folder too large to upload on my systems, but if you email me after your purchase I can send it to you too, if you want it:
- One labelled ‘Old Kindle,’ containing a .mobi file which is intended for the 1st- and 2nd-generation Kindles (see the Wikipedia page for more details). This is the most basic file.
E-reading devices
If you have a physical device, you can load the appropriate file onto it by plugging the device in, opening the folder and dragging and dropping the .epub/.mobi file into the ‘books’ folder. Or, if you have email set up on the device, you can send the appropriate file to it via email and open it up within the device.
If you don’t have a physical device but would still like to look at the ebook, there are many options available to you. These are the three I’m familiar with:
- Adobe Digital Editions, which you can download here. Once you’ve downloaded this, the icon next to your .epub file should change to the ADE icon and when you double-click on the .epub it will open up in ADE. The main thing people find confusing about ADE is the registration screen which appears when you first open it up. This asks if you want to sign up or register, and (unless you want to have ADE managing your ebooks on your computer) you can just skip this step.
- Kindle Previewer, for if you feel more comfortable with Amazon products. You can download it here. Once you’ve opened the screen, just drag the .mobi file onto it and it will open up. The whizzy thing about this (for me) is that you can view the file as if in the various different devices. For my ebooks, definitely use the second .mobi file and select Kindle Paperwhite or Kindle Fire for your viewing options.
- Calibre, which you can download here. Again, once you’ve opened up the program, you can just drag your .epub straight into the middle of the screen
So, give it a go, and if it doesn’t work or you have problems with the files, send me an email at editor [at] theemmapress [dot] com and I’ll do my best to help.
NB: there’s no DRM on my files, and if you’ve bought several copies of the book and given them away as presents, you can of course give them the ebook as well.
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