Free Books Jan 2009--Post info about Free Books Here!

[marianneg]

The web site says that Underlife has a creative commons license, does anyone know if this means we might see a Kindle formatted version on Feedbooks anytime soon?

Traci

The CC license allows people to redistribute the work, as long as they don't profit from it, so it's certainly a possibility.

[Arachne Jericho]

The CC license allows people to redistribute the work, as long as they don't profit from it, so it's certainly a possibility.

There are different kinds of CC licenses, or rather, different clauses attached to each one.

In this case, the CC license chosen is the Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States.  You can view the license terms by clicking on the little icon representing it, .

The long and short of this particular CC-license is:
The work is free to distribute IF the following three conditions are met:

1. Attribution.  The original creator must be attributed (you can't just pass the work around without his or her name on it). 

2. Non-commercial.  Without special permission from the creator, you can't sell the work or feature the work in a commercial manner (for instance, linking back to the paper item on Amazon with your Associates ID).

3. No derivatives. Without special permission from the creator, the content of this work cannot be modified when distributed.

The thing about derivative work is that it is broadly defined.  For instance, in the safest definition of "derivative work", that means any variation from the forms in which it is originally distributed by the creator is illegal.  This includes reformatting the work into a Mobipocket format for the Kindle or an ePub or LRF for the Reader or a Plucker file for Palm devices or, indeed, anything other than the formats offered by the publisher.

It's perfectly okay for individuals to convert the work for themselves; but if they distribute the conversion to others, they're violating the license.

There are CC licenses that allow for remixing; for instance, the translation of Journey o the West that I reformatted was under the Attribution-Noncommercial 2.5 Generic CC license, which says that work can be freely distributed and "remixed" (that is, derivative works like ebook formats can be created) as long as 1) creator is attributed and 2) the work is distributed and remixed under non-commercial terms.

Some CC-licenses allow for remixing as long as you share the work in the same way (under the same license); this is called "share alike". 

So basically: there's not going to be a distributable Kindle-readable version until the publisher gets around to it themselves.

Sometimes in these cases I offer my services to turn their content into a Kindle-readable version for them to distribute, but I get tired of being suspected of pirating when I do so, so I rarely ask anymore these days.

[CS]

Some free books on Fictionwise.com.

You need to register for an account (free to do), and do NOT check out with PayPal (they'll tack on a fee if you do).

They're available in a Kindle-compatible MOBI format.

4th Wish
http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook77055.htm

Vision
http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook9507.htm

Ghost Rider: Stories by Jonathan Lowe (no relation to the comic books)
http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook43447.htm

Plus, they have the same freebies currently on Amazon and other public domain classics you can get elsewhere.

Thanks to C.A. Swift from the Amazon board for finding Vision and 4th Wish.

[Angela]

Thanks for the listings, CS.

[Ann in Arlington]

don't usually watch Oprah, but will set tivo so if there's a code I can catch it.  She's not on until 4 p.m. here. . . if someone gets it earlier I'm sure it'll be posted. . .

Suze Orman can drive me crazy but she's generally accurate, if not always complete.  I like to know what she's saying so when my tax clients ask I can respond appropriately.

Ann

[koland]

...will set tivo so if there's a code I can catch it.  She's not on until 4 p.m. here. . .

Suze Orman can drive me crazy but she's generally accurate, if not always complete.  I like to know what she's saying so when my tax clients ask I can respond appropriately.

I'm doing the same, but expect the web sites to be updated by midnight or so (they were last year and for the Oprah kindle coupon).

Suze is ok, but she has some bad ideas, financially. They maybe more motivational (pay off little cards first, rather than higher interest ones) or get you more committed (start an IRA even though you have high interest debt to pay off), but they will cost you money in the long run.  Although not as much as if you give up.

She does have little sympathy for those who appear on her show. Then again, they are picked for getting themselves into situations than anyone of average intelligence should have known would come out badly - like the lady with an interest only, adjustable mortgage with initial payments of roughly her entire take-home pay and she was a single working mother. Even if the payments never went up, she could not afford the house and wasn't even building any equity at all (and once the bubble broke, she owed well over the value).

[CS]

That Suze Orman book doesn't really sound like my cup of tea, but free is free. Thanks for posting. I'll be sure to download it. Can't resist a freebie.

[Linda Cannon-Mott]

Suze can drive me crazy but she is dead on. I watch her show quite often and have 1 or 2 of her books. She is a smart cookie when it comes to finances.

Would love to have the book for free!

Linda

[bkworm8it]

I will double check the link again tomorrow and update this message, if necessary, to point to the free book (sometimes Amazon makes a special link for a book, as they did for one last month that was the first in a trilogy). The link below currently goes to the $7.99 copy of the book



Suze Orman's 2009 Action Plan by Suze Orman (Author)
 
Kindle Price:   $7.99  $0.00  January 8th ONLY! and only if the press release is true!

PLEASE DOUBLE CHECK THE PRICE BEFORE CLICKING!!!!!

Thanks for posting this, it was one my wish list.

theresam

[GrammieCheryl]

Thank you very much for the heads up, this is a book I would definetly like to get, especially if it is FREE!!!

[LDB]

Suze Orman for free is worth the price so I'll get it tomorrow. I once in a while see her and won't turn her off if that's what is showing but I find Dave Ramsey a better source of advice as far as national booksellers.

[Chad Winters (#102)]

Suze Orman for free is worth the price so I'll get it tomorrow. I once in a while see her and won't turn her off if that's what showing but I find Dave Ramsey a better source of advice as far as national booksellers.

I agree, Dave Ramsey is really good

[Dori]

OHHH  I really like Suze and will definitely watch Oprah tomorrow.  I do watch the show once in awhile if I notice that it sounds interesting.  I have signed up for Suze's Save Yourself program.

[ConnieK]

I'm bummed.  Ordered the Orman book 2 days ago for $7.99.  Oh well, still a deal.

[KindleMom]

I'm bummed.  Ordered the Orman book 2 days ago for $7.99.  Oh well, still a deal.

I'll bet you could get a refund.  Cancel your order and reorder it tomorrow.

Mr. KM ordered my Kindle the day before the Oprah discount.  He called Amazon when he heard about the $50 off deal and they gave it to him.  And my poor Kindle sat for almost two months, in a box, in my house, without me knowing until Christmas morning.  Poor, neglected Kindle.  But not anymore!

[CS]

I'll bet you could get a refund.  Cancel your order and reorder it tomorrow.

Yep. You have seven days to request a refund, so just e-mail Amazon customer service ASAP. They should get back to you within hours. It's as easy as can be.

[Vegas_Asian]

In chat, someone mentioned a writer by the name of Vachss. I looked him up and he had his first book (first book he wrote, not published) available for free. Its in PDF format and some 250-ish pages.
A Bomb Built In Hell By Andrew Vachss

[koland]

Just found this on a press release on the Oprah site (still no link for the book, though).

Suze will launch the book on The Oprah Winfrey Show on Thursday, January 8, 2009, during Oprah's Best Life Week. The show will offer Suze Orman's 2009 Action Plan as a free ebook download in English and Spanish on Oprah.com for one week, culminating in a live webcast on Thursday, January 15, 2009, at 9 p.m. EST/6p.m. PST.

So, once it is up, it will probably stay up until the webcast (and possibly all the way thru that time), although technically "one week" will be thru the 14th.

[ConnieK]

Many thanks for the suggestion.  I contacted Amazon last night after reading your posts and had a refund waiting for me this morning! 

[bookworm]

This is the new thread for Free Books;  a new thread will be created each month and stickied, older threads will be locked and unstickied but will still be available for reference.  Members should be aware, however, that Free books on Amazon do not always remain free and should check prices before 1-clicking!

Betsy

[koland]

Ok, the links still are not up yet for the free book from Suze Orman, just the teasers. I checked the air times in several states and it appears that 4PM EST is the earliest. Check back after then and hopefully the link for the free book will be up.

[Shizu]

Ok, the links still are not up yet for the free book from Suze Orman, just the teasers. I checked the air times in several states and it appears that 4PM EST is the earliest. Check back after then and hopefully the link for the free book will be up.

I just saw it.

http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/20081119_tows_bookdownload

[bookworm]

Let's not forget that so many classics need not be BOUGHT.  Amazon is selling the Curious Case of Benjamin Button (F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story that is now a movie starring Brad Pitt) for about $7.00 or so.  ManyBooks.com offers it as a free download.  But, I'm sure you all know that by now.  Just thought I'd remind.

[Betsy the Quilter]

Now that I've contributed to the problem, we need to get back to posting about Free Books.  If y'all want to have a conversation about Suze's book, I can split out those posts!

Update:  I've split out the Suze Orman posts into a new topic here:
http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php/topic,2347.0.html

Betsy

[Glynnis]

I recently downloaded Alan Furst's book, "The Foreign Correspondent: A Novel", a free book at the Kindle Store, for my husband. He thoroughly enjoyed this WWII historical spy novel. Well written and well researched. Two thumbs up!
The Foreign Correspondent: A Novel


Glynnis