Convert EPub books to Kindle format. ALSO, almost a Million free Google books already in Kindle format

EPUB TO KINDLE - Example: Free Google Books

I'm updating an older post on converting free ePub books from Google to work on the Kindle.  (The earlier blog article was updated often for Google-book changes and lost its basic focus.)

  The conversion is actually easy to do, and although we can now easily get free Kindle-versions of these Google books, it's good to know how to do this for any ePub book that doesn't have a form of digital-rights-protection or management (DRM) placed on it.

Google now combines its free Google books with the ones they sell in the the newish Google Book Store.  If you'd like to see how easy it is to convert a free ePub book, go to Google's "Best of the Free" page and select one.


USING CALIBRE TO CONVERT EPUB TO KINDLE ("MOBI" or "PRC") FORMAT
You can use Calibre to easily convert any free ePub file to Kindle format.
  You can also use the Retroread.com site to have it done for you for free but only for the free Google books.

  HOWEVER, almost a million of these free Google books are already in Kindle format and ready for simple downloads, thanks to Internet Archive, which will be covered right after the "Convert ePub to Kindle" section.

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Google offers over a million free e-books in EPUB format as well as in PDF format.  (Many don't know that the Kindle 2, 3 ("Keyboard"), DX and of course coming Touch models can read PDFs direct -- but this isn't ideal on the 6" screens.)

  The added ePub versions of the free Google books are better to work with than PDFs because they involve text-reflow capabilities instead of a focus on keeping a page exactly as originally laid out, giving us words too tiny on small screens.

  Also, with the ePub books, Google has done that text-reflow for us, which should bring more reliable ePub-to-MOBI conversions for e-books with complex layouts.

  The ePub file converted to Kindle Mobi format will also allow the Kindle features of highlighting, note-adding, font-size adjustments and a better book-Search process, and the converted book will be included in search results when the full Kindle is searched for key words.

  There are currently at least three popular free tools that can convert ePub files to Kindle-compatible MOBI files:  (1) mobigen.exe (not intuitive);  (2) Mobipocket Reader 6.2  (loses some of the styling); and (3) Calibre, which has a nice interface, is easy to use, works with pc's and Macs, and gets the best results.

So, Calibre it is.  Many use it already for organizing computer records of their Kindle books or for retrieving combinations of newspaper feeds for their Kindles (not as easily navigated as the paid subscrptions).
  This blog article focuses on converting the ePub file-format to a Kindle-readable one (Mobi or Prc).

  If you don't already have this free software, created and maintained by Kovid Goyal, download Calibre here.

  GETTING THE FREE GOOGLE BOOK IN EPUB at Google's "Best of the Free" page.
  If you have a Kindle DXG, you might prefer to just get the PDF.  If the words on the PDF are too small or if you want to use the Kindle features mentioned, then get the ePub file.  IF you download an ePub file, then it's time for

  CALIBRE
  Open and run Calibre.  On the LEFT will be your choices for set-up when you're converting a document.  Hovering over anything will usually bring a help tip.

  Accepting defaults is fine.  The ability to change the "meta information" is nice - so you can have names and authors as you like them.  If there is no Table of Contents you can 'force' Calibre to create one.  But there's no need to do any of that.

  At the top are choices to "Edit meta information: as well as "Convert E-books." Follow the instructions, and then press the 'OK' button and the conversion will take a few minutes.  I did one and moved it to the Kindle DX and it looks great.

Also, Calibre gives you the option to optimize your converted file for a specific Kindle model.

So, yes, despite news stories and story commenters who still post that the free Google books are not accessible on the Kindle, they are, with this one added step, but it's also great to be able to customize so much of the layout if you want.  Play with the software a bit.


ALMOST ONE MILLION FREE GOOGLE BOOKS ARE ALREADY IN KINDLE FORMAT
and ready for download, thanks to an amazing resource:

THE INTERNET ARCHIVE's Free Google Books - downloadable in multiple formats (direct to Kindle too).

  You'll see, on their main Google Books page, lots of interesting features.   At the top center is a box with the title "Internet Archive's Google Books" and the number of items currently available for that set, currently 903,273.

  There's an advisory that the files have been downloaded from the Google site and uploaded to the Internet Archive by users...and that they've been made text- searchable as a finding aid.

Then you're given a link to "All items (most recently added first)."

From that, select an e-book, like the one in the image above.  After I saw one I wanted to download, I got my Kindle 3 (UK: K3) ("Kindle Keyboard) and:

  1. I pressed "Menu / Experimental Browser" and pressed "Menu /EnterURL" and then typed in the URL, using the Sym key, which brings up a number/symbol box that can stay up while you enter alpha characters and forward-slashes as needed, etc.

  2. Then I asked it to Go and it took me to the book's page, which loaded almost instantly (it's all text).

  3. On a 6" Kindle, the full page is set to fit the width so the characters are small, but the Kindle then displays a movable zoom box with a "+" sign. (When you don't see a zoom box but you want one, you press the 'Aa' key at the bottom.)

  4. Then, using the 5-way controller, I went to "Kindle" on the Internet Archive's book page, left column, and clicked on it, which brought up a dialog box asking if I wanted to download the book and I clicked on "Yes."

  5. It took only about 7 seconds to get the half-megabyte file to my Kindle since my Comcast is fast and therefore my WiFi is too.

That's all it took.  Might add a screenshot of the Kindle downloading but this blog entry is already image heavy.  You can also save the Kindle file to your computer and then move it to the Kindle's "Documents" folder via the USB cable that's a part of the Kindle power cord.

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IF a free google book is not available from Internet Archive and you don't want to convert on with Calibre, then try RetroRead's Automated Free-Google-Book Conversions.

  The Kindle is covered well, with Calibre, Internet Archive and Retroread.

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Related articles:
  What is the Internet Archive?
  Read foreign-language Google-books in English online
  Google describes its own book conversion process
  How to download any of the 30,000 Project Gutenberg books to your Kindle, direct.

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Current Kindle Models for reference, plus free-ebook search links.
NOTES on newer Kindles.

US: Updated Kindle Fire Basic  7" tablet - $159 Kindle Fire HD 7" 16/32GB - $199/$249 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 16/32GB - $299/$369 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 4G 32/64GB - $499/$599 Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $69/$89 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - $119/$139 Kindle Paperwhite, 3G - $179/$199 Kindle Keybd 3G - $139/$159, Free but slow web Kindle DX - $379 $299, Free, slow web

UK: Kindle Basic, NoTouch - £69 Kindle Touch WiFi, UK - £109 Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - £109 Kindle Paperwhite 3G, UK - £169

OTHER International Kindle NoTouch Basic - $89 Kindle Touch WiFi - $139 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB France Boutique Kindle Deutschland - Kindle Store Italia - Kindle Store Spain - Kindle Store

Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button
Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle

(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!

Kindle and ePub: A Million Free Google Books in ePub - UPDATE4

FROM EPUB TO KINDLE
UPDATE2-4, on 2/6/11 - Original posting was 8/27/09, Update #1 was made 4/22/10.

This explains how to get and use Calibre to easily convert any free ePub Google file to Kindle format OR use a conversion site to have it done for you if the book is in the public domain.

(10/23/11)
SEE THE UPDATED VERSION OF THIS OLDER POST, WITH AN ADDED SOLUTION AND CLEARER PRESENTATION AT THIS LINK:  (bit.ly/epub-to-kindle )

The below blog article below is now outdated and has too many off-topic sections due to chronological updates about Google Books, not particularly germane to the topic.

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Original Posting on How to Convert free Google ePub books to Kindle format

Aug. 27, 2009 -- Yesterday Google offered over a million free e-books in EPUB format as well as in PDF format.  (Many don't know that the Kindle 2, 3, and DX Kindles can read PDFs direct -- but this isn't ideal on the 6" screens.)

  These ePub files are easier to work with than the PDF ones because they involve text-reflow instead of keeping a page exactly as originally laid out and therefore with words too tiny  on small screens.

  Also, Google has done, in that ePub file, the text-reflow for us, which should bring more reliable to-MOBI conversions for books with complex layouts .

  This will also allow the Kindle features of highlighting, note-adding, font-size adjustments, and will be included in search results when the full Kindle is searched for key words.  We just need to convert them to MOBI files.

  Some newspapers have reported that the million+ free Google files are not usable on the Kindle.
  They are.  They just need a simple conversion.

  There are currently at least three popular free tools that can convert ePub files to Kindle-compatible MOBI files:  (1) mobigen.exe (not intuitive);  (2) Mobipocket Reader 6.2  (loses some of the styling); and (3) Calibre, which has a nice interface, is easy to use, works with pc's and Macs, and gets the best results.

So, Calibre it is.  Many use it already for organized computer records of their Kindle files or for retrieving combinations of newspaper feeds for their Kindles (not as easily navigated as the paid subscrptions).
  This blog article focuses only on converting the ePub file-format to a Kindle-readable one.

  If you don't already have this free software, created and maintained by Kovid Goyal, download Calibre here.

GET A FREE GOOGLE BOOK OR TWO
  To get a free Google book (most written before 1923 but there are some nice older magazines there as well), go to Google's "Best of the Free" page and select one.

  To find a free book (they are all mixed with $$$-books), click on "Full Preview" as those tend to be the free ones.  Then do a search for what you want.

  At the top right, once you choose a book, you'll see "Download" which will be a pull-down menu showing a choice of PDF or ePub. (See update of Feb. 6, 2011, above.)

  If you have a Kindle DXG, you might prefer to just get the PDF.  If the words on the PDF are too small though, then get the ePub file.  IF you download an ePub file, then:

CALIBRE
  Open and run Calibre.  On the LEFT will be your choices for set-up when you're converting a document.  Hovering over anything will usually bring a help tip.

  Accepting defaults is fine.  The ability to change the "meta information" is nice - so you can have names and authors as you like them.  If there is no Table of Contents you can 'force' Calibre to create one.

  At the top are choices to "Edit meta information: as well as "Convert E-books." Follow the instructions, and then press the 'OK' button and the conversion will take a few minutes.  I did one and moved it to the Kindle DX and it looks great.

Oh, Calibre gives you the option to optimize your converted file for the Kindle 2 or the Kindle DX.

So, yes, those million+ free Google books are fully useable on the Kindle - it just needs this added step, but it's also great to be able to customize so much of the layout if you want.  Play with the software a bit.

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Also see:
  Read foreign-language Google-books in English online
  Google describes the book conversion process
  How to download any of the 30,000 Project Gutenberg books to your Kindle, direct. -->


UPDATE1, 4/22/10 - Original posting was 8/27/09
I've added, below, a section about a new service that will convert a Google Book for you (using the method below) and send it to your Kindle if you want (Amazon charges 15 cents per megabyte of a file if 3G Whispernet delivery is used to send the file) OR will send it instead to the email address you use for correspondence with Amazon (no cost involved). That's RetroRead.

RETROREAD'S AUTOMATED GOOGLE BOOK CONVERSIONS
RetroRead (BLTC Press) offers free conversion of any free ePub Google Book to Amazon Kindle format for delivery to your Kindle or to your computer via your normal email address.  As RetroRead's David Eyes describes in his Blitzes at BLTC blog you will be able to create an account through which you may upload any free Google ePub book (but ONLY Google book files), and have it converted and forwarded directly to you.  He adds that the quality of the converted book can vary greatly depending on the quality of Google’s optical character recognition (OCR) conversion.  The site is self-explanatory.

  Once you've registered and read the Terms of Use, you can go to http://books.google.com and choose a free Google book to read, downloading the ePub version to your computer, at which point you're given the option to have that downloaded file automatically uploaded to Retroread for immediate conversion to Kindle format (using RetroReadhelper -- Windows for that though) and then either sent to your Kindle* or to your email address or linked at the Retroread site where you can download the converted file and then move it to your Kindle via the USB cable.

* If you do want the direct-to-Kindle option, you need to have created earlier a special address for files to your Kindle -- [you]@kindle.com ...
  So be sure you've set up a [you]@kindle.com address first.  This setup is done at your Amazon "Manage Your Kindle" page.  Here's a guide for using that management page.
 This would involve letting RetroRead have your [you]@kindle.com address and, as mentioned, the Amazon fee for whispernet delivery would apply (15 cents per megabyte of a book -- with most ePub books under 1 megabyte -- but the one I uploaded tonight was over 2 megs because some pages were image scans).  However, you can also choose to just get the converted file and move it to the Kindle yourself.  Read his blog for the additions he's made to the site's capabilities.  Lots of good things.

 You can also choose recently converted Google books that are listed as available for download on the left side of the RetroRead page.

For those looking for interesting less-seen free books, it's hard to do better than David's list of the Latest Converted files.

 At any rate, this is a quick intro.  I tried it last night and it works well.  The book I converted for this blog article was used at Retroread, and the results were the 99% the same, since RetroRead uses Calibre also, although the last half of the final page, which happened to be the Table of Contents page at the end, was missing.

  Many will find this service very convenient.  But the service is not offered for any ePub books other than the Google books.  However, you can use this blog guide to do that yourself as needed.  Your own conversion from ePub to Amazon format should take about three minutes after you've had a chance to work with it.


LATER UPDATES - THE COMBINED GOOGLE BOOKS STORE
After Google combined its free Google books with ones they sell now in a general Google Books store, and the earlier instructions (above) on how to find downloadable, free files no longer apply, I used "strikeout" for those.  The rest of it remained the same, however.

Google now may require you to  (1) have a Google account for downloading Google e-books as well as  (2) a credit card even to download a free book *IF it's not a public-domain book* (corrected information from @mikecane).

  I had a credit card with Google already because I had experimented with buying a web-version of a paid Google Book when the Google web Bookstore was launched, and I was asked for it when I tried to download "The eBook Insider" - which is free but is NOT a public domain book.

  I used it to 'buy' a $0.00 Google eBook to test whether these are still easily convertible to Kindle format AND uploadable to Retroread (see details below), who will convert free *public-domain* Google files for the Kindle community, at no cost.  If someone else has already requested a particular free Public Domain Google eBook, it'll be listed on the Retroread site as downloadable by everyone else for their Kindles.

The basic steps when I 'bought' this currently-free NON-public-domain book:

. Click on a book you want and it'll give you the option to 'buy' it even if its $0.00 AND if it's NOT a public-domain book.  It'll give you the option to "Get" it if it's in the public domain, and you can then click to download it.
. After 'buying' it, I received these alerts:
    "This book has been added to My Google eBooks" and
    "Access all your Google eBooks at books.google.com"
. After clicking on "My Google Books," you can see the books you've downloaded, both paid and free.
. Click on the book you just received and you're given options to
    "Read now" (which would be in web-browser version) OR
    "Read on your device" (Nook, Sony, Kobo etc but not Kindle)

Google then offers you the following choices to be able to read the new book:
1. Installing a Smartphones app (Android) or a Tablet app (iPhone & iPad)
2. Laptop and computers (reading in web browser)
3. eReader and other devices
    a. ePub
    b. Adobe PDF (*IF* included)
Choose "ePub"

*NOTE*:  Retroread could NOT convert my free Google book because it isn't a public-domain book and is therefore not successfully searchable on their site.  I then converted it via Calibre as described below.

  Again, when a Google eBook IS public domain and free, you are given the option to "GET" the book without purchasing it.  When you click to accept that option, the eBook winds up in your Google library.

(End of Updates)

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US: Kindle Fire  7" tablet - $199 Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $79/$109 Kindle Touch, WiFi - $99/$139 Kindle Touch, 3G/WiFi - $149/$189 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189, Free, slow web Kindle DX - $379, Free, slow web

UK: Kindle Basic, NoTouch - £89 Kindle Touch WiFi, UK - £109 Kindle Touch 3G/WiFi, UK - £169 Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB

OTHER International Kindle NoTouch Basic - $109 Kindle Touch WiFi - $139 Kindle Touch 3G/WiFi - $189 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB

Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle

(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!