However, the Kindle reads all DRM-free MOBI ebooks. Sites such as Baen’s webscriptions and FictionWise provide this format. I don’t know of a central repository, like Scribd, for DRM-free MOBI though.

Practically any DRM-free reflowable ebook format can be converted to MOBI (for the Kindle) using Calibre. One good choice is ePub. If you have a DRM-free ePub, Calibre will optimally convert it to DRM-free MOBI. It is therefore a shame that Scribd does not have a DRM-free ePub option.

Is there a solution for a publisher or author, who wants to make her/his ebooks available for reading on the Kindle — but does not want to sell through Amazon?

Are there non-proprietary ebook formats that read well on Kindle, and also avoid the reflow problems of PDF?

Michael Pastore
50 Benefits of Ebooks

Kindle 1 and Kindle 2 do not support PDFs natively. Instead, Amazon offers a free email-based conversion service that works quite well for many Scribd PDFs of narrative documents. However, graphical, multi-column, or bitmapped PDFs are poorly supported by the service.

Kindle DX will offer native support for PDFs, but the footnotes are as yet unknown.

As for a personal choice, if there was a book I wanted to read that was available for free in non-DRM PDF format or for purchase in a DRM format, I’d rather pony up the bucks.

I don’t own a Kindle; I’m wondering how well Kindle works with unencrypted PDF files. I thought it would read these PDFs without a problem. Are you saying that there is a problem with Kindles reading PDF files? … I’d like to know one way or the other.

Thanks,

Michael Pastore
50 Benefits of Ebooks

But when you say that Scribd is of no use “to most other people”, I might want sit down with you and a teapot of strong Turkish tea, to challenge your facts behind that opinion.

In the free mode, every month, more than 60 million readers read documents on Scribd. It’s used by the biggest players (Harvard University, New York Times, The World Bank, Duke Medical School, The Obama Presidential Campaign … and more) and by millions of individuals.

My free guide to Google Analytics, posted there, has received just under 10,000 views.

Scribd holds more than 35 billion words, and it has embedded more than 5 million documents, via its iPaper, in 90 different languages.

Can Scribd achieve anything near these numbers in their “pay” mode? … We’ll need to wait and see. All the free documents posted there will continue to draw attention to the site.

Michael Pastore
50 Benefits of Ebooks

Scribd keeps only 20% of the sellng price per sale, plus a fee of 25 cents per sale (for non-DRM ebooks) or 35 cents per sale (for DRM-afflicted ebooks).

You set your own selling price — and Scribd does not discount your price. Alternatively, instead of setting your own price, you can use Scribd’s automatic price generator: it will tell you how much your book should be selling for.

Scrbid lets you choose how you want to sell your ebook:

a) Buyers can read it on the web but not download
b) Buyers can read it on the web and download a copy (my choice); or
c) Buyers can read it on the web and read a DRM copy of the ebook, using Adobe Digital Editions. (Scribd adds the DRM for you, I believe.)

I like the choices; and I like the fact that I can change my settings and options and prices at any time.

And of course I like getting 80% of the pie.

Scribd says that the no-DRM PDF ebooks that buyers buy from Scribd can be read on the Kindle.

I’m sure that there will be improvements to Scribd’s selling system, but this is a very impressive first launch.

Michael Pastore
50 Benefits of Ebooks