Battle of the bookstores: which ebook store is best?

Competition is a good thing. Lately, I have found that between Fictionwise, Sony, Amazon, and Kobo there is always a promo code or coupon out there somewhere. It used to be that I would only buy from Fictionwise; I got very attached to their reward system and would buy new releases at high prices because they had a large rebate and then spend the rebate on dozens of other books. I am at the point now where there is just too much in my to-read folder, and I am realizing that a large portion of it isn’t stuff I really care about. I would rather spend less money on just the book I want than spend more money on a book I maybe want, and five others I don’t care about! So, with the arrival of The Promo Code Wars, I have been investigating other ebook stores. Here is a round-up of how I’ve been doing.

1) Amazon

I haven’t bought from them yet (except a replacement for my Kindle’s on-board dictionary) because there is no Kindle for Mac software yet and I prefer to manage all my books through there. But I think that once Mac support is available, Amazon may become more of a destination for me because their prices are often cheaper than anyone else’s. I also like the idea of synching with my iPod Touch and being able to start a book there if I am traveling light, and then resume it at the point I left off when I move to the Kindle later

2) Fictionwise

I still buy a lot of books from them. Their multi-format titles are affordable and in my opinion, the way an ebook purchase should be: when you buy it, it’s yours and you can download it in any format you wish, as many times as you need to. So, I can download a copy right onto my iPod Touch using the eReader app, then download a Kindle version and transfer it via USB. It couldn’t be easier.

I also love their magazine subscriptions. I subscribe to Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock; both are excellent short fiction magazines. And they are dispensed as multi-format titles. Each issue is delivered as a stand-alone ebook title to your bookshelf and you can download it like any other book in whatever format you need. I was patient and waited for a sale, then got two-year subscriptions. I am thrilled with my purchase.

On the minus, their prices tend to be higher for releases from Big Publishing. Many times, they do offer a substantial rebate to off-set this, and you can spend the rebate on other books. But if you prefer to just buy that one book and be out of there, this is not the store for you. As well, the big releases do not tend to be offered in multi-format so those who want best-sellers may find that this is not the right store for them unless their device supports a variety of DRMd formats. Many newer books are being offered in Adobe ePub, which is very promising. But Fictionwise has been pushing their proprietary secure eReader format and devices such as the Sony and Kindle won’t support it.

3) Kobo Books

Kobo, formerly Shortcovers, is a newer store part-owned by Indigo, the major Canadian bookstore chain. It is delightful to have a Canadian entry into the field. I have found a few books there which were not available elsewhere, such as Douglas Coupland’s latest novel, Generation A. They also send out promo codes fairly often. I have found that if I wait long a week or so, I can usually get a typical book priced at $11.99 Canadian down to an Amazon-esque $9.99 or less. And in Canadian dollars!

It’s epub only, so I am stuck with the iPod Touch for these. But I recently discovered a helpful feature: you can read your books via their website too. If you click on any book in your library, you’ll see a list of chapters and you can click on one to read it. It even has the estimated reading time listed at the top of each chapter for your convenience. So if I am at work and want to take a quick reading break, I don’t have to get out my ipod and worry that my co-workers will think I am playing games. It’s much less conspicuous than breaking out the dedicated hardware!

I wish they had a wish list feature, but this is a minor quibble. They have worked hard to improve the user interface and the search feature. It seems this ebook store is very dedicated to establishing itself as a market leader. I have only bought a few books from them since they are epub-only and not all my devices will read them (yet—never know what a firmware update will bring in the future!). But they will have me as a customer; I am very impressed with this store.

4) Smashwords

This is like the indie version of Fictionwise, and then some: multi-format books, wish lists, a tiny bit of social networking (favourites lists and the like) and some very flexible options for authors such as the ability to issue a promo code, and a ‘let the customer choose the price’ option where readers can pay whatever they think the book is worth. Most titles have free samples available, the vast majority are either free or very low-priced, and you can read on-line as you can from Kobo, although not nearly as elegantly.

The downside of course if that these tend to be unknown authors; quality can be extremely variable, and you have to be dedicated enough to slog through the boggy masses in order to seek out the good stuff. Thus far, I have limited my patronage to free books and a tiny few paid ones which came personally recommended to me.

5) Other Stores

I find Books on Board website hideous and extremely difficult to navigate, so I have never gotten past the homepage and have never bought. Others like it though. I have heard people say they prefer it if they want a good price and don’t want to mess with Fictionwise’s reward system.

Also, I was briefly interested in eReader when they were trying out Amazon-style prices, but now they are back to charging higher-than-print again. They tend to have the same promos and specials as Fictionwise since they are owned by the same company, but I prefer to buy from Fictionwise since I am already set up with them and since the books (such as my magazine issues) are multi-format at Fictionwise and locked into being only eReader from eReader store. There is no incentive at all for me to buy from the eReader store so I have not.

I don’t think I would want to shop at dozens of different publisher sites for one book here and one book there because I think it would be unwieldy to keep track of where what came from. I also am wary of giving too many people my credit card number on-line. So I do prefer the hub stores. But there is definitely more than just Fictionwise now, and I think their reward system has at times inspired me to buy too much junk. Now that the market is maturing and there is some competition, I am testing the waters with some other vendors and finding my choices much more refined and selective. It’s nice to have sme options at last!