# Multiple versions of books in Kindle format -- What's the difference?



## Count Zero (Dec 15, 2008)

I'm new here, so please bear with me.  I don't yet have my Kindle but I've been browsing Amazon continuously to see what's available.  Mostly I'm looking at older, possibly public-domain, stuff and it seems like there are 4 to 6 seperate versions of every old novel out there, all with different prices.  Can anyone tell me how you would choose between them?  Does it make a difference?  What differences might there be?  

Signed,

Confused


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## Mikuto (Oct 30, 2008)

For older, possibly public-domain stuff, I would suggest checking out the free e-book sites before checking them out on Amazon.com. There's a section in the Book Corner called "Book Lover's Links", I'd go there and see if the books you're looking for are available there.


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## sebat (Nov 16, 2008)

I had a problem with this yesterday.  

Book 9 of the Stephanie Plum series was listed twice.  I, of course, selected the cheaper of the two.  The words were thick, blurry and difficult to read.  It took me about 5 minutes to decide I couldn't stand it.  I sent an email to Amazon and asked for a refund.  I then purchased the more expensive version.  That one is good. 

Sometimes you can get the cheaper version of the book and not have any problems, but I have no clue why they provide multiple versions.


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## Mikuto (Oct 30, 2008)

Always good to sample first too, if the book isn't actually free, and pick the one with the best formatting.


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## sebat (Nov 16, 2008)

Mikuto said:


> Always good to sample first too, if the book isn't actually free, and pick the one with the best formatting.


It wasn't any big deal to get a refund but going the sample route would have been easier. I never even thought to do that first. 
Live and learn.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

sebat said:


> I had a problem with this yesterday.
> 
> Book 9 of the Stephanie Plum series was listed twice. I, of course, selected the cheaper of the two. The words were thick, blurry and difficult to read. It took me about 5 minutes to decide I couldn't stand it. I sent an email to Amazon and asked for a refund. I then purchased the more expensive version. That one is good.
> 
> Sometimes you can get the cheaper version of the book and not have any problems, but I have no clue why they provide multiple versions.


Thanks for that. I'll be getting #9 right after Christmas. You might want to post a review at Amazon so other unsuspecting people won't be taken in. Gotta have our Steph in good format.


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## marianneg (Nov 4, 2008)

Mikuto said:


> For older, possibly public-domain stuff, I would suggest checking out the free e-book sites before checking them out on Amazon.com. There's a section in the Book Corner called "Book Lover's Links", I'd go there and see if the books you're looking for are available there.


That's what I do. I actually enjoy converting free stuff to go on my Kindle, in a weird sort of way


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## sebat (Nov 16, 2008)

gertiekindle said:


> Thanks for that. I'll be getting #9 right after Christmas. You might want to post a review at Amazon so other unsuspecting people won't be taken in. Gotta have our Steph in good format.


Done


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

sebat said:


> Done


I checked out your review and it's posted at the top on the side. Good position for it and I know you'll save some people a lot of grief. Then I decided to get the better copy right then. Yes, I tend to panic and 1-click.


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## Guest (Dec 17, 2008)

Mikuto said:


> For older, possibly public-domain stuff, I would suggest checking out the free e-book sites before checking them out on Amazon.com. There's a section in the Book Corner called "Book Lover's Links", I'd go there and see if the books you're looking for are available there.


My favorite site for public domain works is feedbooks.com. You can download their catalog, then get the books from your Kindle with just a click. That is if you have Whispernet access.


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## sebat (Nov 16, 2008)

LuckyRainbow said:


> My favorite site for public domain works is feedbooks.com. You can download their catalog, then get the books from your Kindle with just a click. That is if you have Whispernet access.


I love feedbooks, too. I haven't looked at another public domain site since I downloaded their catalog.


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## Eclectic Reader (Oct 28, 2008)

I was looking in the Kindle Store when I came across a title several times, with the same title, same book visual on the page, different authors, (slightly) different descriptions of the book (tho very slimilar), different prices, and different file sizes of the book. Here's a link with the titles:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_kinc?url=node%3D154606011&field-keywords=budget+home+decorating+tips&x=0&y=0

I downloaded 3 separate copies/editions of the book, and they are essentially the same book, and the samples don't really tell much beyond "what you're _going_ to find out in this book".

Any thoughts on the matter?


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Seems to be slightly different titles, too, but the same cover.  Did you check to see if they are all from the same publisher?


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

Amazon.com owns Mobipocket and is also an affiliate of Mobipocket so Amazon picks up books from Mobipocket’s database. There are often price differences and sometimes the descriptions and cover art differ as well. I’m stumped by the different titles and author names, however.


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## strether (Dec 15, 2008)

sebat said:


> I had a problem with this yesterday.
> 
> Book 9 of the Stephanie Plum series was listed twice. I, of course, selected the cheaper of the two. The words were thick, blurry and difficult to read. It took me about 5 minutes to decide I couldn't stand it. I sent an email to Amazon and asked for a refund. I then purchased the more expensive version. That one is good.
> 
> Sometimes you can get the cheaper version of the book and not have any problems, but I have no clue why they provide multiple versions.


What you ran into was Topaz formatting -- don't know if that's been covered in The Book Corner or not. St. Martin's Press has been the worst offender with this, and it's interesting to see that they offered the book in a regular Kindle format as an option. Maybe all the complaints about their formatting are finally having an effect.

Looking at the two editions of the book via your computer, notice that the cheaper one does not show you the size of the download, just the number of pages in the book, whereas the more expensive one shows both. That's because, my paranoid self suspects, any book in Topaz formatting is 10 times the size of a regularly formatted book, and not only looks bad on the Kindle, but slows the page turns down too. Always get a sample of any book published by St. Martin's would be my advice. And with any publisher, if you're looking on-line, check the size of the download. Unless it's, say, War and Peace, it should be in the range of 300-600KB. Whispernet info, though, won't show you the size of the download.

Jim


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

strether said:


> Unless it's, say, War and Peace, it should be in the range of 300-600KB.


800 pages is 1514 KB.


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## strether (Dec 15, 2008)

Jeff said:


> 800 pages is 1514 KB.


And Julia Spencer-Fleming's A Fountain Filled With Blood, with 300-odd pages, was 5.5MB. I note that's been withdrawn from the Kindle Book site, so maybe St. Martin's _has_ seen the light.

Jim


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

strether said:


> And Julia Spencer-Fleming's A Fountain Filled With Blood, with 300-odd pages, was 5.5MB.


Yikes!


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## strether (Dec 15, 2008)

Jeff said:


> Yikes!


Yeah, it was a freebie quite a few months ago. And turning pages was agonizing -- like you had a dial-up connection and were waiting for the page to fill in, page after page after page.

Jim


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

I have a whole bunch of books over 1 MB, all the way to 5.5 MBs...

But the ones I've actually read, and can vouch for are about 400KB

Outlander is 1.2MB


Betsy


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## Wells83 (Nov 19, 2008)

I always pick the cheapest version.  So far, so good.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I was reading something the other day that mentioned _The Sun Also Rises_ by Hemingway. It occurred to me that I hadn't read that since high school, and didn't get much out of it then, I think, so I thought, what the heck, let's see what we can find.

Not available on feedbooks. . .I assume copyright is still owned by Hemingway estate or something.

3 versions on amazon. Cheapest and second cheapest (called original 1926 edition) had poor formatting. No indentation for paragraphs or in conversations. The most expensive, which was still only $3 or $4 had the best formatting. I have the sample (deleted the samples I didn't like); have to work out if I should bother to buy it and read the whole thing.

Ann


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## marianneg (Nov 4, 2008)

Eclectic Reader said:


> I was looking in the Kindle Store when I came across a title several times, with the same title, same book visual on the page, different authors, (slightly) different descriptions of the book (tho very slimilar), different prices, and different file sizes of the book. Here's a link with the titles:
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_kinc?url=node%3D154606011&field-keywords=budget+home+decorating+tips&x=0&y=0
> 
> ...


You know what I think? I bet it's one of those ebooks that you see on "get rich quick" sites, like buy these 100 ebooks for just $99, or whatever, and then you can resell them or whatever as you like. The publishers are all different, too, and most of them are just someone's name. I wouldn't buy it - I bet it's not very good if they're allowing people to resell it rather than publishing it themselves.


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