Monday, January 18, 2010

Free-ebooks.net Is Not Free: How To Find 'Really Free' E-Book Downloads

There are 200 plus websites and search engines that offer online freebies - but Free-ebook.net is no longer one of the 'really free' sites. Previously proclaimed as “the internet's #1 online source for free ebook downloads," Free-ebooks.net still likes to refer to their service by that description - while charging membership fees.

Free-ebooks.net standard membership is now limited to viewing books only in html. If a user wants to download more than five pdf e-books per month, they have to upgrade to VIP status at a cost of $4.99 per month or $19.95 per year.

During the past ten years, Free-ebook.net has been a totally free download website with an estimated 150,000 visitors per month. By imposing these new charges, Free-ebooks.net hopes to grow their website profitability. With the increase in profits, Free-ebook.net plans to attract additional authors, convert e-books to mobile formats, and record audio formats.

With charges and limitations at Free-ebooks.net, readers and authors are left searching for a 'really free' e-book download website. The totally free sites will benefit greatly from this latest development at Free-ebook.net. Many websites do not even require registration before they allow use of their resources.


The Top 7 'Really Free' Sources For E-Book Downloads

1. Wowio

Finding Wowio leaves you with that 'wow' feeling. With a 'really free' website, beautifully formatted books, including recent mainstream editions, Wowio is a wonderful source for e-book downloads. Wow!


2. Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenburg is 'the' perfect source for your favorite classics (pre-1923). In addition, Project Gutenburg has a selection of later books and in total has access to millions of free, public domain books (text and HTML formats).


3. Memoware

Take a memo about Memoware! With tens of thousands of public domain books, formatted for a wide range of portable devices, Memoware deserves your attention. In addition, this source has a premium bookstore catering to current, mainstream books.

4. Fictionwise

Fictionwise, an expansive e-book bookstore, may carry fiction but it's a fact about its 'really free' service. Specializing in SF with titles formatted for a range of devices, Fictionwise offers an ever-changing selection of free e-books.

5. Zbooc

A directory of free reports, how-to ebooks, tutorials, and guides, has helpful e-books in countless categories. Free ebooks are reviewed and rated by visitors. Viewing and downloading is instant and unlimited. It's easy to see why it's on the way to becoming the number 1 'really free' source for e-books.


6. The Internet Archive

The Internet Archive doesn't resemble the dusty old archives in the libraries of past eras. The Internet Archive is a modern, active resource which scans books in libraries around the world. This 'really free' service makes their 500,000 books (to date) available in a range of formats including searchable PDFs of the original page images. The Internet Archive is always expanding its archived sources.

7. Baen Free Library

Baen Free Library, a pioneer in the e-book field, has a fantastic selection of free science fiction and fantasy e-books. A favorite with SF fans!

With the availability of these super seven 'really free' e-book download websites (as well as scores of similar sites), the changes at Free-ebook.net shouldn't cause any undue worry for readers, authors, or marketers. The top seven e-book download sites offer 'really free' books in every imaginable category. Free-ebook.net is not a 'really free' download website! Yet hundreds of websites remain committed to free service and unlimited downloads of e-books. Choose a 'top seven' contender for your source for e-book downloads.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

180 Websites for Free eBook Downloads - The Complete List

Free online books (or e-books) are one of the best sources we have for sharing knowledge and creativity. This post is a first ever collection of close to 200 websites allowing free ebook downloads.

In Future posts, I will be reviewing the best free ebooks website from this list. However for now I am publishing 2 parameters that may help you decide where you would like to search:

1. Google PageRank - this shows how much Google "trusts" a website in the information it displays. 1/10 being the highest trusted websites and 9/10 the lowest trust. Unranked or 0/10 websites probably did not even make it to the ranking level (or because they are new).

2. Website Popularity - Monthly visitors evaluation using Compete evaluation tool.


If you would like to send me your comments or your thoughts about any of the websites on the list (or suggest websites that are not included in this list for review) – you are most welcome to do that.

Not all the websites on this list are 100% free, not all of them allow you to download formatted files for handheld devices, and they don't all have editorial guidelines to monitor the quality of their inventory. This is why, in this first post, I would like to include my own selection of the top 10 places to download free ebooks from. I think these websites are the ones that really stand out from the list that follows.


1. Wowio - recent mainstream editions, perfect formatting for viewing and downloading
2. Project Gutenburg – Free and instant access to millions of public domain books (text and HTML formats).
3. Memoware - public domain books, formatted for a wide range of portable devices,
4. Zbooc – thousands of free ebooks, reports, how-to, tutorials and guides for instant download
5. Fictionwise - Specializing in SF with titles formatted for a range of devices
6. The Internet Archive – over 500,000 book
scans from libraries around the world.

7. Baen Free Library - selection of free science fiction and fantasy e-books

8. Free-ebooks – one of the top free sites, recently turned paid. You are now limited to viewing html for free

9. Manybooks – free ebook downloads formatted for your PDA, iPhone or Kindle

10. Freebookspot - Free ebooks in categories such as science, engineering, programming, fiction and more.


The Complete List - 180 Free ebook Websites





Link PageRank visitors







1
http://books.google.com 7/10 146705164

2
http://www.adobe.com/epaper/ebooks/freebooks.html 8/10 25127430

3
http://www.scribd.com/ 7/10 3566165

4
http://www.docstoc.com/ 6/10 2746839

5
http://www.archive.org/ 8/10 2502083

6
http://thepiratebay.org/ 7/10 2369677

7
http://www.snipfiles.com/ 3/10 1723916

8
http://www.slideshare.com/ 7/10 1146889

9
http://www.bookrags.com/browse/ebooks/ 5/10 1126773

10
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/ 8/10 1095305

11
http://www.book-soft.com/ unranked 970207

12
http://www.4shared.com/ 6/10 911846

13
http://www.rapidlibrary.com/ 4/10 795094

14
http://www.librarything.com/ 8/10 771822

15
http://www.openlibrary.org/ 7/10 657917

16
http://www.paperbackswap.com/ 6/10 513063

17
http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/scores/top 7/10 470104

18
http://www.esnips.com/ 6/10 454891

19
http://en.wikibooks.org/ 7/10 441718

20
http://www.bartleby.com/ 8/10 407691

21
http://www.online-literature.com/ 7/10 324144

22
http://chestofbooks.com/ 4/10 321059

23
http://www.hongkiat.com/ 3/10 302173

24
http://www.twistysdownload.com/ 4/10 133566

25
http://pinkmonkey.com/ 6/10 111504

26
http://www.diesel-ebooks.com/ unranked 107925

27
http://www.pdfoo.com/ 3/10 107911

28
http://www.free-ebooks.net/ 6/10 106952

29
http://www.bookmooch.com/ 6/10 90715

30
http://manybooks.net/ 6/10 90660

31
http://www.onlinefreeebooks.net/ 5/10 53920

32
http://www.franklin.com/freelibrary/ 4/10 51927

33
http://www.literature.org/ 7/10 51652

34
http://www.planetpdf.com/free_pdf_ebooks.asp 5/10 46500

35
http://www.baen.com/library/ 6/10 44503

36
http://e-library.net/free-ebook.htm 3/10 41455

37
http://shop.ebrary.com/ 7/10 41104

38
http://bookcrossing.com/ 7/10 39948

39
http://www.getfreeebooks.com/ 3/10 39904

40
http://www.dailylit.com/ 7/10 38430

41
http://www.asksam.com/ebooks/ 5/10 27374

42
http://ansonchi.webng.com/ 4/10 23545

43
http://www.ebookee.com/ 4/10 21613

44
http://www.globusz.com/ 6/10 21337

45
http://www.flatworldknowledge.com/ 6/10 20036

46
http://ebookdirectory.com/ 6/10 19750

47
http://www.asiaing.com/ 5/10 18725

48
http://www.theebooksbay.com/ 2/10 16961

49
http://libraryelf.com/ 6/10 16314

50
http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/ 4/10 15599

51
http://www.podiobooks.com/ 6/10 14446

52
http://www.truly-free.org/ 5/10 13697

53
http://www.classicbookshelf.com/library/ 6/10 13350

54
http://www.titletrader.com/ 5/10 12557

55
http://www.freebookspot.com/ 5/10 12376

56
http://www.getfreelegalforms.com/ 4/10 11258

57
http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com/ 4/10 10848

58
http://www.planetebook.com/ 6/10 10204

59
http://www.e-booksdirectory.com/ 5/10 9799

60
http://worldlibrary.net/ 7/10 9682

61
http://www.bookglutton.com/ 6/10 9239

62
http://memoware.com/ 6/10 9080

63
http://www.memoware.com/ 6/10 9080

64
http://www.frugalreader.com/ unranked 8970

65
http://www.freetechbooks.com/ 4/10 8354

66
http://www.bookins.com/ 4/10 8354

67
http://www.ebook-seek-engine.com/ 2/10 8045

68
http://gigapedia.info/ unranked 7821

69
http://www.bookyards.com/ 6/10 7690

70
http://www.smallbizbooks.com/ 6/10 7358

71
http://bittenbybooks.com/?page_id=859 3/10 7278

72
http://publicliterature.org/ 6/10 7010

73
http://www.witguides.com/ 2/10 6038

74
http://ebookw.net/ 3/10 5658

75
http://newfreebooks.com/ 4/10 5124

76
http://knowfree.net/ 3/10 4597

77
http://www.freedomainradio.com/free 4/10 4503

78
http://www.ebooks-space.com/ 3/10 4331

79
http://www.c3f.com/alivfree.html 5/10 3727

80
http://www.justfreebooks.info/ 6/10 3707

81
http://freecomputerbooks.com/ 4/10 3418

82
http://www.bookboon.com/ 5/10 3297

83
http://bookboon.com/ 5/10 3297

84
http://www.readeasily.com/ 3/10 3049

85
http://www.bizzydays.com/freeebooks.htm 3/10 2904

86
http://www.howto.co.uk/ 4/10 2707

87
http://www.onlinecomputerbooks.com/ 5/10 2603

88
http://flazx.com/ 0/10 2559

89
http://www.flazx.com/ 0/10 2559

90
http://www.booklagoon.com/ 0/10 2438

91
http://www.ebooklobby.com/ 0/10 2438

92
http://www.free-ebooks-download.org/ 3/10 2296

93
http://www.worthyofpublishing.com/ 2/10 2254

94
http://www.freeebooksblog.com/ 4/10 2194

95
http://www.pmillett.com/tecnical_books_online.htm 4/10 2114

96
http://ebooksearchr.googlepages.com/ 4/10 2083

97
http://www.bookfiesta4u.com/ 2/10 2009

98
http://www.floodle.net/ 5/10 2007

99
http://www.readitswapit.co.uk/ 5/10 1989

100
http://www.realtimepublishers.com/ 4/10 1829

101
http://www.swapsimple.com/ 5/10 1791

102
http://www.freebooksclub.net/ 2/10 1740

103
http://www.freebookspedia.com/ 2/10 1740

104
http://www.ebookslab.org/ 2/10 1723

105
http://www.spotbit.com/ unranked 1707

106
http://www.free-ebooks-canada.com/ 1/10 1645

107
http://www.zunafish.com/ 5/10 1587

108
http://www.ebookspyder.net/ 3/10 1553

109
http://www.webliterature.net/ 5/10 1508

110
http://www.zillr.org/ 2/10 1429

111
http://www.zillr.org/ 2/10 1429

112
http://www.certified-easy.com/ 2/10 1181

113
http://downlot.net/?ref=fe&cat=ebook unranked 825

114
http://www.developnew.com/ 2/10 808

115
http://www.chmpdf.com/archives/ebooks/ 3/10 804

116
http://analogstuff.net/ 3/10 761

117
http://ggiaro.com/ 4/10 670

118
http://www.wowio.com/ 5/10 659

119
http://10001press.com/ebooks.htm unranked 600

120
http://pdfbooks.co.za/ 3/10 580

121
http://www.allbooksfree.net/ 0/10 572

122
http://www.allgr8ebooks.com/ 3/10 425

123
http://www.ebookz.ir/ 0/10 420

124
http://www.moochmuch.com/home 1/10 416

125
http://ebook.networkgood.com/ 2/10 375

126
http://ebooksbaba.com/ 0/10 342

127
http://libroselectronicosgratis.com/ 2/10 305

128
http://www.bookgoldmine.com/ 2/10 289

129
http://www.linxpedia.com/ 1/10 234

130
http://www.medicalbooksfree.com/ 3/10 193

131
http://www.pdf-searcher.com/ 3/10 75

132
http://www.bookfundas.com/ 3/10 74

133
http://www.whatsonmybookshelf.com/ 4/10 68

134
http://www.ebookprovider.co.cc/ 2/10 9

135
http://librivox.org/ 7/10 0

136
http://www.free-classic-books.com/ 1/10 0

137
http://www.fetch-boy.com/ unranked 0

138
http://freebooksplus.net/blog/ 2/10 0

139
http://www.bookze.com/ 0/10 0

140
http://www.jeridoo.com/ 3/10 0

141
http://www.soft-search.co.cc/ 0/10 0

142
http://www.properebooks.com/ 2/10 0

143
http://www.freebooksportal.com/ 0/10 0

144
http://www.free-ebook.biz/ 2/10 0

145
http://www.ebooks.com/ 6/10 0

146
http://www.freebookquest.com/ 1/10 0

147
http://get-free-book.com/ 2/10 0

148
http://www.doctors4ward.com/ unranked 0

149
http://www.getmag.co.cc/ 0/10 0

150
http://www.ebook-of-the-week.com/ 0/10 0

151
http://www.meetscience.net/ 1/10 0

152
http://universityforfree.com/ 0/10 0

153
http://mybookface.net/ 7/10 0

154
http://www.free-ebooks.ws/index.php 1/10 0

155
http://www.etwist.net/ 2/10 0

157
http://magbooks.org/ 0/10 0

158
http://thewriteresearch.com/books-online-search/ 2/10 0

159
http://www.kiqlo.com/ 1/10 0

160
http://www.dbebooks.in/ 0/10 0

161
http://bookvnn.com/ 1/10 0

162
http://www.fun-guide.org/ 2/10 0

163
http://www.medsea.tk/ unranked 0

164
http://www.freebooksclub.com/ 0/10 0

165
http://www.freebooksdownload.net/ 0/10 0

166
http://www.digita-book.com/ 0/10 0

167
http://www.ebooks-it.org/ 1/10 0

168
http://www.onlinebookslink.com/ 1/10 0

169
http://www.link512.com/ 3/10 0

170
http://ebook4share.net/ebooks unranked 0

171
http://www.techprogram.co.in/ 0/10 0

172
http://www.generate-income.net/ 0/10 0

173
http://www.ebcrack.com/ 1/10 0

174
http://www.fribooks.co.cc/ 0/10 0

175
http://www.categor.com/ 0/10 0

176
http://crutoshare.com/ 1/10 0

177
http://www.ebooks.meetscience.net/ unranked 0

178
http://www.myebookpdf.com/ 1/10 0

179
http://www.free-ebooks.ws/ 1/10 0