Yes! It’s possible to source free eBooks on the internet – legally!
Don’t misunderstand – authors deserve and need to be paid for their work. I don’t condone any shady eBook dealings, black-market download sites, or any activity that means authors don’t get the recognition and recompense for their work. I don’t even think I could tell you where any of these things exist.
But there are sources that offer free eBooks – legally. You’ll find a wide variety of titles, with genres ranging from classic fiction, to DIY, to history, to Indie authors, and beyond. Truly, you’ll be able to find enough material to keep you reading for years to come.
Some caveats:
- Formatting. These free eBooks will require you to select a format and download it manually. Many folks are used to having to do this, but Kindle devotees will have to do a little bit of extra legwork to get these books on your device.
- Advertising. On the website, not necessarily in the eBook itself. Please keep in mind that these websites are offering free eBooks, and they need to generate some revenue to help pay for the website and labor itself. Of the free eBook websites I list here, I haven’t noticed any sus ads. Just be vigilant and don’t click or tap any links that you don’t trust.
- Copyright. Some of these websites will be outside of the United States, and some books may have different copyright expiration dates based on the country. Check before you download.
- Popular authors? Probably won’t find any Stephen King or Alice Hoffman here. But it’s possible. If I see an author that looks particularly intriguing, I’ll let you know.
Despite the absence of contemporary, best selling authors, the authors listed on these sites are going to offer their best. There are many indie authors I have discovered that I enjoy immensely. Hopefully you’ll find a new favorite, too!
The Websites for Free eBooks
Project Gutenberg – Would you believe that eBooks were invented in 1971? We tend to think of modern technology being just that – modern. Created within the last 20 years or so. But eBooks have been around for a very long time.
Project Gutenberg is building a library of out-of-copyright books, using volunteers who compile information and format the books for digital reading. They frequently add new titles. Each title has its own page with a bibliographic record and multiple download formats available. It’s kind of like browsing for an eBook at a library.
Their formats include several versions of ePub for different eras of Kindles, PDF, HTML, plain text, and may include others. You can download a book and start reading it immediately on your computer or hand-held device. You can also send titles to your DropBox, OneDrive, or Google Drive. They really give you a lot of options to read.
You probably won’t find the latest Stephen King novel, or the new Outlander installment, but there is a huge variety of books that are worth reading. It’s a terrific resource.
Planet eBook – Planet eBook is based in Australia, and offers titles with expired copyrights in Australia. It’s up to the end user (you) to determine if the book you wish to download has an expired copyright in your country.
They have a decent selection of classic titles, and it’s worth checking them out. Their website, however, is heavy on ads. Which is perfectly fine. They are offering a free resource, which is not free to produce. The ads are larger than the book download buttons, and in some cases say simply “DOWNLOAD” which might lead you to think you’re getting a book, when you’re getting a link something else. Just pay close attention to what you select. On a positive note, many of the ads served on Planet eBook are for PDF readers or other software you might use to read an eBook.
Planet eBook also does well explaining the process of downloading and adding books to your devices. It’s straightforward and plain English, so anyone can follow these instructions with success.
Free-Ebooks.net: Free-Ebooks.net offers titles from indie authors, as well as titles that have expired copyrights. The bonus of Free-Ebooks.net is that they will help aspiring authors publish their ebooks. They offer quite a few perks for their published authors, so it’s worth looking into if you’re wanting to get your story out to the world.
They have paid options, in addition to the free: You can download one free book per month when you sign up. At the time of this writing, they had a one-time offer of .49/ week or $20/ year. I declined that offer and signed up for the free account. I was then informed that a paid membership going forward would be $7/ month or $60/ year. This is still less expensive than Kindle Unlimited, but I’m going to stick with the free option for now. And of course, when you sign up for an account, you automatically opt in for their email marketing.
Having said that, I’m having trouble finding any free books that are available for my one free download per month. The ones I am finding are not genres I’m interested in. You may have a different experience, but a website that calls itself Free-Ebooks.net and then asks for a monthly fee to be able to download certain titles isn’t really… free. I understand that websites need revenue to operate (HELLOOOO!) and at the end of the day, they do offer some free ebooks.
I did find a free Career Research Library on Free-Ebooks.net. They have titles for career advice, research, training, communication, continuing education, and more. Again, there are some hoops to jump through to get the materials. It might be worth it for you.
