Where to get DRM-free books
NoBookEnds plays and reads the books on your own Audiobookshelf server. Here is where to find books you can actually put there.
Why DRM-free?
Books bought on Audible, Kindle, Apple Books or Google Play Books, and books borrowed through Libby, are locked with DRM (digital rights management) to that company's own apps. You cannot download them as ordinary files, so they cannot be added to Audiobookshelf or played in NoBookEnds.
DRM-free books are plain files, usually MP3 or M4B for audiobooks and EPUB for ebooks. You own the file, you keep it on your server, and it plays in any app, including NoBookEnds.
Audiobooks
Libro.fm
Every audiobook is DRM-free, and each purchase supports an independent bookstore you choose. A monthly membership or one-off purchases. In your Libro.fm library on the website, choose Download files and pick the single-file M4B or the zipped MP3s (how to download).
Downpour
Most titles are DRM-free downloads, with a membership or one-off purchases. Some publishers require DRM on certain titles, and those only play in Downpour's own apps, so check before you buy (Downpour FAQ).
LibriVox
Free audiobooks of public domain works, read by volunteers. Download the MP3 files (or the zip of a whole book) from any book page.
Authors and publishers direct
Many authors, small presses and podcasters sell audiobooks directly from their own websites as DRM-free MP3 or M4B downloads. Look for "DRM-free" on the product page.
Ebooks
The NoBookEnds reader opens EPUB files, so choose EPUB when a store offers a choice.
Kobo
Many Kobo ebooks have DRM, but some are sold DRM-free. Look for "DRM-Free" in the eBook details on the book's page before buying. To download, go to My Books on kobo.com, open the actions menu next to the book and choose Download (Kobo help).
Smashwords
The ebook store run by Draft2Digital, with over a million independent titles, all DRM-free and downloadable as EPUB.
Humble Bundle
Rotating pay-what-you-want bundles of DRM-free ebooks (and comics), often from major publishers, with part of each purchase going to charity. Downloads come as EPUB, PDF or MOBI.
Publishers that skip DRM
Baen sells every ebook DRM-free from its own store. Tor Publishing Group (Tor, Forge, Tordotcom, Nightfire) publishes its ebooks without DRM; buy them from a store that lets you download the EPUB, such as Kobo.
Standard Ebooks
Free, carefully formatted editions of public domain classics, with clean EPUB downloads and good covers.
Project Gutenberg
The original free library of public domain ebooks, with more than 75,000 titles. Choose the EPUB download.
Managing your files. Calibre is a free desktop app for organizing the ebooks you own: fixing titles and authors, adding covers and converting between formats before you add them to your server.
How to add them to your server
Upload in the Audiobookshelf web app
Sign in to Audiobookshelf in a browser as an admin (or a user allowed to upload), choose Upload, pick the library and folder, and drop in the files. Upload a book with several audio files as one folder so it stays one book (uploading guide).
Or copy them into your library folder
If you can reach the server's storage (a NAS share, for example), copy the files straight into the folder your library points at. Audiobookshelf picks up new books on its next scan, or run a scan from the library's menu.
Use one folder per book
Keep each book in its own folder under its author, for example Author Name/Book Title/, with all of that book's audio files (or its EPUB) inside. Put a series in between if you like: Author Name/Series Name/Book Title/. See the Audiobookshelf directory structure guide.
Open NoBookEnds
Pull down to refresh and the new book appears in your library, ready to play or read.
Coming soon: add a downloaded book to your library straight from the NoBookEnds app, without opening the Audiobookshelf web app.
A note on DRM
NoBookEnds does not remove DRM and cannot play DRM-protected books. Please respect each store's terms of use. Buying DRM-free is the simplest way to own your books and listen or read anywhere you like.
Questions? See Support or email [email protected].