I just found this great article detailing how we can buy manga in electronic form the same way people in Japan do — current stuff, and lots of it, at reasonable prices. You can even read a few pages of each book free as a sample, to make sure the reading level is right for you before you buy.
We can even earn “points” towards discounts or free gifts or something, which seems to be as much a part of Japanese culture as throwing up the peace sign while being photographed.
I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m certainly going to give it a try… I’ve been getting by with ordering books from Amazon.co.jp, and then usually looking for the raw scans in the dark corners of the internet anyway, so I can have them in electronic form. This could be way better.
If you check it out, please post here and let us know how it goes!
That’s awesome… it takes me a couple months to get through one book, so I’m in no danger of spending that much money any time soon. Props to you though!
I am getting pretty close to finishing my current book though (Hikaro no Go vol. 1), so now I know what I will do when I that’s done!
It’s also very easy to purchase from the app once you’re done with the last volume or something - one button will lead you the list of volumes with the buy button. XD A few taps and you’re back to reading. ^^
I made the mistake of turning on 1 click ordering there. Though at least I linked my Amazon card so I get points there and points toward Amazon…
I thought my poor reading level would deter me, but I’ve built up a decent library already. Now I just need to find more time to actually do the reading. Being able to grab the free books is great, since even if I can’t read them well yet, it’s incentive to get better because I have a lot of reading material waiting.
Yeah, ebook japan is totally reliable and you don’t have to worry about regional restrictions with it. I’ve got a number of digital books there.
It does also have an app for mobile ios and android (which is available outside of Japan itunes ). I use it on my laptop and the ios app on my ipad. I find it perfectly usable.
Do you use the mobile app (for honto)? Although I read on my laptop a lot, I was looking into that app today, but apparently you need a Japanese itunes account, which I just wasn’t interested in jumping through hoops to set up…Wondering if you faced that.
Thanks! It’s good to know there’s an Android app, at the very least. Do you read the manga within the app, then? (So it would be like Overdrive is for my library books, kinda?)
You have your account on ebookjapan that you set up online and then when you download the mobile app (or desktop app, for that matter), you put in your account credentials and anything you buy remains in the cloud and can be synched.
I’m totally still using Overdrive all the time… I get about 2/3rds of my library books that way. Most of my reading comes from the library… some borrows from friends, and least of all purchases…
… I wouldn’t eat if I bought all the books I wanted. I wouldn’t pay rent if I bought all the books I wanted. I wouldn’t have time to work to pay for any of those things if I read all the things I wanted…
*sigh*
It reminds me of this great quote I found on a forum somewhere, once…
[quote]
Reading is Knowledge.
Knowledge is Power.
Power leads to Corruption.
Corruption leads to a life of Crime.
Crime Doesn’t Pay.
… Therefore Reading makes you go Broke.[/quote]
I laughed so hard when I first saw that… mostly because it’s so true…
For English books, my wife and I use www.bookbub.com to be notified of promotional free and discount e-books on Amazon. I read mostly free ones, so I only spend a few $$ per year. But, of course, quality varies. I like that I can try out new authors without spending money… which is actually what the promotions are for: to get you hooked on new authors.
I’ve heard of it before, but haven’t tried it out yet. I’m still finding everything at the library (our system is good here! New books come out almost the same time as they’re in bookstores.).
Must be nice… I live in a town of 1700 people, and the library has no online system. Nearest online is in a neighboring county, and they require in-county residence.
[Edit: just checked for an update on this… Apparently, the county itself has Overdrive now, but our local library seems unaware of it. Who knew!?]
Props to you though!
). I use it on my laptop and the ios app on my ipad. I find it perfectly usable.