Libreture
Libreture's list of DRM-free Bookshops exists to help you find great independent publishers, booksellers and authors, and ultimately, the amazing books they've created. It all started on my personal website in 2013, and now includes almost 200 shops.
Made up of publishers and individual authors selling e-books direct, as well as full-blown digital bookshops, the DRM-free Bookshop list is a great place to start when you want to find something a little different. Something you may not find promoted by the large bookshops.
To help you discover your next favourite book, we compile monthly Top Ten lists to see which shops our visitors went off to explore. Let's take a look at what was popular over the last month.
July 2019
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Groupees
Added 9th of July, 2019
Based in Portland, OR, USA, Groupees transforms the distribution of digital media entertainment into a fun, social and exciting experience.
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Luna Station Quarterly
Added 12th of June, 2019
The on-going mission of Luna Station Quarterly is to display the vast and varied talents of female-identified speculative fiction writers.
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Alternating Current Press
Added 3rd of June, 2019
Founded in 1993, Alternating Current is a boutique independent press dedicated to publishing and promoting incredible literature that challenges readers and has an innate sense of self, timelessness, and atmosphere.
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Old Computr
Added 3rd of June, 2019
Founded in March 2014, Old Computr is a wonderful collection of articles and photographs of retro computers.
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ArabLit Quarterly
Added 15th of April, 2019
ArabLit (arablit), or Arabic Literature (in Translation), was founded by M Lynx Qualey in 2009, and has developed into a source of daily news and views on Arab and Arabic literature and translation.
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Black Shuck Books
Added 30th of March, 2019
Launched in 2015 by editor Steve J Shaw, Black Shuck Books is an independent publisher of horror fiction based in the depths of the Kent countryside.
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Fox Spirit Books
Added 16th of January, 2019
Fox Spirit is a small UK press who believe that day to day life lacks a few things.
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Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Added 22nd of December, 2018
Jessica Kingsley Publishers was founded in 1987 in London by Jessica Kingsley and is committed to publishing books that make a difference.
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Phoenix Publishing House
Added 29th of April, 2019
Phoenix Publishing House rose from the flames in 2018 to create a home for mental health publishing as independent specialists.
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Power & Magic Press
Added 3rd of June, 2019
Power & Magic Press is an independent comics publisher in Portland, OR.
A big change again for July, with the bundle site, Groupees, joining the list at number one.
That high new entry is likely due to their fantastic Horrors of Summer Bundle of e-books that included publishers like Apex Books. Word Horde, and more.
Bundles are an excellent way of getting e-books into the hands of potential fans. I wrote a post about Omnibus e-books and clever pricing a while back, which looks at how e-book bundles help publishers and authors get their titles in front of new readers.
We've seen StoryBundle, Humble Bundles and now Groupees. Humble very rarely tries this, but what Groupees are doing differently is including a variety of media in some of their bundles. You could end up buying a bundle that included e-books, music and computer games, all tied around a single theme.
These thematic bundles are another fresh way of seeing e-books - as part of the wider digital content ecosystem, rather than as a single area of book publishing.
I'll be keeping a close eye on Groupees bundles to see just what bargains I can pick up, and which new authors or publishers I may discover.
You can find more great shops in the full list of DRM-free Bookshops.