For weeks I’ve been featuring one of the novels, chapbooks or short stories available at the Horror Mall as a digital download — also called an e-Book. These are interesting e-books, many of them are titles I’m unfamiliar with, several are by authors new to me. A few are e-book versions of hardcover or trade paperback books.
I’d been interested purchasing some of the titles myself and last week I finally took the plunge and did it. I had a twenty dollar budget and picked up eight items — and there are still a few things I plan to pick up later. How was my experience? Excellent. I recommend it.
But, if you’re just the least bit hesitant, then let me show you the best way to get started.
This post assumes you are totally new to e-books but you have a computer and Internet.
Decide on a Format
Currently Horror Mall offers three formats: PDF, MOBI and EPUB.
These three offer a wide range of possibilities and will work with a lot of the readers out there including the Kindle (MOBI) and Sony Portable Reader (EPUB and PDF).
All three formats can also be read on computers with free software downloads.
Each format has its strengths and weaknesses so you might want to try all three before you decide which one you prefer.
Download Digital Readers
Horror Mall offers three free digital downloads (short stories), each available in PDF, MOBI and EPUB.
Which one to pick? Well, you can skip out for a moment and read this evaluation of the various formats and readers, or try all three and see which you enjoy more.
To read a PDF and EPUB formats on your computer, download and install this free Adobe Digital Editions.
To read a MOBI format on your computer, download and install this free Mobipocket Reader.
Download Free Digital Books
They’re three and they’re free. Go ahead, download all three free ebooks. Choose either your preferred format or try all three.
Here is how you do it:
- Click on the Free downloads page.
- Select a book to download by clicking on the title or the book cover.
- Select the number (1) and click on the Add to Cart button.
- Then click on the Continue Shopping button and repeat steps 1-3 or click on the Proceed to Checkout button.
- You will be asked to create an account or log in if you already have an account
- The invoice will appear.
- Go to your e-mail inbox and look for the e-mail titled: Horror Mall: Download keys for order #00000 (although the number will be different)
- In this e-mail is a link to a Horror Mall page where you can download your book. It will work only for 72 hours. Click on the link.
- On the download page you’ll see, toward the bottom, links to the ebook — one for each format its published in. In the case of the free digital downloads, you’ll see three links.
- Click on the link for the format you desire and save to your computer or click on all three and save each format to your computer.
- Open the ebook and make sure it works on your reader.
Problems?
Digital download is quick. Processing can take up to 24 hours but I’ve gotten my e-mail in 5 minutes or less. If you don’t get an e-mail within 24 hours or the book refuses to open, go back to the Horror Mall website, click on the Customer Support link in the upper right hand corner and fill out a ticket. Give as much detail as possible — it makes it easier to fix the problems.
In all the digital downloads I’ve purchased, I’ve only had one problem — Skin Flowers was locked and refused to open. None of the other seven books were locked or had any trouble opening. I filled out a ticket and in a surprisingly short time I had a courteous response from the proprietor Shane and a new link to a fresh copy that worked perfectly.
So that’s it. Go test it out.
Note:
For those readers who have visited the Horror Mall and remember something called a Digital Access Key — They are no longer necessary.
I e-mailed Shane Ryan Staley who stated: “We’ve done away with those to make it easier for customers. The tracking is within the file itself, so no need to log in any more. And the files are no longer dependent on the server. Plus, we now offer MOBI and EPUB.”
Next: Why Should You Consider Digital Downloads?
This post is also part of a second series:
Introduction to Horror Mall Series:
Part 1 — What is Horror Mall, Anyway?
Part 2 — How can I find stuff at Horror Mall?
Part 3 — How Do I Purchase Stuff at Horror Mall?
Part 4 — The Digital Download from Horror Mall
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