Download note:
Please put authors [@] closed-circle [dot] net on your “safe” or “trusted” list. When we tested this process, our spam filter tried to throw us away! Excuse the strange notation: it’s an anti-spammer measure. And note: the e-mail giving you the download should arrive nearly instantaneously! If you do not see it immediately, immediately check your spam filter for an e-mail from ‘authors’ at-symbol ‘closed-circle.’
Mini or Full: which do I want?
if you have fast download and/or want all 11 file formats, from which you can pick those that serve your favorite e-book-reading gizmos, choose “FULL”. That’s a zipfile of (usually) about 3-5 MB with .epub, .fb2, .lit, .lrf, mobi/generic (.prc), .pdb, .pdf, .pmlz, .rb, .rtf, .txt. If you’re concerned about space/download time, choose “MINI”, which gives you a roughly 1.5 to 2 megabyte file with mobi/generic (.prc), .epub and .pdf only. (Calibre can convert any of those 3 into all the other formats.) Please store this download zip file on disc as well as on your computer. It’s yours. Losing it is the same as losing a book. And if you should have trouble with the file(s), go to the FAQ on this site. Once you buy a book, you have 24 hours to download it, and we suggest downloading it twice, in case of a glitch. Store a safety backup somewhere apart from your computer. That will be your recourse if you have a hard disk disaster. Remember: losing that file is the same as losing a book. You have a right to make as many personal copies as you like: do. Loan it to anybody in your household. All perfectly fine with us. Just—if your good buddy wants to borrow it, don’t lend: tell your good buddy go buy a copy of his own: your faithful writers need the income in order to keep writing.
You don’t know which format your device uses? Download the FULL version and try them all, starting with mobi, epub, and pdf, the most universal of the formats.
SHOULD YOU HAVE TROUBLE WITH A DOWNLOAD: write to ‘authors [@ symbol] closed-circle [dot] net’ and we will establish a ‘case’ and get the glitch solved ASAP… ASAP, depending on whether one of the three of us is at home or awake at that hour.
SHOULD YOU HAVE TROUBLE WITH PAYPAL: we will accept checks (US) or International Money Orders MADE OUT TO THE WRITER—(NOT TO CLOSED CIRCLE, WHICH HAS NO BANK ACCOUNT!!!) Send checks to our Post Office Box, which is ‘CLOSED CIRCLE, BOX 18656, SPOKANE WA, 99228, USA——–You must of course include your e-mail address, so we can e-mail you the download link.
If you are a regular on our blogs (Wave, Face, and The Captain) tell us you’re sending a check or money order, and we’ll trust you and get you a link by return e-mail.
HOW TO OPEN YOUR DOWNLOADS:
1. Before you download your file, PLAN where you want it to go. Windows often wants to send an ebook to a folder called MY EBOOKS in your MY DOCUMENTS folder. Whatever you choose for your Ebook Folder, be consistent: these are big files, and having them scattered at random all through your directory is not a Good Thing—a big file, and once unzipped, a lot of little files, all over the place. Eventually I recommend storing your megafile on DVD, and getting it off your disk. But first—select the file format(s) useful to you, and place those files neatly in something like a MY EBOOKS folder, maybe under the author’s name, as you build your library. [I suggest that folder be in your MY DOCUMENTS folder, as that is the way Windows likes to do things---and at least it narrows the possibilities.]
2. unzip the file: it should yield a number of book-sized files in formats such as .epub (Calibre, Sony), .prc (Kindle), .pdf (Adobe reader), and so on. If you don’t have a zip program, jzip is good…a free download.
3. So—now you’re organized, and ready to read. For a dedicated reader, consult your device directions for getting a file from the computer to your reader. OF the 11 formats we offer, one should work. If not—let us know and we’ll try to help.
4. For a PC or MAC: download the several reader softwares we offer. Calibre works best for the Mac: on my blog site I have particular downloads for various Mac OS types. MobiReader is very good for the PC. And you probably already have the ability to read .pdf files.
5. For Calibre: go to your Ebook folder, double-click on the .epub version. Calibre should load (be patient: it’s big) the title of your chosen e-pub book into the white ‘BOOK TITLE Display Area’. The trick is, you must highlight that book title. THEN with it highlighted, click VIEW on the overhead menu: a new window will pop up, with your book in the Reader Window.
IF: no Book Title appears in the white ‘Book Title Display Area,’ you can go get your file. Just click ADD BOOK, and a SELECT BOOKS window will come up, offering you the usual Windows choices of Recent Documents, Desktop, My Documents, and Network Places. Remember WHERE your books are: go to that place, select your .epub version as in any Windows operation, and click on it. It should now load into that “Display Area” so you can highlight it and then choose VIEW, etc.
Should you convert e-books using Calibre, it will have its own idea about where to put your e-books,controllable in a line up at the top of the ‘Conversion’ utility: be sure to target the ‘save’ where YOU want it to go, or you’ll spend the next half hour trying to find where it put it.
6. For the Mobireader software: go to your ebook folder, click on the .prc file, and you should have the reader load itself WITH your book in the Reader Window.
For Adobe Reader: again, click on the .pdf version, and you should have Adobe Reader come up with your book ready to read.
For Microsoft Reader: click on the .lit version, and if you have MSReader on your machine, it should come up and display your book.
If you have trouble using the download, contact us and we will be happy to help. This is a new kind of software with a new selection of options: arrow keys to turn pages, (MSReader cleverly hides the page turning toggle UNDER the ‘voice’ control: x-out of that, and you can turn pages)—controls for page size (Calibre, Adobe); and controls to scale the font size up and down, for those of us who need larger print (Calibre). Explore. These softwares are forgiving.
7. For a Kindle: if you don’t have access to your USB cord, you have the option of emailing the file to yourself. First, go up to your Kindle account and list your own email as a safe or accepted email. Whatever Amazon calls it. Unzip the file as described above, then attach the .prc file to an email and send it to your Kindle account. I don’t know that a subject is necessary, but when we tested this, we just put the title of the book in as the subject. This should then download to your Kindle, the same way you receive other books.
