jesse_the_k: iPod nestles in hollowed-out print book (Alt format reader)
Jesse the K ([personal profile] jesse_the_k) wrote2017-09-29 04:11 pm

Backing up Kobo Ebooks

I didn't find this answer on a quick search of Mobilereads.com forum, so I thought I'd share. I read on my iPad in the Kobo app. I buy my ebooks from Kobo because they have a deal with the American Booksellers Association; when I buy a book there Room of One's Own gets a 15% cut. Sadly, Kobo has changed to storing all my books in a database, so I can't just drag to make a backup copy. In addition, many Kobo books have DRM, which limits the apps I can read the books in. I know I'll be reading books after Kobo has been sold and absorbed three more times, so I like to have open copies.

Toolkit

Method

  1. On your computer, open a browser to your Kobo.com account https://www.kobo.com/us/en/library
  2. Locate the book you've purchased. Click on the three dots icon at the right edge, and choose "Download."
  3. On your computer, open your "Downloads" folder, sort by newest file, and double click the "URL.ascm" file that just arrived.
  4. Adobe Digital Editions will launch and prompt you for your Adobe ID.
  5. Once the book appears in its library, quit Adobe Digital Editions
  6. Launch Calibre
  7. Tap the letter A to "Add books from a single directory"
  8. On macOS, navigate to ~/Documents/Digital Editions
  9. Select the book in the file dialog.
  10. Wait briefly: a green check appears next to the books title.
  11. Select it and tap the letter S to "save to disk" and store it in your backups folder.

Now you've got a vanilla ePub file that every reader app in the world (except Kindle) can handle.