Tag: Backup and storage

2 Ways to Read an Epub on a Tablet

Google Play Books iconSo, you bought an ebook from a distributor other than Amazon, and you want to read it on your tablet* or smartphone. How do you do that?

Ebooks that you buy or download for free from Kobo, Lulu, Nook, Google Play, and the Apple iBookstore are delivered to you in epub format. So you’ll need an app that can read epubs.

Kobo, the Apple iBookstore, and Nook have apps that you can install on your tablet to read their books. You’ll be able access books purchased from these sites by just opening their apps on your tablet.

Alternative Apps

But what if you’ve downloaded or bought an epub from Smashwords or Lulu? They don’t have designated tablet or smartphone apps that you can use.

You’ll first need to download the epub file to your computer from the Smashwords or Lulu site. You can then read the epub file with one of these two apps:

Both of these apps are platform agnostic, meaning that you can read any epub on them, provided the epub doesn’t have DRM applied to it.

However, how you get a book into each app on your tablet is different:

Google Play Books Quick Steps

  1. Download the Google Play Books app onto your tablet or smartphone.
  2. Open the app on your computer (go to the Google Play store to find it) and then upload the file from your computer into the app. The computer app and tablet app will sync.
  3. Open your the Google Play Books app on your tablet and you should see the book you just uploaded.

Bluefire Reader Quick Steps

  1. Download the Bluefire Reader onto your tablet or smartphone.
  2. Upload the book file to a file storage site, like Dropbox.
  3. Open the Dropbox app on your tablet and then tap on the book file you just uploaded to Dropbox. Your tablet should direct you to an app that can read the book file. Now that you’ve downloaded Bluefire Reader onto your tablet, it should be one of the choices. Tap the Bluefire app to to open the book.

Google Play Books and Bluefire Reader are simple e-reading apps, with not too many features — but that just might be what you’re looking for.

*The instructions in this post work for an Android tablet. You many have to experiment a little if you have an iPad. If you’re an iPad user, let me know if there are differences I should know about.

Retrieving a Backup File in Scrivener

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by C.K. MacLeod

Can’t open your Scrivener book file?

Not all is lost. Here’s how to troubleshoot this problem.

Check for Updates

Lots of tech glitches can be solved by ensuring that your software is up to date. I use Scrivener for Windows, so to check for updates I go to Help, Check for Updates. Update your software and see if you can open your Scrivener file now. If you can’t, it’s possible that your file is corrupted, which means you’ll need to retrieve a backup of that file.

Where’s my backup file?

Scrivener can be set up to automatically back up your file to a location of your choice. I have Scrivener set to back up to Dropbox (which is in the cloud), but I can just as easily have it set to back up to a folder on my computer’s hard drive, or to an external hard drive or memory stick.

If you have Scrivener set to automatic backup, your file will exist somewhere. Your first job will be to find out where your backup files are being stored.

Here’s how:

For the Windows version of Scrivener, go to Tools, Options, Backup. For Mac, go to Scrivener, Preference, Backup. You should see the directory in which your files are being saved:

Scriv backup

You can see that my files are set to back up to Dropbox. Once you know where your file is being stored, you can follow the path to retrieve it.

Open Your Backup File

Your next step is to open your backup file.

Note: Scrivener backup files are often saved as .zip files, which means they’ve been compressed to save space. You’ll need to unzip that file before you can open it.

In Windows, I can right-click on a .zip file and then click on Extract All. For a Mac, you’ll need to download software that will unzip your file. Mac user and Scrivener Coach Joseph Michael recommends Unarchiver.

Once the file is unzipped, I find the file with the .scriv extension and then double click on it to open it in Scrivener. You’re now ready to resume writing.

Not being able to open a book file that you’ve worked hard on is a terrifying thing. Scrivener’s automatic backup feature can offer you some extra insurance.

Image by Carlos Luz