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What Is Google eBooks?
Google eBooks are a new way to discover, buy, and enjoy your favorite digital books, online and offline, powered by Google. You can buy a Google eBook directly from Dymocks, and then read your purchased book on your computer, your smartphone, or your electronic reading device.
Google eBooks are kept on the cloud (Google's computer servers), which means you can do more than just read your book. You can buy new and out-of-print books, switch from one reading device to another without losing your place and manage your digital book collection on your Dymocks digital bookshelf.
We offer you a choice of more than 300,000 titles ranging from new bestsellers to classics. Please note that not every book on this website can be purchased as a Google eBooks. If you find a title that cannot yet be purchased as a Google eBooks, please check again soon. We update our Google eBooks catalogue every day. To view our Google eBooks landing pages click here
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What is the benefit of buying a book in the cloud?
Read Seamlessly On Any Device
Like your email, you can access all your ebooks wirelessly in one place, no matter where you go. Your Google eBooks library is stored in the digital cloud and accessible via the Dymocks Bookshelf, which means you get to shop for all of your favourite books wherever you want, and read them wherever you go, using just about any device with an Internet connection. Google eBooks is compatible with Android phones, iPhone, iPad, most web browsers and many eReaders. That means you can start reading on your smartphone, continue on your laptop, and carry on reading on your tablet, or any way you want.
Keeping Your Place
Whenever you open one of your books, we'll pick up right where you left off. For example, if you are reading a Google eBook on your home computer and stop at page 100, you could access the same book on your phone or e-reader and continue from page 100 without losing your place.
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How do I buy Google eBooks from Dymocks?
- 1. Purchasing Google eBooks via Dymocks.com.au is easy. A good place to start is the Google eBook Store. When you see a title you like, check to see if it is available as a Google eBook. If so, just click ‘Add to Cart’ next to the Google eBooks logo to purchase your new eBook.
- 2. Once you have made your selection move to the checkout. You can either login (for exisiting account holders) or if you don’t have an account to 'Create a New Account'.
- 3. You will then be asked to link to your Dymocks account to your Google account. If you don’t have a Google account you can create one for free.
Why do I need to link my Dymocks and Google account? Click here to find out.
- 4. At the Payment page you will be presented with three payment/tender options: Credit cards; Gift Vouchers and Booklover points.
What is Booklover’s Rewards? Click here to find out more or Join.
For more specific help redeeming Gift Vouchers please visit this page.
- 5. After your Digital purchase has been completed, you will receive an email with the download link and instructions on how to access your Digital content. For more information, visit How do I access the Google eBook I bought.
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Which devices are supported?
Web Browsers
You can read Google eBooks on any browser with JavaScript enabled. Learn more about the Google Web Reader.
Smartphones
You can download and install the Google Books reading app for free on any U.S. Android phone that is running version 2.1 (Eclair) or later and has access to the Android Market, or on the iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. (iOS 3.0 or later).
eReader devices
Google eBooks can be read with any dedicated eBook reader that supports the Adobe eBook platform, including the Barnes & Noble Nook™ and Readers™ from Sony. More than 85 devices support the Adobe eBook platform today including Reader™ from Sony devices (PRS-300 - PRS-700), Aluratek Libre, Astak EZ Reader, Barnes & Noble Nook™ and Nook Color™, BeBook, Bookeen, COOL-ER, Elonex eBook, HanLin eBook, IREX Digital Reader, Neolux Nuut, and more. The full list of Adobe-compatible devices can be found at http://www.adobe.com/products/digitaleditions/devices/.
Amazon Kindle
Currently, Google eBooks are not compatible with Amazon Kindle devices.
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What are the required configurations?
Once you've purchased your Google eBook, it will be associated with your Google Account (which you can create for free at any time). You can then read it using the WebReader on any supported browser with JavaScript enabled. No special software is necessary. Google eBooks is compatible with any browser with Javascript enabled. Learn more about the Google Web Reader.
For a superior reading experience, you can download and install the Google Books reading app for free on the iPhone (iPad and iPod Touch) or any Android phone.
Finally, Google eBooks can be read with any dedicated electronic reader that runs Adobe Content Server 4's ePub DRM, including the Nook and Sony Portable Readers. The full list of Adobe-compatible devices can be found at http://www.adobe.com/products/digitaleditions/devices/. At the moment, Google eBooks are not compatible with Amazon Kindle devices.
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How do I access the Google eBook I bought?
Once you have purchased Google eBooks from our website, you can easily access and manage your purchased titles from the ebook library. Since the ebook library is synced-up with the cloud, you will find all your Google eBooks purchases there.
Your most recent purchase will be the one displayed first in the list. To start reading your Google eBook immediately, just click the ebook cover to launch the WebReader.
For a superior reading experience, you can download and install the Google Books reading app for free on the iPhone (iPad and iPod Touch) or any Android phone.
Finally, Google eBooks can be read with any dedicated electronic reader that runs Adobe Content Server 4's ePub DRM, including the Nook and Sony Portable Readers. The full list of Adobe-compatible devices can be found at http://www.adobe.com/products/digitaleditions/devices/. At the moment, Google eBooks are not compatible with Amazon Kindle devices.
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How do I use the Google Web Reader?
Once you have purchased Google eBooks from our website, you can easily access the title from the Dymocks Bookshelf.
Google eBooks you have purchased are also automatically displayed in your My Google eBooks and Purchased bookshelves within "My Library", and you can directly access the Web Reader by clicking the title or cover thumbnail.
Navigation
The Web Reader allows users browsing books with Google Books to take advantage of their full screen for a more pleasant reading experience. If you re-size your browser window, the Web Reader will scale the book pages up or down to fit.
At the bottom of the page, a slider allows you to easily flip through and jump to different sections of the book. The current page number is displayed in the lower corner of the Web Viewer at all times.
My Library:
Clicking the book icon will return you to the My Library page, where you can browse and manage your bookshelves.
Content:
The list icon provides you easy access to the book's table of contents, with links to chapters and notable sections within the book.
Settings:
The "Aa" icon contains book viewing settings. For many books, this includes the ability to choose to view original page images or flowing text (when available). The flowing text mode allows you to adjust the font, text size, line height, and justification. Original page images may be more suitable for specially formatted books, such as for poetry.
Search:
The magnifying glass icon allows you to search for words and phrases within the ebook you're reading. You can easily switch between viewing search results sorted by order of appearance or by relevance.
About this book:
Displays the title and publisher of the current book. You can also see the average rating, check out reviews--or write your own--and view additional bibliographic information.
Keyboard Shortcuts
We support the following keyboard shortcuts to easily navigate through book pages:
- Next page: J, Right Arrow, P, or Page Up keys
- Previous page: K, Left Arrow, N, or Page Down keys
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Can I read my Google eBooks offline?
Offline reading is supported via Google's suite of apps, where you can select books to be downloaded to your app for reading on the go. You can download and install the Google Books app from the Apple App store or the Android Marketplace.
If you are using a supported eReader device, you can also read most books available as Google eBooks offline by downloading and transferring a PDF or ePub file to your device. Please see this list of instructions for different supported devices.
At this time, Google eBooks does not support offline reading when using the Web Reader on your computer.
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Can I read my Google eBooks in multiple devices?
You can access your Google eBooks on different devices, including on the web on your computer and via Android and iPad/iPhone apps. No matter where you read your Google eBook, you are able to keep track of your reading place, so you can pick up right where you were last reading the next time you open your Google eBook.
Note: In rare occasions when a user tries to access Google eBooks on a number of devices at the same time, the Google eBooks system may temporarily block them from opening new reading sessions. This can happen when too many readers are open on different machines or browsers. If your other reading sessions are closed or inactive, you will be able to read in this browser after a short delay. If you believe this is an error please contact our support team.
Tips For Reading On Multiple Devices
- You can sync to your most recently accessed location in the book, even if you flipped ahead or flipped back to another location momentarily. At this time, you are unable to jump ahead to the furthest read location.
- Due to the free-flowing of text and slight differences between devices, you may not sync to the exact location on the page where you stopped reading. If you're not able to find your place, flip back or forward one page at a time until you find the location on the page where you stopped reading. In the web reader, you may also try to refresh the page.
- If you purchase a book after reading the free sample of the book, you will be synced you to the page you were last reading on from the sample.
- You can easily jump to a specific location in a book if you know the page number. Page numbers are denoted as follows:
- "54 / 290" represents page 54 out of 290 pages of the book.
- "54 - 55 / 290" represents the end of page 54 and the start of page 55 out of 290 pages of the book.
- For any device requiring you to transfer books using Adobe Digital Editions, the page will not sync with the Google eBooks web reader, the iOS or the Android apps.
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How can I share Google eBooks?
Google eBooks are designed to accommodate one book per Google Account. This means that sharing books among multiple users is not currently supported.
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Why do I need to have a Google Account in order to buy a Google eBook from Dymocks?
You need to have a Google Account in order to buy a Google eBook because the digital book will "live" in the cloud, or Google servers. All your eBook purchases will be stored in the same place and associated with that specific Google Account. Creating a Google Account is free, and you don't have to have a GMail address for that. For more information, please check the following page:
http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=27441
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Is my credit card information shared with Google upon linking accounts?
The only reason why you are asked to link your Dymocks account to a Google account is so you can finish your purchase and access your Google eBooks via the Dymocks Bookshelf. There is no information being shared between Dymocks and Google. This means Google won't have access to your credit card information, and Dymocks won't have access to your Google account or Gmail.
If you're concerned with Security and Privacy of Google Accounts, please check the following pages:
http://www.dymocks.com.au/Help/TermsOfUse.aspx
http://www.dymocks.com.au/Help/PrivacySecurity.aspx
http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/topic.py?hl=en&topic=14146
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What's the difference between PDF and ePUB?
When reading Google eBooks on the web or using the iPhone/iPad/iPod touch and Android apps, you don't need to worry about downloading any special files. You can easily browse and read ebooks directly in the browser or application.
However, if you are planning to read offline on your computer or using a reading device, the following file types are presented to you:
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PDF: PDF is a file format which presents the book in its original layout and visual formatting. These files are generally larger in size, and the text doesn't adjust to fit the device or computer on which you are reading.
For some Google eBooks, only the scanned pages (and PDF) is available and not the ePub, and these can be difficult to read on smaller screens. These titles are called "Scanned Pages" on the product page.
- ePub: ePub is an open-standard file format for digital books. The benefit of the ePub format is that it allows a book's text to adjust or "reflow" automatically to different screen sizes, including netbooks and e-reader devices. These titles are called "Flowing Text" on the product page.
We provide more complete instructions for other types of reading on devices. For more information click here.