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| Help with WOWIO |
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For New Users
For Advanced Users
Troubleshooting
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For New Users
What is WOWIO?
WOWIO is a new kind of online bookstore and your one stop shop for eBooks. With WOWIO, you can read
complete books online for FREE or pay to download PDF versions of the same eBooks. On occasion, some
downloads will be offered FREE to members of WOWIO through commercial sponsorship. With the support
of commercial sponsorships, online ads, and your paid downloads, WOWIO is able to compensate authors
and publishers with the mission to FREE BOOKS + FREE MINDS.
What is an eBook?
An eBook is an electronic book. It looks and works just like a print book except that you read it on
a computer, mobile device, or eBook reader.
How do I get started?
Set up a WOWIO account and then immediately begin to view free eBooks online or download the books
you want. That’s all there is to it. If you don’t have Acrobat Reader, download the latest
version from Adobe
for free.
How do I set up a WOWIO account?
It’s simple. Click here
and enter in your email address and password. That’s it! Nothing more is required — no
credit cards, no IDs, no personal information.
Do I need any special software or equipment to read eBooks?
To read books online, you don’t need any software or special equipment — everything works
right in your browser. To read books that you download, you’ll need Adobe Acrobat Reader,
which is available for FREE from the Adobe Web site. A broadband connection is not technically necessary,
but strongly recommended for reading eBooks online or for downloading them.
Is my information kept private?
Absolutely. We only allow publishers and sponsors to review usage data in aggregate. No user-specific
information is ever shared, sold, or disclosed in any way.
When I purchase an eBook, does WOWIO store my credit card information?
WOWIO only stores your credit card information at your request. If you make infrequent purchases and
are okay re-entering your information each time, there's no need to have WOWIO store your credit card.
If you like the convenience of one-click shopping, then you can elect for WOWIO to store your information
to make the purchase process easier.
If I elect to store my credit card info, is it secure?
WOWIO uses the best security available to ensure all your information is safely transmitted to the
card verification company. We are verified and our transaction secured though DigiCert, a US-based
security corporation specializing in providing High-Assurance SSL Certificates to some of the most
respected and prestigious organizations in the world, including national and state governments,
educational and medical institutions, and Fortune 500 companies. DigiCert is a WebTrust Certified
Certificate Authority, a member of the CA/Browser Forum and the W3C Consortium.
Do I have to be a United States resident to sign up with WOWIO?
No. WOWIO eBooks are FREE to read online for anyone with an Internet connection. However, because of
copyright and licensing restrictions, some eBooks may not be available for purchase in all countries.
If a book is marked “Contains Mature Content”, what does this mean?
It means that the book contains explicit sexual content or violent imagery, or related adult-themed content.
In these cases, only registered users who are 17+ may view the books online.
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For Advanced Users
Why do you only support Adobe Acrobat (PDF)?
Currently, the PDF format is the most widely available and reliably supported eBook format, and the
format most easily and inexpensively supported by our content partners. If and when other formats
establish themselves sufficiently, we will consider offering them as well.
How big are the eBooks?
Most eBooks range from 5MB to 20MB, plus or minus.
Can I print, copy/paste, or extract content for accessibility?
We encourage our content partners to make these features available, but it is their decision. In many
cases, they cannot legally let people access these functionalities due to rights issues that were
written in contracts that were signed long before people were surfing the Web. Change takes time.
I am looking for books you don't have. Will it do any good to request them?
Request away. We are meeting with publishers as fast as we can to bring on new books, and telling them
that we have people requesting their books will help us seal the deal. Contact us
and let us know what you're looking for.
Can I read WOWIO eBooks on my iPhone or other mobile device?
You can read WOWIO eBooks online with any device that can view a standard web page. WOWIO has an optimized Web site specifically for Apple mobile devices. You will automatically go to the optimized site when you visit WOWIO using your iPhone or iPod Touch (click here to learn more). Downloaded PDF eBooks can be viewed on any device that will run Acrobat Reader. Note, however, that WOWIO eBooks can not be read by reader software using 40-bit encryption, which includes Documents To Go on Palm devices.
Does WOWIO use any kind of digital rights management (DRM)?
Since anyone can defeat the most “sophisticated” DRM with the print screen button, we believe that
technology-based DRM is essentially a fraud. Our approach takes the market incentive out of misbehaving, rewards
people for doing the right thing, and tries to stay out of the way of honest users. To help keep everyone honest,
however, each eBook is serialized with the reader’s authenticated name and a unique serial number, as well
as other less visible markers. WOWIO will immediately terminate the account of anyone caught illegally distributing
eBooks, and will prosecute serious offenders.
I used WOWIO back when it had a Queue and I could download three books a day for free. It now appears that you are charging for books. Why the change?
WOWIO's mission has always been to make books available for free to everyone in the world, not just the United States.
Scaling beyond U.S. borders with our old model was not possible primarily because of rights restrictions issues,
and the practical reality that we could not have local sponsor sales in every country. The current model allows everyone
in the world to read books for free online without registration barriers or queue limits, provides additional revenue
channels for publishers and creators and gives them the power to selectively distribute their files on a country-by-country basis,
and still offers free downloadable eBooks for registered users when sponsors are available. Note that you must be logged on
to see if sponsorships are available for your region and demographic.
How can I find out if a book I am interested in is currently sponsored — i.e., free to download?
If you are a registered user, log on. If not, set up an account and log on. You can only see sponsorships if you are
logged on. If a particular book you are interested in is eligible for sponsorship, a gold bar will be visible at the
top of the book description page and the text "Free with Gift Credit" will appear next to the price. You can download these
books for free. Additionally, if you have added books to your Library: Reading List, available sponsorships for your
books will be indicated in gold.
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Troubleshooting
I signed up but have not received a confirmation email.
You should receive a confirmation email within a minute or two when signing up. Be sure to add accounts@users.wowio.com to your
address book and mail server's white list, and check your spam/junk folder for WOWIO email. If still
no luck, contact us
and we'll take care of it.
Note that some service providers (Comcast is one example) pre-screen what they consider to be spam so it never
reaches your mailbox or spam/junk folder. If you haven't received your confirmation email and don't see it in
your spam/junk folder, look for an option to save all possible spam in the spam folder and turn it on before you
request another confirmation email (which you can do by starting the registration process again).
Also note that the confirmation email comes from an address that can not receive email. If your mail provider (Earthlink is
one example) uses a challenge-response system, requiring an unknown sender to verify that they are a live person
by responding to a challenge email, no such verification can take place and you will not receive the email.
If all else fails, you can create an account as part of the eBook purchasing process.
There’s no “Download PDF” button on a book. Why can’t I buy it?
Because of copyright and licensing restrictions, some eBooks may not be available for purchase in all countries.
However, all of WOWIO’s eBooks are available to read online for FREE.
I cannot open my downloaded eBook.
One of two things is likely wrong: (1) you don’t have the latest and greatest Acrobat reader, in which case
you need to download the latest version from Adobe,
or (2) the file was corrupted somehow, in which case you should try downloading the book again or re-ordering.
If the file is again corrupted, the problem is likely security or virus software on your computer (e.g., there
are multiple reports that Web Shield from McAfee and AVG from Grisoft can corrupt downloads). Try temporarily
disabling this software and re-downloading. If this still doesn’t get it fixed, contact us
and we’ll check things on our end.
I have blank pages in my downloaded eBook.
The most common cause of blank pages is an incompatible reader. Try upgrading to the latest version of Adobe
Acrobat. If the problem persists, let us know.
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Corporate Gifting