About Obooko
Where did the name Obooko come from?
We wanted to create a unique name containing the word 'book,' while also conveying, in some way, the service we offer. Thus, from 'download books online to read offline' came forth obooko: the initial letters from online and offline forming typographic book ends. Obooko is a registered trademark.
How long has obooko.com been online?
The website launched into cyberspace in March 2010 and continues to provide an opportunity for new and established writers from all parts of the world to self-publish and promote their work free of charge. And for us to offer a free books download site for fiction and non-fiction ebooks for anyone to download and enjoy, regardless of means.
Who runs obooko?
The website is operated and maintained by Anthony Stanton, assisted by Tim Johnson and Sarah Bainbridge. Anthony and Tim are involved with production and publishing, while Sarah is responsible primarily for membership and general administration. You can send a message to either of us at any time via the contact form.
Are the ebooks available for download distributed legally?
100%! For your peace of mind, every e-book on obooko is distributed with the author's written permission in compliance with U.S., U.K. and international Copyright law. We operate in a legal, honest and truthful manner, as you would expect us to.
Are the ebook files safe to download?
All the free ebooks provided by obooko are checked for viruses and malware before being made available for distribution. Each download is a single file: it will not be attached to any software promos or other nasty stuff you didn't ask for. When you download a PDF file, you get a PDF file, nothing else. It's also good to know our books do not contain advertising or affiliate sales links.
How does obooko remain free?
Obooko is a not-for-profit enterprise, which means we are not here to make money: that's why there are absolutely no fees or charges to use this website. We have kept it this way since 2010. However, no organisation survives without having to pay the costs necessary to provide its service. Since we started, our running costs have increased significantly, so we had to find a way to subsidise the maintenance and development of the website, but at the same time remain a free resource. There are different ways we could have done this:
1. Charge you for access by way of a membership fee
Charge for membership? How can books be free when you have to pay a membership fee to access them? Despite other sites adopting this practice, we believe it is unethical and deceitful to charge for accessing books that authors have licensed for free distribution. And absurd: the adverb 'Free' means without payment or charge.
2. Ask you for a donation
We would not feel comfortable accepting donations. We are not a charity.
3. Show advertising on our pages
This fits best with our philosophy of keeping everything free. Advertising ensures you don't have to part with any of your cash. Revenue from ad's covers day-to-day running costs including server-hosting, maintenance and development. We feel this is an honest and transparent way to subsidise the site. We do not however allow advertising inside the books you download.
Why do we require registration?
In order to determine whether you have the authority to give direct feedback and award star-ratings to authors, our system requires a log-in with credentials (email and password) to confirm you are a bona fide registered member. If we didn't have systems in place, bots and unscrupulous people would be sending spam via the author feedback form. Our principal reason however, is to ensure, to the best of our knowledge, that users of the site are of a minimum age of 13 and that we do not attract young children. Although we consider obooko to be a family oriented site, some books are intended for mature readers and are listed as so (17+). The responsibility for internet browsing rests with parents, but we cannot risk unintentional download of these books by minors. For this reason we decided not to have a children's book category. We comply with the directives of COPPA, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule, and do our best to make sure we do not attract young children to the site or collect personal data from anyone under the age of thirteen. This is something that inferior and illegal ebook distribution sites, and their users, overlook or do not consider.
© Photo by Luis Molinero
