PAN MACMILLAN EBOOKS HELP AND INFORMATION

On this page you will find answers to the following questions:
1. What is an ebook?
2. Why should I buy an ebook?
3. Which ebook format should I choose?
4. How do I buy an ebook?
5. How can I access my ebook?
6. How can I use my ebook?
7. Can I return an ebook?
8. Is it safe to download ebook readers and ebooks?

1. What is an ebook?

An ebook (electronic book) is a digital replication of a printed book which is designed to be read on computer screens, PDAs, BlackBerries or special ebook reading devices.

2. Why should I buy an ebook rather than a physical book?

Ebooks have numerous advantages over print titles. They are convenient to buy, as you can download ebooks instantly and start reading them right away. You can easily carry around an entire library on your laptop or portable ebook device. Last but not least ebooks allow you to search, highlight, bookmark and annotate text and they offer built-in dictionaries enhancing the reading experience.  

3. Which ebook format should I choose?

Pan Macmillan offers ebooks in four different formats, Adobe eReader, Adobe Digital Editions, MobiPocket and Microsoft Reader. To help you decide which format to choose please have a look at the information below. Please note that we try to keep the information on this site as up-to-date as possible, but cannot be made liable for any of the information on the reader software. To ensure you are always reading the latest information available please visit the respective homepages of Adobe, Microsoft and Mobipocket. Some titles may only be available in a limited number of formats.

For ebooks on the iPhone, download the Adobe Digital Edition.

About Adobe eReader

The Adobe eReader enables you to read high-fidelity ebooks alongside other PDF files. Only this reader software displays ebooks with the pictures, graphics, and rich fonts you've come to expect from printed books. Combining a vivid, elegant reading experience with an intuitive interface, Adobe eReader gives you all that ebooks have to offer.

System requirements for PC and Macintosh
Operating System: Windows; 98 Second Edition / Millennium Edition / NT4 with Service Pack 6 / 2000 with Service Pack 2 / XP Professional or Home Edition, XP Tablet PC Edition. Mac OS X v.10.2.2-10.3
Processor: Intel® Pentium® processor / PowerPC® G3 processor
Memory: 32MB of RAM (64MB recommended)
Hard Disk: 60MB - 70MB of available hard-disk space
Browser: Internet Explorer 5.01, 5.5, 6.0, or 6.1

System requirements for Palm OS Hand Helds
Operating System: Palm OS 3.5, 4.0, 4.1, or 5.0
Hard Disk: 600KB
Additional Software: Palm Desktop 4.0 or 4.01

If you have technical questions about the Adobe Reader software please check out the Adobe eReader homepage for answers.

To download your free copy of the Adobe eReader software please click here

About MobiPocket Reader

MobiPocket Reader offers versatility that isn't found in any other ebook Reader software. It was designed to be used on almost any PDA across many different operating systems and has now been extended so that it can also be used on Windows PCs. MobiPocket uses sub-pixel rendering technology for a clearer typeface and can use embedded images and MP3 player integration. MobiPocket Reader enables you to personalize ebooks with bookmarks, highlights, annotations, different font sizes, text alignment and colour. It uses fully justified text with hyphenation and has page by page text formatting which allows you to turn a page by touching the screen.

System requirements for PC
Operating System: Windows 95 / 98 / ME / NT4 / 2000 / XP
Hard Disk: 3.1MB
Browser: Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 with Service Pack 1 or higher

System requirements for PDA
Operating System: Palm OS 3.x, 4.x, 5.x / Pocket PC 2000, 2002, 2003 / WM 2003 / Win CE 2.x, 3.x, CE.Net / Psion Epoc32 / Casio BE-300 / Franklin eBookMan
Hard Disk: 650 - 800KB
Additional Software: Synchronisation Software such as Palm Desktop / PsiWin / eBookman Desktop Manager / ActiveSync / PC Connect

If you have technical questions about the Mobipocket software please check out the Mobipocket homepage for answers

You can download your free copy of the MobiPocket software here

About Adobe Digital Editions

Adobe Digital Editions is Adobe’s reader designed for eBooks. It has a clean, well-organized interface designed for digital reading. You can increase and decrease text size, highlight text and add comments, and use the Reading View to view bookmarks, annotations, and a table of contents. You can organize your digital publications and manage devices in the convenient Library View: sort by title, author and publisher, and view the covers of your favorite eBooks. You can also create custom bookshelves to further organize and manage your content. Digital Editions provides support for content portability on next-generation mobile devices, so you can take your eBooks with you wherever you go.

ADE uses a format based on the Open Publishing Standard with the extension .epub, and so ADE files are also known as .epub or ePub. ADE will also display your PDF files in a double-page, single page, or fit-to-width view — or you can specify your own custom fit.

The software can be downloaded free from http://www.adobe.com/products/digitaleditions/

Choose ADE format for ebooks on the iPhone.

System requirements

For Windows, Microsoft® Windows® 2000 with Service Pack 4, Windows XP with Service Pack 2, or Windows Vista® (Home Basic 32-bit and Business 64-bit editions supported). Intel® Pentium® 500MHz processor. 128MB of RAM. 800x600 monitor resolution

For the Macintosh operating system on PowerPC®, Mac OS X v10.4.10 or 10.4.5, a 500MHz PowerPC G4 or G5 processor, and 128MB of RAM.

For the Macintosh operating system on Intel®, Mac OS X v10.4.10, a 500MHz processor, and 128MB of RAM

4. How do I buy an ebook?

Buying an ebook on www.panmacmillan.com is as simple as buying a print title. Our ebooks home page is here. Choose the title you want and the ebook format you prefer and simply add it to your shopping basket. Make sure that you have already downloaded the appropriate software to read it. After you place your ebook order, a confirmation page will appear with a link to initiate the download of your ebook. Simply click the link, and the ebook will be downloaded to the reader installed on your device as well as onto your personal account page on www.panmacmillan.com

5. How can I access my ebook?

You can access any ebook that you have purchased at any time from the ‘your account’ page on panmacmillan.com once you’ve signed in with your email address and password. In addition, Microsoft Reader, Adobe eReader and MobiPocket keep a library of all of the ebooks you have downloaded. To access your library, simply click on the library button in the reading program you are using.

6. What can I do with my ebook?

You can read your ebook on your PC, laptop or portable device. You cannot print or copy any of our ebooks due to copyright restrictions. You are not entitled to distribute ebooks to anyone else.

7. Can I return an ebook?

All ebooks on panmacmillan.com are non-refundable and non-returnable.

8. Is it safe to download ebook readers and ebooks?

Yes. You will not download a computer virus or any other malicious file when you download ebooks or ebook readers at www.panmacmillan.com

If you have any further queries about ebooks which have not been dealt with here, please email webqueries@macmillan.co.uk