(Reprinted from my personal blog. Original post date: May 6, 2015. Updated.)

So you have a new mobile device, and want to download eBooks from a wide variety of sources. Patricia Lynne made a good point about this:

I find it hard to link to [Smashwords] too when on Amazon people can click and have it upload to their device automatically. If Smashwords could do something like that, then I’d be more willing to try to promote my titles on there.

For eInk readers, that barrier is hard to hurdle. But if you use a tablet or a tablet-based eReader (or a smartphone for that matter), you can already do this. Below are instructions for iOS, Android, and Kindle Fire. If you need an example book, I’ll be glad to provide a link. ;-)

While the instructions are for Smashwords, you can use the same process for Project Gutenberg or Manybooks.

Getting started

If you don’t have an account on Smashwords, set one up. Then, point your tablet’s browser to my books the book you want to download. After you click the Buy link, you should see a strip of download link buttons underneath the book description. It looks something like this:

Smashwords download buttons

Select MOBI format for Kindle Fire (or Kindle apps) and EPUB format for everything else.

eBooks aren’t very big, and download quickly even on DSL. What happens next depends on what kind of device you have.

iOS (iPad, iPhone)

Once the book finishes downloading, Apple makes this pretty straightforward:

iOS open EPUB

If you have other EPUB-capable eReader apps installed on your device (Nook, Kobo, etc) you can tap More… to use one of those apps instead of iBooks.

Android

If you have a phone or general tablet, you’ll need to install an eReader app. I used a Nook HD+, which obviously has one included…

After downloading to a Nook HD+, the eBook opened in the reader app right away. On other Android devices, you might have to navigate to the Downloads folder and open the eBook there. If a more Android-savvy reader would like to fill me in, I’ll update this.

Kindle Fire

After downloading, the book appears in your carousel, possibly without a cover.

Thoughts?

Do you have a different tablet? Or do you know of a better way? Sound off in the comments.