How To Sideload Books To Kobo Clara?

I'm a technology-savvy bookworm with a Kobo Clara e-reader, and so I often 'side load' e-books into my e-reader's store in addition to purchasing them from the Kobo store. All of the steps required to add more books to your e-reader in this way are very straightforward. First, you will need to connect your e-reader to your computer using a USB cable. Your e-reader will be recognized by your computer as a removable drive. You can then drag and drop your EPUB or PDF files into the 'Books' folder on your e-reader. Books are easily downloaded from free sources such as Project Gutenberg or from sites such as Humble Bundle. They will, however, need to be in e-book format in order to be read on your Kobo e-reader. In most cases, they will probably be, but if not then they can be converted to EPUB format using a tool such as Calibre.

As a big proponent of metadata (title, author name, etc) in eBooks, I can also tell you that book organizers like Calibre can not only convert book formats for your eBook reader but also also organize all of the eBooks you have transferred to your Kobo. This means you just drag and drop all of your organized eBooks into the ‘Books’ folder on your Kobo and then safely eject your Kobo from your computer. The Kobo will recognize the newly transferred eBooks within a minute or so and you can find them in your library. Note that it does take a little longer to organize newly transferred eBooks if you transfer a lot of them at once. Additionally, I try to keep my Kobo up to date with the latest and greatest Kobo firmware so that there are no unintended compatibility issues with the eBooks I have added to my device.

I can also upload books wirelessly via Dropbox or Google Drive. I then can use apps like 'KOReader' on my Kobo Clara to download the uploaded e-books. So USB-transfering is the easiest way for me to add books to my e-reader but having wireless uploadabilities is also a great feature. Of course one always has to be carefull not to lose all the uploaded books. I have a massive personal library of e-books on my Kobo Clara, which I have uploaded over the years – the majority of them are obscure manga or niche nonfiction books, which I have found on Humble Bundle or on websites like Project Gutenberg to name just two examples.

First connect your Kobo to your computer via USB. Your computer should recognize the device as a removable drive. Open the drive on your computer, and look for a folder named ‘Books’ or similar. This folder is your drop zone. Here you can add your EPUB as well as PDF files. After you safely unplug your Kobo, it will process the newly added books and add them to your library. Simple file transfer is what it feels like. Of course, you have to make sure that the files you transfer are not protected by DRM in another ecosystem and therefore cannot be opened on your Kobo. For later managing your collections of e-books you might need Calibre, but getting the books on your device is very easy plug-and-play.

Sideloading as social activity. My book club recently read a book for our monthly meeting and because it was not available as an e-book from the library I suggested we share the EPUB and I could add it to my Clara (along with the rest of my e-books). In the end we shared the book via DM with a link to a Wetransfer file and others added it to their own dropbox shared folder. Sideloading club books to read on my own Clara is just like lending physical books to others, but instant. Sideloading books to read allows for the social aspect of reading books and is a huge part of current reading culture. The official stores do not offer this sort of sharing and I like that Kobo books can be read on an open platform, allowing me to participate in book sharing and reading with others in the book club, while still allowing me to purchase and read books from individual bookstores. The ability to sideload books to read makes my Clara e-reader feel much more communal and flexible than simply a device for me to read individual e-books on my own.