FAQ: Table of Contents

Overview

All Subscriptions

E-Mail Subscriptions

RSS Subscriptions

Paid Subscriptions (E-mail and RSS)

Forums

Other

FAQ: Answers

Overview

Why read books by email?
Because if you are like us, you spend hours each day reading email but don't find the time to read books. DailyLit brings books right into your inbox in convenient small messages that take less than 5 minutes to read. This works incredibly well not just on your computer but also on a Treo, Blackberry, Sidekick or whatever the PDA of your choice. In the words of Dr. Seuss: Try it, you might like it! (Oops -- it would appear that the actual quote from Green Eggs and Ham is "You do not like them. So you say. Try them! Try them! And you may.")
How long does it take to read a book?
That depends on three factors. First, on how many installments are in the book (shown when you browse for books). Second, on how frequently you choose to receive emails. Third, on how often you read more than one installment (by using the "send me the next installment immediately" feature). So here is a typical example. I am currently reading Dracula, which has 187 installments and I am receiving installments on weekdays, i.e. 5 days/week. So at most it will take me 187/5 = 37 weeks. But when I am on the train or waiting, I often read more than one installment, so I usually wind up reading about 10 installments/week. This means I will finish Dracula in about 19 weeks or 5 months. If that seems long to you, try something shorter!
Sounds great, how do I get started?
All you need to do is pick a book (browse the collection or use the search box), select how often and when you want to receive messages, and provide your email address. Click on the big Subscribe button. DailyLit does the rest.
Should I register?
If you just want to read a book, there is no need to register. If you want to participate in our forums then you need to register. Registration is easy and also allows for better management of your subscriptions. NEW: An added benefit of registration is that we will remember your credit card billing address so you only need to enter it once.
How much does it cost?
Public domain books on DailyLit are free in their entirety. Most copyrighted books require payment after some number of free sample installments (some copyrighted books are free). The price for a book is displayed clearly on the book detail page. We encourage you to try out paid books -- you only pay if you like the free sample installments and want to continue reading.

All Subscriptions

How do I change the frequency or time for my subscription?
Same place that you can resend and view installments. Just click on a "manage your subscriptions" link from a previous email and then on "More ..." -- scroll down a bit (on a small screen) to see the send frequency and time options which can both be changed here. If you click on the "Advanced" link you can further customize the delivery schedule by selecting any combination of week days.
How do I suspend/resume delivery?
Every installment email to you contains a link that lets you suspend delivery of that subscription. Just click on it. To resume a subscription, click on the "manage all your subscriptions" link from any previous email. You are brought to a web page where you can resume the subscription(s). If you deleted all your past emails, just resubscribe with the same email address and for the same book. You will receive an email that includes the "manage" link.

Email Subscriptions

I signed up but did not get a validation email. What should I do?
In today's world of spam, getting emails delivered is hard as there are many places where they might get trapped. First check your spam folder(s) to make sure that it didn't get caught there. Look for an email from books [at] dailylit [dot] com. If it's not there, try subscribing one more time. If you have a different email address you can use, try that. If all of this fails, please email support [at] dailylit [dot] com.
Why are some of my installments missing?
Because they are being blocked by your ISP, company or email provider. There are a lot of aggressive spam filters out there that block messages even before they get to you (hence they don't even show up in your spam or junk folder). If you do receive some installments and not others and cannot even resend the missing installments, then you either have to have your system administrator whitelist books [at] dailylit [dot] com or you need to use a different email account. If you are only missing installments occasionally, then you might choose to view installments online.
Can I resend a past installment?
Yes. Click on a "manage your subscriptions" link from a previous email (or bookmark it). For the subscription in question click on "More..." and you can resend any previous installment. If you are resending because the earlier email did not arrive and resending also does not work then it means that these emails are being blocked by an aggressive spam filter at your company or email provider before they ever get to you. You can try have your system administrator whitelist books [at] dailylit [dot] com or subscribe using a different email account. Alternatively, you can now view the missing installments online.
Some installments just don't come through. Is it possible to view them online?
Online viewing is now available for installments that should have been received. As for resending, just click on a "manage your subscriptions" link from a previous email and then on "More ..." -- right next to the resend options you will find the option to view the installment online.
Why do some paragraphs have extra line breaks in them?
We thought we were being clever by creating really long paragraphs that would flow properly independent of the size of your email window. This should make reading easier and it does. Except for some recipients it resulted in paragraphs being cut off at exactly 1,000 characters with the rest of the paragraph thrown away. While this only affected some recipients, we nonetheless decided to insert additional line breaks so that no paragraph now runs more than 1,000 characters.
Why do some words have nonsense characters in them?
These are accented characters. We send such emails in the Unicode "UTF-8" character set. Most email applications have no problem working with this, but there are exceptions (such as Yahoo! Mail "Classic"). When you find such a case, follow the "manage" link the bottom of an installment email, then follow the "more" link for the subscription. Then, for "Installment Text", pick the "Windows" radio button instead of "Unicode".
Can I receive longer emails?
Click on a "manage your subscriptions" link from a previous email (or log in if you are registered). Under "More" if you click on "Advanced" you can choose the length of your emails. Currently three settings are available: normal (1 installment per email), longer (2 installments per email) and longest (4 installments per email).
How do I change my email address?
If you are a registered user, just log in which takes you to your home page. On the home page is a link for changing your email. If you are not registered, click on the "Manage your subscriptions" link in any of your emails. Under the list of your subscriptions there is a link for changing your email.

RSS Subscriptions

What is RSS?
RSS is a format for publishing frequently updated content such as blogs or news (or books read in installments). With RSS, your computer periodically checks for new content and displays it as it becomes available.
Why subscribe via RSS?
There are a few different reasons why you might want to subscribe via RSS. Unlike email, RSS is not blocked by spam filters so you might try RSS if you are having difficulty receiving emails from DailyLit (RSS might, however, be blocked by web filters at work). Another reason to use RSS would be if you do not want to give out your email address despite our strict Privacy Policy. Finally, you may already be using RSS to read blogs and news, making a DailyLit RSS subscription the perfect complement. Our RSS subscriptions give you the same ability to suspend/resume delivery, change the frequency of delivery or request immediate delivery of the next installment as our email subscriptions.
Should I provide an email address if I subscribe via RSS?
If you subscribe via RSS an email address is optional. Our RSS feeds are individualized to allow for different reading speeds, delivery times, etc. This means that each reader has their own RSS feed with a unique web address (URL). If you lose the URL for your feed and have given us an email address, we can send it back to you. Otherwise you will have to start over. Also, if you have more than one subscription and you provide the same e-mail address for each, then you can manage all your subscriptions conveniently on a single page.
How do I subscribe via RSS?
To subscribe via RSS you either need a web browser that supports it (e.g. Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer 7), an RSS reader application or plug-in (e.g. FeedDemon (Windows), NetNewsWire (Mac), Attensa (Outlook Plug-in)) or use web based RSS aggregator (e.g. My Yahoo, Google Reader, Bloglines). All you need to do on DailyLit is select RSS instead of email in the subscribe box. When you then click on the Subscribe button, DailyLit will create a customized feed for you and display the URL. You copy that URL into your RSS reader or aggregator. If you are using a browser that supports RSS, DailyLit will also display a link that you can simply click on.
I lost the URL for my RSS feed, how do I get it back?
If you provided your email address when you subscribed, all you need to do is subscribe to the same or any other book (providing the same email address). DailyLit will send you an email with a link that lets you recover the URL for your feed. If you did not provide an email address with your initial RSS subscription, your only option is to start over.
In my RSS reader, requesting the next installment does not work immediately. Why?
Many web-based RSS readers, including google reader, request feeds from us only once every hour. When you click the "refresh" button it only checks for a new version of the feed on their servers (not ours). If you want to be able to add new installments immediately use a feed reader application instead, such as FeedDemon (Windows) or NetNewsWire (Mac).
Can I receive longer RSS updates?
Click on a "manage your subscriptions" link from a previous installment (or log in if you are registered). Under "More" if you click on "Advanced" you can choose the length of your feed updates. Currently three settings are available: normal (1 installment per update), longer (2 installments per update) and longest (4 installments per update).

Paid Subscriptions (E-mail and RSS)

Which forms of payment do you accept?
We currently accept Visa, MasterCard and American Express. We will soon be offering PayPal.
Can I get a refund?
Sorry, but we operate under a no refund policy. Since we deliver electronic installments to your inbox or RSS reader, there is nothing you could return to us, and partial refunds based on the amount read are too costly for us to administer. Most paid books provide for free sample installments so that you can see whether you like the book and the experience of reading via DailyLit before paying (there are also free books to try).
Am I allowed to share my paid subscription?
You are only allowed to share the free sample installments. No other sharing is permitted. We are offering subscriptions at prices which reflect that you do not receive a physical book that you could loan or give away.

Forums

How do the forums work?
There is a forum for each book, each author and each category. In addition there are five "other" forums: ideas for how to improve DailyLit, bug reporting, help questions and tips, book requests and the Etc. forum for topics that don't fit anywhere else. So where should you post? Let's say you want to discuss whether Shakespeare really wrote his plays, then you would start a topic in the author forum for Shakespeare (you can find it on the page for Shakespeare). On the other hand if you are confused about what it means for "Burnam woods [to] come against Dunsinane" you could ask a question in the Macbeth forum (which you can find on the page for Macbeth).
What is an avatar and how do I get myself one?
An avatar is simply a little image which represents you in the forums (the word comes from Hindu philosophy where it means the earthly incarnation of a higher being). We show square images with 80x80 pixels, so you should upload a square image or it will look distorted. We limit the file size to 20KB for speed. You can get an avatar by using photo editing software. Alternatively, use the mypictr online service (upload image, ignore the "network" choice, set size to 80x80 and click the button).

Other

What about copyright?
Glad you asked. We started out with all public domain titles, then added books that are available under Creative Commons licenses. We have just started to release copyrighted books for which all rights are reserved. For copyrighted books we include a notice on the book detail page as well as at the beginning of every email. If you nonetheless believe there is a copyright issue, please refer to our User Agreement for a notification procedure.
How do I keep track of new books that are available?
When you browse by category you can select "Release Date" as the sort order from the drop-down menu. This lists the most recently added books first. If you know how to use RSS you can subscribe to a category (you will find one feed for each category). That way you will automatically see any books that have been added to that category.
How do I remove my email address?
If you really never want to hear from us again (how sad!) click on the "manage all your subscriptions" link in any email. At the bottom of your list of subscriptions is a link for removing your email address. Please be aware that this will terminate all your subscriptions and they cannot be resumed. If you are a registered user, simply log in and the option to remove your account is available from your home page.
How do I add a book roll to my blog?
If you have a blog you can show others what you are reading on DailyLit. First you need to register. Then once you are logged in click on "Home" and under the Manage heading you will see a link to Add a book roll to your blog. On that page you can pick a few options and then all you have to do is copy the code and paste it into your blog template.
How can I report errors?
We would love it if you let us know about any errors that you find. By errors we mean anything from the site or service not working to misspellings or installments that are too long or too short. You can just email us at support [at] dailylit [dot] com. Ideally you include as much information as possible so that we can quickly correct the problem.

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