In September 2000, a tiny team in Perth, Australia, launched something quite unusual: an online bookstore that sold books you couldn’t hold in your hands. These weren’t paperbacks or hardcovers shipped in cardboard boxes. They were digital files, “ebooks”, to be downloaded over the internet.
Back then, most people used dial-up modems, most publishers were sceptical of digital formats, and very few readers had ever even heard the word “ebook.” But the idea was simple: make books instantly available to readers everywhere, without the cost or delay of printing and shipping.
Twenty-five years later, eBooks.com has grown into a global business, with more than 2.7 million titles across every subject and genre. We’ve served millions of readers in over 150 countries. And today, digital reading is mainstream — on phones, tablets, laptops, and dedicated devices.
This month, as we celebrate our 25th anniversary, we’re taking a moment to look back at the journey, the milestones, and what lies ahead.
The Early Days
When eBooks.com launched, ebooks were barely on the map. A handful of titles were available from pioneering publishers. The software to read them was clunky. And the idea of paying real money for something you couldn’t hold was, for many, unthinkable.
But we believed ebooks would change the way the world reads. The first version of our website offered just a few thousand titles, mainly academic and specialist works. Every new publisher who joined was a breakthrough. Every reader who made a purchase was an early adopter, taking a leap of faith in a new medium.
Looking back, those first years were all about building credibility and infrastructure: convincing publishers to digitise their lists, setting up secure payment systems, and working out how to deliver files reliably to readers on slow connections. It was a very different internet.
Surviving and Thriving
The early 2000s were not an easy time for online startups. Many of our peers from the dot-com era came and went. But eBooks.com kept going, step by step, year after year. What kept us alive and growing wasn’t size or scale — it was persistence, partnerships and a commitment to our readers, authors and publishers.
Some key milestones along the way:
1998: Signed our first ebook licence agreements (with Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press).
2000: Launched eBooks.com, selling ebooks into every country in the world.
2001: Partnered with Adobe, to support the Adobe PDF format, establishing an early standard for secure ebook distribution.
2002: Became a leading retailer for ebooks in the Microsoft Reader format (.LIT), expanding format compatibility for early adopters.
2002: Launched support for MobiPocket format.
2002: Patented “Non-Linear Lending” which formed the basis of a revolutionary institutional ebook sales model.
2003: Launched EBL, our academic library service, in partnership with CERN in Geneva. EBL grew into the biggest institutional ebook provider in the world.
2004: Crossed the 100,000-title mark.
2004: Began offering ebooks compatible with Palm OS devices, making reading on the go more accessible.
2006: Launched the world’s first secure, browser-based online reader.
2007: The launch of the iPhone opened a new era for reading on mobile devices.
2008: Launched our iOS Ebook Reader app.
2009: Amazon’s Kindle exploded in popularity, transforming consumer expectations for ebooks.
2010: Launched Ebook Services platform, a suite of marketing tools for publishers.
2011: Served our first customer in the International Space Station.
2012: Our catalogue passed one million titles.
2018: Launched Publisher Hub, enabling publishers to deliver.
2020: Launched Ebooks Course Management platform in partnership with Stanford Business School.
2020: Partnered with Hachette to provide masses of free ebooks to UK health workers during the COVID pandemic.
2020: Partnered with GitHub to produce Tech Tree, a world-first digital preservation project above the Arctic Circle.
2021: Partnered with Better World Books to provide a multi-million title catalogue of ebook titles.
2022: Partnered with Lenovo to provide our catalog of titles on their e-ink tablets.
2023: Partnered with TCL to provide our catalog of titles for their tablet devices.
2023: Launched our Business & Enterprise Solutions platform.
2024: Partnered with Kogan Page to build their advanced Kogan Page+ institutional sales platform.
2025: Launching our new breed of mobile apps and online reader, plus support for Thorium Reader.
How Reading Has Changed
When eBooks.com began, most customers read on desktop computers. Files were downloaded and stored locally. If you lost your hard drive, you lost your books.
Today, reading is cloud-based, mobile, and multi-device. A book you buy once can follow you across phone, tablet, laptop, or desktop, in apps or a browser. Fonts are adjustable, pages can be read aloud, and accessibility features mean more people can enjoy ebooks than ever before.
We’ve also seen digital reading expand far beyond consumer fiction. Students and researchers now rely on ebooks for instant access to academic texts. Professionals use them for continuing education. Libraries and institutions license them for thousands of readers at a time.
The future we saw in 2000 — instant, global access to knowledge — has become reality.
Innovation Along the Way
Technology has always been at the heart of eBooks.com. Our independence has given us freedom to experiment, adapt, and respond to readers in ways larger platforms sometimes can’t. Over the years, we’ve built and rebuilt our systems many times to keep pace with change.
- Apps & Online Reader: From early download models to today’s sleek browser-based reader and mobile apps.
- Digital Rights Management: Navigating the tricky world of copyright protection, ensuring publishers feel secure while readers get flexibility.
- Accessibility: Implementing features like read-aloud, orientation lock, page-lists, and screen-reader support to meet the needs of all readers.
- Analytics & AI: Exploring new ways to recommend books, improve discovery, and make the reading experience smarter.
Looking Ahead
The next 25 years will be about making ebooks better: more accessible, more engaging, and more useful. Our mission remains the same as it was in 2000: to connect readers everywhere with the books they want, instantly.
We’ve just launched our new, gorgeous online (browser-based) ebook reader, and in the coming months, we’ll be rolling out:
- New mobile apps for iOS and Android, with modern design and features tailored to today’s readers.
- Thorium Reader integration, bringing powerful desktop reading capabilities for those who prefer offline access.
- Enhanced accessibility to meet the highest global standards, ensuring ebooks work for everyone.
- Smarter discovery tools, helping readers find the right book at the right time through AI-driven recommendations.
A Word of Thanks
eBooks.com would not exist without the trust of our partners and customers.
To our publishers, thank you for believing in digital reading, for trusting us with your content, and for working with us through decades of change.
And thank you to our readers, for every purchase, every download, every moment you’ve chosen to spend with us. Your support has made us the world’s longest-running independent ebook store.
Most importantly, to our second family, the eBc team, past and present: we are forever grateful to you. Your creativity, persistence, and care built something that has made a positive difference to the lives of our readers everywhere.
We look forward to the next chapter in the story of ebooks, and the role we’ll continue to play. Here’s to another 25 years of reading without borders!
Join the Celebration
We’d love to hear from you: When did you buy your first ebook? What was it? How has digital reading changed your life? Share your story with us in the comments or on social media.
Together, we’ve made ebooks part of everyday life. And together, we’ll keep shaping the future of reading.
eBooks.com: Est 2000. Fiercely independent.
