Shopping Frequently Asked Questions

How to Find Books

We offer many ways for you to find the books you want to read. If you know what you're looking for, try our quick search, located in the top right corner of every page on our site. Our powerful advanced search allows you to search by title, author, ISBN, or key word. Partial word searches are supported.

Your search results will be sorted with items most relevant to your search term at the top of the page. You can change the order of the items in your results with the menu to the top right of the item list. You can sort results in the order of publication date (most recent first), alphabetically by author, alphabetically by title, or by volume order (for series of books).

If you're not sure what you're looking for but know you want to find that perfect book, we suggest using our Books > By Genre browse, which offers groupings of titles in dozens of subject areas.

How to Order Books

You can purchase any book on this website simply by clicking on the "add to cart" link. The book will be added to your online shopping cart. You have the option at that time to check out or continue shopping for more books. You may leave the item(s) in your cart for 90 days, leaving from and returning to our site as many times you wish.

When you are ready to check out, simply click on the "View Cart" link that is at the top right of every page on the site. This will take you to your cart. From there, choose "Check Out." From this point on you will be using a secure connection to our servers and all information you enter will be protected by encryption (see more about Safe Shopping).

Once you have completed the checkout process and reviewed and submitted your order, you will receive an email from Penguin notifying you that we have received your order. After that you will receive email messages only if the status of your order changes (for example, you will receive an email when your order has been shipped).

For questions regarding our shipping and handling charges and normal delivery times, please refer to our Shipping Information page. Please note that we do not accept orders via email.

You can also purchase our books at your local bookstore. The Canadian Booksellers Association can help you find a retailer near you. Our books are also available for purchase with online retailers including Amazon.ca, Chapters.ca, and many others.

How to Order Internationally

Penguin Group (Canada) offers books for sale to residents of Canada. The Penguin Group has many locations around the world. Here we offer links to the websites of those companies:

How to Return Books

Penguin Group (Canada)'s Return Policy

Items may be returned for a full refund (excluding shipping costs) within 30 days of the shipment date under the following conditions:

  • Any book in its original condition (unmarked, not damaged)
  • Any unopened bundled product (still in its plastic shrinkwrap)
  • Any unopened multimedia product, including software in the form of floppy discs, CD-ROMs, video and audio tapes, and CDs. Damaged multimedia product can be exchanged only.

The product must be shipped via traceable means with the original packing slip or invoice enclosed. Please write "Online Return" on the outside of the package. We cannot issue refunds and will return product for items returned to us more than 30 days after the shipment date. If the invoice or packing slip is not enclosed with your return, we will have no obligation to refund or return the product.

Please refer to the return address on your packing slip to determine where to return your purchase.

Please note that the return procedure above applies only to those items purchased from the Penguin Group (Canada) website. It does not apply to books bought at your local bookseller or at another online bookseller or retail store.

About Out-of-Stock Items

From time to time our inventory of a given book runs out. We take every measure to restock books as quickly as possible. As a service to visitors to our website, we offer out-of-stock books for sale. If you order an out-of-stock book, we will ship the book to you when it is restocked. If, however, the book does not come back in stock within 60 days, we will inform you of this fact and cancel your order. You are never charged for orders placed on our website until the books in your order have shipped.

How Penguin Uses Cookies

Penguin Group (Canada) websites employ cookies in their shopping carts. The cookies employed ensure that items you place in your shopping cart during a visit to one of our websites will be retained in the cart when you return to the site using the same computer. The cookies do not recognize any personal information about individual visitors to the site. The cookies expire after 90 days.

Penguin Group (Canada) eBook FAQ

 

What eBook formats are available for purchase through Penguin Group (Canada)?

Penguin Group (Canada) titles are available in the following formats on our website's eBook page:

  • Adobe Reader—Format compatible on personal computers (PC and Macintosh), most mobile devices, and the Sony Reader Digital Book.
  • ePub—Format can be read by Adobe Digital Editions, Lexcycle Stanza, BookGlutton, Sony Reader Digital Book (model PRS700 and above), and the Mozilla Firefox plugin OpenBerg Lector.
  • eReader (also known as Palm Reader)—Available for PalmOS, iPhone, Symbian, Windows Mobile Pocket PC/Smartphone, Macintosh computers, and computers running Windows.
  • Microsoft Reader—Computers and devices running Microsoft Windows, including Pocket PC.
  • Mobi—Supported by many PDAs, communicators, and Smartphones. Compatible with most Windows, Symbian, BlackBerry and Palm operating systems.

Please note that eBooks are often not available in each format listed above, so be sure to check the format you're purchasing before proceeding to the check-out. If you are unsure of which format to use, please refer to your device's operating manual for recommendations.

 

I'm new to eBooks.  How do I read them?

Before downloading your first eBook, you must acquire, install, and register the appropriate eBook reader software on the computer to which you are downloading the eBook.

MS Reader 2.0 is available for free as an upgrade to MS Reader 1.0, or as a new installation. To download click here: http://www.microsoft.com/reader/downloads/default.mspx

Adobe has released its newest eBook and PDF viewer. To download the newest version of the Adobe Reader, click here: http://www.adobe.com/products/digitaleditions

eReader is an application used to read eReader (formerly Palm) eBooks on your iPhone, iPod Touch, Palm OS, Pocket PC, Symbian Smartphone, Windows, or Mac. There is no charge to download and use eReader. To download click here: http://www.ereader.com/ereader/software/browse.htm

 

How are eBooks protected from free distribution?

Depending on the type of eBook software, the eBook file is either encrypted to a specific computer or device (meaning it can only be read on that computer or device) or it is encrypted to a specific user's account (meaning it can be read on any device or computer which contains that user's secret account information).

If an eBook has been protected for only one person to read, then consumers download the file to their computer and must read the eBook on that computer (or on other devices containing their secret account information). Copies of the eBook can only be read on authorized computers or by authorized users.

 

How do I transfer my eBook(s) to my handheld device?

Most eBooks are transferred to PDAs and handheld computers by "synchronizing" them with your computer. If you are not familiar with synchronizing your PDA or handheld computer, you should consult the instructions for your specific device. Before you can transfer an eBook to your handheld computer/PDA, you must first download the eBook to your desktop or laptop computer.

 

Is there a maximum number of times that I am permitted to download my eBook to different devices?

You may download your eBook to a maximum of five devices. After your eBook has been successfully downloaded 5 times, no further downloads will be permitted.

 

How do I transfer my eBook from my old computer to my new computer?

You’ll want to obtain technical assistance from your software provider to determine your options.  However, in general, encrypted eBook files are most often limited to a specific computer or device (meaning they can only be read on that computer or device), or are encrypted to a specific user's account (meaning they can be read on any device or computer which contains that user's secret account information). 

 

How can I avoid the delays that sometimes occur while attempting to download an eBook?
Download time depends on the speed of your internet connection and the size of the eBook file.  The file size may be displayed in the book description.  eBooks which are graphics-intensive or which have several hundred pages may take several minutes to download.  To expedite the download process, first close all other applications on your computer.

 

I have Adobe/Acrobat Reader Version 8, and I’ve noticed that I am unable to open certain eBooks.  Is there a problem with my software?

Consumers using Adobe/Acrobat Reader Version 8 or earlier may not be able to open certain eBooks and should attempt to download and install the latest version of Digital Editions, which provides the eBook capabilities integrated with previous versions of Acrobat and Reader.  http://www.adobe.com/products/digitaleditions

 

Are eBooks returnable?

No, they are not.  Once an eBook has been downloaded, it cannot be returned and it is not eligible for refund.  Therefore, please make sure you can read your eBook selection in the chosen format before downloading.

We do, however, recognize that technical problems can sometimes prevent consumers from being able to successfully download their eBook purchase. If you have installed the proper software, have followed the downloading instructions supplied at the time of purchase, and are still unable to retrieve to your eBook purchase, please e-mail us at online@ca.penguingroup.com.

 

Is it possible to print my eBook?

No, Penguin Group (Canada) eBooks are not printable material.  Because of the ease of distribution inherent in eBooks, it is important that we protect the rights of our authors and respect the integrity of their content.  For those reasons, we have DRM (Digital Rights Management) enabled on all of the eBooks that we sell. 

 

I have attempted to download my eBook and it does not seem to be working.  Is it possible to have a replacement link e-mailed to me?

If you have a problem with an eBook ordered on the Penguin Group (Canada) website, please e-mail our eBook Support team at online@ca.penguingroup.com.

 

I haven’t received my Smart Receipt. How do I know it was sent?

Your Smart Receipt is sent via email and can be potentially blocked by your email spam filters. To ensure the delivery of all future messages add online@ca.penguingroup.com to your address book or safe-sender list.

 

Why are certain books not yet available in eBook format?

Penguin Group (Canada) is currently involved in the massive effort of converting as many new and back list titles to eBook format as we can; however, there are many challenges inherent in the process of setting up the eBook business.  We do hope to provide our customers with every title that they wish to see in electronic format; however, we are not able to specify when each and every one of them will be made available. Should you care to check in periodically, eBook titles are posted on our website as they become available.

 

Open an Account with Penguin Group (Canada)

If you would like to establish an account with Penguin Group (Canada) in order to purchase books for resale, contact our Inside Sales Department at bulksales_specialmarkets@ca.penguingroup.com,
They will be happy to provide information about new and backlist titles, current special offers, Co-op Advertising and discounts.

 

Rights & Permissions

To check on the availability of rights for a particular title and use and to find information on where to go for rights not handled by the Penguin Group (Canada) Rights & Permissions Department, please contact our Rights Department at permissions@ca.penguingroup.com.