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FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Here are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions I get about my Sprinter e-books, the Sprinter RV Conversion Sourcebook and the Sprinter RV Buyer’s Guide.

I thought I was buying a hardcopy book. It’s an e-book?

As mentioned on the sales pages, these are e-books. There are plenty of advantages of these books being in e-book format:

  • Readability – These e-books are in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format, so they don’t require any special reader device, you can read them on any desktop computer, laptop or tablet. You can zoom into any of the high-resolution graphics for a better view, resize the page as necessary for best font size, whatever suits your needs.
  • Portability –  You can carry multiple books on a tiny thumb drive, CD or your iPad.
  • Environmentally friendly, and longer life – No trees are used to make paper for these books, or ink. Also, if your e-book file is destroyed, lost or corrupted, I will gladly send you a new download link.
  • Easy note-taking – You can highlight text, add paragraphs or pages of notes, and easily find and reference your notes whenever you need to – no more yellow stickies needed!
  • Instant access – You don’t need to wait (or pay!) for shipping or for back-ordered books, you receive access instantly when you purchase.
  • FREE updates sent directly to you – The best advantage of the Sprinter RV Conversion Sourcebook, in my opinion. I update the Sprinter RV Conversion Sourcebook frequently (seven times in the last five years) with entirely new chapters, expansion of existing information, and corrections as suppliers/product information became outdated. I couldn’t possibly provide these continuing FREE updates with a physical book. After you have some time to look at the Sourcebook and see how it helps you, you can also give me feedback that can help determine the direction of future updates. I want this book to be a useful purchase for you, so I need to know what has helped you the most and what’s missing, or what could be better. Judging by my return rate (less than 1%), I’m doing pretty well with getting useful content into the books, but there’s always room for improvement! If there’s enough demand for it, the material you think is missing could be added within a few months, and everyone will receive the update. Ever remember that happening with any physical book you’ve ever bought? Please note that there are no free updates when you purchase the Sprinter RV Buyer’s Guide – that is a completely different book every year.

I really want a hardcopy book. Can I pay extra for a hardcopy?

I haven’t found a reasonably-priced POD vendor yet – for the Sprinter RV Conversion Sourcebook, the cheapest I’ve found will add about US$35 to the price. Shocked? I was too – but for a small-run 378-page 8.5″ x 11″ paperback book, in color and perfect-bound, that’s just my cost of printing and shipping alone. I also frequently update the Sourcebook, and I’d like to avoid being saddled with outdated copies. I am currently trying to find a print partner who can provide the most cost-efficient solution for book runs this small: if you have any suggestions for vendors, I’m all ears.

How do I download the book?

Before you download the book, make sure you have a PDF reader program installed (like Adobe Reader). If you do not have a PDF reader program installed, on some devices (especially Mac iOS/OS X) the book link will be opened as a temporary file, then will be erased the first time you close the file.

When you complete your purchase, you will receive an e-mail from [email protected] titled “Your (Book Name) Purchase”. This e-mail will contain an e-junkie download link – click the hyperlink and it will display a page with a license agreement. At the top of the page, you will see “Click here to download the Sprinter RV Conversion Sourcebook”. Click the highlighted text, and the download of the book file (in Adobe Acrobat PDF format) will start.

I’m having problems downloading the book.

Typically, if you are having download issues, the problem is not with the order processor, the payment processor or the Amazon S3 storage servers actually serving the downloads (want to check yourself? see the current status of North American Amazon S3 and EC2 systems here, if there are problems, you can see them too) – all of these are hosted in multi-system server farms, with high-bandwidth connections to the Internet. The download speed of your Internet connection is usually the issue. Here’s some suggestions for fixing possible download problems:

  • Have you cleared the cache and/or cookies in your Web browser? Often just this simple step will resolve many download errors.
  • Are you using Internet Explorer as your Web browser? If so, try using Google Chrome or Firefox instead.
  • Are you running any toolbar-based link scanner software or anti-virus/anti-malware software on your system? If so, try temporarily disabling these programs, downloading the e-book PDF file, then scanning the PDF file for viruses before opening. If neither of those apply, see the following suggestions.
  • Too many programs running? If there are too many applications and background processes currently running, you may not have enough system resources available (meaning less CPU cycles and/or memory) for successful downloads. Try killing any unnecessary processes/applications for the moment, running the download, then restarting any needed programs.  To do so, if you are running a Windows PC, start your Task Manager, and do two things in the Windows Task Manager dialog that appears:
    1) Click the Performance tab. If your CPU usage is high (75% or over), and/or your PF (Page File) Usage is high, you may need to stop some running processes.
    2) Click the Processes tab, then the Mem Usage column. You will see a list of all the running processes sorted by their memory usage. If possible, stop some of the running processes with the highest memory usage (but make sure you don’t stop the processes you’re currently using, like your Web browser!).
  • Are you using the fastest Internet connection you have available in your home or office? Typically the fastest connection will be using a desktop computer with a hard connection to DSL/ISDN/cable modem, not (for example) a laptop connected via a wireless connection. Wireless connections can have signal issues and latency problems which limit download speeds or repeatedly break larger download streams.
  •  Are you attempting to download on a high-traffic connection or at a high-traffic time of day? For example, if someone is playing multiplayer World of Warcraft in the next room and you are competing for the same Internet connection bandwidth, you may be restricted to slow download speeds on your system.  Also, too many Internet connections in one particular area could be the cause of your slow Internet speed. If your neighbors are at home in the evening and many are downloading/uploading from the Internet, your connection speed may also be slow (depending on the Internet Service Provider (ISP) and type of Internet connection you have). Internet speed can be better late at night, since typically not as many people are using the Internet then.

Most customers take only a few minutes to download the 22 MB Sourcebook Acrobat PDF file with a good connection.

I’ve paid for the book, but I didn’t receive a download link.

If you have paid and received a PayPal confirmation, you should have received a link instantly – please check your junk mail/spam folders if you don’t see it. If you don’t see the link until after it has already expired, I am happy to send you a new download link if you need one (I am usually able to reply within one business day), just e-mail me at info(at) sprinter-rv.com.

If you use MSN/Hotmail/Outlook for your e-mail provider, you should know that these services do not follow the Internet e-mail rules (the SMTP RFCs), and they may drop the download link (and my messages about updates) without any notifications. If so, you may need to add “[email protected]” to your safe senders list, then request another link.

The download link has expired. Why does it only last for 48 hours?

The Internet these days is full of computerized “bots”, malicious programs which are looking for resources to break into. The download is set to expire so that it makes it more difficult to hack, hopefully protecting the work I put into writing these books. I am happy to send you a new download link anytime you need one (I am usually able to reply within one business day), just e-mail me at info(at) sprinter-rv.com.

How can I save the book to my iPad/Android tablet?

The Sprinter RV Conversion Sourcebook is an Adobe Acrobat (PDF) file. If you don’t already have an app on your device that can read PDF files, you’ll need to download and install one first.

  • iOS Devices (iPad/iPhone, etc.) – If you open the download link using the mail client on your iPad, often it will use an application like Preview to open it. Once open, you can save the PDF into iBooks for permanent access (you can download iBooks free from the iTunes store, if you do not already have it on your system). Also see this Nov 2012 Apple Support note – iBooks: Viewing, syncing, saving, and printing PDFs on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. If you open the download link using the mail client on your PC, the easiest way I’ve found to get the book onto your iPad is to manually add the file into iTunes (on my PC, I use Library > Add File… in iTunes), then sync all iTunes files to the iPad. Then the PDFs automatically appear in your iBooks library (assuming that you have downloaded the iBooks app).
  • Android Devices (Samsung Galaxy/tablets, etc.) – If you have an Android device or tablet, you’ll want the free Adobe Reader app for Android. After you download and install this app, you’ll be able to download and read the Sourcebook/Buyer’s Guide.

How can I save the book to my Kindle?

The Sprinter RV Conversion Sourcebook is an e-book in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format. To transfer the e-book to your Kindle, use the following steps (you can also just e-mail the e-book to your Kindle, if you’ve set up the Kindle to receive files via e-mail – check Settings > Personal Settings > Send to Kindle E-mail Address).

  • Download the file – First, use the download link to download the e-book PDF file to your computer. Take note of the location of the file (typically the downloads folder, unless you’ve specified otherwise).
  • Connect your Kindle – Connect your Kindle to your computer via a USB port. Once connected, your Kindle should appear as a device in your Windows Explorer/Finder.
  • Find Kindle documents folder – Next, find the “documents” folder on your Kindle. This will be the destination for the e-book PDF file.
  • Move the file to the Kindle – Drag and drop the PDF file from the computer into the “documents” folder on your Kindle. Now you can open and read the file.

How can I make notes in an e-book?

You can easily mark up a copy of the e-book with your comments. Here’s how:

  • The Sprinter RV Conversion Sourcebook is an Adobe Acrobat (PDF) file. After you download it, create a copy of the original PDF file.
  • Open the copy with the free Adobe Reader. When you’re on the page you want to mark up, you can either a) use the Text Highlighter tool to highlight sentences or b) use the Sticky Notes tool to insert a note in the text or on an image. The note can be clicked on in the saved file to display its full text.

Using this method of marking up the PDF copy with your comments, you can easily save a copy of your notes for your reference, or in case your recipient loses their version, and without marking up your original file.


I think you’re missing some important information.

This isn’t actually a frequently-asked question, but I threw it in anyway. If I’m missing some details you really want to see, let me know! Fill out my  Sprinter RV Conversion Sourcebook Survey. I am always hoping to get detailed feedback on the best parts of the books, and what readers feel is missing. That way, I can improve the books in the ways people actually want the most, not just my opinion of what’s missing. Judging by my return rate (less than 1%), I’m doing pretty well with getting useful content into the books, but there’s always room for improvement!