How do you download a book to the iPad that isn't in the store

You will need an ereader app to read the book. There are many to choose from in the iTunes App Store. Then you would need to add the book to the app using the iTunes app on your computer. Go to the iPad under Devices, then over to the Apps tab. At the bottom of the tab you can Add the ebook to the ereader app under File Sharing.

There is not a way to add ebooks to iBooks without getting them through the iBookstore. But you can add books to the Kindle app, the Kobo app, as well as, the Swiss army Knife of the iPad, GoodReader. After these are on your iPad you can add book files to them with the iTunes app on your computer.

I use all of them, Kobo and Kindle with books that I bought through their stores. I also use GoodReader because it can read almost any file. It will even open a file in another app if you want it to.

Elizabeth, my experience. I have Google Books and other PDF material on my iBooks shelf. First I installed the Google Books Downloader application. Then I used GBD to download free GB books, dragged them into the Books section in iTunes and synced them into the iPad. Nice.

I beg to differ. I have downloaded several epub files and they are in iBooks right now. I downloaded them from a legal site, and opened them in iBooks and they are now sitting in my iBooks shelf.

You do not need to get all uppity and beg anything. Just say that you have a different experience and we can all learn from it. 🙂