Ebook Buying Addicts' Support Thread

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Joykins

Julia London's Cedar Spring series. Something straddling the fence(s) between romance, chick lit, and women's fiction.

I will survive. I have a lot of science fiction queued up from Baen

Man up and read something with balls.

[anamardoll]

I can think of a lot of good coping strategies.....

1. Organize your Calibre libary. Fix the tags. I like to tag things to know (1) genre, (2) source store (and whether or not it was free), and (3) whether I've read the book or not. Trim out free books that you snapped up at the time but are now certain you'll never read (like the Text Vooks ). View the library through the Cover Carousel -- it's surprising how those covers will catch your eye in a way that the titles on the eReader don't.

2. Make a "soft" rule. Hard rules like "no buying eBooks" are hard to stick to and just encourage cheating. Tell yourself that you can spend $5 on eBooks a week (or whatever number). When you see an eBook you want, put it in a "wishlist" -- the Amazon wishlist, or GoodReads, or an Excel sheet you keep handy. Plan ahead: do you want that $5 mainstream release or five $.99 indie books? A weekly limit will also let you use the coupons to the best of your ability.

3. Pound the pavement for the books you know you want to read but aren't sure you want to own. Are you a member of the Free Library of Philadelphia? Start hitting their search engine to cross-reference your current wishlist against their offerings. How many books have you "bought" that you ended up not wanting to read again. Does your local library not have a lot of selection? Consider contacting them about purchasing the eBook FOR them (via donation) so that you can still read the book, but you aren't stuck with it forever. Remember: Charity is generally tax deductible.

4. Don't buy impulsively. A crap $.99 book is still crap. Check the Amazon reviews and the GoodReads reviews. Every penny you save for your weekly goal is a penny that goes towards better books.

5. Do check out the free stuff that isn't in eBook form. Read 8 Bit Theater or The Order of the Stick -- hilarious gaming themed web comics. The Elfquest archives are all available on the Elfquest website for free. Read Fred Clark's incredible Left Behind series on Slacktivist. Etc. There's a LOT of good free stuff out there worth reading that you won't find on the Inkmesh search engine.

6. If you DO buy an ebook, don't feel guilty. Seriously. God doesn't kill a kitten every time you buy, and turning the experience into a fetishized guilty pleasure is just going to exacerbate the problem. Can you absorb the cost of the unexpected book into your weekly budget? Can you justify the purchase by not eating out this week or not buying a soda at work? If so, great; if not, meh. Move on with life.

But come back here to chat with us about how you fell off the wagon, because it's a blast.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Hard rules like "no buying eBooks" are hard to stick to and just encourage cheating.

I certainly don't encourage a "never buy another eBook" rule.

But I think a "don't buy another eBook before [some date]" is a useful discipline. Postponing a purchase for a few weeks won't do any harm.

But I do think you said some very sensible things there. Thanks.

[Poppaea]

My strategie is very simple. As I said I bought under 40 books since I got my first reader at the beginning of last August. That is ten month from now = 4 books per month.

I have a prepaid Visa card that I use for internet purchases. I just fill it up with my monthly playmoney and spend it on books, DVDs, girlie knick-knack, icecream or stuff like that. As I have been ill/out of job since Christmas, money is not flowing in like it did and this strategy works very well.

In those 10 month I build an e-library with nearly 1,200 books. All freebies, most classics (I was extremly greedy in the beginning and still am most of the time).

So get yourself a playcard and put your pocket money on it.

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

I recommend a calibre library overhaul for anyone who has trouble holding onto the idea that they have too many ebooks. Organizing them all (in my case, again) really gives you an accurate picture of the size of the monster you've created. Plus, you'll be reminded of all those great books that seemed so interesting but got lost in the TBR pile months ago.

I'm afraid it doesn't work for me. My access file (quite older than calibre, so no switch now) is almost up to date, so...

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by Poppaea

I have a prepaid Visa card that I use for internet purchases. I just fill it up with my monthly playmoney and spend it on books, DVDs, girlie knick-knack, icecream or stuff like that.

That's a nice idea! ...

[Joykins]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Man up and read something with balls.

Dude I AM a girl. I'm afraid balls will make my chest hairy, my voice deep, and I might grow a mustache.

[jersysman]

Originally Posted by Joykins

Dude I AM a girl. I'm afraid balls will make my chest hairy, my voice deep, and I might grow a mustache.

That made my night!

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by Joykins

Dude I AM a girl. I'm afraid balls will make my chest hairy, my voice deep, and I might grow a mustache.

[amward]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

I can think of a lot of good coping strategies.....


6. If you DO buy an ebook, don't feel guilty. Seriously. God doesn't kill a kitten every time you buy,

Well there goes another excuse to keep buying

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Joykins

Dude I AM a girl. I'm afraid balls will make my chest hairy, my voice deep, and I might grow a mustache.

Well, you'd be too busy trying to get back to being a girl to buy eBooks.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by amward

Well there goes another excuse to keep buying

If God killed cute kitten photos with silly sayings every time we bought an eBooks, we'd be bankrupt.

[wyndslash]

gah, the bookstore ran out of gc they prevent me from buying pbooks xP

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by wyndslash

gah, the bookstore ran out of gc they prevent me from buying pbooks xP

gc???

[Loosheesh]

Originally Posted by wyndslash

i registered at the singapore library but my access is restricted

Is this the link you're using to log into the library? If I remember correctly their eResources can only be accessed while physically at the library. The link I provided takes you to their Overdrive library.

(Important note: Posting here should in no way imply that I'm an ebook-buying addict or a book hoarder or have any other obsessive tendencies when it comes to books **shakes head in strong denial**)