Permanently deleting about 1,000 Indie titles...how about you?

[DrNefario]

I had exactly the same pattern with my ereader as with my ipod touch. At first I actively seek out freebies and download any old rubbish, but after a few months reach a saturation point - probably about 3-400 in both cases - when I just stop looking, and only download something if it really sounds like something I want.

There's no point hoarding anything that's permanently free. It'll still be there when you want to read it. It's those sneaky one-day specials that need a bit of consideration.

It's not just freebies. I've pretty much been the same with low-priced items all my life. It's just a bit easier with physical objects to tell when it's time to stop.

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

There's no point hoarding anything that's permanently free. It'll still be there when you want to read it. It's those sneaky one-day specials that need a bit of consideration.

I wouldn't consider a lot of them permanently free. I know there have been quite a few books in the past I've picked up that were no longer free. Some were free for a few months, then suddenly not.

Neither is the 'lendable' feature permanent. I've had more than a few of those that were lendable suddenly not be any more. I belong to a lending site and have to clear out my 'no longer lendables' every few months. Between the end of October and this last Monday I removed 170 ebooks no longer listed as lendable from my list.

So I wouldn't count on any kind of permanent situation at all.

[Katsunami]

We've got a used goods / recycle store in my neighborhood. You can bring anything you want to get rid of that's not worth much, but is too good to just throw away. Many people bring books there. The store sells them for €0.10 per 100 pages. Paperbacks therefore often just cost €0.30. Some that are damaged (tear in the cover, for example) are free.

Sometimes I'd get my books there (before I basically stopped reading Dutch translations), and could have often walked out with 100 books for (much) less than €30, assuming I'd accept a rip in a cover or a cracked spine here and there.

Never felt the need to do so. Therefore I also don't see the need to try and get every possible free eBook...

[Namekuseijin]

yes, selecting is the way forward in self-evolution

[QuantumIguana]

I'm not going to get every paper book that I could, because I don't have infinite shelf space, and I wouldn't want to lug them around. But e-books weigh nothing, and don't take up space. Books in Amazon's cloud don't even take up space, there isn't some book stored, all that is stored is a license.

[Shushan]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

I'm not going to get every paper book that I could, because I don't have infinite shelf space, and I wouldn't want to lug them around. But e-books weigh nothing, and don't take up space. Books in Amazon's cloud don't even take up space, there isn't some book stored, all that is stored is a license.

I agree. Those free Amazon titles don't take up much space, even when downloaded. I figure if I keep the option of the license available, I may find I've squirreled away one that's considered a classic one day. Okay that's not too likely, but it makes me happy, so there

I love thinking that I have so many books to choose from, that finding stories in my TBR collection that I will really enjoy is increasingly likely

Amazon free books!

[forsooth]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

I have over 2,400 titles on my account from Amazon and was thinking of permanently deleting around 1,000 or so titles.

Most of those titles are ebooks I now figure I will never read and now have no intention of ever reading them - although at the time I thought I would. I realize now here are just way too many better books and authors to read. (At the time, they were all freebies and I snatched them up like a zombie in search of brains, my acquisitional lust all-consuming.)

Permanently deleting about 1,000 will still leave me with around 1400 or so titles.

Anyone else going through this kind of situation, where you just want to make your ebook life a little easier to manage?

Don

have wonderful wife
wonderful beautiful wife
wonderful mother of children
works- good salary

collects hats and shoes and gloves and belts and scarf
never disposes
other things clothes furniture equipment- cycle in, cycle out
total amount remains relative constant
hats and shoes and gloves and belts do not cycle- grows
all neat densely organized- similar to library

throw away 1000
--never notice

I begin to say how many rooms to store
I stop.

[Asawi]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

I am going through a similar process although I have a few hundred rather than thousand freebies to sort through. Most of them are older. These days I am more thoughtful in what I select. I am a hoarder too so there is a momentary flash of anxiety before I hit that delete button. However I know I will feel much better mentally when my library is cleaner, and I can focus on the books that I really want to read. My TBR is already too long so why make it anymore overwhelming than it needs to be!

This sounds exsctly like me!

[Ravensknight]

This inspired me to go through my calibre library and get rid of all the books that I'll never read again.
Thanks!

[BelleZora]

This thread motivated me to move a few hundred books to Amazon's Trash (thanks BearMountainBooks!). The only reason to move any to Trash is to speed up loading the books when going to Manage My Kindle. Several months ago I permanently deleted dozens of books and I regretted eliminating a few later. One self-published was picked up by Thomas & Mercer, so then I wanted to read it.

Now I move books I doubt I will ever read to a Calibre Vault library (a suggestion that also came from MR). My main library is comprised of books I hope to read. When I enter a book into my Calibre library I assign a priority category. I also list the price paid in a category. It is then easy to sort and find books.

I don't expect to read all the books I've acquired. But I love having so many choices. Browsing through Calibre is like wandering through library or bookstore stacks.

[jhempel24]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

All of my purchased titles are managed on calibre and will not be deleted.

I'm basically talking about 2,000 or so freebies I've acquired from Amazon. Only a small number of those have actually been through the calibre process for 'preservation.'

Getting rid of about 1,000 titles is probably too small a number. I'm now considering permanently deleting about 1500 - 1600 freebie titles.

However, the actual process of deleting them is a daunting task, since Amazon does not allow for bulk deletions, to the best of my knowledge.




Don

Yeah I was quite disturbed to find they don't have a bulk delete option, it's a pain in the boo-tay.

But I've done this before. I don't have 1,000's of them like you.

I've noticed I've been picky lately as well

[Vic333]

Considering the irritating amount of work it takes to delete items form Amazon's cloud, and the fact that, with the glut of storage space everyone has these days, everything if found with a search anyway, I see no advantage to deleting anything from my library.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Vic333

Considering the irritating amount of work it takes to delete items form Amazon's cloud, and the fact that, with the glut of storage space everyone has these days, everything if found with a search anyway, I see no advantage to deleting anything from my library.

I view getting rid of Indie novels I now have no intention whatsoever of reading is akin to throwing away soiled underwear. After all, there comes a point where the clutter just overwhelms one's sense of both propriety and orderliness.



Don

[Canuck_in_Japan]

I almost never pick up or buy free or cheap books. My reading pace is maybe 3 books per month max so in that case I want to focus my time only on the best of the best and 90% of the time these free books are worth what you paid for them.

[Latinandgreek]

I used to pick up any free book I came across. I'm much more selective now. I don't plan on deleting any, though - I always have trouble throwing things out!