Ebook Buying Addicts' Support Thread

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Timoleon

Hello, my name is Tim. I've been told that confession is good for my soul. I now have 718 unread Amazon books on my Kindle. My last purchase was two days ago. I need help.

Welcome to the thread, Tim.

Things I've found helpful:

* Use your Amazon wishlist
* Remember that there will be a sale or special offer before you'd get around to reading a new purchase
* If the urge to buy an ebook comes on you, talk about it in this thread.
* Freeebies don't count.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

This is an interesting question. I considered a similar question back when ebook DRM removal tools first became available whether or not to start buying DRMed ebooks.

I just don't see any such action having a significant effect. The number of people who pay attention to such things is just too small.

Perhaps I'm wrong. I've certainly wondered whether I did the right thing by starting to buy DRMed ebooks. But I don't think I'll be joining any such boycotts.

Sometimes the only choice is to buy DRMed. But in this case, there are other things to read and buying exclusives from Amazon let's Amazon know it's OK to do that and it's not OK. It's far from OK. It's Amazon stealing works that should be available in all formats for everyone.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

I have that many.

Your list please madame?

[SandyHarper]

I am more addicted to computer than ebooks. But I am getting into ebooks because of convenience.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Sometimes the only choice is to buy DRMed. But in this case, there are other things to read and buying exclusives from Amazon let's Amazon know it's OK to do that and it's not OK. It's far from OK. It's Amazon stealing works that should be available in all formats for everyone.

I'd say that if you want to protest by boycotting exclusives at Amazon, it's even more important to also boycott any DRMed ebooks too.

There are plenty of DRM-free ebooks out there. Classics, Romances, Sci-Fi, and no doubt other genre novels, including the modern literary genre.

Arguing that sometimes there's no choice but to buy the DRMed product doesn't work, if you're also arguing that one should not buy a particular exclusive offering.

Either one's desire for a particular book overrides one's objections to the format/availability, or it doesn't.

[pdurrant]

Eight days since I last bought an ebook.

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Your list please madame?

Sure! A partial list is here:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/list...ana-unreviewed

That's 720 in that one alone. I have another 300+ here -- these are separate because they're paper books that I could erplace in ebook form if I wanted. (Some by destruction, some by purchasing).

http://www.goodreads.com/review/list...wishlist-ebook

And the remaining would be books that I can't put into the GoodReads database for various reasons (no ISBN, etc.).

I have over 1,400 books in my Calibre library alone and I've only reviewed ~200. (Anything not reviewed is on my To-Read list until I do review it.) And then, of course, there's the paper library in the front room -- at least 700 books in there.

*sigh* Wish I could quit work and go home and read forever.

[DreamWriter]

Originally Posted by xg4bx

i've gotten addicted to inexpensive epic fantasy, on top of my already massive backlog.

Just in case you haven't read it, I thought I'd mention The Gods of Dream: An Epic Fantasy by Daniel Arenson. It's FREE right now, so you can enjoy it without remorse!

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I'd say that if you want to protest by boycotting exclusives at Amazon, it's even more important to also boycott any DRMed ebooks too.

There are plenty of DRM-free ebooks out there. Classics, Romances, Sci-Fi, and no doubt other genre novels, including the modern literary genre.

Arguing that sometimes there's no choice but to buy the DRMed product doesn't work, if you're also arguing that one should not buy a particular exclusive offering.

Either one's desire for a particular book overrides one's objections to the format/availability, or it doesn't.

If I boycotted DRMed eBooks, I'd have to give up the nice free eBooks I get from the library and for other DRMed eBooks, I'd have to go back to pBooks.

For exclusive eBooks at Amazon, I know there are plenty of other eBooks I can read instead. So I'm not upset at missing them. I'm just finding it really sad that others (yourself included) don't care that Amazon is helping to ruin eBooks. Obsolete format and exclusivity. This is not good at all. Please cancel your subscription. Let the publishers know that exclusive with Amazon is bad. Tell them to stop it even if it means they might go under. We need to get things under control and then we can work on DRM going away. We need to get rid of exclusive eBooks and the agency model before we tackle DRM. We have to pick and choose our battles. And exclusive is bad for business. We cannot let Amazon get away with it. We also have to get Apple and the agency publishers to lose the law suit. That is one jury I would love to be on.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Sure! A partial list is here:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/list...ana-unreviewed

That's 720 in that one alone. I have another 300+ here -- these are separate because they're paper books that I could erplace in ebook form if I wanted. (Some by destruction, some by purchasing).

http://www.goodreads.com/review/list...wishlist-ebook

And the remaining would be books that I can't put into the GoodReads database for various reasons (no ISBN, etc.).

I have over 1,400 books in my Calibre library alone and I've only reviewed ~200. (Anything not reviewed is on my To-Read list until I do review it.) And then, of course, there's the paper library in the front room -- at least 700 books in there.

*sigh* Wish I could quit work and go home and read forever.

Wow! you did have way too many book in your TBR pile.

Hello, my name is anamardoll and I won't be back to MR (as it seriously cuts into my reading time) until my TBR pile is down to a manageable level. Unfortunately, that means I may never be back. Bye all. It's been fun, but I need to read books. MR is killing me.

You could post the following and stick to it.

[anamardoll]

Haha, JS, I would LOVE to quit MR and do nothing but read all day (well, not LITERALLY quit, because I'd miss you all!!) but unfortunately they don't let me read at work. I *can* access MR during coffee breaks, though, so that's alright.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Eight days since I last bought an ebook.

I've been doing well, keeping the purchases to only about one new for every couple I read. At that rate, I'll be out of books to read in only about 10 years. But my resolution is about to get blown right out of the water. Big sale on Georgette Heyer starting Monday. I think that's going to change my ratio for a while.

[applepie]

I am an e-book addict. I LOvE them. Since I bought my Nook, I didn't purchase a single paper book or magazine. E-books are great!

[mikaelalind]

I have been good. I haven't bought that many e-books this month.( Note that I am not mentioning last month....) So far. I foresee a lapse on Monday ,though. Why?Allromance is having a Samhain Campaign with a 30% rebate. So far I have added 6 books.... But the rest of the month I am sticking to library and public domain books. Promise! ( I just figured out that using Sony Reader Library to sync library books is easier than ADE. )

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by CRussel

I've been doing well, keeping the purchases to only about one new for every couple I read. At that rate, I'll be out of books to read in only about 10 years. But my resolution is about to get blown right out of the water. Big sale on Georgette Heyer starting Monday. I think that's going to change my ratio for a while.

Oh dear. Now Georgette Heyer is an author I've never read, although I know several people who are very fond of Georgette Heyer books, including a couple of authors whose works I really enjoy. So I've been meaning to buy some of her books to see if I like them — I expect that I will.

Now, $1.99 is an excellent price for back-list ebooks, especially seeing as Amazon are currently selling them at about $8 each. If the offer is available to people outside the US (in particular the UK), I think I might not be able to resist.