Ebook Buying Addicts' Support Thread - Page 72

ATDrake · 02-01-2012, 04:15 PM

Eh, you're supporting a good small niche publisher whose works you enjoy and their authors whom you presumably also enjoy, who are offering a good niche deal, which may help them to offer more good niche deals in the future (which in turns helps us all). And it amortizes to dirt-cheap as long as you download and read a good proportion of the books.

This falls under the "favourite author on wishlist + good bargain deal" exception clause, if you care to use it.

Smart buying != succumbing to addiction. In fact, it probably overcomes it, as you really only have to read that exclusive deluxe hardcover they send you to "pay" for your membership purchase, and consider everything else basically a bonus freebie which does not affect your TBR status.

CWatkinsNash · 02-01-2012, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATDrake

Eh, you're supporting a good small niche publisher whose works you enjoy and their authors whom you presumably also enjoy, who are offering a good niche deal, which may help them to offer more good niche deals in the future (which in turns helps us all). And it amortizes to dirt-cheap as long as you download and read a good proportion of the books.

This falls under the "favourite author on wishlist + good bargain deal" exception clause, if you care to use it.

Smart buying != succumbing to addiction. In fact, it probably overcomes it, as you really only have to read that exclusive deluxe hardcover they send you to "pay" for your membership purchase, and consider everything else basically a bonus freebie which does not affect your TBR status.

I like the way you think. Not because it furthers my purpose, but because it makes a lot of sense. And supporting Cemetery Dance was one of my motivations. I really like what they are doing up there, and in this case "up there" is Forest Hill, MD, which is one of my old stomping grounds. I used to live in the same county.

pdurrant · 02-01-2012, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATDrake

This falls under the "favourite author on wishlist + good bargain deal" exception clause, if you care to use it.

Agreed. If you like the kind of books they produce, it would have been silly not to go for such a good deal.

HomeInMyShoes · 02-02-2012, 09:22 AM

Ugh. Thankfully most of it was free:

Kurt Vonnegut - God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater $2.99
Stanley Elkin - Van Gogh's Room at Arles $1.99
BAD STACKS: Story Collection Box Set (Stack series) free
Scott Nicholson Library, Vol. 1 (Boxed Set) free
Scott Nicholson Library, Vol. 2 (Boxed Set) free
Scott Nicholson Library, Vol. 3 (Boxed Set) free
Ultimate Thriller Box Set free

While I only spent about $5, I'm probably going to lament the fact that I just added about six to eight months of time to my TBR list and I'm not even sure if I like horror/thriller anymore.

issybird · 02-02-2012, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

While I only spent about $5, I'm probably going to lament the fact that I just added about six to eight months of time to my TBR list and I'm not even sure if I like horror/thriller anymore.

Delete, delete, delete! Or at least get 'em in your archive where they're out of sight and one hopes out of mind.

Freebies have an unacceptably high price, when they usurp precious reading time from what you really want to read.

ATDrake · 02-02-2012, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

... I'm probably going to lament the fact that I just added about six to eight months of time to my TBR list and I'm not even sure if I like horror/thriller anymore.

Quote:

Originally Posted by issybird

Freebies have an unacceptably high price, when they usurp precious reading time from what you really want to read.

If one doesn't truly want to read the freebies, then why should one bother including them in TBR list? On the list of "stuff it would be nice to look at", yes, but the official "I paid for this, I ought to get my money's worth by opening it up and looking at the actual words inside at some point"?

I've got a couple thousand freebies now, just from the official publisher promo giveaways alone. I've read maybe 1% of them, picking only the ones that looked interesting/cracktastic enough that I actually wanted to try them, and I've stopped uncompleted the ones which didn't live up to my level of interest (or turned out to be annoyingly bad).

IMHO, freebies shouldn't count towards the TBR any more than they should count towards the "buying addiction". It's nice if you finish and enjoy one and it leads you to an author you can wishlist and wait for bargain sale, but otherwise they're free potential reads you have absolutely no obligation towards actually reading.

HomeInMyShoes · 02-02-2012, 12:30 PM

^I count all clutter. I'm the preacher of the clutter is evil church.

I tend to collect almost nothing that isn't likely to be read. Just prior to yesterday's free-fest I had three unread titles on my e-reader (all of which are on my reading challenge list for this year).

CRussel · 02-02-2012, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATDrake

IMHO, freebies shouldn't count towards the TBR any more than they should count towards the "buying addiction". It's nice if you finish and enjoy one and it leads you to an author you can wishlist and wait for bargain sale, but otherwise they're free potential reads you have absolutely no obligation towards actually reading.

I count freebies just the same as any other when it comes to my TBR. In large part because I don't ever aquire a freebie unless I actually think I want to read it. Of course, if it turns out to be dreck, it's a lot easier to dump it, but it's still something to be read until that point. Now it does NOT count against my own goal of reducing "impulse buying" of books that I don't really need and haven't got time to read this YEAR. Those should always wait, since they might well be cheaper whenever I get around to having time to read them.

HomeInMyShoes · 02-02-2012, 01:30 PM

^That's what I do. Yesterday was a TBR disaster because it piled on titles on the list. It made sense to pick them up because I trust and value the opinion of the original link poster and not knowing where to start with the author I decided to collect first and sort it out later after trying a few. It still makes my TBR pile which is usually < 10 books rather large at about 25 right now. I'm still below $20 in unread material which is in my comfort range.

CRussel · 02-02-2012, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

It still makes my TBR pile which is usually < 10 books rather large at about 25 right now. I'm still below $20 in unread material which is in my comfort range.

My TBR is over 100 right now.

And that's really being minimalist about it -- it doesn't count a whole raft of re-reads that are sitting in my Calibre that I haven't gotten around to yet. And in several series cases, it only counts the next up book in the series, even though I know I'll read far more than that...

pdurrant · 02-03-2012, 04:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATDrake

IMHO, freebies shouldn't count towards the TBR any more than they should count towards the "buying addiction". It's nice if you finish and enjoy one and it leads you to an author you can wishlist and wait for bargain sale, but otherwise they're free potential reads you have absolutely no obligation towards actually reading.

My thoughts about freebies exactly. I'll 'buy' any freebie that looks even vaguely like something I might read. But I don't add them to my TBR list.

I get them just in case, at some time in the future, I might be recommended the book elsewhere, and find I already have it ready to read.

pdurrant · 02-03-2012, 01:44 PM

I've bought an ebook. My fourth of this year, but the first I've chosen to buy (the others were from subscriptions). It's the last in a series by an author I like a lot, so I don't feel too guilty. It's a new release at a reasonable price, and cheaper than the discounted paperback. (£4.49 vs £5.43).

ATDrake · 02-03-2012, 03:30 PM

I bought another 13 yesterday evening for a cost of $12.87 USD.

They were part of the Poisoned Pen Press "Build Your Library" introductory start-of-series mystery sale with each volume 99 cents, DRM-free, to which they added a fresh batch of titles without yet removing the original 10.

I've thus far enjoyed 5 out of the 9 original batch which I've read thus far since purchasing them about a month ago, and I moderately liked the other 4; enough that I consider them worth my time and money and am more than willing to check out more of the publisher's catalogue at the same prices and terms.

I would feel absolutely no guilt, even if I ever felt guilt for purchasing good books on sale when I can afford them. But in deference to other members' more impulsively regretful sensibilities, I will refrain from direct-linking the sale thread this time around.

wyndslash · 02-04-2012, 03:32 AM

mostly getting freebies lately. i want to get Memoirs of a Non-Enemy Combatant, but the kindle price is a bit too steep for me yet (around $11.99)

mikaelalind · 02-04-2012, 01:28 PM

I have bought some books recently but all of them have been on my Wishlist and they were less than 2.99 so I am not complaining

.

My approach to the freebies that ATDrake and others post are that I download the ones that sounds interesting, and are by authors I have wanted to check out for awhile. But I don't add them to Calibre for several reasons. One is that I want to slice off a bit more on the Unread pile before I add them. Another is that I want to split the omnibus editions up into seperate books since I don't like omnibuses. I have no problems with thick books when it comes to paper books, but I hate when the page count is over 700 pages in ebooks. Odd, I know.

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02-01-2012, 04:15 PM	#1066
ATDrake Wizzard Posts: 11,517 Karma: 33048258 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Roundworld Device: Kindle 2 International, Sony PRS-T1, BlackBerry PlayBook, Acer Iconia	Eh, you're supporting a good small niche publisher whose works you enjoy and their authors whom you presumably also enjoy, who are offering a good niche deal, which may help them to offer more good niche deals in the future (which in turns helps us all). And it amortizes to dirt-cheap as long as you download and read a good proportion of the books. This falls under the "favourite author on wishlist + good bargain deal" exception clause, if you care to use it. Smart buying != succumbing to addiction. In fact, it probably overcomes it, as you really only have to read that exclusive deluxe hardcover they send you to "pay" for your membership purchase, and consider everything else basically a bonus freebie which does not affect your TBR status.

02-02-2012, 09:22 AM	#1069
HomeInMyShoes Grand Sorcerer Posts: 19,226 Karma: 67780237 Join Date: Jul 2011 Device: none	Ugh. Thankfully most of it was free: Kurt Vonnegut - God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater $2.99 Stanley Elkin - Van Gogh's Room at Arles $1.99 BAD STACKS: Story Collection Box Set (Stack series) free Scott Nicholson Library, Vol. 1 (Boxed Set) free Scott Nicholson Library, Vol. 2 (Boxed Set) free Scott Nicholson Library, Vol. 3 (Boxed Set) free Ultimate Thriller Box Set free While I only spent about $5, I'm probably going to lament the fact that I just added about six to eight months of time to my TBR list and I'm not even sure if I like horror/thriller anymore.

02-02-2012, 12:30 PM	#1072
HomeInMyShoes Grand Sorcerer Posts: 19,226 Karma: 67780237 Join Date: Jul 2011 Device: none	^I count all clutter. I'm the preacher of the clutter is evil church. I tend to collect almost nothing that isn't likely to be read. Just prior to yesterday's free-fest I had three unread titles on my e-reader (all of which are on my reading challenge list for this year).

02-02-2012, 01:30 PM	#1074
HomeInMyShoes Grand Sorcerer Posts: 19,226 Karma: 67780237 Join Date: Jul 2011 Device: none	^That's what I do. Yesterday was a TBR disaster because it piled on titles on the list. It made sense to pick them up because I trust and value the opinion of the original link poster and not knowing where to start with the author I decided to collect first and sort it out later after trying a few. It still makes my TBR pile which is usually < 10 books rather large at about 25 right now. I'm still below $20 in unread material which is in my comfort range.

02-03-2012, 01:44 PM	#1077
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 74,082 Karma: 315558332 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Oasis	I've bought an ebook. My fourth of this year, but the first I've chosen to buy (the others were from subscriptions). It's the last in a series by an author I like a lot, so I don't feel too guilty. It's a new release at a reasonable price, and cheaper than the discounted paperback. (£4.49 vs £5.43).

02-03-2012, 03:30 PM	#1078
ATDrake Wizzard Posts: 11,517 Karma: 33048258 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Roundworld Device: Kindle 2 International, Sony PRS-T1, BlackBerry PlayBook, Acer Iconia	I bought another 13 yesterday evening for a cost of $12.87 USD. They were part of the Poisoned Pen Press "Build Your Library" introductory start-of-series mystery sale with each volume 99 cents, DRM-free, to which they added a fresh batch of titles without yet removing the original 10. I've thus far enjoyed 5 out of the 9 original batch which I've read thus far since purchasing them about a month ago, and I moderately liked the other 4; enough that I consider them worth my time and money and am more than willing to check out more of the publisher's catalogue at the same prices and terms. I would feel absolutely no guilt, even if I ever felt guilt for purchasing good books on sale when I can afford them. But in deference to other members' more impulsively regretful sensibilities, I will refrain from direct-linking the sale thread this time around.

02-04-2012, 03:32 AM	#1079
wyndslash Wizard Posts: 2,951 Karma: 3000001 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: Kindle 3 wifi, Kindle Fire	mostly getting freebies lately. i want to get Memoirs of a Non-Enemy Combatant, but the kindle price is a bit too steep for me yet (around $11.99)

02-04-2012, 01:28 PM	#1080
mikaelalind Fanatic Posts: 590 Karma: 788068 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Sweden Device: Sony PRS 505, Cybook Odessey	I have bought some books recently but all of them have been on my Wishlist and they were less than 2.99 so I am not complaining . My approach to the freebies that ATDrake and others post are that I download the ones that sounds interesting, and are by authors I have wanted to check out for awhile. But I don't add them to Calibre for several reasons. One is that I want to slice off a bit more on the Unread pile before I add them. Another is that I want to split the omnibus editions up into seperate books since I don't like omnibuses. I have no problems with thick books when it comes to paper books, but I hate when the page count is over 700 pages in ebooks. Odd, I know.

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