Ebook Buying Addicts' Support Thread

[lol.systema]

I might say I'm not an addict, just compulsive when purchasing ebooks.
A few minutes ago I purchased a crappy book I discussed about in another thread. 3.15$ no big deal... turns out I got in a bit of a tangent and spent +60$ on Milorad Pavic's works and pedagogy-based books.

I might not purchase anything else until the rest of the month. Thing is I purchase more than what I read.

I guess I have it worse than you guys :¨P

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by lol.systema

Thing is I purchase more than what I read.

That is the failing of most of us in this thread. I'm trying to work my TBR down to a more sensible level of between three to six months reading material (for me that's 50 to 100 books). But I think it will be a long time before I get there.

This year I'm trying to control my purchasing by having a budget. January was a bit of a set-back, but I'm under budget for this month, so far, and I expect to be under budget for the rest of the year. But I will have to exert a tight control over my spending. I've looked ahead to books I anticipate buying this year (subscriptions and the Baen monthly bundle), and I find that if I bought no more than those for the rest of the year I'll end up $79.29 under budget.

Of course, I've over budget at the moment by $34.91...

This concentration on budget has done good things for my spending, but not my TBR pile. It just means that my average purchase price is low: $1.32 for the 87 books I've bought so far this year!

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

This concentration on budget has done good things for my spending, but not my TBR pile. It just means that my average purchase price is low: $1.32 for the 87 books I've bought so far this year!

So, who says that ebooks are not cheaper than paper books?

I've just bought the bargain (sight unseen, going by Goodreads ratings) I posted myself.

(The Last Hunter, which is the collected edition of the Antarktos Saga 1-5, by Jeremy Robinson.)

I couldn't pass up 5 well-rated books for under $1 per book

[issybird]

I'm not doing that well in general, especially after a fall from grace yesterday.

My overall aim is to cut my TBR drastically this year, and I've started tracking expenditures as a goad.

January wasn't too bad, with $14.05 spent on five books, and one was a book club choice and one was for a particular area of interest. Still, with library books and pbooks read, the net reduction to my TBR was zero.

February has been worse, and it's not over yet. I've bought eight books for a total of $31.43, which means at best no reduction in the TBR this month, either. The worst hit was yesterday, when a post in the Kobo discount thread about a geo- and booklist-restricted coupon made me think I'd better grab an offshore book not available in the US while I could and while I had a 50% coupon. My next two priciest purchases were for this month's lit club and that's fine.

Here's the issue: When I look at what I've bought so far this year, it's obvious that my worst downfall is the Kindle Daily Deal. I haven't been able to resist several history books at $1.99 each. While they seem reasonably interesting, they're not high priority and I won't be getting to them any time soon, if ever. OTOH, I bought two books from the Big Deal for $2.99 each which are of high interest, so no major regrets on that front. Clearly, I need to make and enforce a rule of no purchases under $2.99. Or I should just stay away from the Daily Deal page. Probably both.

So given a fail for the first two months, my aim for the rest of the year is a net reduction in my TBR of 50 books, or five per month. I will probably fall short, but I'll take a shot at it.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by issybird

When I look at what I've bought so far this year, it's obvious that my worst downfall is the Kindle Daily Deal. I haven't been able to resist several history books at $1.99 each. While they seem reasonably interesting, they're not high priority and I won't be getting to them any time soon, if ever.

This is a great danger. The Kindle Daily Deal is great, so long as you can come to terms with passing up 'interesting' books, and only using it for buying books that are actually on your wishlist - i.e. favourite author/series, or genuinely on a wishlist.

Otherwise the constant stream of $0.99 or $1.99 books will eat up your budget and fill your TBR with books you're not really interested in reading NOW.

For instance, in January I got Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett for £0.99 in a Kindle Daily Deal - definitely one I was right to purchase. Favourite author, and latest in series I'm following. Result!

However, I also bought Life After Life. I've read it, but it was a mistake. I didn't know the author, and I wasn't impressed. I should have saved my £0.99.

And then there was A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, Vol.1 by Sir Winston S. Churchill. I bought this daily deal for £0.99, and read it immediately, and this time, it was a good buy. But I'm slightly conflicted - it didn't match my buying rules, and it was definitely a risk.

It's tough. I think it's worth keeping an eye on the Kindle Daily Deal, but being very, very harsh in your selection criteria. Only buy if it's something you were planning to buy at some point anyway, by an author you like.

I'm resisted all Kindle Daily Deals in February so far. But who knows? Something might come up from a favourite author that I'd be a fool to miss. And it's for those rare ocassions that I'm going to be super-strict with myself about anything else on the Daily Deal.

£0.99 doesn't seem a lot, but one a day would be more than my entire book budget for the year!

[issybird]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

£0.99 doesn't seem a lot, but one a day would be more than my entire book budget for the year!

I always think the proverb should be, "Pound wise and penny foolish" which I think is far worse. At least you tend to have something to show for pound expenditures and have given them some thought. It's the penny outlays that mount up and weren't that compelling anyway.

If I had eliminated the penny foolish purchases so far this year, I'd have spent $34 on seven books for a net reduction in my TBR, instead of $46 on 13 books and a growing TBR, and with no loss in expected reading enjoyment. And an extra $12 to spend on a book I really want to read, if you look at it like that.

I hope and expect that by keeping track this year, I'll learn from my mistakes and rein myself in. So far I've stumbled some, but I think I'll do better.

[LadyKate]

Originally Posted by issybird

It's not the money, though, which is why my actions are illogical. Ebooks are a cheap indulgence and I shouldn't be such ripe prey for every special offer that comes along. My problem is that I love a bargain, but a bargain that'll never be read is no bargain. And I won't read a book just because I've bought it, either. The money's gone; it has to be the book that appeals to me most, now.

The issue for me is that the eclutter bothers me, just the idea of it. With a continuing influx and hundreds of unread books, I am never going to get to the bottom of the pile, so my goal is to eliminate buying more books which are going to languish forever. I've already got plenty of 'em. I need to buy only books that are at least as appealing as roughly the top hundred or so I already own, bargains be damned.

All the more reason to put these books into calibre. It will serve as a backup and as a way to remove the eclutter. (I hate dmr when it causes me problems with backup. It is like saying I can't put my books in any bookcase except the one I buy from the store lol)

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by issybird

So far I've stumbled some, but I think I'll do better.

And we'll all try to do the same.

If you're tempted by a book, why not post in this thread? Perhaps someone will persuade you against it, or perhaps you'll feel better knowing that others agree it's too good a bargain to miss.

That's what I shall try to do for the rest of the year. Books I intend to purchase I've already listed. Others I shall mention here before buying, if there is time to do so.

[CRussel]

Think of this list as your "sponsor" in the AA sense. And come here first, before you succumb. It's hard. I know it, you know it, we all know it. But together, we can help each other. And even when we succumb, we need to not give up but come back and get re-committed.

I have been doing fairly well, keeping my new books to Library books mostly, but I had a slip last week when I bought the Bill Slider book (Kobo coupons are evil.<g>), but at least I didn't use the second coupon on the other Bill Slider book I haven't read yet. And I avoided buying the second Harry Hole book of Jo Nesbo by waiting long enough that my Library hold came up. The same day that the book finally showed on the US Amazon site.

[pdurrant]

OK, I think I'm past the crisis. I very nearly bought Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone, as mentioned in this post.

It's available at Kobo UK for £2.23, and I can use a 50% off coupon to get it for £1.12!

But I don't know the author. It sounds really interesting, and looking at luzme.com it's hasn't ever been this cheap before.

So should I go for it? Or just add it to a wishlist and see if it ever comes down to £0.99 or less?

Help!

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

It's available at Kobo UK for £2.23, and I can use a 50% off coupon to get it for £1.12!

...

Help!

I'll make it easier for you.

If you don't have them, buy these books:

Dune: The Gateway Collection (6 main books): $45
The Collected Joe Abercrombie (First Law 1-3, and three First Law novels): $42
The COMPLETE Malazan book of the Fallen (10 books, 12K pages!): $82

(The last is only available in the US.)

Use the 50% coupon on those, to save some real money. Buying a book that barely costs 2,5 pounds using a 50% coupon is a coupon waste. I mostly buy these sorts of collections when Kobo provides some 70+ coupons. I did use the 50% one on a single book I really wanted to read, but at $12 for less than 150 pages, it was too expensive.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Dune: The Gateway Collection (6 main books): $45
The Collected Joe Abercrombie (6 First Law books): $49
The COMPLETE Malazan book of the Fallen (10 books, 12K pages!): $82

Never got on with Dune. Haven't read any Joe Abercrombie. $41 is still too much for a 10-book omnibus. And way over my budget!

It's not a waste if I wasn't going to buy anything else.

But you have helped me resist. Thanks.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Never got on with Dune. Haven't read any Joe Abercrombie. $41 is still too much for a 10-book omnibus. And way over my budget!

Abercrombie writes stuff comparable to George R.R. Martin, as far as I've been able to find out. It seems Martin even praised him for his work.

With regard to Malazan: $41 for a 10 book bundle is $4.10, or €2.99 per book. In the Netherlands, these ebooks would cost €8.99 a piece, so I do consider that as a deal, especially if you take into account that these books are all 1000-1200 pages long. I got it with one of the enormous 75% coupons, so I paid just $20

(On Amazon, this bundle costs $57, without coupons, I've heard, but I can't buy it there.)

But you have helped me resist. Thanks.

You're welcome You may buy me a book to thank me

[VictoriaP]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

OK, I think I'm past the crisis. I very nearly bought Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone, as mentioned in this post.

It's available at Kobo UK for £2.23, and I can use a 50% off coupon to get it for £1.12!

But I don't know the author. It sounds really interesting, and looking at luzme.com it's hasn't ever been this cheap before.

So should I go for it? Or just add it to a wishlist and see if it ever comes down to £0.99 or less?

Help!

Regarding this one specifically: This is a book to sample first. I adored it--but I'll be the first to say it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea. (I checked to see if it was Kindle lendable, and unfortunately it's not, or I'd gladly send it your way. Library, perhaps?)

As for budget--I threw mine out the window for this month. A family member's health issue resulted in several days spent in the hospital this week (2nd time already this year), and reading is the only way I stay sane at this point. So I ended up working through the first several of Pat Mcintosh's Gil Cunningham series, which never did go on sale here in the US and are priced higher than many--eReaderIQ showed it wasn't likely they'd drop significantly either. (But for those who read historical cozy mysteries, yes, they're pretty good.) That, plus a new release that's a must have for me is out shortly...at hardcover best seller pricing. So to heck with it--I'm buying, but one at a time with the criteria that they get read right away. I'll start over with budgeting as soon as the urgency of the current crisis is over.

But I'm still pulling for the rest of you. Watching others strive towards similar goals and achieve them does help!

[Tarana]

Otherwise the constant stream of $0.99 or $1.99 books will eat up your budget and fill your TBR with books you're not really interested in reading NOW.

Oh, gosh, yes, that is what is eating up my budget. I realized today that I have already spent half of my planned YEAR's budget and all but 2 items are $2.99 and under. I have decided that my plan was unrealistic, particularly since I also buy audiobooks through whispersync, and will alter to $40/month, not including Audible/Baen Bundles. June is already spent since I got that Lightspeed thing from Kickstarter. That's going to be a LOT of reading! Anyway, the change put me already a tad over for February. I do think that these great deals we've been getting through Whispersync will likely come to an end in the next year or so. So, I will continue to get them as my $$ allows.