Ebook Buying Addicts' Support Thread

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

I've bought 1 ebook, and cancelled 1 pre-ordered ebook. (So I could buy the hardback and get it signed by the author, making it the most expensive fiction book I've bought for years. I thought about still getting the ebook, too.)

I just skip all that and get the ebook signed.

[peachiekene]

June Report:
2 Omnibuses (Omnibi?) + 2 books for a total of $42.42.
It adds up to be $4.24/book or $10.61/file.
All of these were on the wishlist! (That's kind of a first for me - only buying off the wishlist.)

2 were on sale.
1 used a 65% coupon (couldn't get my hands on a 75%, but that's okay)
1 was full price.
3 of these used a gift card.

My goal for next month is to buy NO books - aside from To Kill a Mockingbird which I grabbed as a preorder since it's one of my favorites and for a sale price.
--The no book buying is because I have been slacking on reading in favor of other hobbies. ^^;

[wyndslash]

I've just given up on even trying to cut down on my very lengthy to-read list.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by wyndslash

I've just given up on even trying to cut down on my very lengthy to-read list.

Don't give up. Struggling, even if you fail, still retards the rate of accumulation. And becoming more thoughtful about your purchases generally results in more value for your money and a better library over time.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by issybird

Don't give up. Struggling, even if you fail, still retards the rate of accumulation. And becoming more thoughtful about your purchases generally results in more value for your money and a better library over time.

I agree. I haven't stopped buying books, but I've gotten a lot more thoughtful about buying them. Overall, I'm buying less, but not by much. OTOH, I'm getting better books that I'm more interested in reading.

[Melon Soda]

I'm currently trimming my wishlist and trying to set priorities to decide on the next "batch" of book to get when the next Kobo contest starts! That is, assuming I can get my hands on the better codes... those always go so fast!

[DrNefario]

Just Friday I was thinking I really have enough books to be getting on with, and I should probably have a complete moratorium on book-buying for a few months.

I've bought six books since then.

I bought four second-hand pbooks on Saturday, from charity shops, only one of which was really an A-lister - Agatha Christie's The Clocks, which was the last book I needed to complete my Christie set - and even that is actually some way out from where I am in reading them. Two of the others were interesting old SF hardbacks which I'd looked at before but had been a bit expensive (The Road to Corlay by Richard Cowper, and Shadrach in the Furnace by Robert Silverberg). They were on sale this time, and restraining myself to just the two took some willpower. The fourth was another SF classic I've been half looking for for a while (The Death of Grass by John Christopher).

Then this morning two of my Kindle Wishlist books were inexplicably cheap, so I bought them both.

Eight books bought in seven days, so far this month. Mostly inexpensive, but the £12.99 for the new Joe Abercrombie is pushing my average up.

[Tarana]

I'm trying REALLY, REALLY HARD to not buy any more books. At my current rate, it will take me 5 years to read what I already have. Some of what I bought last month were whispersync audios to match books I already have, but I have been in such a frenzy since I found I could read again (ereader) that I'm overspending. I will still get books from series I already read such as Terry Brooks, but they are often covered in my audiobook credit anyway.

So my goals until the end of the year:
Buy no new authors(put them on next year's wishlist)
Buy no books unless they are on wishlist or a new book from current author I already read.
Use Kobo coupons only to get Baen books that complete a series.

Thank you Paul for mentioning that Kobo sold Baen books. Helps a lot! I'm printing this out and taping to my computer. I have also dropped all of those email listings and daily specials for ebooks. They tended to get me to want to spend and I don't need any more free books.

[peachiekene]

Originally Posted by Tarana

So my goals until the end of the year:
Buy no new authors(put them on next year's wishlist)
Buy no books unless they are on wishlist or a new book from current author I already read.
Use Kobo coupons only to get Baen books that complete a series.

Good luck!

I have no clue how long it would take to read my TBR list. O_O Probably more than 5 years. I was doing pretty good at the beginning of the year (averaging about 2 books a week, which is a decent pace for me), but now I just find myself doing everything else. I think I just need to read a few short snacky books to get back in the flow of things instead of these doorstoppers I've got lined up.

--------------------------

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by peachiekene

I think I just need to read a few short snacky books to get back in the flow of things instead of these doorstoppers I've got lined up.

Absolutely. If the books you have lined up to read next don't actually appeal, go and read something else! Another of the benefits of a reasonably large TBR list.

[Fbone]

Update:

Books purchased: 17
Books read: 16

Money spent $14.39
Budgeted (2014) $1200.00
Balance $1185.61

After completion of my current read, I will break even for the year.

[PurpleStar]

I majorly fell of the wagon buying 5 books(Some of them were purchased with coupons or on sale) plus a Baen bundle. I really have to quit buying for at least 3 months.

[Melon Soda]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Update:

Books purchased: 17
Books read: 16

Money spent $14.39
Budgeted (2014) $1200.00
Balance $1185.61

After completion of my current read, I will break even for the year.

Wow $14.39 for 17 books? That's a bargain!

I'll probably set aside about $30++ for the next Kobo contest if there is one. I'd love to get a bundle set if I can get my hand on a 75% coupon... but those run out really fast so...

[CRussel]

I did buy two books this last weekend, but both were Amazon specials of moderately favourite authors - a Mercedes Lackey Diana Tregarde "mystery", and the latest Nero Wolfe book from Robert Goldsborough. And I already know I'm going to buy the next two Baen bundles. Hmmm. Need to tighten up here....

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by CRussel

And I already know I'm going to buy the next two Baen bundles. Hmmm. Need to tighten up here....

I already have many of the repeats from the Baen bundles, so the fact that their couponable at Kobo along with generous Kobo competition coupns means I'm only going to be getting the two I really want instead of the whole bundle this month. And probably similar next month.