Ebook Buying Addicts' Support Thread

[Tarana]

Audio dramas != audiobooks.

Totally agree that these are different, but I usually just get BBC audiodramas and I get those free. When I don't have one of those, I listen to a podcast of old time radio shows. I prefer audiodramas over audiobooks when doing certain tasks, like cleaning the kitchen. Faster action, and the story is done in about an hour. Helps me to do tasks that I detest.

I'm still in the process of deleting freebees from my Amazon account after downloading. I'm not very fast. I also added a whole bunch when I discovered that there were a lot of H Beam Piper, Philip Dick and Harry Harrison for free. Scipodcast has actually done quite a few H Beam Piper stories. He's a narrator, not a performer, but I think he's a good narrator. I had never heard of H Beam Piper before hearing this podcast, so it was nice to discover a new dead author. Unlike many others, he had no heirs, so all his stuff is in public domain.

It's now the 16th and I still haven't purchased any books, although, as mentioned, I did use one of my Audible credits. I even turned down that Lightspeed Kickstart offer, although it was terribly tempting, but I really need to be strict until after April. Besides, it's not as good of an offer if you did last year's offer since I already have all those past issues. I have only read ONE of the 40 plus Lightspeed magazines I got LAST year, so just had to pass by on it. My sis has read a number of them, so will probably continue the subscription, but that isn't due until June.

[BelleZora]

Unsubscribing from emails informing me of special offers and staying away from the freebie threads has worked for me. I've purchased two books this year. I'm reading one now and the other next. My TBR is also down by two this month. Not seeing the specials has removed that impulse to secure the books before they disappear forever from the face of the earth. Or whatever that impulse is that causes me to buy a book when I have at least a 10-year supply yet unread.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by BelleZora

Unsubscribing from emails informing me of special offers and staying away from the freebie threads has worked for me. I've purchased two books this year. I'm reading one now and the other next. My TBR is also down by two this month. Not seeing the specials has removed that impulse to secure the books before they disappear forever from the face of the earth. Or whatever that impulse is that causes me to buy a book when I have at least a 10-year supply yet unread.

Excellent! And it's kind of a relief, isn't it? The opposite of the feeling after you've visited an all-you-can-eat buffet, when even though I know I'll regret it later, I still take 'em at their word.

After a hard start to the year when I was jonesing, it's gotten so much easier, to the extent that even the thought of a Kobo contest doesn't do much for me. I have so very many books among which to choose already.

My purchase impulse seems to have been driven by two things. One is the bargain aspect. The other is seeing a book cited by a friend's list or a review and I think, "Oh, I must read that!" But I'm adding them to the list and once the initial urge has passed, I'm content to leave them there for now.

The hard reality is that I can never read all the books I'd like to read. I'm trying to keep the question of "How soon am I likely to read this?" at the forefront when the urge strikes.

ETA: Meant to say that my TBR is down by three! I think I'm going to start keeping track of that stat; now there's positive reinforcemen!

[issybird]

.....

[pdurrant]

I'm pleased to report that, well past the half way point of the month, my bought total is still only five, and well under half my £25 budget!

Because of freebies and gifts my TBR is still one up on the start of the year, but I have hopes that I'll end the month with an actual reduction.

Although if there's a good Kobo competition, there are a couple of new Baen books I will be buying.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I'm pleased to report that, well past the half way point of the month, my bought total is still only five, and well under half my £25 budget!

Because of freebies and gifts my TBR is still one up on the start of the year, but I have hopes that I'll end the month with an actual reduction.

Although if there's a good Kobo competition, there are a couple of new Baen books I will be buying.

Does the savings from one month role over to be used in later months?
Apache

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Apache

Does the savings from one month role over to be used in later months?

It does indeed. My target is a spend of no more than £300 in 2015. That's an average of £25/month, but that is just an average, not 12 individual targets.

[CRussel]

I'm doing really well so far. I've "bought" 5 books, but only spent $15.41, and that includes one audio book and one brand new book in a favourite series that I pre-ordered. I've managed to keep the costs down primarily by "buying" Kindle Unlimited titles this month. Fortunately, there are several series that I want to read in KU right now, making it easier to avoid expensive impulse purchase.

The catch, of course, is that I'm not including the ongoing KU cost, nor the subscription cost of Audible. But I am tracking the number of Audible Credits I've spent. And I did get a benefit by pre-ordering a couple of Audible titles last month, meaning I got charged the credits for them in December. But this is going to be a tight month overall, so there will be NO further book purchases. (As decreed by SWMBO! )

[peachiekene]

Originally Posted by peachiekene

Took a cue from here and am deleting most of the free/discount emails I get.
I am keeping Open Road's newsletter because I like them. It includes their free classic for the day and I'm overly tempted by the other titles they list.

I meant to say I'm NOT overly tempted by the other titles. I have not bought one Open Road freebie from seeing it on sale in their email. I just always miss the classic freebies I want so I like having that reminder in there.
Now I just need to remove OHFB off of facebook.

I've done really well so far, but ... there hasn't been a coupon contest. ^^;

I've spent $2.98 on 2 books, but one used an amazon digital credit and I don't count it towards the budget. (So $1.99 on a wishlist book)

I picked up 7 freebies.
4 -Open Road classics.
2 -Kindle First
1 -just looked good.

That's actually a lot better than usual regarding the freebies.

[Soldim]

I am happy to report that, due to exchange rate issues, my 2015 budget has suddenly been increased with 20%

Now, i just have to find the time to increase my reading rate by 20%....

[bgalbrecht]

I thought about getting the Kindle/B&N SF deal of the day yesterday, the Jeff Vandermeer Southern Reach trilogy, even though I've never read anything of his, until I realized they are available from my local library, at both 3M and Overdrive. Yay library!

[bgalbrecht]

Originally Posted by peachiekene

I picked up 7 freebies.
4 -Open Road classics.
2 -Kindle First
1 -just looked good.

I don't count buying Open Road freebie classics as "buying ebooks", since they are generally public domain, and sometimes there's an illustrated edition available at Project Gutenberg, if you like illustrated editions. For example, Open Road's edition of Darwin's Origin of the Species is missing the book's one illustration, which helps explain long-term helps explain long term characteristic drift.

[peachiekene]

Originally Posted by bgalbrecht

I don't count buying Open Road freebie classics as "buying ebooks", since they are generally public domain, and sometimes there's an illustrated edition available at Project Gutenberg, if you like illustrated editions. For example, Open Road's edition of Darwin's Origin of the Species is missing the book's one illustration, which helps explain long-term helps explain long term characteristic drift.

I don't count them as "buying", but I have a habit of downloading any freebie that even remotely catches my interest. I should really go through and prune my freebies and make an actual "TBR" list one of these days.

I like how Open Road formats their classics and that they are available through Kobo - which is why I grab them.
Right now, I'm trying to replace my "B&N classics" that I got for free some years ago because I dislike the stripped nookbook epub format.

I'm not a huge fan of Project Gutenberg's formats (though I appreciate what they do!) because in the past they seem to be severely unedited scans and almost completely unreadable. It's been a couple of years since I've bothered to grab anything from them though, so maybe there is changes.

I will definitely keep that in mind for necessary illustrated editions!

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by peachiekene

I like how Open Road formats their classics and that they are available through Kobo - which is why I grab them.

I generally agree, but I was appalled to find that their version of The Count of Monte Cristo stripped out all of the accent marks. I know it's a translated work, but when you're talking about proper nouns, those need to be preserved!

[Tarana]

I was weak. (hanging head). I got a book via Kindle Unlimited and the whispersync audiobook did not come free. Because it was in my library, Audible offered it for $1.99. I have to make certain now to read 2 books off my purchased TBR list to make up for it.