Ebook Buying Addicts' Support Thread

[Cinisajoy]

My freebie downloads are down, but my purchases are up a bit.
I am still cheap but free has lost its appeal unless I know the author is good.
Though I did get burned on one of the last books I paid for. If it hadn't been on sale for 99 cents I would have asked for a refund.

[CRussel]

My interest in freebies is WAY down -- too many of them are just awful. I'm not talking here about PD books or the first in a well established series given away as an enticement. Many of those have proven to be fine. And I'm still enjoying and reading a lot of KU books. But really, my overall book buying is way down the last couple of months. I've been reading my TBR, and doing some re-reads of favourite series. Both have contributed to a much better purchase record.

[Tarana]

I try to do that as well, but alas, many of my authors are not in the e-collection at my library. I don't ever read general fiction.

So sorry about your injury! I have also found that after having anesthesia, I have concentration problems for up to a month later despite the fact that I'm off the pain pills within a few days of exiting the hospital.

I'm spending money converting some books so that I can read them, so while I've been good about not buying new books (even cheap ones), I'm still spending money on books. However, my concern is that someone somewhere will shut the scanning services down (1dollarscan.com), so I'm getting the few series done that I REALLY want. They are mostly by dead authors whose copyrights appear to be orphaned. I've scanned and converted most of the Clare Darcy. The Australians ( William Stuart Long- Vivian Stuart) 12 book series is completely scanned and I've converted (and read) the first 2 books. I can see why this series was popular. Stuart was very meticulous in her Australian history.

I've only scanned one of the science fiction. I want to read it before I decide whether to scan the rest. It's like seeing a series on sale for 99c and you know it's popular, you should buy them all,but what if you don't even like the first book? Another author said that this one series would not be converted to ebook, yet the latest issues from the series are in ebook. Do I wait? Do I scan? I decided to just do the first one (one of my brother's favorite series). He can no read novels, but can listen to them with the voice-to-text programs, so we are eliminating his paper books and replacing with ebooks. Converting books can be an addiction as well, so I had to draw a line somewhere, so only selected series *I* wanted to read.

[Cinisajoy]

Help. I have bought 4 books in the last 2 days.

[pdurrant]

The 50% off code at Kobo, which expires at the end of the month, is testing me.

[Tarana]

I'll have to see if any of my wishlisted stuff is at Kobo and couponable. I really cut my wishlist down a lot. Most are not couponable and that helps.

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

The 50% off code at Kobo, which expires at the end of the month, is testing me.

I flunked.

I had several books on my Kobo wishlist that I've snapped up with the code. There are three more that have higher prices; I want to use a better code for those. I also found out that one book I thought was couponable wasn't...

At least not all of the new purchases have gone to the TBR. Some of them are conversions, like Turtledove's The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

The 50% off code at Kobo, which expires at the end of the month, is testing me.

I'm viewing it as something of a last hurrah; the contests have so little to offer now. I'm already planning to get several wishlist books at the library, but I'll probably pick up a couple/few books that aren't available there. I have some standing Kobo credit I should use up because hey, it's Kobo. I also need to decide how I'm going to use my no-rush credit plus additional promotional credit at Amazon, so I'll sit down tomorrow and see how best to combine the various options.

My wants tend to be pricey even at 50% off and I'm sufficiently jaded by now that I won't be led far astray. Pressing wants that can't be satisfied elsewhere (libraries real or virtual) and maximizing my available site credit are my two priorities.

[Fbone]

I checked my wishlist and none of the titles are couponable. Those all went with the 90% codes earlier this year. But, don't worry I'll still try to find something to use up my Kobo credits.

[issybird]

I posted in the Kobo thread when I should more logically have posted here.

It turns out that I can't stack my Kobo promotional credit with the SAVE50 code, so I don't plan to use the code at all. The books I wanted to use the code on are pricey and I don't feel like a significant cash outlay. Back on the wishlist they go. I've got plenty to read and if a much better coupon falls in my lap, I'll reconsider.

At Amazon, I used my expiring promo credit plus my no-rush credit to buy three books. A slight cash outlay so as not to leave any credit on the table, so I'm considering them essentially free and they don't count.

All of this means I'm exiting August unscathed.

[pdurrant]

It's only the 6th and I only have £1.51 left of my monthly budget. Whoops.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

It's only the 6th and I only have £1.51 left of my monthly budget. Whoops.

I've come to confess, too. The UCP sale at Amazon has got me. I make no apologies for grabbing the various playwright-specific editions of the ancient Greek tragedies; I've wanted these particular editions for a long time and at under $2 per, my purchases are not only excusable but also laudable by the terms of this thread. However, while I was at it, I also picked up a couple of other ancient texts and then four other books, all in areas of specific interest to me, but the sale created the want.

So, the outlay wasn't enormous, but I am adding to the eclutter, the reduction in which has been my aim. And full disclosure: I fully intend to browse the listings again tomorrow, in hopes of filling a couple of gaps in those tragedies.

Hang in there, Paul. I think you're still comfortably under budget for the year, which gives you some wiggle room. Not that I'm suggesting you avail yourself of it.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by issybird

I've come to confess, too. The UCP sale at Amazon has got me. I make no apologies for grabbing the various playwright-specific editions of the ancient Greek tragedies; I've wanted these particular editions for a long time and at under $2 per, my purchases are not only excusable but also laudable by the terms of this thread.

Exactly so! Such offers are exactly why we should restrain ourselves at other times.

We should read our TBR piles, while waiting for bargains to come along on our wish lists.

My spending this month has been on subscriptions and the Baen Monthly bundle (of which, unusually, I wanted enough books that it made more sense to buy the bundle than to buy the individual books at Kobo with a good coupon). So not a mad splurge, but a reminder that I should be careful.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

So not a mad splurge, but a reminder that I should be careful.

Indeed. That's where I am and that's why I post in this thread. In fact, I exercised a lot of restraint; I checked ratings and read reviews before I took the plunge, and I didn't buy many books that appealed. Still, the TBR has taken a jump and by strictest accounting I should have limited myself to the Greek plays and possibly the New York book, which fits a current challenge.

But just think how many books I would have bought if I weren't trying!

[Tarana]

I have taken a drastic step for me. I discontinued my subscription with Kindle Daily and Ereader IQ daily. This was tough, but honestly, I have not read 99% of those books and my TBR of purchased books and audiobooks is huge. Next week, I will again make an effort to delete off free books off my cloud and store in Calibre. Can't even find a book to read when there are 2000 archived ones (and most of them never to be read) and want to focus on what I've bought.