Ebook Buying Addicts' Support Thread

[issybird]

Here's my monthly/semiannual wrap-up.

I bought one book in June and it was the trifecta: wishlist, on sale, purchased with credit. That brings my semiannual total to 13 books for $14.25 (I don't count credit as part of purchase price). So I've averaged only half a book a week, which seems quite good to me. Also encouraging is that I can identify only one real mistake so far this year, where the sale price created the want for a book of which I'd never heard.

This compares to 2016, where year-to-date I had spent $102 on 33 books, and I thought I was doing pretty well at that! My tbr is down a net 13 books on the year, which isn't great but this is the first year where the trend is in the right direction.

[CRussel]

Well done, issybird! I'm impressed. While my general trend about buying is better, the total TBR doesn't seem to be improving. Too many re-reads. And then when I want a new book to read, I find the books in my TBR are feeling stale, even though I really thought I wanted them when I bought them.

I did go a bit nuts with the UK Poldark deal. Just too good to pass up.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Well done, issybird! I'm impressed. While my general trend about buying is better, the total TBR doesn't seem to be improving. Too many re-reads. And then when I want a new book to read, I find the books in my TBR are feeling stale, even though I really thought I wanted them when I bought them.

I've long acknowledged that I'd have saved a boatload of money if I had gone exclusively on an on-demand purchasing regimen when I went digital. But hoarding habits (enabled especially by Kobo coupons) died hard and it's too late now.

This is something I do to combat staleness, although it might not work for you as I suspect my TBR is longer. I load a representative sampling of my most desirable books onto my readers and choose my next-reads only from them. Eventually, when I get to the point where they all feel as if they've been rejected too often, I jettison them in favor of a different representative sampling, which has acquired a shinier patina while it's been off my radar. And so on.

[CRussel]

I do, eventually, move books out of my TBR and back into "Not Read" status, or worse, "Not Interested" in Calibre. But it appears to happen much slower than the lust for new. And, I admit, I'm sometimes guilty of "retail therapy" in book buying. Which usually results in several books I 'ought' to read, and one or two I might actually read.

I've found myself doing many more re-reads in the last 18 months. Always of old favourites, and I often find I re-discover them anew. OTOH, it doesn't always work out, as with the recent re-read of the original Valdemar Arrow books from Mercedes Lackey. I succumbed to an omnibus re-issue and then read them almost immediately. The first was good, the second was awful, and the third OK. But when I was done, I felt like it had mostly been a waste of time. (I'll report on them in a different thread.) The real problem, however, is that I bought that 3 book omnibus, and three others! I'm now not at all likely to read the others.

[Rev. Bob]

Looks like I'm going cold turkey on the paid books pretty soon. With financial issues, my funds for those has been coming from app-generated reward points. They flagged my account a month ago (no reason given) and haven't responded to any of my inquiries in that time, so I finally got sick of playing nice and posted the story on Facebook.

Maybe they won't let me cash in my $40 worth of points, but at least I can warn others about Perk's little con game. At least I've got a big backlog of books to work through.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by issybird

That brings my semiannual total to 13 books for $14.25 (I don't count credit as part of purchase price).

That's really impressive!

I'm afraid my June total exceeds your first half - 14 books for £17.35 (Almost all using Amazon no-rush credits, but I count the credit as part of the purchase price.) But on the plus side, I am pleased with all those purchases.

My TBR is still down on the start of the year, but I'm going to be even more strict in the second half of the year to make my goal for 2017.

[DrNefario]

I managed to buy no ebooks in June. I did buy two second-hand paperbacks, which I sort of regret, although I have already read one of them, and I did borrow two books, but still, no ebook purchases.

There was a monthly deal book I was all set to buy, but about 2/3 of the way through the month it went up from 0.99 to 1.09, and I wasn't having that. It might only be 10p, but I sort of felt that the agreement was that the deal would last for a month, and it felt like a bait-and-switch. I can live without it.

[Fbone]

So far this year I bought 5 books costing a total of $8.39. Although, I only read two of them. I will buy a book in July to use my Google Play credit.

[nabsltd]

Originally Posted by issybird

But hoarding habits (enabled especially by Kobo coupons) died hard and it's too late now.

I have at least 50 EPUB and MOBI/AZW ebooks that are either no longer available for sale in the US, or only available as PDF. So, buying when you can isn't a bad idea. Unlike physical books that have gone out of print, you can't rely on the secondhand market.

[Tarana]

I got by with just a couple of books in June. The ebooks were free, but the audiobooks that I wanted were not (just dramatically reduced price!).

I agree Nabsltd with sometimes having to get something because it will be taken off due to some rights thing or other. I mostly run into that with audiobooks, but occasionally with an ebook as well. Usually it's a series. Doesn't do much good if you have books 2, 3 and 4 if you can't get 1.

[pdurrant]

What am I to do? It's only the 7th July, and I've already bought six books!

Which ones should I not have bought?

Two subscriptions (I'm definitely getting these. I have all the Grantville Gazettes, and I've enjoyed them all, although it is my most expensive regular purchase. F&SF is much improved with its new editor, and there have been some splendid recent issues):
Grantville Gazette #72
F&SF July 2017

Four £0.99 (or less) special offers:
Prince Ivan - the first book in a series of which I already have books two and three, and I was waiting for a good offer on the first. I really enjoyed the previous series I read by this author.
All the Birds in the Sky - 2016 Nebula award winning novel by an author new to me, previously resisted, but available this month for £0.99.
The Day After Never - The third book in a series where I read the first two last year, and I was waiting on a special offer to get the third.
Dragon's Egg - A classic that I've read at least twice, and I have in hardback. An ebook version of it for £0.49 - well.


I'm doomed. Too many books to buy and (hope to) read!

[DrNefario]

Well, in my case I (a) don't count magazines, and (b) don't count purchases where I'm replacing a paper edition, so you'd already be quite a bit better off under my regime.

I've bought one kindle book after my clean June, and it looks like it was not quite two whole months since my last kindle purchase. It wasn't a book I urgently wanted, but it was a price-drop on my wishlist, and I had some No Rush credit I needed to use.

Now I'm also contemplating Dragon's Egg. But when would I read it?

[issybird]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

What am I to do? It's only the 7th July, and I've already bought six books!

After not being out any cash on one wishlist book in June, I already know I'll be purchasing at least four books this month; I have three $3 credits at Google Play to use and some Amazon credit that expires at the end of the month. It will all be used on wishlist books and to minimize cash outlay, although I do want to factor in desirability as well as miserliness.

What can you do?

Originally Posted by nabsltd

I have at least 50 EPUB and MOBI/AZW ebooks that are either no longer available for sale in the US, or only available as PDF. So, buying when you can isn't a bad idea. Unlike physical books that have gone out of print, you can't rely on the secondhand market.

Originally Posted by Tarana

I agree Nabsltd with sometimes having to get something because it will be taken off due to some rights thing or other. I mostly run into that with audiobooks, but occasionally with an ebook as well. Usually it's a series. Doesn't do much good if you have books 2, 3 and 4 if you can't get 1.

Well, until the books get converted to read status you can't know if they were a good idea, either. Unavailable, never-read books are still money wasted, especially since they have no residual value; you can't give them or donate them, as I do with paper books that I never read and I know I never will read. At least the public library can make a few bucks from them.

Tastes can change and there are always more desirable books, which is why we're all here. I'm not saying buying on a deal is a terrible idea, either, but I think you have to exercise a lot of discrimination on purchases that fall into the "someday" camp. I certainly wish I had exercised more in the past few years!

[Timboli]

I bought my first ebook, from Amazon, back in very early 2012. And while I have bought a small number from other sources, I now have 435 that I bought from Amazon alone.

I still kept buying physical books for a while, especially as I often had to, as they either weren't available as an ebook or far too expensive, or I just wanted to keep books in a series all in the same format. In the last year or so, I have generally stopped buying physical books. As much as I like physical books, for a variety or reasons, I prefer reading an ebook now. Which doesn't say much for my well over 10,000 physical book collection ... many of which I have not yet read ... and often get overlooked as I turn to the next ebook ... most of which I haven't read either.

It has been a state for me for many years now, where I buy far more than I can read in a given period. I guess some would see that as some kind of addiction.

Many I got from sales tables years ago, where they were all the rage for a while. But the truth of the matter, is I follow too many authors and try to keep up with them all. I also have a wide variety of taste, and like something fresh and new, so I continue to make good discoveries. In fact, my first bought ebook, was one such ... and now I have bought about 20 by that author ... all his published works.

It is a struggle to keep up with all I should be reading, let alone all I have to read.

In more recent years, I have tamed my impulse to buy somewhat, by making sure I only buy when the price is right. To help myself with that, I created a program, that is both Wishlist and History Record and Price Checker. It has helped me see patterns in pricing, and general pick the best moment to buy. It has taught me to be patient, and I have saved considerably since I started using the program.

I use my program, KindEbook Wishlist, once or twice a day, usually at start and end. I select a couple of options and click a button, and less than 10 minutes later, I get a visual and text report of any price changes.

Many times now, I have seen an ebook drop in price by a few or several dollars, just for a day, then go back up again in price. If not for my program and diligent use, I would have missed most if not all of those 24 hour specials.

On top of all my book purchases (ebook & physical), I also have a huge collection of free ebooks, mostly from Project Gutenberg, but also a few other places.

There is no hope for me. I am addicted to books, and there is no way I will read them all in the time left to me in this life.

What am I to do? Science is progressing too slow, and immortality or some kind of life extension is still beyond my reach.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Timboli

I buy far more than I can read in a given period. I guess some would see that as some kind of addiction.

Unless you're happy with mere possession, the only reason to buy a book is to read it. If one is buying more books than one can read (i.e. one's TBR pile keeps growing) then you're not being selective enough.

It's better, IMO, to be selective at the purchase point than when choosing what to read next.

Of course, some of us are better than others at this. I have only just managed to keep my books removed slightly more than my books added this year.

Welcome to the thread. Recognising your addiction is the first step to controlling it.