Ebook Buying Addicts' Support Thread - Page 151

Katsunami · 01-07-2014, 06:40 PM

I just "bought" a book of which I didn't know that it existed.

Kobo added a book to my library, "Just because you're a loyal customer". Thanks.

I would have liked it, if they had done so with an author of which I already have books in the library, or if they had at least chosen a book from a genre of one of the books in my library.

Now I have a book in my library that I'll probably never read, because I don't know the (Chinese) author, I can't determine the genre of the book, I can't actually find the book anywhere; not on the author's Wikipedia page, nor on Kobo's own site if I search for it. LAWL! And so on...

Nice, kthxbye.

pdurrant · 01-08-2014, 06:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katsunami

I just "bought" a book of which I didn't know that it existed.

Kobo added a book to my library, "Just because you're a loyal customer".

That's OK. Freebies don't count. (I don't add freebies to my TBR list, unless they look really interesting.)

Tarana · 01-09-2014, 02:55 PM

Added another book (that's 4) although this was was purchased NOW rather than later because my sis wanted to read it. It's one of these read-the-series-in-order things. This is Christopher Stasheff's first series and I've been holding off starting it because I was hoping more of the books would show up in ebook. Anyway, total for month is just over $10. I have to resist purchases better if I'm going to have budget to spend in November.

In addition, I have several books that I'm going to send in to be OCR'd. I'll have to count that cost. The good news is that these are old books, so the cost will be low since I think all of them are under 200 pages. Way easier than doing it myself and it will give me an excuse to learn Sigil or something similar.

Good thing free books are, well, free. I think I got 14 of them in the last week. Nearly all are scifi.

latepaul · 01-11-2014, 09:32 AM

A friend of mine just uploaded a couple of his books to Amazon, so I downloaded them to support him. Fortunately I already had one of them in an earlier version so I'm only counting this as +1.

Rev. Bob · 01-11-2014, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by latepaul

A friend of mine just uploaded a couple of his books to Amazon, so I downloaded them to support him. Fortunately I already had one of them in an earlier version so I'm only counting this as +1.

I just found out that since I read a three-book series in December 2012, the author has since published FIVE more books in the line.

At least I only picked up the first new book. I'm hoping the rest go on sale when book nine, which is intended to conclude either the series or at least this main character's arc, comes out around 2Q.

Tarana · 01-11-2014, 04:06 PM

I'm such a victim of my addiction. Couldn't help myself. It was the SciFI Kindle deal of the day and it really looked good. Good thing it is an omnibus.

DrNefario · 01-12-2014, 06:19 AM

That's even worse, for me, since I count all the books separately. Good value, but bad for the total TBR.

Tarana · 01-12-2014, 05:58 PM

Quote:

That's even worse, for me, since I count all the books separately. Good value, but bad for the total TBR.

While TBR books are an issue, I'm trying to get my budget under control. I'll need to replace the mini-van in 4 years or so (it's pre-milenium), so saving as though I'm making a car payment.

CRussel · 01-13-2014, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

That's OK. Freebies don't count. (I don't add freebies to my TBR list, unless they look really interesting.)

Your encouragement has gotten me to start costing and cataloging the source for each of my books. I've only managed to do the most recent 129 books, but I'm encouraged -- I'm doing better than I thought.

So far, my average cost is $2.19, primarily because fully half of them have been from free sources. A couple of Amazon freebies, but mostly the Library, or what I have listed as "Other". This category includes mostly PD books (I'm in a +50 country), and a few darknet books I couldn't get any other way. (I try to be conscientious - when they become available from legitimate sources, I buy them. Reminds me, I need to add a column for that!)

My most expensive source is Kobo, even with the coupons. But that's in large part because I've used Kobo and the coupons to buy some expensive books I wouldn't have bought otherwise. But 50% of a $14 book is still $7.00, which is expensive. My average Amazon cost is $6.07 (tax included, since I buy Amazon books from my address in Washington state), and my average Baen cost is a mere $2.82. (Includes a couple of books from ISO images on 5th Imperium, and one from the Baen Free Library.)

pdurrant · 01-13-2014, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CRussel

So far, my average cost is $2.19, primarily because fully half of them have been from free sources.

Just as I don't count freebies in my TBR, I don't count them when calculating my average purchased ebooks costs. My average cost for bought books over my whole library is $3.01.

Hmm.. I could do it by year, too.
2002 $2.52
2003 $2.71
2004 $4.06
2005 $3.36
2006 $2.39
2007 $3.25
2008 $3.90
2009 $3.52
2010 $2.16
2011 $2.71
2012 $2.65 ($2.27 by contemporary calculation)
2013 $2.53 ($2.48 by contemporary calculation)

I think the 2010 figure is misleading because of a large number of short stories bought from Fictionwise that year. I'm not sure it actually tells us much, except that I've been buying less expensive books the past four years.

I'm pleased to say that less than half-way through the month, and my TBR is back to what it was at the start of the month! This is good, since my ebook buying is usually heavily weighted to the start of the month, that being when I count Baen Bundles, F&SF and Grantville Gazette.

Looking at bought:read I'm doing even better, as three books on my TBR were gifts!

CRussel · 01-13-2014, 03:19 PM

I tend to count free books as real, since I don't bother to acquire them if I don't actually want to read them. There are a few exceptions to that -- free books that initially look interesting, but then I decide against them for one reason or another. But since they are often books I might otherwise buy, if I'm able to get them for free, I count them towards the overall cost of reading (and being addicted to buying eBooks, since they work equally as well as actual buying!)

pdurrant · 01-13-2014, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CRussel

I tend to count free books as real, since I don't bother to acquire them if I don't actually want to read them. There are a few exceptions to that -- free books that initially look interesting, but then I decide against them for one reason or another. But since they are often books I might otherwise buy, if I'm able to get them for free, I count them towards the overall cost of reading (and being addicted to buying eBooks, since they work equally as well as actual buying!)

Fair enough. I've been taking the opposite view. If there's any chance I might be interested in reading it in the future, I grab it while it's free. But therefore, I don't add them to my TBR. (Calibre's Yes/No columns are really three-state: Yes, No and Undefined. Freebies have their "Read" in the Undefined state unless I decide that I want to read them, in which case I flip it to 'No". Once read, it gets flipped to "Yes".

CRussel · 01-13-2014, 05:02 PM

I no longer maintain a "read/not read" column. I find myself more and more wanting to re-read books, especially as new books in favourite series come out. I can't imagine starting in on the new Foreigner book, for example, without re-reading at least the last most recent, and maybe the one before that. Too much going on and I lose track of all that has happened. Which reminds me, I need to leave time to do that before the new one gets here this spring.

What I do maintain is a ToBeRead collection that includes books I definitely want to read in the "near" future. Though I admit, some books have been on there for rather longer than I'd care to admit.

pdurrant · 01-13-2014, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CRussel

What I do maintain is a ToBeRead collection that includes books I definitely want to read in the "near" future. Though I admit, some books have been on there for rather longer than I'd care to admit.

More than ten years? My oldest TBRs are that age. Including the one I'm reading at the moment!

CRussel · 01-13-2014, 05:50 PM

No, nothing quite that old, since I only maintain a TBR of eBooks. Which means it only dates back to my first Kindle, a K2. I have eBooks from before then, but bought since. Or acquired such as the CD I never used from the back of the David Weber book. Until I got my Kindle and then I went "oh, NOW I get it." I was never going to read much online beyond quick lookups and research. But reading for pleasure? I need a book or eReader or even tablet to do that.

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01-07-2014, 06:40 PM	#2251
Katsunami Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,111 Karma: 34000001 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: KPW1, KA1	I just "bought" a book of which I didn't know that it existed. Kobo added a book to my library, "Just because you're a loyal customer". Thanks. I would have liked it, if they had done so with an author of which I already have books in the library, or if they had at least chosen a book from a genre of one of the books in my library. Now I have a book in my library that I'll probably never read, because I don't know the (Chinese) author, I can't determine the genre of the book, I can't actually find the book anywhere; not on the author's Wikipedia page, nor on Kobo's own site if I search for it. LAWL! And so on... Nice, kthxbye.

01-09-2014, 02:55 PM	#2253
Tarana Wizard Posts: 4,040 Karma: 38840460 Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Minneapolis Device: PWSE, Voyage, K3, HDX, KBasic 7 & 8, Nook Glo3, Echos, Nanos	Added another book (that's 4) although this was was purchased NOW rather than later because my sis wanted to read it. It's one of these read-the-series-in-order things. This is Christopher Stasheff's first series and I've been holding off starting it because I was hoping more of the books would show up in ebook. Anyway, total for month is just over $10. I have to resist purchases better if I'm going to have budget to spend in November. In addition, I have several books that I'm going to send in to be OCR'd. I'll have to count that cost. The good news is that these are old books, so the cost will be low since I think all of them are under 200 pages. Way easier than doing it myself and it will give me an excuse to learn Sigil or something similar. Good thing free books are, well, free. I think I got 14 of them in the last week. Nearly all are scifi.

01-11-2014, 09:32 AM	#2254
latepaul Wizard Posts: 1,270 Karma: 10468300 Join Date: Dec 2011 Device: a variety (mostly kindles and kobos)	A friend of mine just uploaded a couple of his books to Amazon, so I downloaded them to support him. Fortunately I already had one of them in an earlier version so I'm only counting this as +1.

01-11-2014, 04:06 PM	#2256
Tarana Wizard Posts: 4,040 Karma: 38840460 Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Minneapolis Device: PWSE, Voyage, K3, HDX, KBasic 7 & 8, Nook Glo3, Echos, Nanos	I'm such a victim of my addiction. Couldn't help myself. It was the SciFI Kindle deal of the day and it really looked good. Good thing it is an omnibus.

01-12-2014, 06:19 AM	#2257
DrNefario Wizard Posts: 2,207 Karma: 12029046 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: UK Device: Kindle, Kobo Touch, Nook SimpleTouch	That's even worse, for me, since I count all the books separately. Good value, but bad for the total TBR.

01-13-2014, 03:19 PM	#2261
CRussel (he/him/his) Posts: 12,296 Karma: 80074820 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), iPad Air M3	I tend to count free books as real, since I don't bother to acquire them if I don't actually want to read them. There are a few exceptions to that -- free books that initially look interesting, but then I decide against them for one reason or another. But since they are often books I might otherwise buy, if I'm able to get them for free, I count them towards the overall cost of reading (and being addicted to buying eBooks, since they work equally as well as actual buying!)

01-13-2014, 05:02 PM	#2263
CRussel (he/him/his) Posts: 12,296 Karma: 80074820 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), iPad Air M3	I no longer maintain a "read/not read" column. I find myself more and more wanting to re-read books, especially as new books in favourite series come out. I can't imagine starting in on the new Foreigner book, for example, without re-reading at least the last most recent, and maybe the one before that. Too much going on and I lose track of all that has happened. Which reminds me, I need to leave time to do that before the new one gets here this spring. What I do maintain is a ToBeRead collection that includes books I definitely want to read in the "near" future. Though I admit, some books have been on there for rather longer than I'd care to admit.

01-13-2014, 05:50 PM	#2265
CRussel (he/him/his) Posts: 12,296 Karma: 80074820 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), iPad Air M3	No, nothing quite that old, since I only maintain a TBR of eBooks. Which means it only dates back to my first Kindle, a K2. I have eBooks from before then, but bought since. Or acquired such as the CD I never used from the back of the David Weber book. Until I got my Kindle and then I went "oh, NOW I get it." I was never going to read much online beyond quick lookups and research. But reading for pleasure? I need a book or eReader or even tablet to do that.

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