How many free books have you read?

[ATDrake]

1) Number of non-library non-public-domain-classic non-previously-read (I have a bunch of Baen books, and some of their Free Library stuff I'd previously read from my regular library) non-obligation (i.e. stuff I read from the Hugo Voter Packet) official promo freebie e-books read in full since getting my Kindle in 2010: 62

Countless others abandoned.

2) Of course. I'm up to several hundred as-yet unread e-books and when I choose a freebie to try, it's either because it's got some sort of very compelling (or simply very cracktastic) element in the story or it's from an author/imprint that I'm curious about, or I want to try it in advance of possibly purchasing a related work on sale.

So I'm very picky about the freebies I try and finish.

3) No. I don't repurchase books I've gotten for free, although I will spend money on related non-free works if I liked the freebie enough.

Number of freebie books which I've read for which I've gone out and purchased at least 1 related title afterward (often more if in series): 28

4) Not particularly. It's the current going price of paid books and the value-for-money both storywise and from proofreading/formatting competence which influences how much I think I should pay for mine.

[QuantumIguana]

Since I got my e-reader, my reading has increased significantly. I've read some free public domain books, but I've also bought more books, both in paper and in e-book format.

[Namekuseijin]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

I've not seen any evidence that people are digging works out of the slush pile of the public domain and calling it a classic.

yet. Because it has only begun in the large scheme of things.

BTW, for the record, I think I've read about 50 gutenberg ebooks so far on my smartphone.

[spindlegirl]

I have read a few short free e-books. But my favorite free e-books are the MR and PG libraries.

[caleb72]

This year really has been the freebie year for me with me downloading at least a couple books every day. I now limit it pretty much to those lists I've subscribed to because I don't have the time to trawl anymore.

The large majority remain unread but I have put quite a few on my TBR list for this year. I also get most of the books I review for my site as donations from authors, but I have gone out and purchased more than one copy of some of those books afterwards. Generally, if I like a review book enough, I'll purchase it myself and quite often purchase copies as gifts for other people (mainly family members).

Some books I've grabbed as giveaways that are still on my TBR list for this year:

Turing Evolved - David Kitson
Season of the Harvest - Michael Hicks
Forsaken - Andrew van Wey
The Burning Sky - Joseph Robert Lewis
Endurance - Jack Kilbourne/J A Konrath
Loki - Mike Vasich
Reunion - Jeff Bennington
Rain - Leigh Cunningham
Clay's Way - Blair Mastbaum
The Bow of Heaven - Andrew Levkoff
Diary of the Displaced - Glynn James
Jabberwocky - Daniel Coleman
Yesterday's Gone (Episode 1&2) - Sean Platt
The Turtle Boy - Kealan Patrick Burke
The Painted Darkness - Brian James Freeman

Along with a bunch of short stories and novellas also on the list.

This isn't counting books specifically submitted to me for review. I just hope I get to all of them.

[xg4bx]

i download every one that either looks interesting or i'm familiar with through my amazon recommendations list. however i've only read a handful. i simply put a far higher priority on books i actually paid for.

[elemenoP]

About 90% of the books I read are library ebooks, so they are free. I have never liked a library book so much that I felt compelled to buy it afterward.

I have downloaded probably 100 or so freebies, and I've read maybe 5. Plus a few more public domain titles, either from here or from the B&N Classics series back when they were giving those away for free. I keep telling myself I will try one of the freebies... and then another library book comes in! So I never get around to reading them... and yet I continue to download them.

And actually a lot of the pbooks I read are free. In my neighborhood people put books out on the street when they are done reading them. I have picked up some interesting books that way.

eP

[Blue Tyson]

would be a four figure number

[mikeayers]

Just about all the books I read (50+ a year) are free. Most are from here or Guttenberg, but many come for Amazon Baen, or Smashwords.

[GA Russell]

These answers suggest to me the possibility of public domain print books going out of print. It won't be too much longer before almost everyone in the US who likes to read pd books (like me) will own an eBook reader.

[dreams]

How many free books have you read?

about 150 non PD
2012 - all have been free so far (maybe one or two I purchased last year)

When deciding to read a free book, did you consider reading a book that cost money?

No. I choose whatever sounds interesting to me at the time I want to read. This year, I have a goal to not purchase for 6 months and all my choices will come from my TBR pile (mostly freebies or previously purchased)

Have you gotten a free book, and then decided to purchase a copy of the book? If so, why?

No. If I like the writing of the author, I will purchase something else from that author - if any other books sound interesting. I have discovered some fun indie authors this way and I may not have discovered them without the offer of a freebie from them.

Has the availability of free books influenced your perception of how much a book should cost?

Free books have nothing to do with what I wish to spend for books.

If this is about indie authors feeling they should price their books higher than $0.99 to make them appear to have worth, I would say..

If the author is unknown/untried by me and it looks interesting, I will not pay more than a dollar.

I've deleted quite a few indie books (purchased and freebies) that I felt were junk. A few could have been good books, if the author had just taken the time to have it edited and proofed (professionally) before publishing. This more than anything has made me very unwilling to pay more than change for unknown to me indie works.

[Gudy]

Originally Posted by petrucci

How many free books have you read?

Hundreds. More than 200 from Baen alone, plus loads of freebies offered here, there and everywhere from either the publishers or authors.

Originally Posted by petrucci

When deciding to read a free book, did you consider reading a book that cost money?

Bzuh? My decision to read a book is influenced by things like my current interests, the blurb, previous stories by the same author etc. but not the price. Price does play a role in my decision to acquire e-books in the first place, though. At this point I have so many hundreds of books in my to-read pile that only those books that really pique my interest have a chance to be bought for actual money. Still happens on a regular basis, though.

Originally Posted by petrucci

Have you gotten a free book, and then decided to purchase a copy of the book? If so, why?

Yep. Because I really liked the books and wanted to pay back the author.

Originally Posted by petrucci

Has the availability of free books influenced your perception of how much a book should cost?

Somewhat, yes. But to be honest, Baen's fair pricing of their DRM-free multi-format offerings has had hugely more influence on my ideas of what an e-book should cost and my subsequent refusal to buy the overpriced, DRM-infested stuff that is usually on offer from most e-book outlets.

[charlesatan]

Originally Posted by petrucci

How many free books have you read?

I've read a few ones (usually those under the Creative Commons License).

Originally Posted by petrucci

When deciding to read a free book, did you consider reading a book that cost money?

I've considered and have bought eBooks.

Originally Posted by petrucci

Have you gotten a free book, and then decided to purchase a copy of the book? If so, why?

So far not yet, but it would also depend if the book is readily available and under what license.

Originally Posted by petrucci

Has the availability of free books influenced your perception of how much a book should cost?

No. Some people charge for them and for some, they don't.

[androm]

I'm administrator of the eBook store www.ubreader.com, and the stats says that about 90% of all downloaded eBooks are free.

[rhadin]

I "buy" mostly free ebooks and I do read them -- or try to; often the books are so poorly written and clearly not professionally edited, that I delete the ebook after a couple dozen pages or so. But I do use the free ebooks as introductions to an unknown author or series. If I like the free ebook enough that I want to read more by the author, I will buy other ebooks by the author if they are reasonably priced (i.e., no more than $5.99). This is what happened with authors like Michael Hicks (fantasy), Vicki Tyley (mysteries), L.J. Sellers (mysteries), Shayne Parkinson (historical fiction), Tracy Falbe (fantasy), Richard Tuttle (fantasy), and some others.

In the case of each of the named authors, I started with a free book, found I liked their writing very much, and bought as many of their other books as were available, and I keep a watch out for new books. In the case of Tuttle, I bought more than 20 ebooks that he wrote after discovering him via a freebie.

Free ebooks have not had a conscious effect on my view of ebook pricing except to the extent that I am unwilling to pay more than 99 cents for a book from an unknown author.