Ebook Buying Addicts' Support Thread

[PurpleStar]

I did something worse than buying ebooks. I bought PAPER books. Well my Star Trek collection looks nice that way.

[Tarana]

Originally Posted by PurpleStar

I did something worse than buying ebooks. I bought PAPER books. Well my Star Trek collection looks nice that way.

My sister is also unwilling to divest the Star Trek paperback book collection. Which is fine - she has a bookshelf specifically for it (yeah, she goes to the conventions).

[PurpleStar]

Originally Posted by Tarana

My sister is also unwilling to divest the Star Trek paperback book collection. Which is fine - she has a bookshelf specifically for it (yeah, she goes to the conventions).

Can't blame her! I just can't let go of them. I have all the TNG numbered books, most of the TOS books, etc. And I like adding the new ones each month. I don't mind reading paperbacks now and then either. They are just too addicting and the covers and spines are pretty too! (Got rid of most of my other paper books. NOT the Star Trek!)

[issybird]

Hi, my name is issy and I'm an ebook buying addict.

I haven't taken a meeting in a long time; I've been too ashamed. I haven't been able to read since mid-summer and one would think that meant that I didn't but any ebooks, either. Actually, I know the good people here get it,.

To survey the year, things were humming along nicely through May, but as we know, it's a mistake to become complacent. The summer months were a disaster, as I fell to various sales and Kobo coupons even as I couldn't read the books. Things have been more or less on track since October, except that I didn't make up for my summer bender and it's all been a net addition to my TBR.

Fortunately for my mental stability, unlike others here I don't have an exact count of my TBR. *shudders* But seriously, I'm insane. Why do I do this? The one grace note is that I'm still far better off than I was in earlier years of unlimited Kobo coupons, both in outlay and in accumulation.

I'm trying to do some sober stock-taking and fashion a realistic hairshirt for 2017, keeping my unfortunate weakness in mind. No ebooks at all, which would seem reasonable, would just be setting myself up for failure.

[pdurrant]

Welcome back, issy.

I wish it had just been a summer spree for me. There have only been two months this where I was under my spending target.

I'm going to try to be more controlled next year. And I'm going to try to practise for that by being restrained this month. I only have two subscriptions coming in this month. Perhaps I can keep my spending below £20 for December and make it 3/12 under target!

[issybird]

Thanks, Paul.

I've decided on two stratagems (so far) for 2017. One is to keep my purchase list for this year front and center, as a constant reproach and encouragement to be more mindful. Even if I'd like to read the books, there's no point if I don't read them.

The other is to slow down! My one resounding success this year was in the purchase of pbooks. I slipped in January and bought one, but that was it. I see a pbook I want (because it's not available as an ebook), put it into a wishlist at Amazon and walk away.

You've advocated the wishlist strategy for a long time and you're right. I have a most unfortunate tendency to think good coupons must be used and, worse, to see an ebook I want and seek out a coupon. I'm toying with the notion of having to wait a specific time before pulling the trigger. A day? Two? This won't work with exploding sales, but if the sale created the want that's a good thing. (An obvious exception is if the book's already wishlist, as you've said.) But it's amazing how less compelling a purchase becomes when you don't get it in that first rush.

Oh, and I need to show up here more often, especially when I'm doing badly!

[WestCactus]

3353 titles and adding each day. I usually watch for sales. Intervention time!

[Cinisajoy]

I am not having much luck on ebooks.

[Dr. Drib]

It's too late!

No one helped me!

You are all to blame.

(Yes! Even you!)

Due to such poor support in this thread, I just spent slightly over $100 at Radio Archive.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

It's too late!

No one helped me!

You are all to blame.

(Yes! Even you!)

Due to such poor support in this thread, I just spent slightly over $100 at Radio Archive.

Oh no, if I was to blame you would have spent 5 times that much.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by WestCactus

3353 titles and adding each day. I usually watch for sales. Intervention time!

Welcome to the thread.

If you've already tried the suggestions in the first post of this thread, the only thing left to do is to go for a complete ban on ebook buying.

Don't look at the sales. Unsubscribe from offer emails. Just enjoy reading the books you have for six months.

I might resort to that in 2018 if I don't make my 2017 goal of reducing my TBR over the year.

[issybird]

I'm setting myself a baby goal of not buying anything this month. Since not-buying gets easier with habit, I'm hopeful that will get me off to a good start in 2017.

In fact, I shouldn't buy anything in 2017, but that's not realistic. I have to come up with goal-girdle that will constrain me without rupturing.

[CRussel]

Aaarrrrgggghhh. I just had a total meltdown and bought a good half dozen books, mostly audio. It was a totally unconscious action, I was already half way through the process before I even became aware of it. All were WhisperSync books, and in one case I was buying in the wrong direction, getting an eBook for an Audible book, so didn't even get a discount. At least the book was reasonably priced.

MUST get control. I've been really good all fall, and now this. Sigh.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Aaarrrrgggghhh. I just had a total meltdown and bought a good half dozen books, mostly audio. It was a totally unconscious action, I was already half way through the process before I even became aware of it. All were WhisperSync books, and in one case I was buying in the wrong direction, getting an eBook for an Audible book, so didn't even get a discount. At least the book was reasonably priced.

MUST get control. I've been really good all fall, and now this. Sigh.

We've all been there, Charlie. Sprees develop a momentum and we get swept away.I need to redevelop my own powers of resistance.

At least at this time of year, we'll soon be able to draw a line under our annual purchases and resolve on doing better next year.

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by issybird

I'm setting myself a baby goal of not buying anything this month. Since not-buying gets easier with habit, I'm hopeful that will get me off to a good start in 2017.

In fact, I shouldn't buy anything in 2017, but that's not realistic. I have to come up with goal-girdle that will constrain me without rupturing.

I need to do a better job of going from "purchased" to "processed and loaded." I've come to accept that I'm dissatisfied with the way most ebooks are formatted - I'm a perfectionist that way - but I've got a monstrous backlog of books I've bought and want to read which are just waiting to go through my cleanup process. If I were being sane about this, I'd steer clear of stores and acquisition and focus on that cleanup and preparation step, filling my device with the hundreds of books I already have in limbo. Instead, it's so bad that I've triaged my purchases into three grades of processing urgency, even though few of those are actually getting done. The piles just get larger.

I think that's one of the reasons I've read so many graphic novels recently. There's no processing step with them; I can jump straight from "buy" to "read" and finish even a large volume in a short time.