How many free books have you read?

[Yapyap]

I've read perhaps a dozen ebooks I've legally got for free (a couple of public domain, a few self-published books, a couple of big publisher free promo books, one Baen free book). The overwhelming majority of the ebooks I read I've bought and paid for.

I've downloaded a lot more (well over 200), mostly self-published and traditional publisher free promos, although I've become a lot more picky about them lately, only picking up those that come recommended and sound interesting (or are traditionally published and sound interesting).

Once downloaded/acquired, price doesn't play a big role, although I do tend to give precedence to the books I've actually paid for - less so because of the price and more so because if I've already bought a book for actual money, it's more likely to be a "have a more than a vague possible interest in it" sort of book.

On the other hand, I decided to try and include reading at least one self-published book a month this year, so while I've also paid money for some self-published books, I expect I'll be trying to get through at least some of the free downloads I've saved.

I don't think I'd buy a book I've legally acquired for free, although I'm willing to pay money for the same author's other books if I've enjoyed the free book. So far that hasn't actually happened; there have been a few authors I may consider in the future, as I found their free offerings reasonably entertaining, but my to-be-read pile is so high that I've tried to avoid adding new books in "maybe" series/authors to it.

[5thWiggle]

How many free books have you read?
At least 200, a mix of classics (PG), indies, and other promos.

When deciding to read a free book, did you consider reading a book that cost money?
It depends on my mood. If I wanted to read, say, Jules Verne or some other classic , it's because that's what I wanted to read. It's doubtful I'd change my mind cause I'm an ornery sunnabitch, and reading something else in place of what I wanted would colour the experience of what I was reading.
However, if I was on an new author hunt then I would pick the book that most appealed to me whether it was free or not. I often use Dreams's excellent (but unfortunately not stickied) thread to find new authors . https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73900

Have you gotten a free book, and then decided to purchase a copy of the book? If so, why?
No, but I'll often buy more books by the same author if I liked a free one.

Has the availability of free books influenced your perception of how much a book should cost?
Why would it? IMO, a freebie book is just like any other coupon, BOGO offer, or giveaway by any other product manufacture. If I already like the product (author), I'm going to buy it anyway but it's nice to get it on sale. If I don't know the product(author), a good deal might entice me try it and to buy more.

[Fozzybear]

Other than one (which was 20p) all my e-books are freebies, either public domain classics, long-term free books or short term freebies. These are the ones I've read:

Shelley The Lifeboat Labrador by John Periam (currently reading)
My Name is Paul by Kyle R. James
The Walk by Lee Goldberg
329: a fable by Christopher Valle
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
The Last Bookstore In America by Amy Stewart
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
Taming Mighty Alaska by William C. Anderson

I won't just read a book "because it's free", my reading time is precious and it takes me a while to read books so I try to pick ones that I have at least a reasonable chance of enjoying and if I can't find one that looks good I'll read one of the many paper books I have yet to read on my bookshelf.

They've not affected the amount I spend on e-books as I don't really buy e-books anyway: if you couldn't get free e-books then there's no way I would have bought an e-reader in the first place, I got it to read classics and freebies on. It most definitely has affected my purchasing of paper books though as I'd drifted away from reading over the previous year but since getting the Kindle I've spent a lot more than I ever had on books and the e-reader has actually given me a new appreciation for old editions of books and good second-hand bookshops.

Free e-books don't stop me buying new books, if I see a book I want to read I'll buy it to read in the future (though I'll wait and borrow a paper copy from the library if I'm not 100% sure about it). Free books haven't affected how much I'll pay for books, though I've always been quite tight when it comes to fiction books and always buy from supermarkets, budget bookshops and secondhand/charity bookshops if I can find what I want there!

[ckim06]

One of the main reasons I got my ereader was that I could check out free books from the library. I've probably read several dozen.

[ckim06]

If you like using Overdrive, I really like this app.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...rarybooksearch

I live in Los Angeles with several Overdrive collections. This app allows me to search every library collection at once, then check out the one that is available. If the book is popular, I can get on the waiting list with the shortest wait time.

The also support local libraries and the app is free!

[Asawi]

I don't have numbers, but I have read some free (or almost free) books. I have started way more than I've finished though because they haven't been very good. I very, very rarely download freebies now.
(Public domain classics are excluded from what I said.)

[Barty]

If you don't count library books, then pretty much all the free ebooks I've read are public domain.

I think I read Winnie the pooh, which came free with iBooks. I don't think the book is PD yet.

Point is, I don't go seeking books that cost $0 to read. I try to find books I want to read, then consider the cost. There are always other books I could be reading, and I can only read so many books, so just being free isn't inducement enough for me.

Contrast that with, say, movies, where I can veg out in front of the TV and watch something just cause it's free (well, not really, I pay for cable). Reading requires more effort, even with an ereader.

[mparker]

Originally Posted by petrucci

How many free books have you read?

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

I've read approximately 20 free books. I find a lot of them on Freebooksy, which I like because they only post books with good reviews on Amazon. I've enjoyed most of the ones that I've downloaded from there, which is more than I can say for just looking at the 'free' section on Amazon!

When I download a free book, I do usually poke around the non-free section of Amazon. I read very quickly and therefore download a few books at once!

I hope that helps :-)

[faithbw]

I've downloaded lots of free e-books but according to Goodreads, I have only read three so far. I completed two. I read ~50 pages of the third one before giving up on it. I'm trying to read more of my freebies (I started another last night) but I usually get distracted by both the p-books and the e-books that I borrow from the library.

[theducks]

Yea! Baen Free Library
Oh! I own a lot of those in dead tree mode,. Does that in-validate the 'Free' part?


Same goes for the Baen CD's, I just got a Free e-edition.

A few free books have done what was intended... Got me on the hook for the next few that were NOT free

[John Carroll]

I read fantasy books and love getting the first book free. If I like the first book, I buy the others.