Ebook Buying Addicts' Support Thread

[issybird]

Right now, my TBR is down 23 on the year if I count WIPs. Not much, considering the size of the stash, but it's still the first year I'll be down in I don't know how long.

[pdurrant]

Many congratulations! Keep it up!

Now if I'd carried on commuting by train, I'd be 30-40 books down......

I really must tackle it from the other end, as you have done.

[PurpleStar]

I failed miserably the last few months and bought waaaaay too much. Some sales got to me and I wanted other books. Really gotta be in more control this next year!

[Tarana]

I'm always a failure in December with Audible. I save up all the novellas and books that are $12-$14 for the 50% off sale (50% off regular price).

I'm trying to decide my goals for next year. I think I will cancel my Audible account until November. I'll miss some sales, but not the best ones. I am also going to stop the free book newsletter. Yep, I've had some good books from there, but they are taking away from stuff I've already PURCHASED. Four audios to use up credits/balance by Jan. 11. That's going to be TOUGH!

[issybird]

I won't be buying anything today, so I thought I'd do my year-end roundup.

In 2017, I bought 22 books for $42 (counting only cash outlay; I used a lot of "funny money"). I'll have a net reduction in my TBR of 19; I'd hoped to finish up a couple of WIPs, but it's not happening today so I'll have to carry them forward.

There's room for improvement. I'd have liked to have reduced my TBR somewhat more; a few of my purchases were mistakes; I'd have liked to have read more of what I bought this year (the acid test of whether or not a purchase was a good one). Just the same, I'm pleased overall. The outlay at less than a buck a week was trivial; this is the first year (possibly in forever) that I've reduced my TBR; I've been pretty successful at not letting a sale price create a want as almost all of my purchases were wishlist items.

So I'm hoping I've nurtured good habits to the extent that it'll be clear sailing in 2018, but I know vigilance is necessary. Some slopes are very slippery.

[pdurrant]

Many congratulations.

I have failed to reduce my TBR this year. If I hadn't switched to a car share for my commuting, perhaps I would have done. But the main reason is just buying too many books.

143 books bought this year for £224.00 (mostly Amazon no rush credits). Only 160 books read (some were freebies). TBR increased by four.

Much better than I've done recently. in 2016 it increased by 40. In 2015 by 37. In 2014 it decreased by 50. But that was an accounting fiddle - read 238 and bought 295, so really an increase of 57. In 2013 an increase of 72.

2012 was the last time my TBR actually reduced, with reading more than I bought.

2018 will be another year of reduction! I shall be far more cautious about my buying.

[June]

Not good, TBR +42 just in December.... And +143 for the year....

[Fbone]

For 2017 I purchased 10 books costing $19.04. Not bad. However, I only read four of them. Google Play promos were the cause of the extra buys.

[PurpleStar]

I've resisted some Kobo sales in the last couple days. My bank account and my to be read "pile" thanks me. I hope I can resist a lot more. Gotta stay strong and buy less.

[astrangerhere]

Losing my job in August really showed me just how well I can do without buying new books. Going "shopping" in my own collection via Calibre's cover browser and making great use of my incredible public library (best in the state!), kept my spending to zero from August to December.

[pdurrant]

Best wishes for a new job in the New Year.

Perhaps I should rejoice in my TBR after all.

[DrNefario]

Two last-minute purchases (in paper!) today, mean it is 111 out and 97 in (56 paid), for a reduction of 14. I'm not too unhappy with that.

I allow myself to be distracted by challenges too easily, and don't read the great books I already have, but then I enjoy doing them, so I'm not sure I want to change that.

[CRussel]

I was doing really well until this last week or so. But all the poking around for what I wanted to nominate for the New Leaf Book Club starting tomorrow got me thinking of (and finding) all sorts of books I wanted. I got a bit carried away! Especially when things were on sale. And I've got three favourite series that have new books coming in the next week. But after that, I need to buckle down!

[wandalynn]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

EDIT, June 2012:

In this thread we've come up with three simple guidelines to help us resist the purchase of too many new ebooks.

1. Add to wish list rather than buying
2. Only buy if on special offer and on your wish list
3. Only exception is most recent in series by favourite authors.

And yes, freebies don't count.

EDIT: April 2014:

Some more useful ideas for resisting temptation:

• Compare the prospective purchase with the rest of your TBR. Do you want to read it more than 50% of your TBR? If not, don't buy.
• Reading a series? Don't buy the next release until you've finished all the rest, unless it's 90% off or more.

* I don't think I can possibly resist getting interesting-looking free ebooks

A bit of New Year organizing made me realize I have a problem. I have paperbooks and ebooks floating around that I plan to read *someday*. So many, that when I see a sale on a book I'm interested in, I can't remember if I've already bought it. So I started a shelf on LibraryThing of 'books I own but haven't read' that ended up with 182 entries. Hmmm... that's many, many years of reading even if I never buy another book or borrow any from the library.

What caught my eye on this thread (besides the title) was this very good strategy:

Compare the prospective purchase with the rest of your TBR. Do you want to read it more than 50% of your TBR? If not, don't buy.


which I'm going to practice this coming year. The other thing I'm going to do is go through my list of books and cull out any I don't think I'd ever read, even on a desert island. That's probably no more than 20-30, though.

So, I'm starting out 2018 with 182 books on my 'own but haven't read' list. We'll see how it goes this coming year....

After a hard look at my ebooks the list is now culled down to 153 books.

[pdurrant]

Welcome to the thread. I hope the cumulative wisdom of the thread helps you.

You've reminded me to remove the nice things I wrote in the first post about freebies. I'm more and more coming to the view that if you wouldn't have bought it if it was £1, there's no point in getting it just because it's free....