# What do you think of Free Books?



## Otsana (Apr 12, 2014)

So, we all know there are hordes and hordes of free books out there. In fact, I hardly actually buy a book anymore, because I'm always helping Indie authors out for reviewing. I've read some amazing books too! I go on Facebook and pick up free books from deals, or just from groups on there. I do find that when I make a connection to the author, (we chat, or I'm active in one of the groups) I usually make an extra effort to read and review their book. I've picked up free books that really caught my eye, but for some reason they always seem to disappear in a swarm of free books on my Kindle. How many of you actually read your free books you pick up through different places? Are you more in likely to read a book you bought? I find that I forget what that free book was about, unless I read it right away, and for some reason if I don't know what it's about, I don't wanna read it. Anyone else like this?


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## Daniel Dennis (Mar 3, 2014)

I have a few freebies. I'm fairly selective though. It takes me some time to finish a book and I usually wasn't too finish the series (or catch up) before starting something new.

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## alawston (Jun 3, 2012)

I'm pretty selective when it comes to free books, I only download stuff that I might actually read and enjoy. And I've deleted quite a few from my Kindle having decided I'm unlikely ever to read them.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

At the dawn of kindle time (so, for me, July of 200, I was gobsmacked that there were books I could get FREE.  Positively giddy!    I'd spent my whole life up until then, having to carefully budget what I spent my book money on -- not having an unlimited budget, you see.  So the idea that there were books I could get for nothing was just fabulous -- never again have 'nothing' to read.  I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.

Yeah, well, I figured out the catch pretty quick.  An awful lot of those 'free' books I got early on weren't worth the paper they were printed on -- and considering they weren't printed on paper. . . well. . . you get the picture. Oh, some weren't bad. And a few were really good. But so many looked like some HS kid had just uploaded his creative writing assignment before proofreading and without having acted on any of teacher's critiques.  Seriously BAD: lacking standard formatting, spelling errors, no idea of sentence structure, grammar or formatting or, sometimes, how to properly _tell_ a story.  I was much more often disappointed than satisfied in what I got that way.

So I quickly learned to be much more discriminating. Now, I don't pick up a free book unless it looks like something I'd likely pay for anyway. And, though early on I'd been using free books as an excuse to jump out of my favorite genres, I don't do that any more. I re-learned that there was a reason why I didn't like some things and not having to pay for them didn't change that. Even free I wasn't going to enjoy a sappy romance or zombie gore fest. Blech.  I use ereaderIQ to keep track of books I've wishlisted and if one goes free or steeply discounted I jump right quick. But random things advertised to me as being free: I vet them as carefully as I would something I was going to have to pay for. Turns out, my TIME is also valuable and I don't want to waste it on junk.

All that said: I do use my free 'borrow' each month as a Prime member. But, again, I have a list of books that look appealing and are in the program and I choose from that list. These are usually books that look interesting but I don't know the author at all; I've decided I'm willing to risk a little time, but not sure I want to spend more than a couple of bucks to do it. Oh, you can tell a bit from the sample . . . but I've been burned there too: sample looks interesting -- tight, professional, intriguing -- and then you hit 10-12% and the HS kid is back.  So, for an author I've never heard of before, if the book's in the KOLL, I may borrow it 'free'. Have found a few new authors to follow that way -- have also read a few clunkers. But, as I learned the hard way, that's the risk you take.


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## MichelleB675 (May 27, 2012)

I used to grab anything free as long as it sounded mildly interesting. Next thing I knew I had 8000 books in my account. So I took a few months and sorted through them, removing all of the ones that I knew for sure I would never read and got the number down to a more reasonable 1800. Some of those paid for (but still mostly free).

I have read several of the freebies, and most of the ones I've read were fairly good, there were some that were pretty bad. Now I pick more carefully. If it was one I wanted to read and it suddenly becomes free, sure I grab it. But for the most part I don't even look at freebies anymore, too easy to end up with an insane amount of books again lol.


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## hs (Feb 15, 2011)

MichelleB675 said:


> I used to grab anything free as long as it sounded mildly interesting. Next thing I knew I had 8000 books in my account. So I took a few months and sorted through them, removing all of the ones that I knew for sure I would never read and got the number down to a more reasonable 1800. Some of those paid for (but still mostly free).


I went through this process as well, although I didn't have 8000 books to sort through, more like 800.

I've found that free books are a great way to get exposed to new authors and I've run across a few gems as a result, but I'm also more likely to abandon reading a free book than one that I paid for. I'm currently reading at least one of the free books that I downloaded each week, and I'm down to less than 100 unread! I also try to limit my free book downloads to one a week at most so that I don't fall behind again.


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## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

Free books are time consuming. I can spend an entire afternoon reading the beginning of two to 10 freebies and not read any of them.  Like the others above, I'm selective about downloading them because I know that I'll end up reading 30 pages and tossing most.  A lot of freebies are also repeats so I don't pay any attention the free listings anymore.  If I see one come across twitter or one that is on my wishlist goes free, I get it.  In fact, if I notice an author is exclusive to Amazon, and I'm interested in the book, I wishlist and wait to see if it goes free.  (This does not always work, of course.  I have had a book or two of my own in Amazon exclusive, but I have never made my books free.  I use the countdown sale and rely on borrows for the program to work.  Lots of authors do the same and those books can stay in my wishlist forever without going free.)

Lately a few of the GR threads that used to list free books are stopping or slowing down because of the number of repeats and, I think, the sheer exhaustion of checking 5 sites for freebies and relisting them.  Sometimes I'd notice one on that list and pick it up.  

That said, in my cozy group there are at least two ladies who now only read freebies on their kindle.  They have gone back to being big library readers and rarely bother to buy anything anymore.  I just had an email from one of the members mentioning she was tired of the bookbub email because it didn't have nearly as many freebies anymore and that was all she was interested in.  Shrug.  So there are fans of freebies and I'm thrilled to find a book I already listed in my wishlist for free.  When this happens it usually gets sampled very quickly (within a week or two at most).  Even then I doubt I read half of them because I'm very picky.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

I could have written most of Ann's post.  

I too was in giddy heaven starting back in 2008. I slowed down getting freebies a bit, but still to many up until I think 2011 or so. For the last year or two, I only get freebies that are vetted like paid books. I too put a lot of books on watch list on ereaderiq, I even put a lot of authors on there so if any of their books go free or on sale I can jump on it. 

Recently, I deleted permanently close to 1000 books from my account, all freebies going way back. It took me 2 weeks to sort through and mark them also in calibre and goodreads. 

As to being more or less likely to read? They are the same to me. Since I vet them the same, free and paid, I treat them the same. Often the freebies I get are temporary sales and so by the time I read them, they are back to whatever they cost normally. 

I don't go out and hunt down freebies when I look for something to read. I hunt down books I want to read and if they happen to be free, which is rarely, great. Otherwise I check the library, put them on watchlist on ereaderiq or buy them outright.  

I will not just randomly grab a free book if its not either a backlist title, a known author, other readers have recommended it. I don't read samples either and having to sift through freebies to read and not liking 9 out of 10 I start, sounds like a nightmare to me. So I don't do that. I just want to enjoy reading books. Not sift through the maybe's.


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## alawston (Jun 3, 2012)

Ann in Arlington said:


> I do use my free 'borrow' each month as a Prime member.


I've never been 'borrowed' and I don't know any Prime members to see how it works. Is it worth signing up to Prime? I'm very conflicted.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

alawston said:


> I've never been 'borrowed' and I don't know any Prime members to see how it works. Is it worth signing up to Prime? I'm very conflicted.


I see you are in London. I don't even know if that program is outside the US? Is it? Or is it just for the shipping in other countries. 
Its an added bonus for prime customers that own kindles and you get one book a month to read. The list of what is available is a bit hard to find. You have to borrow the book from a kindle, not an app, an actual kindle device. 
I usually just add books I am interesting in that are under the kindle owners lending program to a wishlist, which I can get to from my kindle. I have around 40 books right now on that wishlist, so it'll last me a while.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

I could have written most of Ann's and a few others posts too.  
I am getting very picky about free books.  Well reading books anyway.  Cooking and craft books are my weakness.
Though I actually spend more now on books because an author's freebie is good so I buy more of their books.


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Ann's post - cosigned.

I also read a lot of very specific non-fiction. Those books are a steal if under $20, so I have a very skewed view of the price of ebooks and this entire free thing. I have picked up the first in a series for free, but it was generally a series I was going to read anyway.


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

I will echo what the others have said.  I am as selective about free books as I am about paid books.  I generally read books in the order I bought them, so by the time a book I get this week comes up, it is going to be about a year down the road.  Without looking it up again, I don't remember how much I paid for a book or whether I got it free.  If it is on my Kindle it will be read when its turn comes.  Only occasionally does a book I have downloaded irritate me so much that I delete it without reading past 10%.

I never download a free book if it isn't a stand alone or the first in a series.  No way am I going to try a new author with book 2 or 3 of a series, my reading habits require series to be read in order.  I'm not likely to buy book 1 so I can get book 2 for free - is that weird?  I feel like "Why is this author giving away a later book in the series, is something wrong with the story?"  If I try a first book and like it, I buy the next and the next and the next...

There are also a few authors I am aware of that eventually make every book in a series free.  No point ever buying anything from them because it will come around to free sooner or later.


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

crebel said:


> I'm not likely to buy book 1 so I can get book 2 for free - is that weird? I feel like "Why is this author giving away a later book in the series, is something wrong with the story?" If I try a first book and like it, I buy the next and the next and the next...


Nah, I feel the same way even though I understand why they do it. And yet, my brain keeps asking, what's wrong with this?


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

alawston said:


> I've never been 'borrowed' and I don't know any Prime members to see how it works. Is it worth signing up to Prime? I'm very conflicted.


Not if the only thing you intend to use it for is to borrow one book a month. In the US it's $99. Divide that by 12 and you get something above $8. Hardly any of the books available to borrow are priced that high to buy.

I signed up with Prime originally -- before the Kindle existed -- for the 'no cost added' two day shipping. So I can procrastinate nearly to the last minute and still get things quickly without paying through the nose. Or I can procrastinate all the way to the last minute and only pay a little extra for quick shipping. It works for me. 

With the US Prime membership there are also lots of movies and TV shows that you can watch free by streaming through your Fire and even download them for a short time to watch while not connected.

Oh, and Prime members get a free book a month through the Kindle First program. Each month 4 books to be released the next month via some of Amazons imprints are offered free to prime members. You can pick one. If you aren't a prime member you can still get them 'first' but you have to pay a couple of bucks -- they're books that are usually released at around $5.


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## Daniel Dennis (Mar 3, 2014)

Krista D. Ball said:


> Nah, I feel the same way even though I understand why they do it. And yet, my brain keeps asking, what's wrong with this?


I've never seen them done free this way. But I have picked up a 0.99 book that turned out to be book 9 in a series. I felt a little lost...

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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

In the past, I did actually get some very good freebies but since Amazon cracked down on affiliates promoting freebies, there haven't been any decent looking ones and I don't even really bother to look at freebies anymore.


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## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

history_lover said:


> In the past, I did actually get some very good freebies but since Amazon cracked down on affiliates promoting freebies, there haven't been any decent looking ones and I don't even really bother to look at freebies anymore.


I think this is partly my problem too. Used to be authors could get their freebies listed in several places. Now, no one wants to post them unless they are ads. I used to post freebies quite often on my blog, especially if I had read anything from that author. Now I can't post more than one or two a month because I'm an affiliate and it messes up the numbers. So you get a plethora of sites that are taking ad space, but they throw up whatever freebie/author is willing to pay for it. There's no vetting or actual reviews/recs, just long lists. Sometimes the genre isn't even listed. 
And I don't have time to buy books that way. It's too time consuming to sort even for free.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

The only two free sites I use are ofhb (formerly onehundredfreebooks), and ereaderiq.


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## Avis Black (Jun 12, 2012)

I occasionally download a freebie fiction title, but I usually give up on it before I've finished the first page.  The main problems are a boring prose style and ideas that just aren't interesting.  The first page reveals a heck of a lot about the caliber of an author's creative mind.


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

I've been much happier with my freebies since I started letting Bookbub curate them for me.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

I like when books are free. I have a lot of author friends (as well as being one myself) and free doesn't mean "bad." Sometimes it's the best way for indie publishers to reach people.


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## Sydney M. Cooper (Mar 30, 2014)

I generally only pick up free books I'm likely to read - I don't like having a bunch of free books I'm not interested in cluttering up my account. It takes a little bit of fishing, but I find that free books are a great way to connect with authors I might have otherwise overlooked. I discovered Lindsay Buroker's work this way, as well as Hailey Edwards. I subsequently purchased a number of their other titles.


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## candyann (Jul 26, 2011)

I have only had my ereader for about 8 months and I love the free books. But I do only download books I'm interested in. The only time I read outside my romance & mystery genres is if I'm reviewing for an author. As an author myself, I have used free books to help promote but when Amazon changed the system, it didn't work as well, so I quite giving my books away.


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## Mark Lord (Jun 29, 2011)

I get free books by using my local library - including their e-library! They don't do Kindle versions though so I use my Kobo instead.

On free Kindle books, I am pretty shy of trying out authors who I haven't heard of so I don't tend to look through the free listings. I'd rather buy something and know that I would actually want to read it.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Mark Lord said:


> I get free books by using my local library - including their e-library! They don't do Kindle versions though so I use my Kobo instead.


Really? If they're using Overdrive there should be kindle versions available? Oddly, though some publishers only make ebooks available to libraries as ePub.

But . . . yes! The library is another good source of free books!


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## RockyGrede (Apr 19, 2013)

8000?!

Now, if we use the following analysis:

- Approx time to search for a free ebook and complete download process - around 20 seconds.

20 x 8000 = 160,000 seconds

160.000/ 60 = 2666.67 minutes

2666.67/60 = 44.44 hours used. 

44.44 hours of your life gone downloading free ebooks.

Anyway, I personally think most don't get read. I remember I posted on good reads for reviewers. A woman volunteered. I emailed her a copy. She then posted her review on amazon - but the purchase came up as verified. Meaning, she had already downloaded it when it was free. 

So I think readers may forget what they have sometimes, especially if they download large volumes of free books.


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## MichelleB675 (May 27, 2012)

Yeah that was way too many. 

But to explain it a bit, I went 10-12 years without reading ANYTHING. Life got in the way, then I had a health issue that made reading on paper (or any light background) strain my eyes to the point that I couldn't read more than a few seconds without my eyes getting tired and blurry, even with glasses. So when my hubby bought me a Kindle Fire, I'll admit I went a little nuts. It had been so long since I had read that I wanted to read everything and the freebies were there and I talked myself into grabbing them because many were limited time freebies.

I have discovered many new authors that I otherwise wouldn't have, and gone on to buy more books from them. And learned to not get something just because it's free, now it's only "am I sure I'm going to read this at some point" with the freebies.


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## Mark Lord (Jun 29, 2011)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Really? If they're using Overdrive there should be kindle versions available? Oddly, though some publishers only make ebooks available to libraries as ePub.
> 
> But . . . yes! The library is another good source of free books!


Yes seems to not be in Kindle format - but I have a Kobo so that doesn't bother me - I tend to prefer that ePub seems to be more transportable


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## Debbie Bennett (Mar 25, 2011)

Free doesn't interest me at all. If a book looks interesting, I'll happily pay for it.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

RockyGrede said:


> 8000?!
> 
> Now, if we use the following analysis:
> 
> ...


You have me curious as to something. I get your 20 second download time. What I don't get is how it is wasted time. Here is the thing some of us buy the books on the computer and just have device of our choosing on. Or even if I buy from my kindle, I don't go to the home page and watch the book download I continue what I am doing.
Now would you like my count on books free and paid for.
On Amazon alone: roughly 7400 of which I have probably paid for less than 100.
Now here is the thing of those 2500 of those are cookbooks. At least 200 are various craft books. 
The rest are reading books and non-fiction. Household books are probably another 100. Bios there are probably at least 200. Kindle help books at least 50. So I am down to 4350. Of those roughly 350 will not be read due to either being bad or in one case 50 of them, got them all free at one time.
So now I have 4000 books and I read at least 3 books (full books) a week. Some of the 4000 are what I consider snack books. Less than 15 minutes start to finish. So I do not consider my time wasted.

Now as to forgetting which books I own, oh yes it happens. That is why I love Amazon's instant order update. 
Oh and on the search thing: I use ereaderiq. It is roughly 1 minute per every 20 books.

Heck by your calculations, I wasted enough time just writing this post to find a 2 dozen books.

Though truth be told, in the early days of cheap kindles, you are probably right on the most won't get read. But that has more to do with they are not readable than getting lost on my kindle.
Now my wallet wishes some of the freebies had stayed lost because I have found some great authors.

Ok rant over about people determining that other people waste their time with a hobby.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

MichelleB675 said:


> Yeah that was way too many.
> 
> But to explain it a bit, I went 10-12 years without reading ANYTHING. Life got in the way, then I had a health issue that made reading on paper (or any light background) strain my eyes to the point that I couldn't read more than a few seconds without my eyes getting tired and blurry, even with glasses. So when my hubby bought me a Kindle Fire, I'll admit I went a little nuts. It had been so long since I had read that I wanted to read everything and the freebies were there and I talked myself into grabbing them because many were limited time freebies.
> 
> I have discovered many new authors that I otherwise wouldn't have, and gone on to buy more books from them. And learned to not get something just because it's free, now it's only "am I sure I'm going to read this at some point" with the freebies.


Hi. Just because one person thinks you have too many does not mean you have too many. Do not ever think you have to apologize or explain to someone that is not paying your bills about anything you own.

Now yeah if you spend the grocery budget or the house payment on books, then you might have some 'splaining to do to your other half, but don't let anyone else (except maybe your financial advisor) tell you what you should or should not do. It is your life not their's.


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## Daniel Harvell (Jun 21, 2013)

Are there a lot of free books to download that are just plain awful? Yes. Are there a lot of traditionally published books that are awful too? I'd say yes to that one too. Before I download anything, free or paid, I'll usually read the first page or two in the preview - you can usually tell from that if it's worth further reading.


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## sstroble (Dec 16, 2013)

Started reading books for free from the library back in the 1960s. Now the library of free ebooks  has grown the total number of books available for nothing exponentially.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

sstroble said:


> Started reading books for free from the library back in the 1960s. Now the library has grown exponentially.


Yes. But you have to return library books in a certain amount of time.
Or pay money.


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## sstroble (Dec 16, 2013)

cinisajoy said:


> Yes. But you have to return library books in a certain amount of time.
> Or pay money.


That's usually the only motivation for me to finish reading them.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

sstroble said:


> That's usually the only motivation for me to finish reading them.


Total off topic but did you decide to get Willie or leave him since the book wasn't free.


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## MichelleB675 (May 27, 2012)

cinisajoy said:


> Hi. Just because one person thinks you have too many does not mean you have too many. Do not ever think you have to apologize or explain to someone that is not paying your bills about anything you own.
> 
> Now yeah if you spend the grocery budget or the house payment on books, then you might have some 'splaining to do to your other half, but don't let anyone else (except maybe your financial advisor) tell you what you should or should not do. It is your life not their's.


I thought it was too many, for me. I had many duplicates in the account, because they pop up under different ASIN. It was becoming harder to keep track of things and the MYK page took forever to load when I needed to check for duplicates. After running through several books that I didn't enjoy (and forcing myself to finish) I decided to do a purge. It took me a while, but I looked up each title, read the descriptions and some of the reviews (which I should have done from the beginning instead of saying "ooh free!" and "pretty cover!").

I rarely pay out of my own pocket for books or music. I use SwagBucks and other such things to earn gift cards to keep my Kindle and iPod fed  Every so often an entire series will be put on Daily Deal and I'll have to buy a gift card when my balance gets too low, but usually I have more than enough to cover my purchases.


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## RockyGrede (Apr 19, 2013)

cinisajoy said:


> You have me curious as to something. I get your 20 second download time. What I don't get is how it is wasted time. Here is the thing some of us buy the books on the computer and just have device of our choosing on. Or even if I buy from my kindle, I don't go to the home page and watch the book download I continue what I am doing.
> Now would you like my count on books free and paid for.
> On Amazon alone: roughly 7400 of which I have probably paid for less than 100.
> Now here is the thing of those 2500 of those are cookbooks. At least 200 are various craft books.
> ...


Was a bit of statistical analysis, intended to be light banter.


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## dgrant (Feb 5, 2014)

The most expensive thing to me is _time_, not money. Even if the book is free, I'll download a sample. All samples go to the kindle, so I can sit down and try a bunch of authors on a day off/ downtime day in a hotel room. Bought books show up in the kindle app on the phone. When I only have fifteen minutes to relax during lunch, I want something that won't make me regret the time I carved out of eating to read.


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

interesting info from an author perspective. I recently put the first novella in my series free as an experiment, and found that while I got a fair amount of downloads, there wasn't really much follow through to the next book. Could be because the writing is poor, or the story doesn't engage I admit, but I'm more prone to think that if it's free, there's no real drive to read it. 

At least that's how it works for me as a reader...not sure why I thought it would be different for other readers.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

It could also be, the readers have not gotten to your book yet too.  Some of us have long queues.  If I have seen you here, you will get moved up but still looking at a six month wait.
Just a little food for thought.
See there are more authors than their are me's.

Now at Rocky, you did not come across as light banter at all.  Though thanks for letting me know you weren't serious.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

I need to do a average queue time investigation when I have time to waste. But I think its probably like 2 years. So I have still have free and purchased books going back to 2008/2009 I haven't read yet. Its rare that I read a book right after I get it. It happens, usually with some favorite series I just need to know what happened, NOW. But in general, I pile up books like a squirrel does nuts.  . 

Then in the middle of all the new shiny things other readers recommend, I'll go through and make a queue within a queue. And there might be something I acquired 6 months ago, or 3 years ago. Its all the same to me. They are still the same books, so when I acquired them, doesn't really play into when I decide to read them. That part is guided by my mood. I am a very big mood reader. 

There can be times I stare at my 1500 unread books and I can't find anything to read. Like opening the full fridge and not seeing anything.  . I found I can cure that malady with another installment of the Naked series by JD Robb. And I am not kidding about that.


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## Amy Corwin (Jan 3, 2011)

Sydney M. Cooper said:


> I generally only pick up free books I'm likely to read - I don't like having a bunch of free books I'm not interested in cluttering up my account. It takes a little bit of fishing, but I find that free books are a great way to connect with authors I might have otherwise overlooked. I discovered Lindsay Buroker's work this way, as well as Hailey Edwards. I subsequently purchased a number of their other titles.


This is true for me, too. I'm always searching the more inexpensive/free books for ones that look like they'll interest me. If I'm really not sure, I'll look at the preview or download a sample. Then if I like it, I'll download the book. I treat free like any other "paid" book, i.e. I don't acquire it if it isn't something I want to read.

That said, I won't (or very, very rarely) pay more than $6.00 for an ebook even from authors I really, really like, e.g. Lindsay Davis. I watch them for discounts and on very, very rare occasions will pay a more exorbitant price but it's becoming more and more rare. If I pay a lot, then I can't buy many so I tend to stick mostly to the lower prices and really prefer books priced less than $4.00, although I'll go up to $6.00 if I like the author and sample of the book. I tend to shy away from books above $4.00 though simply because I've found the $2.99-to-$3.50 books to be just as good as traditional publisher/expensive ebooks priced at $6.00 and up. I don't see the point in paying that much. THere are too many good indie or lower-priced books at $3.50 and less.

Maybe I'm unusual, but I have a fairly tight budget so I try to be "frugal" when buying books. Of course, I also have no author loyalty, either (sorry authors) and rarely remember authors names. If I see a book in the right price range with a blurb I like, and find I like the sample, I'll buy it. That's about it. I don't go out of my way to buy the rest of the books from that author, although I have done that on rare occasions. I pretty much search by category and price. And I try to keep my unread list down to around 100 or less. If I find a free book that suits me, I'll get it first before I'll buy one for a higher price.


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

RockyGrede said:


> Anyway, I personally think most don't get read. I remember I posted on good reads for reviewers. A woman volunteered. I emailed her a copy. She then posted her review on amazon - but the purchase came up as verified. Meaning, she had already downloaded it when it was free.
> 
> So I think readers may forget what they have sometimes, especially if they download large volumes of free books.





theaatkinson said:


> interesting info from an author perspective. I recently put the first novella in my series free as an experiment, and found that while I got a fair amount of downloads, there wasn't really much follow through to the next book. Could be because the writing is poor, or the story doesn't engage I admit, but I'm more prone to think that if it's free, there's no real drive to read it.
> 
> At least that's how it works for me as a reader...not sure why I thought it would be different for other readers.


I don't want to step on anybody's toes, but I suppose the only way you have to judge whether free books are read is if a review is left somewhere? I don't/won't review any books even though I read voraciously. I know from many discussions here in the Book Corner and in the Cafe that I am not alone. It doesn't mean non-reviewers refrain from discussing and recommending or not recommending books/authors to others.

Some of the discussion seems to imply the belief that if a book is not paid for it somehow has lesser or no value. I personally don't understand that mindset. Free does not change the content, therefore, to me, it doesn't change the value as an object to be read. There are fabulous free books, there are fabulous paid books; there are free books that are abysmal, there are paid books that are abysmal. Outside of grammatical/spelling/formatting issues, it's all subjective.

I've always maintained a backlog of books to read. In the pre-digital book age, my family made a trip to the big city about once a month to spend hours in a brick and mortar bookstore. We would each buy dozens of books to tide us over until the next trip. That didn't mean I wouldn't frequent the library or go to the garage sales, etc. to try and find more books so I would never run out of something new to read. I suppose the time limit imposed by a library book moved those books up in my reading queue, but I still didn't get it "free" unless it was something I wanted to read. If I walked away from a garage sale with an entire box of books for $5 or dozens of books from the used book store for .10 each, that didn't relegate them to the bottom of the TBR pile until I finished books for which I paid full price.


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## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

because i'm reading my TBR list in alphabetical order, i don't know how much i paid for a book until after i've finished it and am ready to post on my thread.  i have books that have been on my kindle since 2010 that i am just now reading, and i have books bought in 2013. 

i've read some great free books, some lousy ones, some great 10 dollar books and some lousy ones.

i don't leave reviews on amazon, because my opinion is my own and i'd rather share it with people here and not the lovely people on amazon.


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

As others have mentioned, I have been burned from over eagerly downloading freebies and ending up with books not quite ready for mass distribution (let's just say...).  Now, I scrutinize a free book the same way I would any other book.  I do have a series of wishlists - including a Prime specific one - that I sometimes go through and if one happens to be free, I'll pick it up then but by that point, it's already gone through my vetting process.

My TBR pile is somewhere around 750 titles so many do end up on the shelf waiting their chance in the sun, but that's just another reason to cull the freebies like any other books - when I'm pulling a backlist title to read, I don't want to have to re-vet my library, I just want to grab something with a fair assumption that I will enjoy it.


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## Mandy (Dec 27, 2009)

Ann in Arlington said:


> At the dawn of kindle time (so, for me, July of 200, I was gobsmacked that there were books I could get FREE.  Positively giddy!    I'd spent my whole life up until then, having to carefully budget what I spent my book money on -- not having an unlimited budget, you see.  So the idea that there were books I could get for nothing was just fabulous -- never again have 'nothing' to read.  I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.
> 
> Yeah, well, I figured out the catch pretty quick.  An awful lot of those 'free' books I got early on weren't worth the paper they were printed on -- and considering they weren't printed on paper. . . well. . . you get the picture. Oh, some weren't bad. And a few were really good. But so many looked like some HS kid had just uploaded his creative writing assignment before proofreading and without having acted on any of teacher's critiques.  Seriously BAD: lacking standard formatting, spelling errors, no idea of sentence structure, grammar or formatting or, sometimes, how to properly _tell_ a story.  I was much more often disappointed than satisfied in what I got that way.
> 
> So I quickly learned to be much more discriminating. Now, I don't pick up a free book unless it looks like something I'd likely pay for anyway. And, though early on I'd been using free books as an excuse to jump out of my favorite genres, I don't do that any more. I re-learned that there was a reason why I didn't like some things and not having to pay for them didn't change that. Even free I wasn't going to enjoy a sappy romance or zombie gore fest. Blech.  I use ereaderIQ to keep track of books I've wishlisted and if one goes free or steeply discounted I jump right quick. But random things advertised to me as being free: I vet them as carefully as I would something I was going to have to pay for. Turns out, my TIME is also valuable and I don't want to waste it on junk.


Ann sums it up well for me. When I first joined the Kindle world I went nuts downloading any and every free book I saw. It was a paradise that seemed too good to be true. But, after time, I realized that free means a higher rate of low quality books. Not to mention the fact that when browsing my library, I found books like Slutty Asian Babes or books with extremely complicated math techniques...books that just weren't my cup of tea. But back in the day, who cared; they were *FREE*!!!

I've since cleaned my library up by deleting all the titles I know I'll never read. I still 1-click freebies, but I read the blurbs and reviews and make sure it's a book I am interested in. And since my library is still pretty large, I keep a collection folder where I store the pretty much unknown indie titles that I'm really interested in; that way they won't get lost and forgotten in the shuffle. And, like Ann, eReaderIQ is always alerting me when my wishlisted books become free or steeply discounted.


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

crebel said:


> I don't want to step on anybody's toes, but I suppose the only way you have to judge whether free books are read is if a review is left somewhere? I don't/won't review any books even though I read voraciously. I know from many discussions here in the Book Corner and in the Cafe that I am not alone. It doesn't mean non-reviewers refrain from discussing and recommending or not recommending books/authors to others.
> 
> Some of the discussion seems to imply the belief that if a book is not paid for it somehow has lesser or no value. I personally don't understand that mindset. Free does not change the content, therefore, to me, it doesn't change the value as an object to be read. There are fabulous free books, there are fabulous paid books; there are free books that are abysmal, there are paid books that are abysmal. Outside of grammatical/spelling/formatting issues, it's all subjective.
> 
> I've always maintained a backlog of books to read. In the pre-digital book age, my family made a trip to the big city about once a month to spend hours in a brick and mortar bookstore. We would each buy dozens of books to tide us over until the next trip. That didn't mean I wouldn't frequent the library or go to the garage sales, etc. to try and find more books so I would never run out of something new to read. I suppose the time limit imposed by a library book moved those books up in my reading queue, but I still didn't get it "free" unless it was something I wanted to read. If I walked away from a garage sale with an entire box of books for $5 or dozens of books from the used book store for .10 each, that didn't relegate them to the bottom of the TBR pile until I finished books for which I paid full price.


I certainly don't feel as if my toes aren't stepped on at all.  no worries. I should have written that there's no drive to read them right away. As a reader, I NEVER read my freebies right away. I hoard and sometimes forget what's there. But my paid books? you bet I start them within seconds of whispernet delivering them, so I imagine most readers are the same.

And I too rarely leave a review no matter how much I enjoyed it.

t

(great response, btw. TY. You make a really good point about getting what interests you and reading as interest demands, not price.)


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## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

Re: Reviews.  More people are leaving them these days and part of that is bad experiences and part of it is just the thrill of the kindle is muted so they aren't talking books as much.  In early days of Kindle there were a lot of blogs willing to review because "free books!"  They could get any book they wanted by request!  But it turns out that reviewing is a lot of work!

I think reviews are somewhat less valued by readers too because it was so easy for some companies/writers/products to stack the deck in favor of their product...

I generally read or don't read the freebies within a month of download.  The vast majority are sampled in that time and either read or deleted off my kindle.  Once in a while I save one for later because I think the sample is good but I'm not in the mood at that moment for a thriller/fantasy/cozy/whatever.

I end up not reading 90 percent of books I borrow from lendleme as well as not reading 90 percent or more of the freebies.  One of the reasons I borrow it is because I haven't tried the author or I'm not sure of the sample.  However, there are always gems in those bundles and when I do find one I like it's usually head and shoulders above ANY published book, trad or indie.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

These days, I only download free books (ignoring public domain stuff for this discussion) if at least one of the following is true:

 It's by an author I've already read _and_ enjoyed.
 At a relatively quick glance of reviews and description, it looks like something I might enjoy, there's reason to believe the free price is a limited time offer, and I don't have the time or inclination to sample it right now.
As far as getting me to try new (indie) authors, free books no longer really matter for me. Amazon has this thing called "sampling", which in the vast majority of cases can allow me to filter out the chaff for free, anyway.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

Similar to what others have said I found the ratio of dross to gems too high to make picking up freebie fiction a priority. Unusually for me, I was wise enough not to go completely nuts with getting freebies early on, and tried to use some restraint. But now I find that I'm even more restrained that I was initially. I get my free book from Amazon prime every month, and I do snap up gleefully the occasional freebie from a major publisher that has even remote interest for me. But unless I have previous experience with the author, or a recommendation from a highly trusted friend, I generally ignore the independent freebie fiction. My time is too valuable.


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## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

The Hooded Claw said:


> Similar to what others have said I found the ratio of dross to gems too high to make picking up freebie fiction a priority. Unusually for me, I was wise enough not to go completely nuts with getting freebies early on, and tried to use some restraint. But now I find that I'm even more restrained that I was initially. I get my free book from Amazon prime every month, and I do snap up gleefully the occasional freebie from a major publisher that has even remote interest for me. But unless I have previous experience with the author, or a recommendation from a highly trusted friend, I generally ignore the independent freebie fiction. My time is too valuable.


Curious: Since books come in and out of prime frequently (not all indies stay in the program and I have no idea if Amazon switches books in and out or how that works with other publishers) do you have a kind of special wishlist for it to track books you can get in prime?


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## Jill Nojack (Mar 7, 2014)

MariaESchneider said:


> Curious: Since books come in and out of prime frequently (not all indies stay in the program and I have no idea if Amazon switches books in and out or how that works with other publishers) do you have a kind of special wishlist for it to track books you can get in prime?


I'm not aware of any list that will allow you to track books as they come available in prime, although you can sort books that are currently eligible in Prime:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_st?bbn=283155&qid=1362231720&rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_85%3A2470955011%2Cp_n_feature_browse-bin%3A618073011&sort=review-rank

However, the list apparently doesn't include all books in Prime, as mine have never shown up there. I find it is a lot easier to browse through the possible Prime borrows there than on the Kindle.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

MariaESchneider said:


> Curious: Since books come in and out of prime frequently (not all indies stay in the program and I have no idea if Amazon switches books in and out or how that works with other publishers) do you have a kind of special wishlist for it to track books you can get in prime?


I actually was referring to the offer to pick one of four free books to own (not borrow) each month. There are some good books for borrowing, and I have used it a couple of times, but the ability to use the KOLL is a feature of Prime I'm doing poorly at taking advantage of.


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## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

The Hooded Claw said:


> I actually was referring to the offer to pick one of four free books to own (not borrow) each month. There are some good books for borrowing, and I have used it a couple of times, but the ability to use the KOLL is a feature of Prime I'm doing poorly at taking advantage of.


Ah, thanks. Admittedly I was asking more as a writer (thanks Jill) because it doesn't seem as though Amazon 1. puts all the books available in the list and 2. doesn't really allow any kind of tracking that is specific to that.

I think you'd just have to have a book in your wishlist and notice it went into prime. Although...come to think of it, I don't think you can see if a book is in prime from your wishlist.

Back when prime was cheaper, I was somewhat interested in the program, but from what I can tell the books I'm most interested in aren't in the program.


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## Melody Simmons (Jul 8, 2012)

I must be an odd one out because I still check Onehundredfreebooks.com on a daily basis to see if anything good is available -

http://ohfb.com/

I have found a couple of great books there! And bought the rest in the series after reading and liking the first one...

A lot of it is not that great but I find at least one really worthwhile book a week, and have discovered many amazing authors that I probably would not have found otherwise.

(The above website links to Kindle books that are on temporary free promotion!)


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

MariaESchneider said:


> Curious: Since books come in and out of prime frequently (not all indies stay in the program and I have no idea if Amazon switches books in and out or how that works with other publishers) do you have a kind of special wishlist for it to track books you can get in prime?


Yes! I do!

I have a separate wish list of books that are in Prime. Then each month when it's time for my next borrow -- I have a list of books I've already decided I'm somewhat interested in.

Also, if you ever want to look at all books that are available, go to the Amazon Book store, and filter by PRIME eligible and then by Kindle books. From there you can further narrow by your preferred genres.

And I also do like the 'one free a month' through the Kindle First program. Non-prime members can also get them 'first' but they'll cost a couple of bucks.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

Melody,  I check ofhb 3 times a day.
Somedays are good and some are not.  I also do ereaderiq every morning.

For those that are curious,  all their book links lead to Amazon.


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## Melody Simmons (Jul 8, 2012)

cinisajoy said:


> Melody, I check ofhb 3 times a day.
> Somedays are good and some are not. I also do ereaderiq every morning.
> 
> For those that are curious, all their book links lead to Amazon.


Oh yes! eReader IQ http://www.ereaderiq.com/ is another great site to get discounted Kindle books! Glad I am not alone in searching for bargains...


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

No you are not alone.  Little trivia. Ohfb has roughly 100,000 views a day so we are not alone.


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## CyberAuthor (May 10, 2014)

I have only taken the time to read the books I have bought. The tons of free books I have downloaded are just sitting there in Kindle limbo. Maybe I will get around to reading them some day.


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## Mandy (Dec 27, 2009)

Melody Simmons said:


> Oh yes! eReader IQ http://www.ereaderiq.com/ is another great site to get discounted Kindle books! Glad I am not alone in searching for bargains...


eReaderIQ emails make me happy! In fact, I got two emails today for two books on my wishlist. I love that eReaderIQ allows me to wishlist my books and forget about it. I average about one or two notifications (out of about 450 wishlisted books) a week with my preferences set to 70% reductions in price.


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## CRL (Nov 8, 2013)

I think most of them are overpriced......


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## Meb Bryant (Jun 27, 2011)

I will occasionally download a free ebook if the title, cover, or description grabs my attention. Mostly, I buy ebooks written by my favorite authors, indie writers who have garnered good reviews, or a writer friend's latest work. I cringe at high ebook prices and rarely pay over $7.99. 

I often utilize the sampling on Amazon. Great sales tool.


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## L M May (Mar 14, 2013)

Otsana said:


> So, we all know there are hordes and hordes of free books out there. In fact, I hardly actually buy a book anymore, because I'm always helping Indie authors out for reviewing. I've read some amazing books too! I go on Facebook and pick up free books from deals, or just from groups on there. I do find that when I make a connection to the author, (we chat, or I'm active in one of the groups) I usually make an extra effort to read and review their book. I've picked up free books that really caught my eye, but for some reason they always seem to disappear in a swarm of free books on my Kindle. How many of you actually read your free books you pick up through different places? Are you more in likely to read a book you bought? I find that I forget what that free book was about, unless I read it right away, and for some reason if I don't know what it's about, I don't wanna read it. Anyone else like this?


I keep an eye on the top 100 free, checking new titles every few days. I have found some wonderful books this way, and just discovered a new author who ranks up there with my all time favorites. I believe he still has one of his titles listed for free, but the one I liked most no longer is.

Over time I have become very particular about what I download for free, though, because often the quality is not there. Usually I only download free books with a LOT of reviews with a high overall rating.

Sadly, the author I previously mentioned is not ranking all that well now that he has taken his books off the free list, which makes me wonder if there is any value in listing books for free for authors.

If anyone is interested, here is the link to the free book http://www.amazon.com/3-m-Nick-Pirog-ebook/dp/B00FV4IT7Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1400209011&sr=1-1&keywords=nick+pirog  I haven't read this one yet, but loved the books in his Maddy Young series, both of which I got for free, but would have gladly have paid for. I will pay for his following works though, that is for sure. So, in this sense, for a few rare authors, free is a way to gain new readers.

Haha - I am exactly like you when it comes to reading books - same for movies. I HAVE to know what it is about first or I don't bother. I often use the 'see book description' feature (I think that is what it is called) on my kindle. At one stage I tried screenshotting the book description with onenote and keeping a list, but got over that.


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## L M May (Mar 14, 2013)

Daniel Dennis said:


> No quote


Just wanted to say I read your book 'Fate's Haven' and being that the title of this thread is 'What do you think of Free Books' I can say I enjoyed your book, especially the ending, having picked it up while it was free!

Actually the ending gave me hope that there were still a few twists left in the world of fiction that haven't been explored or overdone.

Nicely done and congratulations on your story. I hope it does well. I have an account I share with a friend that I sometimes review on so I will try to leave a review when I get a chance


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## Daniel Dennis (Mar 3, 2014)

L M May said:


> Just wanted to say I read your book 'Fate's Haven' and being that the title of this thread is 'What do you think of Free Books' I can say I enjoyed your book, especially the ending, having picked it up while it was free!
> 
> Actually the ending gave me hope that there were still a few twists left in the world of fiction that haven't been explored or overdone.
> 
> Nicely done and congratulations on your story. I hope it does well. I have an account I share with a friend that I sometimes review on so I will try to leave a review when I get a chance


Thanks! I always enjoy hearing from readers.

Sent from the back of a white CIA van using Tapatalk. Please help!


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## MLKatz (Sep 8, 2012)

The time I am going to spend reading a book is more valuable than the price in most cases. I'll even pay something for an older book that is out of copyright if the version that costs money is formatted better, so my experience will be better.  If I want to read something, a modest price is not going to make a big difference. 

However, I understand the value of free samples that allow readers including myself, a chance to see if we can get interested in a book or author. I guess most of us who are writing books wish there were not so many free books. (sigh)


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

I love when authors put the first in a series free.  My wallet hates when authors put the first in a series free.  Other downfall is those darn 12 authors for 99 cent bundles.


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## barbie25 (May 17, 2014)

I think free ebooks are very tempting especially if you are trying to save on money and space.  However, I just can't read ebooks!  It is so frustrating that your eyes cannot hold out for my own best interest.  And so, traditional books won over me by default.


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## barbie25 (May 17, 2014)

barbie25 said:


> I think free ebooks are very tempting especially if you are trying to save on money and space. However, I just can't read ebooks! It is so frustrating that your eyes cannot hold out for my own best interest. And so, traditional books won over me by default.


I believe I misread the title of this thread. I stand corrected.

I think free books are awesome! I don't know why I haven't receive even a single free book. All of my books are bought from the store. Most of which are preloved. I will really appreciate if you can teach me how to procure these stuff.

Thanks in advance.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

barbie25 said:


> I believe I misread the title of this thread. I stand corrected.
> 
> I think free books are awesome! I don't know why I haven't receive even a single free book. All of my books are bought from the store. Most of which are preloved. I will really appreciate if you can teach me how to procure these stuff.
> 
> Thanks in advance.


For free paper books, you're probably looking at a library. Though there are some book swap places around.

As this board is populated by kindle aficionados, we're mostly talking free ebooks -- which there are actually quite a lot of.


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## Stephen O Connell (Jan 9, 2013)

They say never judge a book by it's cover; a new adage for KindleLand would be, never judge a book by it's price. Just as not every free book is rubbish, not every book costing $10.99 is great. That's where the chance to preview a book comes in handy with the free sample option. The stories that don't 'hook me' can then be easily filtered out.

Like a lot of others here, when I first started reading eBooks, I went crazy downloading books that were free, as there seemed to be hundreds of them. So what a bargain I thought, I'd better download them before they go up in price! Sure, some of them were poor (and are still free), but I found a lot of them were enjoyable enough reads, and for those that were not, well you can't really complain too much about a book that isn't on a par with something on the NYT Best Seller list if it cost you nothing, can you? 

I still get a thrill out of finding a book on Amazon that sounds interesting and it turns out to be free. So free is good.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Stephen O Connell said:


> and for those that were not, well you can't really complain too much about a book that isn't on a par with something on the NYT Best Seller list if it cost you nothing, can you?


Except that they still waste my time.  (That said, I don't read much from the best seller lists, either. )

Which is why I'm much more discerning now -- price is only one factor I look at and not even close to the most important one. I will never again download a book just because it's free.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

I think I reached saturation point even on free books that sound good.  I am not even finding cookbooks that sound good.
But I believe I have enough books to keep me occupied for a while.


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## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

cinisajoy said:


> I think I reached saturation point even on free books that sound good. I am not even finding cookbooks that sound good.
> But I believe I have enough books to keep me occupied for a while.


Me too. But then again, I have a Scribd subscription, which means, essentially, I can browse at will picking and choosing any book to read at no cost. I've been sampling a lot. I'm still averaging reading one book in about twenty. I am even pickier than I thought. But in truth, there are themes I don't read anymore and some plots that I would have really loved...I've just read too much of. So even the blurbs start to sound like, 'oh, I've read that."

But I have found books on there that were on my list to try and it was very nice to try them for free without having to wait for them to go free.


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## Russell Brooks (Dec 23, 2010)

I've purchased a few Free books from authors I know. Just like any book, I'm very selective.


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## SB James (May 21, 2014)

I used to go to Kindle Buffet (now E-Book buffet) every day and download at least three or four books. I've really cut back on this habit and I try to be as selective as possible. I think it's funny when I go to download a book I've already downloaded and forgot I had!  Now I'm going to try and read through some of them and, yes, review them as well.


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## Nancy Beck (Jul 1, 2011)

I generally would rather pay for my ebooks because some of the free ones I've gotten aren't really that good.

But every now and then (when I feel I have to rein in my spending ), I'll cruise through the free books in mystery or fantasy or SF (all are my go-to genres). I just did that yesterday and found a couple I'll read at some point.


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## John F (May 19, 2014)

Just about every ebook I've ever read has been free - not from the largesse of Amazon but courtesy of my local public library. That's why I bought a Kindle in the first place. See the thread here:

http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,185888.0.html


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## MLKatz (Sep 8, 2012)

John F said:


> Just about every ebook I've ever read has been free - not from the largesse of Amazon but courtesy of my local public library. That's why I bought a Kindle in the first place. See the thread here:
> 
> http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,185888.0.html


Great point! I think this underline that the reason that the book is free might matter. If it's free for a short time as a promo or to promote later books in a series, I'd be more likely to consider it.


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## Anna Drake (Sep 22, 2014)

Daniel Harvell said:


> Are there a lot of free books to download that are just plain awful? Yes. Are there a lot of traditionally published books that are awful too? I'd say yes to that one too. Before I download anything, free or paid, I'll usually read the first page or two in the preview - you can usually tell from that if it's worth further reading.


This is what I do, too. By the time I've read a few pages, I'll know if it's a book I will enjoy. I'd rather do that than download and then have to delete a book.


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## Patrick Skelton (Jan 7, 2011)

Much like what we're seeing in the music scene, digital downloads have cheapened the product to such an extreme that artists and authors can barely make a living anymore off of books and music.  I think it's a shame to give away music and books, actually. But that's just my opinion.


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## DiegoDinardi (Sep 25, 2015)

When I first got my Kindle, like many before me, I was as happy as a kid by the living room tree on Christmas morning. I used to get any freebie with a remotely interesting name or cover art. And, of course, I soon found myself drowning amid the ocean of stories filling up my device, totally oblivious as to why I had downloaded most of those books! The bright side is that, when I found the time to do some deep sea fishing, I actually caught some pretty good ocean critters. Sure, some needed to have their scales cleaned and polished, but they were all very good tasting. I think it pays to explore this sea, even though it seems overwhelming at times. And when you're done, maybe becoming more frugal with your choices might be a good practice to save up some time.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

John F said:


> Just about every ebook I've ever read has been free - not from the largesse of Amazon but courtesy of my local public library.


Public library books aren't really free. They are paid for by city tax money. The cost per user is lower because it's amortized over the tax base, but it's not free. Assuming you live in the city, you just don't pay for it at the time you borrow the book.


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## TomCrossley (Sep 16, 2015)

I have no problem with free books, especially if they are manuals, or are instructive or the like..

Also free books are good if you want others to read what you have to say without any consideration of commercial needs.

Yeh, I think free books are useful.


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## SA_Soule (Sep 8, 2011)

It is an awesome way to discover new authors. 

I have downloaded so many great free books and found some new authors to read and enjoy. The only problem, is I'll go on a massive downloading spree! LOL


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## belindaf (Jan 27, 2011)

I put a couple books permafree to invite readers to try my style risk-free (and yes, I did put money into proper editing for these books). That being said, I don't read free books unless I know the author, the blurb really catches my attention, or the book is recommended by someone I trust. Otherwise I'd end up with the "80,000 books I'll never read" scenario. I prefer to pay for books because authors can't live if they aren't paid. Since I only read about 12-15 books a year, it's not super taxing on my budget.


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## ancaiovita (Feb 13, 2016)

Amy Corwin said:


> This is true for me, too. I'm always searching the more inexpensive/free books for ones that look like they'll interest me. If I'm really not sure, I'll look at the preview or download a sample. Then if I like it, I'll download the book. I treat free like any other "paid" book, i.e. I don't acquire it if it isn't something I want to read.
> 
> That said, I won't (or very, very rarely) pay more than $6.00 for an ebook even from authors I really, really like, e.g. Lindsay Davis. I watch them for discounts and on very, very rare occasions will pay a more exorbitant price but it's becoming more and more rare. If I pay a lot, then I can't buy many so I tend to stick mostly to the lower prices and really prefer books priced less than $4.00, although I'll go up to $6.00 if I like the author and sample of the book. I tend to shy away from books above $4.00 though simply because I've found the $2.99-to-$3.50 books to be just as good as traditional publisher/expensive ebooks priced at $6.00 and up. I don't see the point in paying that much. THere are too many good indie or lower-priced books at $3.50 and less.
> 
> Maybe I'm unusual, but I have a fairly tight budget so I try to be "frugal" when buying books. Of course, I also have no author loyalty, either (sorry authors) and rarely remember authors names. If I see a book in the right price range with a blurb I like, and find I like the sample, I'll buy it. That's about it. I don't go out of my way to buy the rest of the books from that author, although I have done that on rare occasions. I pretty much search by category and price. And I try to keep my unread list down to around 100 or less. If I find a free book that suits me, I'll get it first before I'll buy one for a higher price.


It's funny you mentioned that you don't remember author names. With some exceptions, I don't remember either. Not to mention imprint names. This was actually a big reason for which I went indie with my books. I may remember titles and if some book changed me a lot, I may search for other books by that author. I consume so many books that I find it difficult to keep up with names


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## ShellPresto (Mar 1, 2016)

If I start talking to an author a lot, or value their opinion, I will often check out any free short stories they have. In general, I like free short stories more than free books, because:

a) I read slow, so I really enjoy short stories in general.

b) There's less time invested in figuring out if I enjoy the author's story-telling. I could open a novel and tell from one page if an author has control of grammar and diction, but characterization, pacing, and especially endings are more subtle and can make or break my enjoyment of a book. That said, if an author can entertain me with a short story, I'm more confident that I'll enjoy the longer-term commitment of a novel. 

Also, I adore all the public domain stories that are available for free. They probably make up half of my kindle downloads.

The only other way I seek out free books is if someone who really knows me well gives me a recommendation, and most especially if my husband recommends something.


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## Jennifer Mueller (May 14, 2015)

Ann in Arlington said:


> At the dawn of kindle time (so, for me, July of 200, I was gobsmacked that there were books I could get FREE.  Positively giddy!    I'd spent my whole life up until then, having to carefully budget what I spent my book money on -- not having an unlimited budget, you see.  So the idea that there were books I could get for nothing was just fabulous -- never again have 'nothing' to read.  I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.
> 
> Yeah, well, I figured out the catch pretty quick.  An awful lot of those 'free' books I got early on weren't worth the paper they were printed on -- and considering they weren't printed on paper. . . well. . . you get the picture. Oh, some weren't bad. And a few were really good. But so many looked like some HS kid had just uploaded his creative writing assignment before proofreading and without having acted on any of teacher's critiques.  Seriously BAD: lacking standard formatting, spelling errors, no idea of sentence structure, grammar or formatting or, sometimes, how to properly _tell_ a story.  I was much more often disappointed than satisfied in what I got that way.


I know this is an old topic and post, but as one of those old day ebook authors many of the publisher covers were horrendous. It wasn't just people putting up free books, it was many of the publishers that made them look like they were done by high school students. For years after some covers I put on the cover art page NO CGI AT ALL. They sucked that badly. They edited them, but taste in covers UGH! I pulled my rights after i saw some of them. Nobody knew what they were doing in those days. I knew more about ebook marketing than many of the publishers that accepted me. Another reason I left some. Others they had decent covers and good marketing, but they didn't know business went bankrupt, or just went under.


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## lauramg_1406 (Oct 15, 2016)

Like the first poster I read a lot of review copies anyway (thankfully or else I wouldn't be able to afford my book habit!) but I do read free books from time to time. There are a couple that I've ended up reading all the way through the series because of! Of course not all of them have been great, but at the end of the day it hasn't cost me anything if it does end up an unenjoyable read!


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## Wrigby Paige (Oct 24, 2016)

This is either a pretentious or refreshingly honest answer. Downloading free books is about instant gratification for me, and so, in the back of my mind, I still (for better or worse) see the product itself as inferior to one that is (reasonably) priced. A price tag is worth something more to me psychologically, so even though I have a habit of impulse-downloading the free stuff, I don't know that I ever actually read them.


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

Wrigby Paige said:


> This is either a pretentious or refreshingly honest answer. Downloading free books is about instant gratification for me, and so, in the back of my mind, I still (for better or worse) see the product itself as inferior to one that is (reasonably) priced. A price tag is worth something more to me psychologically, so even though I have a habit of impulse-downloading the free stuff, I don't know that I ever actually read them.


It's fairly normal to put a higher value, mentally, on something you paid for than something you got for free. At first, I downloaded tons of freebies and, like you, never read a word of them. I still download free book - but now I hold them to the same standard as any other book before I download them. I still buy and download about 50% more books than I ever read, but the chances of me reading that freebie is much higher.


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## 5ngela (Sep 7, 2015)

I love free books. I hold the value of the books not whether they are paid or free. There are many books that I read are free and equally many books that I buy but haven't read yet. I love books so even though I get many of them for free, I still buy books. I am really grateful for authors that make their books free. And I certainly try to pay them back by reviewing their books.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Geoffrey said:


> It's fairly normal to put a higher value, mentally, on something you paid for than something you got for free. At first, I downloaded tons of freebies and, like you, never read a word of them. I still download free book - but now I hold them to the same standard as any other book before I download them. I still buy and download about 50% more books than I ever read, but the chances of me reading that freebie is much higher.


Agree with this.

For me, I am now much more discerning about what I download for free. If it's not something I'd be likely to _buy_ I also won't get it for free. Because, let's face it, once it's on my kindle, I don't remember whether it was a free book or not. Only whether it looks good when I'm paging through looking for something to read.

Now, once I've read it, if it's particularly good (or bad) I may go back and check to see what I paid.

If it was fabulous and free, I congratulate myself -- and if it's still free I want to share that with people AND it makes me more inclined to look at other titles by the author.

If it I paid for pure junk, I remind myself to be more careful -- and that author won't get another penny out of me. 

And, when I post my comments on GoodReads, I will note such things as well.


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## Shanna Moncuse (Jan 26, 2016)

I would be choosy when it came to free books. I'd still only pick books that actually interest me.


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## Kay7979 (Aug 20, 2016)

Like many others here, when I first got my Kindle I thought it was fun to get free books. Before long I had accumulated a lot of books, many of which were not very well written. Now I seldom download a free book unless it's free because the author is using it as an introduction to a series. As a new author myself, I like to sample other authors' work and this is a great way to do that. I hear some authors subscribe to KU for the same reason.


_sorry, self promotion not allowed in the Book Corner -- Ann_


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