Ebook Buying Addicts' Support Thread

[DrNefario]

I had the same issue. I was able to shorten a few links to get under the limit, but it seems like there also ought to be a way to use relative links instead of absolute links (ie. drop the beginning of the URL). I might need to find out before next year.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

I had the same issue. I was able to shorten a few links to get under the limit, but it seems like there also ought to be a way to use relative links instead of absolute links (ie. drop the beginning of the URL). I might need to find out before next year.

You should have no problem now.

If anyone else needs a bigger limit on their signature, let me know.

[CRussel]

So, 2023 was a mixed year. I acquired 267 books (!), but the vast majority of them I didn't pay for -- either KU, or Kickstarter freebies, or other such. In total, I spent $330 on books this year, for an average of $1.15 per book -- an acceptable price. My most expensive book cost a whopping $25.40, but it was a knitting reference book and I don't regret it. What I do regret is the number of books "acquired" just because they were Kickstarter bundles or freebies and that I will probably never read. I'm not even sure why I bothered to download them, though I admit I've been occasionally surprised and found a new author that way. But it's pretty rare.

My overall reading has included a lot of rereads, but in total I've read 159 books this year, with only two I had to abandon. OTOH, 61 of them were re-reads, so only 98 new books. That's not a great ratio of read to acquired (23%). This MUST CHANGE in the coming year. I already know I'm going to do a fair amount of rereads, so I need to scale way, way back on all the junk that comes with Kickstarter bundles. Honestly, they should be paying me to download some of that dreck.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by CRussel

So, 2023 was a mixed year. I acquired 267 books (!), but the vast majority of them I didn't pay for -- either KU, or Kickstarter freebies, or other such. In total, I spent $330 on books this year, for an average of $1.15 per book -- an acceptable price. My most expensive book cost a whopping $25.40, but it was a knitting reference book and I don't regret it. What I do regret is the number of books "acquired" just because they were Kickstarter bundles or freebies and that I will probably never read. I'm not even sure why I bothered to download them, though I admit I've been occasionally surprised and found a new author that way. But it's pretty rare.

My overall reading has included a lot of rereads, but in total I've read 159 books this year, with only two I had to abandon. OTOH, 61 of them were re-reads, so only 98 new books. That's not a great ratio of read to acquired (23%). This MUST CHANGE in the coming year. I already know I'm going to do a fair amount of rereads, so I need to scale way, way back on all the junk that comes with Kickstarter bundles. Honestly, they should be paying me to download some of that dreck.

Oookay, I can't resist commenting. It seems to me ("to me" being the operative phrase) that a more accurate application of costs would be to amortize them over books you're certain or likely to read. Similarly, beating yourself up over books that never should have hit the tbr anyway, because they're free and you won't read them, is pointless.

That said, I absolutely agree with you that eclutter is still clutter. They just gum up the works. For starters, just as a suggestion, why not only count the Kickstarter books you actually want and amortize the price over them? Ignore the dreck. Certainly don't download it. Not worth the time or distraction.

And... I understand you have to add the cost of your KU subscription into your book costs, even though you don't own them. Would it be possible for you to let KU go, keep a running list of books you really want to read, and binge whenever there's a deal? Sigh. I currently have a free KU subscription (part of a Fire purchase) which I didn't turn down, even though I know that my reading satisfaction goes down whenever I'm in KU.

Heh. It's so much easier to manage other people's tbrs!

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by issybird

Heh. It's so much easier to manage other people's tbrs!

SO much easier! However, on the question of KU -- there are several authors I regularly read who are KU authors, so I get my money's worth out of it. But on the other question, yeah, I should really start counting my cost against the actual books I'm ever likely to read. Mostly, I should probably just stop buying Kickstarters. Unfortunately, one of my favourite author pairs routinely write shorter works for a yearly Kickstarter anthology. And their Kickstarters always go well over their base amount, automatically triggering yet another round of freebies. But y'know, I should just not bother downloading them. That would actually help. And start archiving off the ones I've already got.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by CRussel

So, 2023 was a mixed year. I acquired 267 books (!), but the vast majority of them I didn't pay for -- either KU, or Kickstarter freebies, or other such. In total, I spent $330 on books this year, for an average of $1.15 per book -- an acceptable price. My most expensive book cost a whopping $25.40, but it was a knitting reference book and I don't regret it. What I do regret is the number of books "acquired" just because they were Kickstarter bundles or freebies and that I will probably never read. I'm not even sure why I bothered to download them, though I admit I've been occasionally surprised and found a new author that way. But it's pretty rare.

My overall reading has included a lot of rereads, but in total I've read 159 books this year, with only two I had to abandon. OTOH, 61 of them were re-reads, so only 98 new books. That's not a great ratio of read to acquired (23%). This MUST CHANGE in the coming year. I already know I'm going to do a fair amount of rereads, so I need to scale way, way back on all the junk that comes with Kickstarter bundles. Honestly, they should be paying me to download some of that dreck.

You sound like me ten years ago! Except for the KU.

I have slowly got things (just about) under control by ignoring freebies, and only buying books I really want that are on offer. ereaderiq.com has been invaluable in this.

Being ruthless about discarding existing freebies also helped.

And I'm getting better at marking some books as "won't read" and removing them from my TBR pile, even if I paid for them at some point.

[issybird]

Unless I get blindsided by a deal later today, I'll have made it through January without buying any ebooks. I didn't buy any last January, either, but that changed. However, I'm hopeful I can keep my purchases to barebones this year.

It's going to help that I've dropped out of the Kindle rewards program as a result of the cutback in points and promotions; those exploding credits were pernicious and I kept rolling them over. I wouldn't be surprised if Amazon eliminates the program altogether; my guess is that I can't be the only one who no longer finds it sufficiently enticing.

[Dazrin]

On the other hand, I bought more books in January than I had in the previous 4.5 years combined. Oops. Most of them were the Discworld bundle which I've already read so I didn't add them to my TBR. I will re-read them at some point. The rest I've already completed, so at least I haven't added to my TBR list.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

On the other hand, I bought more books in January than I had in the previous 4.5 years combined. Oops. Most of them were the Discworld bundle which I've already read so I didn't add them to my TBR. I will re-read them at some point. The rest I've already completed, so at least I haven't added to my TBR list.

If you didn't have ebooks of them, and you like Discworld, the Discworld bundle was definitely a good buy. Feel no guilt about that one!

I bought most of them way back in 2008 from Fictionwise, otherwise I would have bought it too!

I finished January with 7 books bought. I've read five of them. The others are parts of series I'm reading that went on offer.

I joined a book club, perhaps unwisely, and that was two of January's purchases. Including one at £9.99. The fourth most expensive ebook I've ever bought! (A quick check in calibre reveals I've bought over 4,000 books over the past 20+ years!) And only a 2/5

[DrNefario]

I had a clean January too. In previous years I've often held back a few books to buy on January 1st in the 12 Days of Kindle sale, to protect my annual stats, but this time round I took the hit on the 31st December (and it was only 1 book anyway).

It looks like the second book in a series I just started has been reduced as a February monthly deal, but I'm not sure I'm ready to continue yet. (Does it still count if I buy it on the 29th?)

[Cactus Chef]

Well I was going to say that January was a quiet month with only 5 books purchased from Kobo, but then I remembered a certain Humble Bundle was in effect last month, which then added about 40 Discworld novels to my collection...

[HLS]

I have a new kind of addiction now. I haven’t purchased hardbacks or paperbacks in over 30 years but since mid November, I’ve purchased between 20 and 30 hardbacks and paperbacks, and I must’ve spent like 500 bucks easy. I once hated physical books and I didn’t like the feelof paper but now I love it. I have enough physical books now to last me a year. Sad thing is I don’t even own a bookshelf, so they’re piled up on my coffee table.

[ownedbycats]

I bought five or six books in the past four days. On top of that, it gave me enough Kobo Super Points to redeem for another freebie.

Better get reading...

[HLS]

Barnes and Noble banned me after my lost package dispute so that should slow down my book buying. Anyways Amazon is cheaper but I prefer to support local stores. I just found out BAM! books has a local store so I will check them out

[DrNefario]

I bought my first two books of the year a few days ago. It's all pdurrant's fault.

Well, OK, that Master of the Five Magics offer in the deals forum was the feather that tipped the scales. I already had 3 or 4 sale books I was undecided about, and this particular deal made me pull the trigger. If I'm finally buying one book I might as well buy two.

I am planning to read them both in fairly short order.

There are still a few reduced books in my wishlist that I think are monthly deals so I have some time to decide.