(if you click that link to buy a Kindle, I get a couple of nickels)
Last Christmas, two very nice folks for whom I work bought me a Kindle. It has become my favorite toy. At this time I have over three hundred books on it, very few of which cost me any money. Because I am a book blogger, I have access to NetGalley, which offers bloggers and other "professional readers" free review copies of new books. However, another one of my freebie sources is available to anyone with a computer: The Kindle Store. So far this week, I have "purchased" thirty-six Kindle versions of books, none of which cost me a cent (or a dollar). This week, most of my "finds" are cookbooks, and honestly, I probably wouldn't ever buy most of them, but given that they were free, and only for a limited time, pushing the download button wasn't very hard. Others were self-published digital format only romance novels which are probably worth what I paid for them, but maybe one day I'll take a look at one of them, if I have time. At least one is a book for which I've seen reviews of the printed copy on book blogs.
Where do I find all these freebies? E-Reader Love has blog that publishes on or more lists daily of Kindle Freebies. So far today (I'm writing just before noon) they have published a list of forty mystery/suspense/thrillers. Yesterday, they listed sixty-five books, the day before, sixty. Even I can't read that many books a week. Even if you don't have a Kindle, you can still download the books to read on your computer.
What is in it for them? I guess the idea is that once I read something by an author, I will want to read something else. Also, most of these offers are temporary, and my guess is that they sell a few even after they start charging again because people like me see them listed on newsletters, click the button to purchase and then choose to do so, even if they are no longer free.
What is your procedure for "purchasing" Kindle (or Nook) freebies? Do you grab stuff when you become aware of it, keeping it until you decide to read it (or not) or do you only review free offerings if you want something new to read--and then read your new books shortly thereafter? Have you found any gems via freebies? Do you subscribe to any websites listing freebies, or do you have a favorite search you run in order to find them? Let's talk about Kindle Freebies.
Thanks for that link, RAnn. Being I only have my Kindle less than a week, I don't have a system on getting free books yet.
ReplyDeleteWhat I did do, when I got my Kindle, was do a search for free Kindle ebooks on amazon.com and download those that interested me. They have a lot of classics available for free. However, a lot of "explicit" books showed up in the search, too, so I would caution anyone who chooses to search for free ebooks this way.