Monday, June 13, 2011

E-book Prices and Other Ponderings

So, I think I may have been one of the last few people to hop on the ereader bandwagon, but when I did I went wholeheartedly.  I started with my ebookwise ereader and absolutely loved it...I had it for 4 years before I even dared look at another option.  But then the next generation Kindle caught my eye, so I bought it in April (Happy Birthday to Me!).  To say I love it is an understatement - I love the 1-click buy option (though it is getting me in trouble with my budget) and the fact that I have immediate access to my book through instant downloads. I even love the fact that I can have the first few chapters sent to me for free before I decide to buy the book (I must remember to use this option!).

The reader I am now - I prefer digital versus paper (who woulda thunk it???) and am always on the hunt for bargains.  I update my ereaderiq watch list several times a day and am always adding things to my wishlist. The thing is, I still can't bring myself to pay the prices that the publishers want for their books these days.  And as a reader, if I'm not reading you know I'm shopping for new books, new deals, etc., etc.

I still have my auto-buys that I don't blink twice at having to pay a few dollars more for.  I'll pay $7.99 for the new Jill Shalvis or Julia Quinn because they get downloaded to me the same day of publication and that's worth it to me versus saving a few bucks by having to go shop at the big box stores....Or waiting to receive it via mail from amazon.  But I absolutely refuse to pay $10, $12, $14 for an ebook when it is free at my library.

That being said, I am a collector and have thousands of books. I have lots of reading options! I can afford to wait for the prices to go down and if they don't, I have no qualms going to the library or paying less for the paperback copy the next time I'm grocery shopping at Walmart.  Not a big deal. Before I went digital, I was a paperback girl all the way. That hasn't changed..though I prefer digital, I prefer a bargain even more.

In other news ~ I finished books #1 - #3 of the Kowalski series by Shannon Stacey last night.  I loved each and every one of them and can't wait for books #4 - #6 to be published (September 2012, thank you very much).  I think there may be some re-reads in my future :-)

4 comments:

~ames~ said...

I had a Sony reader for a few years but got a Kindle this year as well. I love it. But to be honest, I've only bought 2 kindle books. LOL The rest I've downloaded from amazon were freebies. I buy my ebooks from other sites. Omnilit is a fave of mine. And Carina Press. I usually buy everything in pdf/epub and convert to mobi with calibre. I love that program. And I've converted my Sony epubs for my Kindle too.

Like you, I refuse to spend those kind of prices. That's why I love my library too! haha

Anonymous said...

I still read traditional books; just can't go e-reader. Heh.

And you are so right about the price of ebooks! I've seen them at $7.99, $9.99, and more, and thought that's just too expensive! Paperbacks are also much too expensive in my mind - mostly the self-published and vanity-published ones.

If somebody wants me to review their book and it's an over-priced paperback from Publish America or Eloquent, or another such self/vanity-publisher, I say, "If you put it out in ebook, I'm more likely to buy it." (I have the free Kindle PC version for those indie writers who ask me to read their books.)

Even still, their ebooks are overpriced.

I agree. Hit the library!

Jill Shalvis said...

Aw, thanks so much for considering me an auto-buy!!!!

Dev said...

Ames ~ I've heard (read?) a lot about Calibre - for my PDF's I usually just save them to .txt format.....but I'll have to look into it! (Sometimes the .txt formatting comes out a little wonky).

Wendy ~ I resisted going digital for a long time, then once I went, I went full steam ahead :-)

Jill ~ Absolutely! You haven't disappointed me yet :-)