I strongly believe in paying full price for books. Authors work for months, sometimes years, to get their books finished and published. Most don’t make a living at writing unless they’re mega-best-sellers. The Bible says, “The laborer is worthy of his hire.” It’s good and right to reimburse them for the goods and services they provide.
Paying for a book is a good value. A specialty coffee drink only lasts an hour or so. A good book may cost twice as much but lasts ten-twenty hours.
Plus, selfishly, investing in authors we love enables them to write even more books. If I want them to keep books coming, I need to support them.
For many of us, however, our reading appetite outpaces our budget. We can read more books if we can find deals on them.
Here are some ways I’ve found to get more books for my reading dollar.
Free books. The library is a wonderful institution to make books available to the public. They may not always have what we want, or there may be a waiting list for the most popular books. But they are a good first resource. If they don’t have a book you want, many of them have a form you can submit to request it.
Project Gutenberg has the text of many older books online.
Librivox has audio versions of books in the public domain. Some are excellently done, but some are read by volunteers who don’t use inflections or character voices. But it’s easy to take a chance when the book is free.
Net Galley will send readers free books in return for an honest review. I haven’t tried them yet, but I am looking into them. I think there are similar sites that do the same thing. Sometimes authors will send out a few of their newest books for that purpose as well. The reviews don’t have to be all five-star–in fact, it looks a little suspicious if every review is the highest rating. Reviews also don’t have to be long and involved.
Sales. Yard sales, thrift stores, library sales, and used book stores will sometimes yield great books at good prices. They may have some damage or markings. Even Amazon will list some used book options. Most used books I’ve bought have been fine. There have only been one or two that were so damaged or icky that I regretted buying them.
Thriftbooks sells both used and new titles.
Some sites online will curate book sale listings. Gospelebooks.com and Inspiredreads.com list current Christian books sales for the Kindle app, but I mention them with caution. I would not agree with everything they recommend, so some discernment is needed. Tim Challies also curates a list of mostly Christian books but also a few general market ones. I’m much more willing to take a chance on a new author or a book I am not sure about when I can get it for a couple of dollars.
Of course, many booksellers have regular sales as well. Following them online or signing up for their catalogs or emails will keep you informed.
Also, if you follow your favorite authors on social media, they’ll often list when one of their books is on sale.
Pre-orders. There are a few authors (Amanda Cox and Amanda Dykes, to name a couple of my favorites) whose every book I buy. Since I have read all their books so far and loved them, there’s a good chance I’ll like their new books as well. I got both of their soon-to-be published paperbacks at 25% off plus free shipping for pre-orders. Publishers like pre-orders because it gives them some idea of how much interest there will be in the book, so they’ll often offer incentives like a discount price and/or free shipping or some little gifts if you order early.
Rewards. We have an Amazon credit card which gives me “points” every time I buy something with it–especially something from Amazon. Sometimes it will let me use my Amazon points for book purchases.
I’ve only ordered a few books at Thriftbooks, but apparently they have some kind of reward system, too.
Audiobooks. My Audible subscription is $14.95 a month, which nets me one credit, good for one book. However, they often have 2-book-for-one-credit sales on selected titles. They also rotate some titles for free in what they used to call their “Plus” catalog. Now, at the top of the Audible site, those books are listed under a tab titled “Included.” (I would suggest listening to the free audiobooks you choose right away, because when they are rotated back into the general circulation, they’ll no longer be available in your Audible app.) Plus, they’ll have many of their regular titles marked down if you want to buy them for cash rather than a credit. I save my credit for the more expensive books but occasionally buy audiobooks for a few dollars. I’ve found many classics there for just a dollar or two.
Audible also just started a rewards program. But even before that, they’d sometimes offer a $5 coupon for listening to three audiobooks within a certain time period.
I mentioned at the beginning the desire to support authors. Does it lessen their support to get books on sale or for free? As I said, I like to pay full price for books often. But I think many authors would rather their books be read on sale or from the library than not at all. Many offer sales on their own books at times. I’ve often started reading the rest of an author’s books after trying one that I found for free or on sale.
Plus, we can also support authors in other ways. Requesting and checking out their books at the library helps keep their books available there.
One of the best ways to support an author is to leave reviews of their books, especially on Amazon but also on sites like GoodReads or on our blogs. Even a mention on social media helps. Many book sales are generated by word of mouth these days. Not only do our reviews help promote books among other readers, but publishers look at them closely as well. I’ve read that Amazon doesn’t put a book in its promotional algorithm until that book has at least fifty reviews.
Have you found ways to read more books than you can afford? Please share with us in the comments.
(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)
Stray Thoughts 
Barbara, thank you for this helpful information. I had no idea about the places you provided links for free books even existed. I have to admit though that’s probably because I want to hold a book in my hands when I read rather than electronic device. I would be very interested in hearing what you have to say once you’ve finished looking into Net Gallery. You write such great reviews you would more than likely be rewarded many books.
I normally get my books from Thrift books. They do have a “reward” system, and I have been blessed to receive several free books.
I like the feel and experience of a physical book, too. But we don’t have room for any more. 🙂 Once I got used to reading via Kindle on my iPad mini, I enjoyed it. I especially like being able to search for a character name or a phrase I can’t find–I’ve wished physical books had that feature. 🙂
Interesting topic! Although I read a lot, I rarely buy books. Most of that is due to our wonderful library system. There is hardly ever a book I want to read that I can’t get either through the library or through inter library loan. I’ve learned too from moving that BOOKS ARE HEAVY and that prompts me regularly to try to cull through the books I already own. I’m with you totally on supporting authors though. I review pretty much everything I read (and as an author I feel like reviews are REALLY important in spreading the word on a book). Thank you for some great tips here!
I’ve had trouble finding the newest Christian releases at our library, except for some of the bigger names.
I had to cull through my books when we first moved here–we had left behind two built-in bookcases in our former house. We had two full size bookcases here, but no room for any more except in a couple of bedrooms. It was hard at first, because they were like friends to me. 🙂 But they weren’t going to do anyone any good sitting in boxes in the closet. Then it actually felt good to get rid of some. I get most of my books via Kindle now due to lack of room, but when I finish a physical book, I try to decide immediately whether to keep it or put it in the giveaway box.
You’ve put together a great resource for us readers, Barbara! I’d say 99% of the books I read are from the library. I know our library system does pay royalties to authors for their books. What I could be better at is borrowing books from authors that may not yet be best-sellers to help keep their books in the library, and in-turn, support the author.
That’s interesting about the authors getting paid royalties for their books in libraries. That’s a good idea.
Thanks for all these suggestions. I recently subscribed to Kindle Unlimited because there are several books I’ve come across that I can read through them. I also have several books on my TBR list that are also available at the library. I wish had tons of books shelves that I could buy and store books like I see some of the content creators on You Tube have but it’s not to be.
Thanks for mentioning Kindle Unlimited. I had forgotten about that.
Our public library has a free program called Libby. Through it, I can borrow a book to listen to or read on a Kindle. Some titles are available right away; others will come when they are available if I request them.
Ours does, too–I just stared using them for Kindle books recently. Very convenient! I haven’t tried getting an audiobook through them yet.
In this area you can reserve books and all materials the library offers for checkout online from the comfort off your home. They will ship them from other regional libraries. You can check your online account or wait for how you’ve signed up to be contacted when your items arrive for pickup at the front desk.
This has saved me lots of money and time.
I like to reserve books from the library, too. Our local branch can get them from other branches in the city, but not beyond that, unfortunately.
I mostly use our library or their inter library loan program for my physical books, Netgalley for my Kindle books, and Libby (free through my library) for audiobooks. But you have lots of other great suggestions on here.
I’ve used Libby for Kindle books, but not for audio yet. The one I tried wasn’t available for months. 🙂
I don’t buy fiction although I have a few that are true gems like The Secret Life of Bees and I have many classics like The Scarlet Letter, The Secret Garden, Heidi series from childhood, Les Miserables, etc.
Typically I spend money on non fiction Bible Study books like Billy Graham’s autobiography, we own most of Philip Yancey’s books, Francis Chan’s books, Priscilla Shirer, Gary Chapman, Gary Thomes, Joyce Meyers, etc etc.
We have a fantastic towne library and it’s also part of a larger urban library system so if my town one doesn’t have a book I want to read, I can put in a request. I am at my library just about every week. I tend to take out 2-3 books at a time. I love supporting our town library. I’m a person who just can’t “do” audio books. I get too distracted and then miss stuff. This year, our library is featuring a different classic author each month. This month it is Joyce Carol Oates and I discovered her book Black Girl White Girl which for some reason I’ve never read! once I’m done with this current fiction book I’m reading I will read that one.
Great post Barbara for my book nerdiness. 🙂
We use the Libby app to borrow books from the library. They can get books from other locations in the city, but not from anywhere else. They’ve mostly been good about availability, but haven’t quite had everything I have tried to borrow.
I have a friend who uses the Libby app. Because of my cervical spine issues and cervicogenic headaches, I have to limit my time on phones and laptops.
Good suggestions!
In many places people have installed “Little Free Library” boxes in front of their houses and some public parks also have them. It says “take a book or add a book.” I often places books I’ve read in them and look for a one I haven’t read in them. One private house Little Free Library I visited in my neighborhood the owner told me he had the box installed in memory of his wife, who had been an advid reader and sadly passed away. He said in all the years he had it it never went empty.
Thanks for mentioning that! I’ve heard other people talk about using them a lot. We don’t have one near us, unfortunately. I’ve thought about trying to put one up, but we don’t live on a street with much traffic.
Good list of ways to get books! I’m a heavy library user so that’s always my first go-to when I’m looking for a book. Without the library, I would have read far fewer books over my lifetime. For books I want to actually own, I try to buy them from one of my local independently owned bookstores if I can. But by necessity Amazon still corners the market for ebook purchases for my Kindle. NetGalley has been another great option for ebooks, though, but they archive their books shortly after publication date, so I often miss out unless I know about the book ahead of publication.
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This is so true! Buying books can get so costly, but getting them at the library can be risky with young children in the house.
I love that you mentioned Project Gutenburg. I also use Archive.org to download many public domain books. They can be printed from there if they are public domain, I prefer a physical text.