Reading Free Books

[Aenea]

I'm not quite sure exactly what happened. I downloaded a free book from Amazon and then the next thing I knew a had a hundred or so. It had become some sort of obsession. I just couldn't stop myself. I tried several times, but no matter how much I resisted it, I'd do it. Click click click click click.

The problem is, I just finally got around to reading some of them and I'm finding the experience to be very unsatisfying. Some are not edited well, some are not written well and for the most part they're just not worth reading. I don't know. Maybe it's the genres I'm reading. They are mostly Science Fiction and Mystery/Thrillers. I don't want to name any of the books because I'm sure that some of the authors are close by, but I was curious. Is anyone else experiencing this, or is it just me?

[oliewankanobe]

My guess is you would have a similar experience if you were to be given a $1,000 ge to a book store and spent wildly.  If you don't discriminate at all you are bound to end up with a lot of things you don't like.

I don't tend to download just anything, regardless of price.  The exception is probably cookbooks... I  almost always grab them and delete them if I don't care for them.

[SheenahFreitas]

That's the problem a lot of readers are experiencing, I think. They see a free book and they feel compelled to grab it because it's free. And anything could be marked free! Bad novels, great novels, short stories, novellas, etc. Readers learn the hard way that they're going to have to discriminate against free books and do the proper research to see if it's worth reading. Unfortunately, I think some are put off by the free indie books and think that the rest of indie books have to be just as bad. Though placing one's book for free can help an author rise in the rankings, you  never know if said reader will ever get around to reading it because they're grabbing the other free books, too.

[Sean Patrick Fox]

Welcome to one of the downsides of painless indie publishing.

[Geoffrey]

Just a friendly reminder that this a discussion about reading free books and not about marketing them ....

When I first got my kindle, I went a little crazy with the freebies and also picked up some less than spectacular books.  Now, I look through the free books but I scrutinize them as if they were any other books.  It's. A rite of passage of sorts.

[Aenea]

Welcome to one of the downsides of painless indie publishing.

LOL!! Yeah, I'm finding that out.

I actually do take the time to read the description and the reviews and there have been a lot that I've passed on. I do get the feeling that the reviews may be written by friends of the authors, though. When you see several 5-star reviews and the books end up being really bad it just kind of makes you wonder.

[MadCityWriter]

Just as I won't clutter my house with books I'm not interested in reading, even if they are free, I don't clutter my Kindle with e-books I'm not likely to read just because they are free.  However...I have been known to be overambitious in what I think I will get to.  And if I find I don't like a particular book...blip!

[JFHilborne]

I've not downloaded that many free books, and of the ones I did, several were not enjoyable due to the reasons originally stated, so I deleted them. I usually buy now from recommendation and am happy to pay for the books. Free is certainly not always a bargain.

[kaotickitten]

I am the opposite.  I have found alot of free e-books that I like that I have purchased more from the same author.  You do have to be discriminating towards the books but don't be discouraged if some aren't to your liking.  Also if a book has a few 3 star ratings that is what I will go by.

[psychotick]

Hi

There is a lot of poor stuff out there, but there's also a lot of very good stuff too. Both free and paid for. My advice is read the cover and the reviews (ignore the stars just read what the reviewers actually said - some two star ones can be very supportive oddly enough) and then use the 'look inside' button to see if it's what you want.

Cheers, Greg.

[oliewankanobe]

My rule of thumb is:

What is the review rating?
How many reviews are there?
Does the cover show at least some effort and professionalism?
Is the blurb professional and without errors? 

Even if it was recommended, I won't necessarily just download. I wouldn't buy without the same considerations. 

That said?  I have lots of freebies.  But I also spend 25/30 a week on non-freebies.

[history_lover]

Hate to say it but a lot freebies seem to be self published and while there's some great self published work out there, most of it is not so great. This is why I'm cautious about what freebies I download. Same as any paid-book, I only go for the self published ones which have a number of positive reviews. And I don't even look twice at ones with unprofessional covers (if an author won't hire someone to make a decent cover, they probably haven't hired an editor either). Following these rules, I have actually found some really good freebies, though most are indie pubbed and not self pubbed which does give it more credit to begin with, in my opinion.

[Jeff Shelby]

I won't download just because they are free.  I try to approach them as if I were paying for them.  Does the sample grab me?  Is the book description engaging?  If those things work for me - HEY FREE BOOK!    But as several people have mentioned above - I don't want to fill my Kindle with books simply because they are free.  I want GOOD books - at any price.

[Todd Trumpet]

My guess is you would have a similar experience if you were to be given a $1,000 ge to a book store and spent wildly.  If you don't discriminate at all you are bound to end up with a lot of things you don't like.

Agreed.

A real-life "paper" example I can share is a library sale I went to some years ago where they were essentially giving the books away.  I took this as a cue to pick up a number of titles/genres/authors that I recognized but had never read.  Dozens of books.  Everything from experimental literature to bodice-ripping romance.  And guess what?

The vast majority were "very unsatisfying".

It's still easy to pick up stacks of books on the cheap - garage sales, swap meets, thrift shops - but I learned my lesson:  You have to exercise some due diligence, using your own well-developed personal filters...

...or even "free" is no deal.

Todd

[Rejean]

I think in this house we've used the free books to download a bunch of stuff we might not normally read. That can be a good thing, you are going to find that there are things you never heard of that you kinda like - steampunk for instance - and you will find books that you thought you would like that didn't live up to their promise. In the second instance, I think it becomes very easy to just quit on a book you haven't paid for.

When you are paying real hard cash for something, you tend to be pickier about what you select in the first place which means you might tend to miss some really good new writers and ideas.

[PAWilson]

I mainly download free books to see what a new author is like. I've found the quality is around the same as paid books, but it's easier to try and remove when the book is free.

I too have stepped down the road of download addiction. I staged an intervention with myself when I got to about 30 books. 

[MariaESchneider]

I'm not quite sure exactly what happened. I downloaded a free book from Amazon and then the next thing I knew a had a hundred or so. It had become some sort of obsession. I just couldn't stop myself. I tried several times, but no matter how much I resisted it, I'd do it. Click click click click click.

The problem is, I just finally got around to reading some of them and I'm finding the experience to be very unsatisfying. Some are not edited well, some are not written well and for the most part they're just not worth reading. I don't know. Maybe it's the genres I'm reading. They are mostly Science Fiction and Mystery/Thrillers. I don't want to name any of the books because I'm sure that some of the authors are close by, but I was curious. Is anyone else experiencing this, or is it just me?

Yeah, that's about the right of it.  I have about that many and I just tried out 4 of them in the last two weeks. The first made it about 5 kindle pages.  It just wasn't interesting at all.   It was supposed to be funny and wasn't and I actually deleted it off my account.  It had font problems too. Another made it probably 30 pages.  It was an okay cozy read, well-edited, but I was getting impatient for someone to die (yeah, I know.  Morbid of me.)  It had humor and was just okay.  I might go back to it. Then a third--boy I thought it was a winner.  Well edited...but then it began to drag and before it was over it went off the rails into a...weed plot, and I can't even decide if it's a one or a two.  BUT  Book 4--A Gift of Ghosts, I really enjoyed.   It was romance (which I didn't expect) but had these ghost stories woven throughout and I enjoyed it.  We are not talking high literature, but it was a good story.   

It's very much hit/miss.   I go for my freebie list every once in a while.  If a book isn't well-edited and I'm in 20 pages, I'm usually done.  I don't know that any badly edited books have been able to hold my attention past that point.  I guess I figure if the editing isn't there, the story probably isn't either.

I'd say when I go through the list that 1 out of 4 is about right.  But there have been times when 4 out of 4 weren't my thing at all and there have been times when going through it that there just isn't a single one I want to read at that time--meaning I downloaded a bunch that probably will never be my thing.

[MariaESchneider]

LOL!! Yeah, I'm finding that out.

I actually do take the time to read the description and the reviews and there have been a lot that I've passed on. I do get the feeling that the reviews may be written by friends of the authors, though. When you see several 5-star reviews and the books end up being really bad it just kind of makes you wonder.

Yeah, I felt burned by one of the above books.  Nothing but good reviews, and not a single review mentioned plot holes big enough for a swimming pool or weird scenes that didn't fit.  Not to say that anyone lied, but even if a person liked the book, surely they noticed the plot holes? 

[Atunah]

Hate to say it but a lot freebies seem to be self published and while there's some great self published work out there, most of it is not so great. This is why I'm cautious about what freebies I download. Same as any paid-book, I only go for the self published ones which have a number of positive reviews. And I don't even look twice at ones with unprofessional covers (if an author won't hire someone to make a decent cover, they probably haven't hired an editor either). Following these rules, I have actually found some really good freebies, though most are indie pubbed and not self pubbed which does give it more credit to begin with, in my opinion.

That has been about my experience too. When I first got my Kindle in 2008 I jumped on free books, it was new. But I also have to say there wasn't as much carp out there then. A lot of the free books where first in series, publisher type, well reviewed books.

The last few months it seems it has gotten totally out of control with free books. So many each day now that I too look at the cover and some of them are an insult to the reader. I just don't have the time to sift through all that stuff to find something.
Bad cover, no reviews, pass. Even if its free. My time is not free, its valuable. And if there are reviews, they should be of the actual reader type. Not never heard of blogs or other writers. That is just how I look at it. I want regular readers to have an opinion on those books.

So I still find a few freebies and those I do intent do reading, but I do vetting on free just like I do on paid. In the end I want to read good books. Free or not, I expect the same from them. Most of what I get as free now, if they aren't from a publisher, are the backlist titles an author puts out. So there are usually reviews found and there is a history there for me to vet with.

There are only so many hours in a day to read and although I read a lot each year, I still want each book I read to be a potentially good book. Free or not.

I am actually slowly going through my archive and permanently removing some of the free books I got and will never read. Just wish it was a bit easier process though.

[Dara England]

I operate under the assumption most free books are sloppy and low quality, and have to be weeded through if I don't want to clutter my Kindle with junk. I usually watch Pixel of Ink for free book alerts because they seem to have some standards about what they'll feature and they attempt to pick out the better freebies. I also look for a nice cover and blurb because I assume if little effort was put into those, the inside of the book won't be well formatted or edited either. 

[padowd]

I have noticed that since all the free indie books on Amazon they have just about stopped giving us the non indie books. When all the free books started I was like alot of people and downloaded lots of them and then I got tired of it and stopped. I do try to read the reviews but you can't always go by that because friends and family can be posting those but I do try to look at the description and the cover and go from there. I can tell you that L J Sellers books are very good and my husband loves her books. So there are some good books out there you just have to look. I usually look at the reduced books and buy those and the deal of the day. I can usually find good books for $1.00 to $3.00. I have more books on my Kindle now then I will ever read but I just keep on buying. I think alot of people do this. LOL

[MariaESchneider]

I operate under the assumption most free books are sloppy and low quality, and have to be weeded through if I don't want to clutter my Kindle with junk. I usually watch Pixel of Ink for free book alerts because they seem to have some standards about what they'll feature and they attempt to pick out the better freebies. I also look for a nice cover and blurb because I assume if little effort was put into those, the inside of the book won't be well formatted or edited either. 

Seriously?  Pixel is 99 percent ad based.  I doubt seriously that they vet anything.  I haven't seen any evidence of it (Not saying they should either).  I see pretty much the same freebies listed there as on the other sites.

[tamaraheiner]

I've experienced this often. But among all the bad ones, there will be good ones. I give a book about ten pages and then I move on. I know by then if I'll like it or not.

[ddarol]

I'm the same way.  Although, I am descriminate about what I download.  I read the description, check the reviews.  If it sounds like something I might be interested in, then I go for it.  But, if after downloading, I read 10 to 20 pages in and it hasn't grabbed me, I delete it.   

[lea_owens]

Even though they're free, I always read the worst of the reviews to check if the 1 star rating was just a cranky competitor for that market or if there are several 1 star ratings with valid points (I do like good spelling, grammar and syntax, so if a well written reviewer slams that about the book, I walk away then). I usually make use of the 'look inside' option as at least half the time I can eliminate a book right there. Then, if I do download one, I'm aware of the fact that if I like it, I 'owe' the author a good review and star rating as thanks for letting me have the book for free. Quite often I don't read all of the book as it just doesn't grab me but, hey, I've paid good money for paperbacks that I couldn't finish, either, so I'm not complaining.

I love the free books. I have more than I can possibly read in this next few months, and yet I still like shopping for them, but I have become very fussy now.