As an avid reader, I’m always on the lookout for good deals on books and e-books, whether or not I really need any more. While there are thousands of free book titles on Amazon for Kindle (or on Google Play or Barnes & Noble), they’re not usually the ones you’d find on the bestseller list. A free book is a free book, but sometimes you want to read the same thing as everyone else.
That’s why a new site has me excited. BookBub is a Groupon-like site that offers exclusive week-long deals of either super cheap or free e-books, including best sellers and popular titles in numerous genres.
Of course, this may sound too good to be true. Why would publishers offer titles for free when they still can get full price for them? One reason is that by offering certain books for free, publishers interest readers in a particular author’s writing. This works especially well for authors who’ve written bestsellers in the past and are trying to promote upcoming new releases. If you enjoy one book by an author, you’ll generally want to read more — and may be willing to pay full-price for their newest books.
Why You’ll Love BookBub
It’s free and easy: After signing up with an email address and password, you’re ready to browse deals. Books are available for download to your online e-book account, or immediately to your device. The more devices you own (Kindle, Nook, iPad, etc.), the more deals available to you.
It’s tastefully filtered: You won’t have to groan about the poor quality of writing in your free e-book deals. The staff of BookBub selects certain titles from all the deals offered by publishers. And although it’s filtered, the selection of books to choose from is still large and varied.
It’s catered to your preferences: Whereas Groupon sends emails about many deals I have no interest in, BookBub won’t. When you sign up, you’re immediately prompted to select your preferred genres.
I just signed up for BookBub and am eager to explore how it works for me. Like my Groupon account, I’ll receive weekly updates on the best deals; but unlike Groupon, many of the deals will be completely free. Looking through the titles recommended to me, the most expensive one I see is $2.99.
The one downside? You can’t wait too long to make your selections — since, like Groupon, most deals are only a week long. This keeps publishers’ losses to a minimum, while increasing the excitement of deal-snatching for the consumer. If you’re someone who insists on reading your current e-library before moving on to new books, you’ll probably miss out on some good deals. You’d be better off loading up on free books now — even if you won’t read them for a while — than waiting until they’re only available at full price.
Go ahead; be a book hoarder.
Have you heard of BookBub before? Are you going to try it out?
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I love BookBub! I found it earlier this year and have been downloading free books and reading them on my ipad. I haven’t had the expense of buying books and using the money instead to pay down my debts.