Monday, October 5, 2015

Finding Free Books Faster

I was on Goodreads yesterday looking at who had a copy of my books. I was surprised when I found one person who claimed to have more than 8,000 books on her Kindle. I'm not sure of the book limit for a Kindle, but I know you don't have to have all your books on the physical device.

When Amazon first came out with free books for the Kindle, I grabbed every book that even came close to something I may read one day. Before I knew it, I had more than a THOUSAND books. 

I now have so many books on my Kindle, I'll probably never read them all. 

To limit the number of books I get and to improve the possibility that I will actually read a book downloaded, I've come up with a method to find free books. Here's how it works.

Instead of subscribing to the electronic newsletters announcing free books, I periodically (weekly is probably best) look for books I like to read. My favorite fiction is Thriller/Mystery/Suspense. So, I select a book in that category, M.K. Gilroy's Cold As Ice, for example, and find it on Amazon.com. Next, click on Kindle Edition, scroll down to where it says "Look for Similar Items by Category" (near the bottom of the page). Look for the tag that matches your interest. In this example, it will look like this:


Click on Suspense. This will take you to a page showing a long list of books in the Christian Suspense category. Look on the far right side of the page where it says "Sort by" and select "Price Low to High" from the pull-down list. When you do you'll see the list sorted with the cheapest books on top. Naturally, the free ones are shown first. If you decide to "buy" one, make sure it is still free when you get to the page to buy it. If you already own it, Amazon will warn you before you buy it.

Oh darn, I just ordered ten more books while I was there researching this article. And, here's something else to watch out for, the last one I ordered was $.99 and I didn't notice. I can ask for a refund, but for a buck it's hardly worth the effort.

Have fun.

Another way to get free books is to check for GIVEAWAYS. These have deadlines so do it quickly.



No comments:

Post a Comment