Spring has finally sprung for good in Connecticut! Cool crisp mornings are followed by warmer afternoons and it just makes me smile! As I'm drinking a cup of joe, and writing this, the sun is shining, the birds are singing and I don't even mind it being an hour later than I thought it was. It is daylight savings time and I didn't touch one clock yet! I just didn't BARGAIN for loosing an hour sleep... and speaking of bargain (okay, a cheap segue into todays post)... do you ever hunt for book bargains? It's easier than you think if you have an eReader. There are many new authors who try to promote their books by lowering the price for a limited time, or even giving their eBooks away free. Publishers like to promote their authors too. And even the first in a book series might be sold at a bargain price to hook you into loving it and reading the rest of the series. Lots of reasons why eBooks are practically given away sometimes... So, where do you look for those eBook bargains? Here's 5 of the top places... (They are all free to sign up with, you'll get an email every day with them and can opt out easily at any time you don't want to receive the notices any more).
BookBub... "BookBub is a free daily email that notifies you about deep discounts on acclaimed ebooks. You choose the types you'd like to get notified about — with categories ranging from mysteries to cookbooks — and we send great deals in those genres to your inbox. BookBub doesn't actually sell books. We simply alert you by email to fantastic limited-time offers that become available on retailers like Amazon's Kindle store, Barnes & Noble's Nook store, Apple's iBooks, and others. Book publishers offer deals at these sites for promotional purposes, and our staff works with them to determine the best ones to feature to our members."
This is the first place I signed up with to learn about bargain books. Very simple to use, normal categories to check off and a daily email alerting you to bargain books, which range between free and $2.99. Lots of "unknown" authors, but I always check out the book before hand to read a little sample to see if I like the writing, if the initial story sounds interesting to me. I've gotten a lot of fun romance titles, cookbooks, and older literary fiction titles.
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Early Bird Books... "Early Bird Books is an email newsletter that highlights amazing deals on discounted and FREE ebooks, delivered to your inbox on weekdays. Each edition of Early Bird Books offers a curated list of titles across many of the genres you enjoy. For a more personalized experience, set your preferences and we’ll deliver a custom selection of ebooks based on your categories of interest!"This bargain book email seems to include more well known authors, but prices are in the 3.99 to 1.99 range. They always include a free selection.
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Book Perk... "Bookperk is a promotional service of HarperCollins Publishers. Save up to 83% on e-books (most Bookperk deals are under $2). Get exclusive deals on print and e-book bundles. Find great discounts on new and backlist titles. Discover great opportunities to win free books and other prizes."This is a Harper Collins service, and I've found some great books at discounted prices here. They also promote upcoming releases and sometimes offer a chance to enter giveaways. I recently bought A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay, which was on my wishlist, for $1.99.
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BookGorilla..."Imagine a single daily email, tailored to your personal reading preferences, featuring the best deals on the best Kindle ebooks, either completely free or at deeply discounted bargain prices. Sweet. But you don't have to imagine. Just sign up for BookGorilla now and you'll receive your first email by tomorrow. We're as tired as you are of emails stuffed with books by authors we've never heard of. Ho hum, who needs them? Here at BookGorilla, we're talking about bestsellers by authors you know and love, with a few discoveries by emerging authors of real distinction sprinkled in. Hello? Do we really mean that you can get actual bestsellers for prices ranging from free to $2 or $3?"This is a new service to me. I found this while I was doing research for this post. It seems like the selections are from well known authors, and I was able to download a 4 ebook set of Heather Graham for $1.24.
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Fussy Librarian... "The Fussy Librarian is the first website to match readers not only with the genre of books they like but also their preferences about content. Do you only read mysteries without profanity, violence and sex? Then we’ll tell you only about cozy mysteries. Read just memoirs and gory horror novels? No problem. We also only bother with the good stuff so you know you’ll see great reads every time you open our daily email. There’s a reason we’re called The Fussy Librarian, after all."This is also a new service to me and I haven't decided about it yet. They ask for very specific info on your likes and dislikes, which is nice. I have 2 separate emails coming from them, one is the regular selections they recommend based on my choices and the second email is for free ebooks. The free ebook email, has one highlighted book, with photo and description, but the rest of the titles are just that titles and links.
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Omnimystery.com... Harvee Lau whose blog is Book Dilettante shared this site, Omnimystery, which is a family of mystery websites, and says, "Mystery lovers can sometimes find freebies listed on Omnimystery.com". From that site I found OmniMystery News, and their listings of free mysteries available at the moment!Thanks Harvee for sharing this great site! There is so much to look at!
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*HERE is an interesting article on about 3 of these services from the perspective of marketing tools for authors from StandoutBooks... BookBub vs BookGorilla vs The Fussy Librarian – Which is the best ebook marketing service?
It's nice to get a bargain to try a new author, or a series. But this is NOT my only resource for reading. And it's not really meant to be. Authors work very hard on their books and by purchasing them, we are supporting them, but these sites are generally a win win for both readers and writers: Readers who are discovering new writers, and Writers who are gaining more readers! What do you think?
Question... Would you or have you tried an eBook by an author that is new to you because of a discounted ebook price?
And for the rest of the day...
I've got some bookish things planned today, one being trying to finish Passenger by Alexandra Bracken, which I am really enjoying! I've gone from spending time at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2015, to an 18th century pirate ship, to 1940 London all in the span of 249 pages, with promise of more time traveling in the near future. It really is a fun adventure. It's YA, but I think adults would enjoy reading this too.
And I Won!!! I won In Another Life by Julie Christine Johnson from Elizabeth at Silver's Reviews ! I am so excited about reading this! Here's what it's about...
Historian Lia Carrer has finally returned to southern France, determined to rebuild her life after the death of her husband. But instead of finding solace in the region's quiet hills and medieval ruins, she falls in love with Raoul, a man whose very existence challenges everything she knows about life--and about her husband's death. As Raoul reveals the story of his past to Lia, she becomes entangled in the echoes of an ancient murder, resulting in a haunting and suspenseful journey that reminds Lia that the dead may not be as far from us as we think.Steeped in the rich history and romantic landscape of rural France, In Another Life is a story of love that conquers time and the lost loves that haunt us all.
Does't it sound wonderful?! And I think the cover is beautiful! Thank you again, Elizabeth, for hosting the giveaway! Want to read Elizabeth's review? And learn more about the author? Check it out at Elizabeth's blog, Silver's Reviews!
Well, that about does it for this Sunday! Hope you found some great bookish information here and maybe some great bargains too!
Happy Reading... Suzanne
