How to find ebooks on the cheap
IS YOUR BOOK HABIT GETTING OUT OF CONTROL? HERE’S HOW TO KEEP A LID ON COSTS WITHOUT HAVING TO CUT BACK ON READING.
FOR PROPER BIBLIOPHILES, letting go of the physical page can be tough. There’s the tactile sensation of being able to hold a book in your hands, the thrill of being able to flick through the pages, and even the smell of the book can be an integral part of the experience.
But if there’s anything that’ll get you eagerly switching to digital, it’s the promise of cheaper — and even free — tomes. Once you’re equipped with a device that’s capable of displaying ebooks — whether that’s a smartphone, tablet or a dedicated e-reader like a Kindle or Kobo — then you can save quite a bit of money by opting for the digital alternative. Here’s how to do it.
KINDLE
The Amazon Kindle uses a proprietary format for its ebooks, but the good news is that it’s very accessible. With free apps for iOS and Android, and dedicated Kindle e-readers starting from $109, it’s a good system to get into whether you’re looking for the latest best-sellers or simply an affordable read.
If you plough through two or more books a month, the Kindle Unlimited subscription service is a must-have. It’s essentially the Netflix for ebooks, letting you access more than a million books (although you can only access 10 at a time) for a single $13.99 monthly fee. To sign up for Kindle Unlimited, visit www.amazon.com.au/kindle-dbs/hz/signup. There’s also a 30-day free trial.
If you’re using a Samsung device, you also get the benefit of one free Kindle eBook a month. To access this, you need download the ‘Kindle for Samsung’ app from Galaxy Apps rather than the ‘Amazon Kindle’ app from the Play Store. Samsung users get one free eBook a month out of a selection of four titles that are refreshed every 30 days.
BORROW EBOOKS FROM A PUBLIC LIBRARY
You may think of public libraries as staid, musty old institutions that no one but students bother with anymore, but you’d be surprised. Many of the public libraries around Australia now offer ebooks that you can ‘borrow’ much like you would a physical book — only you don’t actually need to step foot into the library to borrow the book, and you can ‘return’ the book digitally (huzzah for no more late fees!).
The most popular system used by public libraries in Australia is OverDrive ( www.overdrive.com), and this is natively supported by Kobo e-readers. If you don’t have a Kobo, you can still borrow ebooks from public libraries that support OverDrive by downloading the Libby, by Overdrive app. Note, for most libraries, you will still need to
have a physical library card in order to access their eBook collection, which means fronting up to the library, presenting your proof of ID, and filling out a form. Once you have the card, however, you can borrow and return ebooks directly from your e-reader or mobile device.
CHECK OUT THE FREE EBOOKS ON EACH PLATFORM
The four main eBook platforms are Apple iBooks, Google Play Books, Kobo and Kindle. All but the first are available on iOS and Android. A similar selection of books can be found across every platform, but if you want to see what’s on offer for free, the process differs slightly between apps.
In iBooks, tap on the ‘Top Charts’ tab at the bottom, and you’ll see a carousel of books in the ‘free’ section. In Play Books, tap on the Shop tab at the bottom right, slide the top menu buttons to the left to reveal the ‘Top free’ category, and tap on it. The Kobo app is the easiest of them all to find free ebooks. Directly from the Home screen, you’ll find a ‘Free Books’ section. For the Kindle platform, the process will differ depending on whether you’re accessing it from an iOS or Android device. iOS users can’t actually buy Kindle books directly from a mobile device, even if the book is technically free. The work around is visiting the Amazon Kindle webpage ( tinyurl.com/tla76-kindle), and this is actually the easiest way to do it across any of the Kindle options. Find a genre of book that you’re interested in from the left-hand navigation bar, then scroll down to the itemised list of books (past the six rows of recommended book thumbnails) and sort the options by Price: Low to High. Once you download a book from the Amazon website, you’ll be able to download it from any Kindle app, including the iOS one. From the Library tab, make sure the ‘All’ option is selected (rather than the ‘Downloaded’ option) to see all the books that are available to your account.
FREE AND DISCOUNTED BOOKS
There are a number of sites that showcase ebooks that are either free or discounted. OzBargain, Australia’s number one bargain hunting community, regularly lists free Kindle books. These books tend to be available for a limited time only, so it’s worthwhile signing up for the daily newsletter to stay across these. You can also check the ‘books and magazines’ tag ( www.ozbargain.com.au/cat/booksmagazines) and eBook tag ( www.ozbargain.com.au/tag/ebook) to check what’s available at any time.
BookBub ( www.bookbub.com) is an international website where you can access deals on new and popular ebooks across all of the major platforms. When you set up your account, you can specify the genres you’re interested in, the country you live in, and the types of authors you like.