If you are thinking of purchasing a Kindle in order to save money on books, ask yourself what type of books you'll be reading on the device. The Kindle will definitely save you money if you like to read classics in the public domain and available for free download from sites like ManyBooks, Feedbooks, and MobileRead. Over time it will also save you money if you like to keep up with the latest bestsellers and don't want to wait until they come out in inexpensive paperback editions.Let's take a look at the July 26 list of the New York Times top ten hardcover fiction and nonfiction bestsellers, comparing the list prices, the Amazon price and the Kindle edition price of each.
Tribute, by Nora Roberts.
List $26.95 / Amazon $16.17 / Kindle $9.99. / Kindle edition savings $6.18.
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski.
List $25.95 / Amazon $14.27 / Kindle $9.97 / Kindle edition savings $4.30.
Rules of Deception, by Christopher Reich.
List $24.95 / Amazon $14.97 / Kindle $9.99 / Kindle edition savings $4.98
The Host, by Stephenie Meyer.
List $25.99 / Amazon $15.59 / Kindle $9.17 / Kindle edition savings $6.42
The Last Patriot, by Brad Thor.
List $26 / Amazon $15.60 / Kindle $9.99 / Kindle edition savings $5.61
When You Are Engulfed in Flames, by David Sedaris.
List $25.99 / Amazon $14.29 / Kindle $9.99 / Kindle edition savings $4.30
Life With My Sister Madonna, by Christopher Ciccone with Wendy Leigh.
List $26 / Amazon $15.60 / Kindle $9.99 / Kindle edition savings $5.61
Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea, by Chelsea Handler.
List $24.95 / Amazon $14.97 / Kindle $9.99 / Kindle edition savings $4.98
The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals, by Jane Mayer.
List $27.50 / Amazon $15.13 / Kindle $12.57 / Kindle edition savings $2.56
Stori Telling, by Tori Spelling, with Hilary Liftin.
List $24.95 / Amazon $13.72 / Kindle $9.99 / Kindle edition savings $3.73
So the total savings would be $48.67 were you for some inexplicable reason to buy Kindle editions of all of the these books instead of - say - checking them out of the Library or waiting for them to come out in paperback.
Bottom line: If you shell out the bucks for a new hybrid car because gasoline is expensive, the initial purchase price is high enough that it will take some time for your gasoline savings to kick in. Similarly, with a Kindle you won't realize a dramatic savings until you buy a bunch of books, but there are many additional reasons that make the Kindle my reading platform of choice, including being able to carry an entire library on a device the size of a paperback book, the free wireless connection to a larger world of books, and a pleasant reading experience that is kinder to the environment than reading dead tree books.
10 comments:
The Kindle is definitely not saving me money on books, because I'm reading more books than I did before. Some in your list, even. I never read 'new' books before. I just never took the time to find and buy them. Now, I can read about a book in the Sunday paper and download it and get started! I'm also reading many free books. I just finished Gone With the Wind, which I had never read before. I LOVE my Kindle!!
My Kindle has definitely saved me money. I use to buy books by handful at Costco because the back cover trailers and the first couple of pages sounded good enough to take home. Many times I'd find that after getting 30 to 50 pages into a book it wasn't my cup of tea and I'd put it down. 50 pages is all I give a book because there are so many I want to read. Now with the Kindle I can download all those wonderful samples and make better buying decisions. And I only buy one book at time instead of 4 or 5 because I have the "bookstore" right at my fingertips and there's no waiting for delivery. Bestsellers for $9.99 can't be beat. I've probably saved well over $300 since May. My Kinder has changed my "book" buy habits for the better and I can hide the TBR pile from my spouse.
i have read on average 120-150 book a year for the last 20 years. i purchase all my books new, sometimes hardcover and sometimes softcover, depending on when the book comes to my attention...
ive had my kindle for 7 months, and saved well over the $400 purchase price of the unit from the discounted book prices. so in my case, it was well worth the purchase... although after using it for 7 months, id say the convenience of the device alone warrants the purchase price.
Hi Lori and Marcia, I'm glad to hear you're saving money AND enjoying the Kindle. One thing I've noticed is that I read more new books that are available only in hardcover and Kindle editions. B.K. (before Kindle) I would wait until the books came out in paperback or get in line to reserve them from the public library so the Kindle has really changed my reading habits.
Radio Babylon, Wow! That's really impressive - both the money you've saved and your prodigious appetite for books. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Convenience is a big reason I love my Kindle too. There's nothing like shopping for books in the middle of the night when you wake up and can't go back to sleep!
one of the odd things about the kindle is i seem to actually read faster with it than i do on paper... and i already read freakishly fast as it is...
i dont know if its the ability to adjust the type to a size thats most comfortable, or the fact that i can easily carry it around with me almost anywhere (which i didnt do with larger format print books), or what... but i read about 30-50% faster on the kindle.
which leads me to one of the downsides of the kindle: the selection of books. i read primarily sci-fi and fantasy, with a smattering of non-fiction mixed in... and while sci-fi is a pretty well-represented genre in the kindle store, im at risk of running out of things to read (without re-reading stuff ive already read in print).
there is still a LOT of sci-fi that i havent had a chance to get around to that isnt available for the kindle, and a good number of NEW releases that also arent making it. fantasy is in even worse shape.
i realize that the device is still in its infancy, and that it will take time for publishers to get with the program and recognize that the kindle (and future devices like it) are the future of book distribution... but its still irritating. i want the future, and i want it NOW :)
speaking of fantasy...Patricia Briggs' new novel Cry Wolf is supposed to be released tomorrow. She first introduced the main characters in this novel, I believe, in On the Prowl, a collection of fantasy stories and I really enjoyed reading about them. I'm crossing my fingers that Cry Wolf will be available tomorrow for the Kindle. Stay tuned!
I've only had my Kindle for a week and have only purchased one book. As I shop for more Kindle books I'm finding the pricing system to be increasingly confusing and frustrating. E-books should be much cheaper than physical books, but some publishers seem intent on gouging us early adopters. It baffles me when I see an e-book costing only a few cents less than the paperback or hardcover version. It makes me want to stick with the freebies until prices become more reasonable.
I agree. E-books should be cheaper than physical books because the publishers have no shipping costs and no material costs. I have a mixture of freebies and purchased ebooks, but will not pay more than $9.99 for a title. If a book I want to read comes out at more than that, I wait to see if the price goes down, look for it in the library or used book store or buy it in paper. If the Harry Potter books or the Bartimaeus Trilogy are ever published for the Kindle, I might consider paying more for them...
Totally agree . I would like to add that books shoud be cheap as It will make a better society and more people will get educated from the cheaper education . We should also promore the concept of free online books and free ebooks . As It will have better reach in the society
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