How do you decide when to buy a book?
I've been thinking about this question lately. We have so many options for consuming literature these days - checking something out from the library, listening to it on your platform of choice, etc. Many options don't require spending money specifically on that item (for example, if you use the library, Kindle Unlimited, or other options where you might pay for a subscription but not for a particular item).
For me, because of this abundance of choice in consumption for free, I've started to feel a bit paralyzed by decision fatigue when trying to decide if I want to purchase a book - either physical or digital. Digital is easier to make a final call on - I'll check the library. If they don't have it, I may or may not buy it in digital form, depending on how compelled I am by reviews or peer pressure. Recently, I've been snagging anything interesting-looking that is available for free on Kindle, so my digital purchasing might increase in the future, or I might subscribe to Kindle Unlimited.
But physical? Recently, physical books have come to mean a couple of things to me: first, clutter. I am less likely to accept even a free book because we don't have room to hang onto something I'm not actively invested in. We have two bookshelves and they're both full. Second, owning (and keeping) a physical book says that it's special to me in some manner - I either really like it or wanted to support the author or both. When I do buy a physical book, I try to buy from a local bookstore (though I'm not amazing at this yet). I just preordered two books after maybe a month of debating and comparing purchasing avenues. (Meanwhile, I purchased a set of 8 children's books at 6 am yesterday because I dreamed about a character from them... so my decisions aren't always rational!)
What are your criteria for buying books? Feel free to share how you make your decisions for any format - and also anything about your personal setup that might make decisions for you!
Most ebooks I want are priced in US dollars. My currency is valued at one-sixth of the US dollar and wages are low. Even a book that is cheap in the US is expensive for me. So first I'll check if the book is available through piracy. If it is not available through piracy, and the price is not ridiculous, I might buy a book. That is rarely the case. And no, I generally feel no guilt whatsoever.
Although I did have a nice exchange with Peter Watts once and felt guilty for pirating his book. I feel so grateful for this author because, oddly enough, his books make me feel so... understood. I don't think anyone ever said that about a Peter Watts book before lol. So I'll probably buy Blindsight (which I already read) just because of that. I wanna have the "legit" book on our next interaction.
I buy some physical books in Portuguese even if I don't read them. Especially translations, which I wish to encourage since there's not a lot of science fiction in my language. Ted Chiang's "Exhalation" was a recent example.
If its a an ebook then I wait for a sale. Especially if it 99p. I kinda don't mind buying ebooks and not getting to them fir a while.
As for physical I am trying for second hand as much as possible but also ideally when I have the time. Since I'm studying I rarely have time so it's a rarity.
if its a book i really love or that shaped me as a person, i buy it in physical format. Otherwise, i just go with digital.
I tend to do more re-reading than new reading just in general, so usually I buy a book when I want to read it again and I don't already own it. Always physical copies, though usually secondhand. I really tried to get into ebooks, but reading from a screen - even an e-ink screen - just doesn't hold my attention the same way for some reason.
Most of the books I physically own are also for rereading, though I am just now getting to the point where I want to dive into rereads. Recently, I've been getting books that I listened to on audio that I really liked and want to reread in physical form. I also tend to buy them if I really like them and I think my partner probably would, too. (I've been getting him the Witcher books as he finishes them in case I want to try them in physical form eventually, too... been listening to them.)
95% of my reading is non-fiction. So I buy most of them to have a physical copy on hand as an e-reader and blacksmithing/machining/working on cars is rarely compatible. It helps that a lot of the books I get aren't available in a digital format anyway. Those that do will have a digital format downloaded (Yarr! or Anna's Archive) as well so I can read on my computer when I'm not actively elbow deep in some sort of dirt.
I almost never do.
My mother was, and still is, a huge proponent of the public library. She took us weekly as kids. I am also quite patient. I can get just about anything through inter-library loan if I can handle the wait. I also recently got an e-reader so that expanded my options. If I absolutely can't get it from the library, I'll probably pirate it.
If after reading it I think "wow, this is awesome!" I buy it (and the rest of the trilogy/series/whatever) in paper.
I basically only buy physical books as collectors items for display. Even though I prefer the physical reading experience in optimal conditions, in practice I just never get to it. Same for e-readers. I do 90% of my reading on my phone.
Not only are physical books something you have to carry (and sometimes large to the point of absurdity), but they usually require two hands. Not to mention lighting.
For digital, most books are usually like $8-$15 which is in the price range where I don’t really care and will buy without thinking much about it. If possible I prefer the DRM free version so I can read on my own, homebrew iOS reader, but I don’t care all that much.
I've collected books since I was a kid, since books were my biggest escape, besides video games as I got older. A shelf full of books is a big comfort to me, especially books I've enjoyed or am pretty sure I will enjoy.
I stopped buying new books a few years ago (for the most part) after making an agreement with my wife that I would read all the books I haven't read yet before adding to my collection. After my big international move a couple of years ago, my books are still in storage as we're still unsure if we're going to be moving again sometime soon and don't want to unbox all of them and get them setup until we're sure we'll be staying in the same spot. Before our move, I did do a clearing out of books I wasn't 100% about keeping, which got rid of ~10% of my collection, mostly books that my Dad passed to me when he finished with them.
I tend to buy used books, and loved going to second books/thrift shops growing up, as it was a fun way to find books for cheap and to build out my collection. I recently visited a famous used book store right near the market we go to regularly and made my first purchase in a long while. Recently I went back in and stopped myself from getting more after seeing some titles I'd heard about and have been meaning to read.
Books are more expensive in this country, so I do believe I'll be buying less of them when I start collecting again, but I think I'll only stop collecting later in life if it turns out my kids (or future grandkids) aren't interested in reading the same type of books I enjoy so I can start finding homes for my books before I pass away.
Although I love physical copies of books, I mostly buy digital. That being said, I try and be good and just buy one book, read one book. Lately I've been buying both the ebook and audio book so I can get some actual reading/"reading" in. All that being said, I buy 20 or so books a year exclusively on the criteria "Do I want to read this next?" So... I guess I buy a book when I'm done with a book and the new book sounds interesting.
If I’m interested in a book, I download the Kindle sample. I buy it if I read to the end of the sample and want to keep going.
This is super useful and something I hadn't thought of doing. Thank you! I'm totally going to try this (downloading the Kindle sample) for a few things to see if I want to put them on hold with the library or maybe buy digitally... there are some books my library only has in physical form that I wouldn't necessarily be ready to buy yet, but I am also trying to budget my holds against my reading time.
I generally buy electronic books but sometimes a used physical copy saves me a significant amount of money.
I don’t buy physical books, but I buy all the audiobooks I read.
Do I have credits available? Does that book look interesting? If so, then I buy it. Simple.
Same. I've been subbed to audiobooks for a decade. I love the format. I'm a bit of a minimalist, so I don't care for physical items. Picking books also follows a similar simple criteria. I don't usually buy credits unless there's a deal and I need to rest of a series
Any book I expect to read more than once, I buy a physical copy of. Any book that I read more than once, I try to get a physical copy of.
My rule is:
a) Is the author alive?
If yes, buy a physical copy from an independent book store.* This ensures they get the biggest cut of the sales.
Once physical copy is bought, download the book from Anna's Archive so I have a DRM-free digital copy, and read on my Kindle, because I prefer it.
b) Is the book only available on Amazon's Kindle store?
Buy it, begrudgingly, and use Calibre to remove Amazon's digital rights management (DRM). I'd still rather the author get a paltry cut than none at all, especially if it's a debut author.
Special benefit!: Once I do this, they can't change the covers to 'Now a major motion picture/TV Series!'. Or if the covers are updated for aesthetics.
(@cfabbro, I don't know if you read on an e-reader, but the Master & Commander books were updated with new covers that were pictures of random antiques and tiny titles, instead of the beautiful original paintings.)
c) Is the author dead?
If yes, download the book from Anna's Archive, unless there's a good reason not to. For example, proceeds of Terry Pratchett's books go to both Alzheimer's research and family estate.
d) Is the author a bad person and I'm just reading to stay informed about horrible things that lots of people believe in?
Straight to piracy.
*I donate most of my physical books to Goodwill at the end of the year. My sentimental bookshelf is full up, and I move around a lot. If I'm lucky enough to live in a neighbourhood with a Little Library or book swap, I donate it there.
I got really sick of moving the same unopened cartons of physical books from house to house.
Ewwwwww... why the heck did they go and do that? The old covers were awesome, and the new ones look absolutely terrible! They're so damn generic they almost look like AI generative art. Actually, AI generative art probably would have made something that looks way better than that, that's how bad it is. :/
I kinda impulse buy.
I don't buy many physical books, my reading routine is kinda anti-book, I read mostly on Kindle while bathing or at night or take it with me - all of these mean book are hard justify to buy for me. But I make exceptions.
So my purchases are made on Kindle (or rather for Kindle). I read like two to three books a year ans having said that I think my split between new one and re-read of aomething I already have is 50/50 (yes, I know I said I read three a year). So when decidong to buy a book there is kinda nothing in my way, not even price.
My latest impulse buy was Ian Fleming's first four books of James Bond series after I have blindly recommended it in recent thread. I'm absolutely sure my blind recommendation was spot on, but it doesn't hurt if I actually buy and read at least some of the books, does it?
I also have to say that I hate subscriptions and I'd rather pay for each individual thing and then own it rather than leasing it. That means no free stuff for me from anywhere (apart from library I guess as the annual price would be so low where I live it doesn't matter at that point). But as I said, I don't read much, so spending money on a book is juat fine for me and I buy it when I want to read it - sometimes I get the idea from a movie, sometimes from recommendations, sometimes from random conversations...
I buy a book when I want to read a book. I don’t like reading books on my tablet and I don’t get through books fast enough to feel like borrowing them from the library.
We have a local independent bookstore so I often drop in to see what looks interesting.
The exception being some non-fiction. Books on history, politics, philosophy, etc I like in audiobook form.
I buy used physical books. I've tried a variety of e-readers, and I just don't jive with them. I'll use one if I need to travel light, but if I don't need to worry about weight, I buy a physical book. After I'm done I'll either pass it on to friend that reads that genre, put in my neighborhood little library box or donate it to my library.
I buy one when I find it on ebay for less than 10.00.