Sources for FREE (or discounted) e-books

Some suggestions.

  1. Start with Amazon. For whatever genre you want to read, Search for “Free (genre) kindle books.” I use this instead of the “read sample” that Amazon has as I’ve found the samples might be misleading or too short.
  2. For any books you find, take advantage of Amazon’s offering of similar authors. Go to those authors pages and search their books sorting price low to high. Often there will be additional free books.
  3. On the page where you purchased the book, there is “Customers also bought or read” with other suggestions.
  4. Goodreads and BookBub have books that are free, or “read and review” books where you’ll sign up to read the book on the basis that you’ll post an honest review typically on Amazon. The author might also ask for posting on Goodreads and/or BookBub.
  5. Sign up for the newsletters of authors. This will result in getting offers either from sites like https://promo.authorsxp.com/ or https://books.bookfunnel.com/ or from the authors who will provide “book faire” type notices where they’ve combined with other authors to promote free or discounted books. Be forewarned though that every author whose newsletters (always free from my experience) you sign up for (usually a precondition to get their free book on offer) you’ll get additional offerings and it is very easy to amass a (very, extremely, thank goodness they are electronic) large “to be read next” pile.
  6. Aside from the authors, expect to be contacted by an assortment of other book collectives like the ones I’ve mentioned.

Now, keep in mind that although most of the free books are good reads, there will be a few that are worth what you paid to receive them. Small price to pay as compared to the numbers of good reads and good authors. I’ve been introduced to many authors that I’ve really liked their writing, some to the extent that I follow them on review sites (like Amazon, Goodreads, BookBub, and a few lesser known ones).

I’ve also liked some so much that I buy physical books by those authors. E-books are exceptionally convenient but an avid reader all of my life there are times that I just like the experience of holding actual hardcover or paperback books.

In any event, please comment on any free/discount sites you encounter beyond the few I’ve mentioned.

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You can check all of these online sources at one time by using bookfinder.com.

I LOVE it.

I have only used AbeBooks.com because they have never failed to find what I was looking for. One tip, make sure you check out where the bookseller is located. Twice Ii have ended up purchasing a book from a seller in London, UK. Surprisingly, it didn’t cost me anymore, but it took almost 6 weeks to arrive.

Never forget the local library.