Has the way you buy books changed?

The past few years have been different for me as I was putting my husband thru flight school so I didn't buy near as many books as I did previously.  I'm pretty lucky as my job is next to quite a few stores, a UBS, and a bookstore.  I don't really think too much about the gas since I have to drive to work anyways and it's right across the street.  I've always tried to drive "efficiently" (do as many errands as possible at once) when I go out since I live far away from major store chains.  I do look online at books but tend to still buy in the B&M stores.  I also use a book service so books are sent to me on a regular basis and I'm not spending TONS of $$$ on new ones.  And yes, I would probably spend TONS of $$$ if I didn't use that service!  LOL  I like books way too much!

I can agree on the library part Sadhbh!  They know me by name - even the ones I hardly see!    I guess I'm there a tad too much! 

I have a hard time getting to some of the brick and mortar stores but then I don't have a credit card. For harlequin books I order online at eharlequin. And then if another store takes payment other than a credit card I'll order from them but only if the shipping costs haven't given me a heart attack.

I loved the Bombshell series and wanted to buy the books every month as soon as they came out. I used to just browse the B&M stores and see if I saw anything interesting. I didn't buy all the books in one series. I found out that e-harlequin lets you get the books a month early and that was all she wrote. I was ordering online every month.  That continues to this day even though Bombshell is defunct :(.  I replaced my Bombshells with Blaze and Nocturne. I buy all eight books every month.  I also buy the NASCAR books and some Historicals.  I still go to the B&M stores and browse, but I buy fewer books from that browsing.

I am buying more on the Kindle now to reduce my collection. So I download anything that I don't think will be a keeper for me. I still have to buy my favorites in print just to keep my collections going. I'm also buying more audios as it's easier to listen and get other things done. I still have to stop on my way home and browse the bookstores sometimes cause there's still nothing as good as holding the print book in my hand even if I don't buy it and then again sometimes I just have to buy it or them.

The way I buy book has changed over the years. Before I would buy a book if it was by an author I liked and/or I liked the blurb on the back. Now because I have to be careful on how much I spend on books I check the Romantic Times Book Magazine. I don't waste my money on books that are okay. I spend it on books that are either four or four and a half stars. I also found a company that rents books for a set price each month. I order books that are older or books that I have found I don't want to spend my hard earned money on.  Our county library system doesn't carry the newer romance books

I do a little of both...especially if a follow up to a series is coming out, I just pre order it and have it deliverd so I dont forget.

But today I was browsing through Borders and found two follow ups I forgot about. 

I opted not to renew my BAM discount card this year.  I knew I just wouldn't recoup the $10 back!  LOL  Normally I used to buy bunches of books and easily recouped the $10 plus tons more money back since I bought a lot of coffee at Joe's, too.  It really was worth the $10 for me especially when it came to the clearance stuff!!!  Maybe in the future I'll do it again. 

I like the fact that buying the ebooks also means the author is getting the royalties too. Tracking down the books I want (as they are often long out of print) actually means I am spending quite a bit more than an ebook purchase for a recent new book for a secondhand book or an ebay lot with the book I want -and I don't particularly want the other books- and postage, which is often more than the book(s).

I just bought a Sara Seale from great Britain; and several Day Leclaires from BetterWorld with relatively cheap overseas postage @ $2.97 per book (otherwise postage is exorbidant from the US). Again it cost me more than a new harlequin off the shelves.

When I was a young student - quite a while ago - I would search used book stores, charity shops , jumble sales etc to find the books I wanted. I was at one stage collecting the Abbey girl books by EJ Oxenham. It was extremely time consuming. I didn't mind then but I could use that time better now. I've only become internet savvy in the last 10 years and found it a much more efficient way to get the books I want. 

Another benefit for the authors is that ebooks can't be forever passed around and they get more return for the enjoyment they are giving- though they may accrue a fan base through their older books.

[Although it seems most of the Sara Seales have been discarded (or kept as treasures) because there aren't many in circulation but she is no longer alive to benefit from royalties].

In the meantime I will keep blogging the paper books I am working my way through and will eventually get to read more of the ebooks that are unobtrusively stored in my computer. At least with the ebooks I don't have the dilemma of what to do with the books after I've finished reading them.

I have definitely changed how I buy books over the years. I've not been a big library person for print books since I was in school, though I do like them for audio. I still buy print books more than ebooks but I do buy a lot of eBooks. And audio I've become addicted to so I buy quite a few of those, especially if they are on sale.

I still shop regularly at BN, mainly beacue my one book club meets there monthly so of course we all shop before or after the meeting, usually both. LOL

But the majority of my books are now online purchases through Amazon or eHQ. Though of course I want my free shipping so I buy more books than I may have planned to at one time to get free shipping.

And lately I had to make a promise to myself to buy less books since I don't really have the oney and I have a gazillion books waiting to be read. LOL I decided to set the rule that no buying books from authors I've not bought before unless the come with tons and tons of glowing reviews. Though audios I treat a little differently. I may do downloads of unkown to me authors since I have a subscription at Audible. But I'm trying to do anythign else form the libraris (especially now that they have the audio downloads so many places)

At eHQ I still buy whatever I want though because that extra 10% discount for being in the challenge makes a big difference and I feel like I'm saving money (though in actuality I'm probably not since it means I buy MORE books)

Actually the internet has increased my library usage.  Now that I can reserve and order books online, I find that I read a lot more authors that I use to hesitate before buying.  Additionally, this review site and others have increased my awareness of other authors.  I don't think I could even name all of the new authors I have tried over the past three years.  I still order a lot from this site - love that discount - and some from B & M stores.  I don't do much from Amazon or B & N online unless I can't find it elsewhere.

Cady