# Do you "buy" free Kindle e-books? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 24, 2018, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-free-kindle-e-books/820226 "2018-08-24T22:53:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-free-kindle-e-books/820226/21 "2018-08-25T20:09:57Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > The link is in the OP as well, along with several other sources of free e-books. Yeah, thanks; I saw that after I posted :smack: but didn’t find it on Amazon when I searched the site. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-free-kindle-e-books/820226/22 "2018-08-25T20:31:27Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Yeah, thanks; I saw that after I posted :smack: but didn’t find it on Amazon when I searched the site. Amazon’s site is so confusing. I wonder if they do that on purpose. I tried finding Amazon Video this morning, something that should be on the top of their page, with no success. I gave up after a few tries, after even a search engine didn’t even point to it on the first try. I think they do so much rearranging that links get lost there easily, if only for a few hours or maybe days. That’s actually one of the reasons I started this thread, so I (and others) might more easily find the links to the sources. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-free-kindle-e-books/820226/23 "2018-08-25T20:47:18Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > There are services that stuff the reviews of the Kindle Unlimited books, so unless there are more than 150 or so reviews, you can’t use those reviews as a yardstick. When I do find an author, usually through a recommendation, I do pay for it. Authors deserve recompense. One thought might be to check the most negative reviews first. That’s generally what I look for. That’s where I look to find out if the book is even written in understandable English. The bad reviews will often tell you if they aren’t. Whether authors deserve recompense for their e-books might be an interesting discussion in itself. You might enjoy [Free: The Future of a Radical Price by Chris Anderson](https://www.amazon.com/Free-Future-Radical-Anderson-2009-07-07/dp/B01JO378SK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1535229453&sr=8-2&keywords=free+chris+anderson) I wouldn’t pay for that book, and ironically, he’s charging for it. It’s pretty outdated at this point, but it’s a discussion about loss leaders and how it may be successful to offer products and services for free to gain more profitability in the long run. There was a free version at Audible when I first listened to it. I don’t know how it works for authors who list with Kindle Unlimited, but I had thought that they were getting paid through Amazon for the rental of their books. Is that not how it works? > [@Horatius](#): > > I clicked the “free 100” link from Amazon supplied above, and ended up buying 3 or 4 of them, so I guess the answer is “Yes”. Crossing my fingers for you that it gives you some some entertainment or amusement, even if that’s only a chuckle at how bad it is. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-free-kindle-e-books/820226/24 "2018-08-25T21:07:30Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > One thought might be to check the most negative reviews first. That’s generally what I look for. That’s where I look to find out if the book is even written in understandable English. The bad reviews will often tell you if they aren’t. I usually check the 3-star reviews. 5 stars seem to be people who either aren’t very discriminating, or are the author’s friends. 1-star reviews are often people with an axe to grind. I find that if they’ve actually thought about it enough to give 3 stars, their opinion is usually more useful. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-free-kindle-e-books/820226/25 "2018-08-25T23:20:22Z")
Amazon has free and/or cheap Graphic Novels in Kindle format. I use the ComiXology app to read them. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-free-kindle-e-books/820226/26 "2018-08-26T00:09:02Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Amazon has free and/or cheap Graphic Novels in Kindle format. I use the ComiXology app to read them. Thanks for sharing that. I did a search for ‘free comics and graphic novels’ on Amazon and came up with [this search](https://www.amazon.com/s?url=node%3D4366&field-keywords=free+comics+and+graphic+novels). I picked up _The Avatar_ one. (I remember that episode from the series.) Is the Comixology app better than the Kindle app for reading graphic novels? The Kindle app worked but may not have been the best viewing of it. I tried looking at the [Comixology page](https://www.comixology.com/new-to-comixology) for newcomers but couldn’t find the viewer easily. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-free-kindle-e-books/820226/27 "2018-08-26T06:31:10Z")
I used to, then got tired of the “witch detective light romance” sub-sub-genre and stopped. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-free-kindle-e-books/820226/28 "2018-08-26T15:37:39Z")
I do, but am much more selective than I used to be when I bought anything free that looked even slightly like I might want to read it and got way too many. I just re-read Indiscretions of Archie, by P.G. Wodehouse and just because it’s free doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-free-kindle-e-books/820226/29 "2018-08-26T15:47:01Z")
So I took the poll to mean the self-published dreck available for free or cheap on Amazon. I hate them. The publishing industry may have its issues, but I still prefer books to be written and edited to a certain standard, and mainstream publication is a good way to find that. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-free-kindle-e-books/820226/30 "2018-08-26T21:53:16Z")
I get a daily email from **BookBub** , and if one of their daily offerings is free and sounds interesting, I “buy” it. I haven’t actually read many of them, but of those that I did, some were good, some not so much. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-free-kindle-e-books/820226/31 "2018-08-27T03:36:14Z")
I read a lot of mysteries, and a lot of mystery writers who are doing book series will offer one of their series for free – either all the time, or for random weekends, whatever. I’ve discovered more than a handful of new-to-me authors that way, ones where I’ve gone on to buy quite a few more of their books. Seems like a good deal for both sides. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-free-kindle-e-books/820226/32 "2018-08-27T04:03:24Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > I get a daily email from **BookBub** , Thanks for sharing that. Looks like a useful resource. ETA: Just noticed the site has a [free e-books link](https://www.bookbub.com/ebook-deals/free-ebooks) that just happens to have a box set of cozy mysteries as the first item at the moment. > [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > I read a lot of mysteries, and a lot of mystery writers who are doing book series will offer one of their series for free – either all the time, or for random weekends, whatever. I’ve discovered more than a handful of new-to-me authors that way, ones where I’ve gone on to buy quite a few more of their books. > > Seems like a good deal for both sides. I like cozy mysteries. There are a lot of those for free as the first in a series. Do you find that the mystery part is just as good with the free ones? I like the silly, easy to read ones anyway, so I’m not as picky on quality as others might be. You and **Tim R. Mortiss** have a similar avatar theme going. Did you coordinate? ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-free-kindle-e-books/820226/33 "2018-08-27T20:48:27Z")
I’ve downloaded a lot of free or very-low-cost stuff that has entered the public domain. I can’t stand being someplace and not having something to read, but at certain times of the year I don’t have much spare cash, so being able to have something free is handy during those lean times. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-free-kindle-e-books/820226/34 "2018-08-27T21:25:05Z")
I read book blogs for the genre I read most (romance) and one of them will send out notices of free or really low price books. They also weed out a lot of the absolute dreck and the blog commenters often will comment on the books they like and don’t like and why. So, the trash is pre-sifted before I have to look through it. ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2018, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-free-kindle-e-books/820226/35 "2018-08-28T02:35:04Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > I get a daily email from **BookBub** , and if one of their daily offerings is free and sounds interesting, I “buy” it. I haven’t actually read many of them, but of those that I did, some were good, some not so much. Agreed. I’ve found some authors I really enjoy through BookBub. And also a lot of dreck, of course. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-free-kindle-e-books/820226.md?page=1)