Today I want to talk about book-buying bans. For those of you not familiar with the way us crazy book lovers work, we buy lots of books. I know in your head you're probably thinking a handful a month, but that's not really the way things work around here. We buy/receive a handful of books per WEEK. It gets....out of control. And it really kills our TBR (and probably our bank accounts...). A lot of book bloggers put themselves on book buying bans. I've tried it before. Doesn't work for me. It's like making a New Year's resolution. Basically if there's something that I definitely DON'T want to do, I will make it my New Year's resolution because I fail every single year. It's like putting candy on the table in front of me and then saying I can't have any. It's like telling my rebellious teenage self that she can't see that boy anymore. I then proceed to eat the candy and sneak out of the house to see said boy. If I tell myself I can't do something, that only makes me want to do it more. So instead, I say things like "I'm cutting back." Which works for a little while. But then something bad happens.
NetGalley and Edelweiss. These are the death of me. For those who don't know, these are two websites where bloggers can request egalleys of books for review. Sounds awesome right? Well the problem is that I have zero self-control. I've gotten a lot better, really, I have. But when I first got on these sites I went nuts. Then I had to do the whole hangs head in shame and tells the publisher that I'm probably never going to read this and feel like a horrible human being. But the hardest thing to deal with on these sites are the auto-approvals. I'm auto-approved for a couple publishers on Edelweiss, including Harper Teen (they basically put their whole catalog on EW). So when I log-on just to scope it out (which, let's be honest, is my first mistake) and see that they put tons of new books up and all I have to do is click on the shiny green button that says "download review copy" I can't control myself. Now, most of these books I definitely want to read. But I WANT to read more books than I ever possibly could in this lifetime. So then I end up having bloggers remorse and looking at my TBR pile wondering how it got so completely out of control and when the heck I am going to find the time to read them all. *sigh*
And if that's not bad enough, then there's the deadly Kindle daily deals. I mean seriously, these are the death of me. I check it every day, you know, just in case. And if there's a book on there that's on my wishlist and it's on sale for $1.99, I'm going to buy it. There's no stopping me. I mean, it's $1.99!!! I must have it. Then my husband yells at me when he sees all the baby Amazon purchases on our bank account and I have to hang my head in shame once again for my complete and utter lack of self-control.
So most of the time, I feel like a complete failure when it comes to putting myself on a "book buying ban". Because between Edelweiss, NetGalley, and the Kindle daily deals, I will fail every single time.
Are you good about NOT downloading the shiny new galleys that get put up on EW and NG? Share your secrets with me! How do you resist the horribly tempting Kindle daily deals? Or do you just completely fail with me and over commit on everything?
Oh yes I know EXACTLY what you mean! It's just soooo tempting to request ALL THE BOOKS! Auto approval on NG is the worst because it just too easy to download everything. But I have been trying to cut back and catch up on NG to get my percentage up, so I've stopped logging in everyday to check what new books are up...but this only works for a short time, until I see someone on Twitter say "hey did you see THIS BOOK is up on NG" and of course I rush over and request it *ducks head in shame* ;)
ReplyDeleteHaha, story of my life. That happens to me ALL THE TIME. And then when I hop over to NG or EW I tell myself I'm only going to download that one book, but of course I get distracted by all the shiny new books.... Lol
DeleteMy e-reader has died so I end up avoiding most of the e-books that I would otherwise have purchased. I definitely did stock up when I used it, though, and those free classics you can get on the Kindle? Happy. Day.
ReplyDeleteI still definitely buy some books *looks guiltily at the pile for the monthly haul post* but I'm gifted them a lot of the times as well or my friend and I will trade. In general, however, I definitely have far too many books for a reasonable TBR Pile. I know what you mean!
Another great discussion post :)
Violet
Noooo! That's so sad. :( You need a new one! I guess I don't buy a ton of actual books, but I still have overwhelming stacks and stacks of them somehow. And the Kindle is a whole other issue...
DeleteOMG I'm horrible on NG. I've been getting better, but I used to request every book that sounded remotely interesting. Now days, if I know I can't read the galley by the release date, I usually try not to request it and just take a screen shot of the cover. That way I can go back to it when I get the chance.
ReplyDeleteWith ebooks, I used to be great. I used to buy books as I read them. So I would never buy a book unless it was the book I was going to read then and there. Now that I've gotten way better at scoping out deals, this really isn't the case. I'm trying to go back to that habit, but it's so hard to pass up a $1.99 ebook sale for a book that's usually over $5.
I hardly get accepted on EW. So that's not really a problem for me thank goodness.
As for tips, I really don't have any. I really need to practice my own self control though. I really really have to.
Same here. I was so bad. Now I really try to only request ones that I know I will a). definitely read and b). sound super super interesting to me. Yeah, I buy so many ebooks. And I don't plan on stopping anytime soon....
DeleteHey, $1.99 for a book, you're saving money! :) Come on, a soda you buy at the vending machine costs that much! I don't feel guilty AT ALL. I love reading and I spend a ton of money on books, but that's what I want to spend it on. It's relatively inexpensive compared to a lot of other hobbies. I can justify this all day! :)
ReplyDeleteNow as far as NetGalley and Edelweiss, it is easy to just request and when suddenly you've been approved for a lot of books all at once, it can get overwhelming. I really do try to just request books I would buy anyway. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) Edelweiss hates me and I'm not auto-approved by anyone so I don't have the HarperTeen problem. :)
So don't feel guilty!! ~Pam
Haha I love you for this comment. Justify everything! It's totally okay that I have a TBR that's well over 100 right? Yeah, it's fine.
DeleteI try to do that with NG and EW now too, but when I first got on, I was out of control. I have finally started to clean them up which is good and my NG rating is really good right now so hopefully I can get it to stay that way. I'm glad EW doesn't have ratings like NG bc I would be so screwed.... Lol
Oh my god, YES to this post!! When I first got on NetGalley, I went crazy and requested way too many books. Now I'm still trying to get up to that 80% feedback to approval ratio. It's going to take me much of the year to do that. But I've been doing better on not requesting so many books. On Edelweiss, I don't have a problem because I rarely ever get approved. (Just got my first HarperCollins approval this month, and I was STOKED). But other than that, it's just an NG problem. And the Kindle daily deals? UGH. I need to go on a book-buying ban immediately. But it's so hard to resist $1.99 deals...
ReplyDeleteHolly @ Part of that World
Same here. I just got my NG rating back up to 80%, but it took me forever!! I hear a lot of people have problems getting accepted on EW, but for some reason, HarperTeen auto-approved me. No idea how or why. Guess I'm just lucky. Or unlucky, because now I have way too many egalleys and it's so overwhelming!!! Kindle daily deals....I will break my ban for them every single time. Zero self-control over here.
DeleteOh, I'm so glad I'm not the only one!! I thought I was just horrible and learning this the hard way! lol. I'm trying so hard to be a good girl and read all the things I downloaded from NG/EW, but I'm finally realizing that it's just not going to happen, and it's ok. Ha. I must be a real blogger, because my TBR is officially HUUUUGE. :)
ReplyDeleteLol right?? I seriously had to go through my NG and EW and really think about if I was ever going to read the book. And I felt really bad doing it, but the ones that I wasn't, I just sent a note over to the publisher apologizing and explaining. I'd rather do that than leave them hanging you know? My TBR is out of control. Lol
DeleteI am absolutely an incurable book addict. I'm impressed by anyone who even has close to an 80% feedback ratio. And also, $1.99 ebooks are incredibly clickable. It doesn't even feel like I'm using real money. :P Excellent post, girlie!
ReplyDeletehaha right? When I buy all those ebooks that are on sale I seriously feel like it's Christmas morning and it's just like a cute little stocking stuffer. So it doesn't count as spending money. I FINALLY got my NG ration up to 80% for the first time ever. I'm going to try really hard to keep it there, but it probably won't work... you know, because I have zero self-control.
DeleteI'm quirky (ok, let's just say it-I'm weird, lol), because I ONLY read library books. No shiny green buttons for me :) I grew up reading library books and the idea of buying books was a foreign concept. That's followed me into adult-hood and I just can't make myself pay money for books.
ReplyDeleteAnd the free book options out there just seem a bit too imposing-I like the freedom to chose what books I want to read, without feeling obligated to respond with a review (I know some of these programs don't have requirements, but I wouldn't feel comfortable accepting a free book without giving a review in exchange).
Great post today :)
I love my library! When I was unemployed I only read library books simply because I didn't have the money to go out and buy books. But I do really like to support the author if it's a book that I love. Plus I love seeing all my shiny books lined up on my shelves. It makes me happy to look at. Especially when people come over for the first time and go "oh my god, that's a lot of books!" That's like a better compliment than someone telling me I look skinny. lol
DeleteI don't mind having to write a review because I was probably going to review it anyway, regardless of if I got it for free from the publisher or if I waited and got it from the library. But to each their own! I think it's great that you support your local library. Too many people forget that libraries exist these days.
This is a bit of a copy-n-paste comment as I literally just commented on another post about a similar thing - I go on book-buying bans and set up my cart with what I'm yearning for anyways and when I come off the ban, the exact DAY I come off it, I go purchase. The longest I've consciously gone was three weeks. It was hell. There were offers on, there were books I wanted and I couldn't buy them. I told myself not to panic, offers are on all the time, I'll get it again at 20% with free shipping and an extra 10% cashback... So, I bought about 6/7 books from Amazon the day the ban ended. Would I have bought more in those three weeks if I hadn't been on a ban? Probably. But I did notice when I came off the ban I was more careful about what I bought. I've noticed that in general since blogging, I've seen reviews and heard snippets so I don't just reach for a new book and think, "Oh, pretty" I have a (very long) list of books I want to read because I've seen or heard about them and think/know I'll like them or I want to read them - Shatter Me trilogy, Mistborn series, The Lunar Chronicles etc. So, instead of a ban, I kind of have a deal with myself - I only buy books on great offers and I shop around (originally, I was meant to use library books more, but I like OWNING, so that hasn't happened), I placed an order last night for 18 for ten books. New. 10 Books. I try not to purchase something unless it's on my radar. This works pretty well. I try not to impulse buy because the list of books I know I want to read is pretty huge. And I don't impose bans as such so I don't go mad when they're over, I just try to reduce purchasing in general. I still purchase at a greater rate than I read, but my choices are far more select, I'm getting the best price possible so I feel less guilt and the pace has slowed down. That's the best I can do for now.
ReplyDeleteAs for Kindle Deals they destroy me, I checked my Kindle app the other day and discovered so many books I forgot I had because I clicked the wee "autobuy" button when it was 49p or something equally ridiculous, and I've never read them. Any of them. But I keep buying them thinking I'll get to them. I think I pick up physical books first because they are sitting there and make me feel guilty. And I have some outstanding reviews on NetGalley too, I got click happy when I started blogging and was doing really well with the reviews, until I started really reading other blogs and seeing recommendations for amazing books and bought them and bumped them up my reading pile... It's a work in progress.
First of all, thanks so much for the thoughtful comment! Second of all... TEN BOOKS FOR 18??? WHERE ARE YOU SHOPPING? I do think that I tend to scour deals more. But I do still have my moments where I'm just like "I don't care how much it is, I must have it!" And I've started getting really into international editions lately, so I'm totally buying books that I already have, just in a different edition because THEY'RE SO PRETTY AND I MUST HAVE THEM ON MY SHELF! Fail. So yeah. I don't know. Putting myself on a ban doesn't really work, but I try like you to just "buy less". The Kindle Daily Deals will continue to kill me though. It's so easy!! Just one tiny little click and it's yours! *sigh* Amazon is too smart... Books on my wishlist though, I do try to wait and see if it comes up on the daily deals because I feel like it will eventually and a lot of the books aren't a case of "I must read it right now" so I don't mind waiting. Plus I have plenty of books to read in the meantime. More than enough... probably more than I can ever read in a lifetime... I think I'm just going to accept the fact that I'm a book addict. I could be addicted to worse things right?
DeleteHahahah NO. I am terrible at resisting books on NG/EW. I can occasionally control myself about requesting, but those "download now" books...... I will download most of them if I think I will read them. I HAVE gotten better at really deciding if I will read the book or not and if I'm not sure, I will pass because my TBR is already too long and by the time I'd get to that book, it would be quite a ways away anyway. EEK, so bad at this!
ReplyDeleteYep. Same here. So bad at it. I know that I want to get to it eventually so I download it even though I know it probably won't be for months, literally. Oops.
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