andrewducker | Interesting Links for 9-10-2011

The stuff I've been reading is more like 89p, enjoyed, buy author's next book at £3.47. It's more a one to one repurchase - as I finish I buy one/two more at a higher price by the same author. Of course some of the cheap books are first novels with no alternatives, so don't generate a further purchase for me. I do a sweep of the bestsellers once a week and buy things that sound interesting if they're under £2, so have built a library baseed on random purchases I may read one day. Of course some of these i give up and remove from my kindle within the first 2% - Im a fickle reader, biggest waste of my money this year was the Millenium Trilogy - stupidly i bought them all then gave up!

I've just reviewed my bank account and I reckon about £15 - £20 a month to Amazon for ebooks. The kindle revitalised my reading as I used to only read in bed at night so maybe spent a fiver a month on a paperback, now my kindle goes in my handbag and gets read at work, when someone's late for a meeting with me etc. It's also moved me onto genres I'd never considered before(Andy will testify that he'd never have anticipated me enjoying a Charlie Stross book and asking for similar recommendations).

I recently broke my kindle(the screen does not survive an overweight females full weight on it) and was about to buy a new one as I couldn't imagine going back to the mere paperback. I called Amazon to ask if they did repairs, to work out if that would be cheaper than a whole new one(I actually had set my sights on a Nook). This led to me discovering that broken screens are covered by their guarantee - yes even though I did it by standing on it! The Customer Service guy was so damn helpful and I had a brand new replacement in my hand by 11am the following day - Amazon are obviously well aware that they make great money from the books thus such a giving guarantee - they want to retain my custom rather than lose me to the Nook.

Edited 2011-10-09 12:59 (UTC)

So it may be you're actually spending more than you were even though the average price is cheaper.

Like you, kindle revived my reading. Tired eyes meant that I was reading in bed, getting tied easily and falling asleep after 20 minutes. The crisp flatness of the kindle screen means I don't get fatigued reading off it.

I found the same thing with kindle customer support. I had a "stuck pixel". They not only replaced it, they sent me a new one immediately with just my word for it and gave me a month to return the old one. A great service, I had a new one, like you, the next morning even though my old one was still very usable.

Definitely spending more. Also recommending kindles to everyone I know. Amazon rock!

Interesting Links for 9-10-2011

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