Keeping Your Bookshelf (Real or Virtual) Full Without Going Broke

Do you remember your first favorite book that you were able to read all by yourself?  Mine was "Ann Likes Red" but I quickly moved on to better and bigger books.  Reading has been my favorite pastime for my entire life.  Luckily, as hobbies go, reading can be relatively inexpensive.  Below are some ways readers can save:

Use Your Library

Public libraries today are far more diverse than they once were, so before saying "the library wouldn't carry that kind of book", check.  No, they won't carry extremely graphic erotica or pornography, but they will carry books featuring people of color, books from various religious traditions and books about people with varying sexual indentities and expressions.  Libraries in larger cities will often have a better selection than ones in small towns, but even in small towns, inter-library loan is often available.  The main problem with libraries is that if you want to read the latest best-seller you may be on a long waiting list.  Don't forget, your library probably offers more than hard copies of books.  This article talks about modern public libraries.  

Shop Garage Sales

Especially if you like romance novels, garage sales can be a great way to pick up books inexpensively.  Lots of people buy books and eventually most people get tired of keeping them.  

Your Library Used Book Sale

Many libraries have yearly (or more often) sales where they sell their discards along with donated books they do not want to add to their collection.  This can be a great source for books that were popular a year or two ago, since the library no longer needs all its copies of the book, and they probabaly have donated copies too.  

Used Book Stores

Many used bookstores allow you to trade your old books for "new" old books.  Amazon allows you to sell your books through them, but you have to package and ship them.  Used book stores are a way to get rid of books you no longer want and a way to get books you do want.

Free E-Books

Most of the classics are available free from Amazon as e-book downloads.  Amazon also has thousands of other free e-books.  Some are the first in a self-published series, clearly designed to give you enough of a taste so that you want to buy the rest of  (or at least next book in) the series.  Sometimes established authors will offer a book from their backlist free not long before a new book is released.  While there is a lot of trash to wade through, you can probably find something to pass a pleasant afternoon if you try.  This list will give you the current 100 best selling free books on Amazon. When I checked the list it included a book by Bella Andre and one by Kristen Heiztmann.  G.K. Chesterton also had one on the list.  The rest of it was dominated by what appears to be self-published romance novels but it can't hurt to take a look.  There are several services that send you daily newsletters about Amazon freebies.  Robin Reads is one of them. 

Book Swapping Services

Bookmooch and Paperback Swap are two of the most popular swapping services.  Once you register on the site, you list books you are willing to give away.  Members are able to search the inventory for books they want, or they can create wishlists.  When someone wants a book you own, you mail (and pay postage) the book to them, and get credit in return.  You use that credit to order books other people offer, and they pay to mail them to you.  I find these services to be a good place to get assigned summer reading books--"everyone" around here wants a copy so the library runs out of copies; yet the books are popular enough that there are lots of used ones floating around other places.  The cost to mail one book is a little over $2.00, so you can compare that price to buying used on Amazon or other places.  

Become a Book Blogger

If you like to read and to write, you may want to consider becoming a book blogger.  You can set up a free blog on Blogger or Wordpress.com and start to review books you read, whatever the source.  Participate in a few weekly link-ups like Mailbox Monday or Its Monday, What Are You Reading and people will discover you.  Make sure your blog has your contact information and eventually, review requests will come.  My book blog is called This That and the Other Thing.  

You can also sign up with book review groups.  Here are a few:

• Blogging for Books is a Penguin Random House service.  Bloggers can request books in a variety of genres and once they post a review, they can request another.
• Booklook Bloggers is for Harper Collins Christian books.  They require that bloggers have at least 30 subscribers and they provide free hard copies or ebooks for review.
• Litfuse organizes blog tours for Christan books.  Bloggers who particpate in a tour receive a free book.  In return, they publish the tour materal and, usually, their own review.
• iRead Book Tours is another company that organizes book tours.
• Bostick Communication  is used a lot by self-published authors.  They send out emails about books that are availble for review and bloggers can request copies.  

Besides those services which offer a rather limited number of books, there are two large sources of e-galleys, NetGalley and Edelweiss.  Most of these are released prior to the publication date of the book, and before the last editing has been done.  Nevertheless, differences between these books and the final copies are relatively insignificant, and you would probably only notice it if you did a page-by-page comparision of the two (I did this with a book relevant to one of my cases at work and a few things were re-arranged but the content was pretty much the same). 

With both NetGalley and Edelweiss, bloggers register for the service and complete a profile.  They are then able to browse the available books (right now NetGalley has 5266 books available and Edelweiss has 5143). While a few are auto-approved, most of the books are set so that you have to request to review them.  The publisher reviews your application and decides whether to approve you, or not.  I'm hardly a big-time book blogger but I find that the overwhelming majority of my requests are approved.  

While bloggers are not required to review books from these services, failing to review many of the books you request may result in few approvals for books you want to read.  

The final way book bloggers can get free review copies is through publicists or authors.  If you have contact information available on your blog, the publicists may find you.  If you participate in the book haul link-ups and you see a blogger getting books you would like, it is ok to ask who sent them--but some bloggers are tight-lipped about their sources.  On the other hand, the book haul link-ups (Mailbox Monday, It's Monday, What Are You Reading, Stacking the Shelves etc.) can give you leads on other ways to obtain review copies.  

One terrific thing about reading is that it doesn't have to cost a fortune.  What are some ways  you reduce the costs of your favorite pastimes?  

How to Reduce the Costs of Your Hobbies--And Maybe Even Profit By Them

For most people, retirement is a time of more time and less money.  Now that you finally have time to engage in all those hobbies you put off over the years, you have less money to spend on them  Hopefully this post will give you ideas to support your hobbies.

Let Friends and Family Buy Your Materials

If your hobby produces things people enjoy having, let friends and family know that you are willing to "work" for materials.  If your hobby is needlework, perhaps a friend who is expecting a grandchild would love for you to stitch a piece for the nursery, and would consider the cost of the materials to be a bargain.  If gourmet cooking is your thing, give someone a shopping list, and prepare a meal at their house, or invite them to yours--a win-win.

Sell the Fruits of Your Labor

Many people with gardens end up with far more produce than they can use at some point, and many give it away.  Ask the recipients of your largess to help pay for your expenses.  If crafting is your thing, look into getting a booth at a craft fair periodically.  The trick is to take on only as much as you can handle without it becoming work.  

Give Lessons

Is knitting your thing?  Would your local craft shop pay you to teach once a week?  Think about what you like to do and think about where you could give lessons.  Perhaps your local community education program is looking for teachers, or the local store that sells supplies for your hobby.  Can you trade golf lessons for green fees?

Write About It, or Make Youtube Videos

I know this is going to shock you, but most bloggers do not get rich from it.  However, depending on your hobby, a blog could do a lot to support it.  Book bloggers gain access to Advanced Reader Copies, which can be either physical books or digital.  NetGalley and Edelweiss keep my Kindle full, and all I have to do is post reviews on my book blog, This That and the Other Thing.  I get monthly mailings from Litfuse which offer me physical books.  Catholic Word and Pauline Media send me pretty much any book they sell that I request.  Most experienced book bloggers find themselves with daily offers of free books in return for a review.  While Advanced Reader Copies are not supposed to be resold, and digital copies cannot be resold, it is easy for a book blogger to end up with piles of books which can be resold if desired. Check out It's Monday What Are You Reading, Mailbox Monday or The Sunday Post to become familiar with book blogs and the wide variety of review copies bloggers obtain.   While other niches may not have the steady supply of review material that book blogs do, blogs that attract a readership can sell ad space, write sponsored posts, host giveaways and make money from AdSense or other advertising programs.  

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As far as blogging goes, my advice is different from what most people writing "how to blog" posts say.  If you are blogging about your hobby (as opposed to blogging as a hobby) hoping to attract enough readership to get review copies and make a few dollars via affiliate links or Adsense, I suggest starting with a free Blogger blog.  It will mark you as a not-professional blogger, but it won't cost you anything.  WordPress may be more powerful (and it has tons more things you can spend money on) and your own domain name makes some people take you more seriously (or so I've heard) and is better for Search Engine Optimization, but self-hosting costs a few dollars every month and unless you attract a substantial following, you aren't going to earn that much--and you aren't going to get the following unless you really work at your blog.   If your goal is to be a blogger, follow the blogger's advice on how to be a great one; if your goal is community and review copies, a free blog will work just fine. 

If your hobby lends itself to demonstrations, demonstrate on camera and upload the video to YouTube.  If you develop a following your videos can earn you money from the ads that play before the video, or you may be asked to use and advertise certain products.  

I get about 4,000 pageviews a month on my book blog and about 2,000 pageviews a month here, and I earn about $4.00 per month from AdSense.  I have more books than I can read, I secured a freelance writing customer and I've gotten some freebies like a nice set of mixing bowls, an Exergen thermometer, a dog toy and a grill brush.  I'm a very small player in a very big world, but my blog supports my reading habit.  

Enter Giveaways

Find blogs about your hobby and chances are good that you will find giveaways offering supplies.  You can even find giveaway link-ups.  Many of them are run via Rafflecopter and can offer dozens of entries if you have the patience to look at everything they want to you examine but you can find smaller giveaways with better odds of winning, though the prizes usually have a lower value as well.  I've won books, holiday decor and even an electronic prayer book.  

Don't Forget about the Library

Yes, it is easy for a reader to obtain free (or shall we say paid for by taxes) books at the local library,  but today's public library also offers videos, and access to a variety of databases.  Instead of buying cross-stitch patterns, check books out from the library.  If you want to build something, a book from the library may be able to tell you how.  The library has cookbooks galore and magazines on many different topics.  Instead of subscribing to Ancestry.com, go to the library and use their subscription.

Check Out Garage Sales and Secondhand Stores 

Whatever you enjoy, chances are that other people do too, and that still others have tried it and found it wanting.  As people de-clutter, all sorts of things make their way to the garage sale or to Goodwill. I know someone for whom the hunt for quilting fabrics is almost as much fun as quilting.  

While most of our hobbies will never be truly free, a little creativity can make them much less expensive.  What are ways you have found to save money (or maybe even make money) on your hobby?