How to Save Money on Christian Kindle Books

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People often wonder how I find so many great ebooks at super low prices. In this article I’m going to share some secrets on how you can read more of what you love for less with these Kindle bargain shopping tips.

Tip #1 Define What’s a Bargain

This is the first and probably most important tip, especially for all you book hoarders out there. It’s a personal preference, mostly to do with price, but there are other factors which we’ll get into below. As far as price goes, I try to stick to a rule of no more than about $1 per 100 pages unless it’s a book by an author I already know I love. To me that’s a bargain. Some people tell me they never spend more than $3.99 for a book, but a rule like that could prevent you from buying a complete series of over 1,200 pages for $4.99 and you’d be missing out on a great find. 

Don’t forget to consider your time. 

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Everything free is not gold. I bet you’ve already discovered that, haven’t you? You can waste a lot of time with books that don’t suit you if you only look for free books. You know the old saying, time is money? Well, time is also a piece of your life you can never get back. Use it wisely. 

Also, don’t forget to check the page length of your books. 

Sometimes this can make a deal bitter or sweet. Set your own parameters for what makes a good deal and keep those in mind when book hunting.

Tip #2 Look For a Free Prequel or Start to The Series

I know what I just said about free books, but they’re still a good way to try new authors, if you use a little discernment. I remember when I first got my kindle and filled it with every free book I could find. To this day my account is so full of books I’ll never read that I can barely load the list to search for anything. Don’t make the same mistake, but many popular series have a freebie to get you to try the book and these can be a great way to find a new favorite author without the risk of losing money if you don’t like it.

Tip #3 Sign up For Updates From Your Favorite Authors

They will let you know when their books are on sale. Avoid signing up for newsletters of authors you don’t already know just to get a free book. It’s a bad match for everyone because you’ll forget you signed up and report them as spam, hurting the author’s reputation, or you will put up with the emails and never open them. Either way hurts the sender’s reputation and then their emails stop being sent to their list. It’s also bad form on the author’s part since it’s against many of the new privacy laws unless they also give you the option to get the free book and not sign up.

Tip #4 Watch For Deal Surges at the Beginning of the Month

For some reason that’s when a lot of publishers have decided it is the best time for sales.

Tip #5 Look for Bundles

This is where you get more than one book under the same cover (or in the same file.) Sometimes this will be an anthology (more than one author contributing to the bundle) or a mix of books that aren’t in the same series bundled together. These often have a cheaper price per book than the singles added together. 

Tip #6 Join a Review Team

Most authors (unless they’re super popular already) have a list of trusted reviewers that read their books and review them, usually before they’re available to the public. Contacting your favorite author on Facebook or other social media and simply asking if they have a review team could lead to a treasure chest of free books for you and all you have to do is give your written opinion in exchange. It helps to have a review blog (you can get one free) but many authors just want to know that you post book reviews to Amazon. 

Tip #7 Avoid Free Previews

I have no idea who on earth reads free previews but I find them so annoying. Seriously, they should be outlawed. They’re basically a free chapter or two with a deceptively beautiful cover and available for free. It’ll only junk up your kindle and annoy you. Don’t fall for it.

Tip #8 Avoid Books About Books

These are almost as annoying as the previews. They’re actually more like bonus material packaged similar to the book, but they can often lead you to believe you’re getting the real book instead. Watch the page count, as this is usually a dead giveaway to these kinds of book duds. 

Tip #9 Use The Wish List to Your Advantage

Make a list of the books you really want to read in an Amazon wish list. Every time you’re shopping for something on Amazon you can drop by your wish list and check the prices of multiple titles at once to see if the price has dropped.

Tip #10 Collect the Books You Want to Read When They’re on Sale

Series books are often discounted when new books in the series are released. For instance, you may be able to catch books one and two at a promotional price when book three releases at full price. Which leads me to my next tip.

Tip #11 Wait Until the Series is Complete Before You Start Reading

This way you can collect all the books when you can get the best price and then read them all together in order.

Tip #12 Look for Stand-Alone Books

These are books that don’t belong to a series and probably never will. If you can find these on sale you can avoid the trap of having to purchase the next book at full price.

Tip #13 Try an Indie or Small Publisher

Their prices are often much less than the big publishers, even at their non-discounted price. Over the years indie authors have shed their bad reputation (a lot of them have, anyway) and have produced books of comparable quality with much cheaper prices than their traditionally published counterparts.

Tip #14 Know What Full Price Looks Like

It’s so important to know what full price looks like for the type of book you’re considering. Some books are a bargain at $7.99, others are overpriced at $1.99, and it all depends on several factors. You may find an Amish novella of 100 pages for $1.99 or $2.99 and that’s its full price. To be on sale it would need to be $0.99 or free. This is much different than a $25 book bundle that’s discounted price may be $9.99.

Tip #15 Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover Art

Judge by the editing. This can be easily done by reading the free preview section. If it’s full of typos and sentences that go nowhere, skip it. It’s not a bargain at any price. Life is short. There are only so many hours to read, people. Just move on. 

Tip #16 Sign Up For Christian Book Finds Newsletter

I shop for Christian treasures daily and report what I find to my followers. You can sign up here.

I hope I’ve helped you to know what to look for when shopping for bargains and given you some things to think about. The most important thing to remember is that the definition of bargain can vary from person to person and knowing this before you go shopping will save you a lot of time and money.