Question:
Do you have a monthly book budget? How has it changed since you started blogging? Do you get more free books now that you have access to publishers/authors/other bloggers or is your book buying budget even higher than when you started?
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Well, I did have a book buying budget until our financial situation got tight. It was awesome being able to buy the new releases I wanted. But it also ended up swelling my TBR pile to extreme proportions. It will take me a long while to catch up.
When I started blogging I didn't buy books. The only books I would buy had to be proven great reads. They had to be the sort of book I knew I would read again and again. As you can imagine that means I have a very small collection of books. So if I couldn't get the book by some free means I didn't read it. Basically that means the library. I have never figured out how to gets loads of free books from publishers. Netgalley is pretty much my best source for books from the publisher. I get more free books than I got when I was just a regular non-blog Joe. But I wouldn't say I have access, like a back-stage pass, to publishers/authors/other bloggers. I win a book here and there from other bloggers. And there are always a smattering of authors asking to have their lesser known books reviewed. But for the most part I don't find myself getting all that many free reads. Getting free reads is actually anything but free. It takes time and commitment. You have to live up to some publisher standards and be on the watch for upcoming titles. Then you have to send all the emails to get them. I guess it is a good thing it isn't too easy. It weeds out those of us who aren't that serious about getting an ARC.
I would definitely say my book budget changed through blogging. The real change was that through other bloggers I was exposed to so many great looking reads that I was filled with this need for the books. So I would read as fast as I could and buy them. But for some reason this just results in a burn out. Very disappointing. So I guess it is a good thing my budget has dwindled.
I think it is funny that now that I have money for Christmas books I can't think of more than one book to get.
Anyway, thanks for the topic.
Well, I did have a book buying budget until our financial situation got tight. It was awesome being able to buy the new releases I wanted. But it also ended up swelling my TBR pile to extreme proportions. It will take me a long while to catch up.
When I started blogging I didn't buy books. The only books I would buy had to be proven great reads. They had to be the sort of book I knew I would read again and again. As you can imagine that means I have a very small collection of books. So if I couldn't get the book by some free means I didn't read it. Basically that means the library. I have never figured out how to gets loads of free books from publishers. Netgalley is pretty much my best source for books from the publisher. I get more free books than I got when I was just a regular non-blog Joe. But I wouldn't say I have access, like a back-stage pass, to publishers/authors/other bloggers. I win a book here and there from other bloggers. And there are always a smattering of authors asking to have their lesser known books reviewed. But for the most part I don't find myself getting all that many free reads. Getting free reads is actually anything but free. It takes time and commitment. You have to live up to some publisher standards and be on the watch for upcoming titles. Then you have to send all the emails to get them. I guess it is a good thing it isn't too easy. It weeds out those of us who aren't that serious about getting an ARC.
I would definitely say my book budget changed through blogging. The real change was that through other bloggers I was exposed to so many great looking reads that I was filled with this need for the books. So I would read as fast as I could and buy them. But for some reason this just results in a burn out. Very disappointing. So I guess it is a good thing my budget has dwindled.
I think it is funny that now that I have money for Christmas books I can't think of more than one book to get.
Anyway, thanks for the topic.
