I suppose I could download ebooks to my computer, but since the chief attraction of books is their portability and their ability to be dropped in messy, sticky and/or wet substances or on hard surfaces from a great height while still retaining their readability, ebooks generally hold little interest for me.

I work at a public library and am one of the people responsible for finding new books, so that's how I find out about a lot of things which might interest me. I'll tend to order stuff for my library, then decide if I want it.

Ebooks have only very recently reached the point where I can comfortably read them, so I can't really say how I'd behave toward free eBooks written by live authors. I have, however, purchased eBooks to read on my phone, and I'll probably continue to do so. It's ironically the portability of eBooks that I personally enjoy, since I now keep a library in the cloud that I can access on just about any device with an Internet connection. It would make a very heavy backpack.

If I'm honest, the book will have to be out of this world fantastic to prompt me to spend money on it after having read it for free, though. I've purchased very few books after reading them in the library.

I've donated up to $20 to an author I really like and knew the print version would have cost me more than that.
Perhaps a range of $$ options would be more telling?

And until I realized that I really didn't care for audiobooks, I used to download new to me titles from Audible. I had a monthly download fee, but I never donated to an author I discovered from there.

I, too, use .pdf format most of all.

ETA: Oh, and I learn about new books through Goodreads.com also.






Edited at 2010-08-02 07:00 pm (UTC)

I love Audible.com. I think Amazon owns them now, though.

Oh, and I am still resisting ebooks and readers, because when I read a book book, I like to lie in bed and hold it, and I am not sure how I would hold one of those things. I am usually not such a luddite --in fact, I love technology-- but, for some reason, I just can't warm up to the idea of an electronic reader.

I don't read ebooks either online, pdf, or kindle/etc. I like the idea but it doesn't work for me right now. I spend so much of my working day reading (large) documents on my computer screen that my eyes get tired and that form of reading has been divorced from pleasure. I do enjoy reading shorter stuff online. Blogs, articles, short stories, serials, etc are a perfect length for my usual style of online pleasure reading. Longer stuff gets sliced and diced by my checking the 14 other things I'm doing at the time. When I read novels I like to focus on them. I can't do that when I'm on my computer.

The custom flash drive however lit up with a big flashing sign that said: "GIFT IDEA". I have a friend who is attached physically to her kindle. If she could transfer the book into her kindle (I'm not sure if it has a usb port) then that is a very sweet format. One of the things I'm miffed at kindle for is how difficult it is to share/lend books.

I buy almost exclusively from Chapters (Online and in store) since I am in Canada.

Reviews by people I know/follow are my primary means of finding new books. Reviews in magazines (ie Spectrum) or articles I read for other reasons are secondary. Also I am likely to look for new books by authors I've had positive experiences with (whether or not I've read their books).

If I really like a book that I've gotten for free (borrowed) I will buy it.

Book schmook, I haven't seen you in years. Come to Seattle.

Oh, also, I'd not only come to a reading you did here, I'd pimp the hell out of it all over town.:-)

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For the record, I'll pay for what the ebook costs, and not donate anything if it is legally free. I'll pay more not to have a physical copy of the book.

B

I have read electronic versions of books, but I don't have a reader, just my laptop, so it's not terribly comfortable. I still definitely prefer old-fashioned paper books.

And I get tons of book recommendations through Goodreads (both through the friends I've made there and through ads and author pages).

Although I was given a Kindle as a gift, I never use it and don't like e-books. Why are you going to give your book away for free on your Web site? Capitalism, let me show you it.

I find out about interesting new f/sf books from two sources: Walking around my local Barnes & Noble and reading about them on Scalzi's blog.

Yes! Come to Seattle! Read to us!

I bought _The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms_ because it was being advertised on all my podcasts.

I have only begun reading things on my computer with the advent of the Hugo packet (a wonderful thing, it is, it is!). I must say that it has been a much more reasonable process than I had expected. But I still prefer real books. All of them. My precioussssssssssss!

As for complaints, well, no cats, obviously.

I'm sure I'll be within range of at least one of your readings. Maybe we can get you and Eric to do a presentation to KaCSFFS at some point.

I like to buy books at The Book Den in Dansville, NY. Right across the street from the torture cham.... er... orthodontist. It's that incredibly rare endangered species, an independent bookstore.