How to get Free Books

You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy books and that’s kind of the same thing.

Anonymous

Before you begin reading, I would like to say that writers take a lot of time to write their books, edit them, and go through the entire publishing process before you get the book in your hands. They work hard, and paying for books should be the way to go. But, being that said, I also understand that books are costly, and if you’re a book hoarder, you’re bound to be broke by the end of the month.

You might be a budget reader or someone who would like to save a little on your monthly book purchases. Anyway, you’re here to know how to get free books, and I will let you in on some legal methods.  No. 10 could be a new thing to try out if you haven’t already.

These are a few of the ways I get free books when I’m on book bans, and you can use them too.

• Book Apps: If you didn’t know already, there are some amazing book apps that offer you free books. They’re really free. I do not know how they acquire these books, but sensing that they’re still available on Play Store and are not banned, they’re legal. My favourite book reading app is AnyBooks. You’re missing out on a lot if you haven’t checked it out yet. There are thousands of eBooks in here, and famous books that too.

Although you won’t get your hands on new releases, you’ll have a huge library to read from. You will get the Harry Potter series, Twilight series, books by Stephen King, George RR Martin, and so on. Famous and non-famous books are equally available. If you’re an Indian book reader, you will also get books by Indian authors.

I absolutely love this app and time and again, I find myself reading from here. You can also look out for other apps, but I haven’t had an app as good as this one. Also, I think this app is only available for Android, but you can check out their website too.

• Be a reviewer: That’s right. Being a reviewer does allow you to have access to free books. There are some reviewer sites where publishers provide reviewers with free copies of eBooks, and if you happen to be in the same country, you might even get a physical book. But eBooks are more easily available.

For instance, I review for NetGalley which is a site where publishers will give you free copies of the books to review. I review them in my blog, as well as on Goodreads and Amazon. If you’re not a book blogger, even then some sites give you the chance to read free books to leave an honest review on Amazon or Goodreads. Through this, you get the chance to read new releases or pre-releases.

If you’re a book reviewer and have a good reader base, you can easily contact a publisher and ask for a free copy in return for a review.

There are also some reviews sites that not only provide you will a free book, but also help you earn a little money by the side. I used to earn money through a site called OnlineBookClub. You had to accept a book and read it without a month and provide a review on their site within 7 more days. You will be paid through PayPal.

Even if you do not want to be a reviewer, it is only fair that you do post an honest review or rating if you have received a free book by any means.

• Join book clubs: This is another amazing method to get free books. If you enter readers and authors’ book clubs, online or offline, you will come across authors who would give you free books to receive an honest opinion. For this, at most times, you do not need to be a reviewer. They just want to know your opinion.

I’m a part of a few such groups on Facebook, and authors really appreciate the help. They ask readers to read their books, so you will be sent a free eBook in return for your feedback. Most of the authors are indie published, so you will get some good books to read.

Again, it’s advisable, if you receive a free copy, do leave a short review on the sites you use –  Amazon, Goodreads, BookBub, and so on.

• Use a Kindle: If you already own a Kindle, that’s amazing, but if you don’t you can download the Kindle app. If you go to Amazon and search for free books, you’ll come across books that are free to buy for Kindle. You can buy it for free and send it to your Kindle account/ Kindle device. Sites like BookBub and Authors Cross Promotion will send you a daily free book list for purchase from Amazon.

Also, with Kindle Unlimited subscription, you get a bigger library of free books; sometimes even new releases and famous books.

• Visit your local library: Well, if you haven’t already considered this step, then maybe you should check your libraries. Nowadays, they also offer eBooks, where the book will be unavailable when the book subscription expires, so you do not have to go through the whole hassle of remembering the return date and paying fines.

But if your locality doesn’t have a suitable library and you wish to get physical books, the next step might be a good option.

• Exchanging books: Under this banner, getting second-hand books also comes into play. You can exchange books with your reader friends. One of the fun things you can do is buy books together. Yes! This is truly amazing. If you trust your friends with books and vice-versa, you can buy books strategically. Like if you buy one book, then she can buy a different one that you both want to read, and you can exchange them. Easy peasy!

I have also heard of online book exchange sites which will cost you a little money to send the books to someone far from your home, and it will take some serious trust to let your books go into the hands of strangers. If you’re okay with this, you can surely try this out.

There are certain sites where you can get second-hand books for free. I haven’t tried any of them, but I’ve heard of a site called Pustakosh, which is operating in India, and you can get the books for free. I like to buy second-hand books in bulk and even though I can’t get new releases, I get books for a really cheap price. In places like Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi, books are sold by weight and they are of excellent quality and are dirt cheap. That is my best book shopping spree. Recently, I bought four books by international publications for a mere price of Rs. 300. It was a steal!

• Participate in giveaways: This point is entirely based on luck. If you’re lucky, you can get free physical books. Many authors and/or publishers tend to organize giveaways on social media sites, the most famous at present being Instagram and YouTube. For a follow, tags and a post, you have a chance to win a free book. While this is not always effective if you’re lucky you can get a few amazing books to read.

The advice is to follow the authors’ and publishers’ pages and you will find them announcing giveaways more often than you expect.

• Sites like Wattpad and Inkitt: The authors here most of the time are not published. Most of them are beginners, but there are some amazing writers among them. Some of them go on to publish their stories through self-publication or traditional methods.

I have been reading books from these two free sites for a long time and I would always find stories that stick with me.

• Subscribe to a book box: This step is not free, but more of a budget option. By subscribing to a book box you can get a number of new releases as per your subscription package.

I have subscribed for a one-month book box in The Big Book Box called the Latte Book Packet and it cost me Rs.599, and this was a student box. It contains one hardcover new release along with a few goodies. I haven’t received the box yet. I will post a review of the box once it reaches me.

1. Audiobooks: If you have tried out eBooks, it would be a good option to try out audiobooks as well. The most famous platform at present is Audible, which is an audiobook app supported by Amazon. Just like for eBooks, if you search on Amazon, you can find a few free books. Also, while registering in Audible you get a month free trial.

Other than that, you will find several free audiobooks on YouTube, Spotify and other apps. Even though most qualities are not as great as Audible, they’re still worth a try. Just like eBooks, it will take you a second to get used to it, but once you do, you will find it a very calming way to read books.

These are some tried and tested methods, and I had the first four methods be extremely helpful to me. Let me know if you have some more methods, and I will add them to this blog. Below I’m posting links to some sites to get free books, feel free to check them out.

1. 8 Ways to Get Books for Free
2. Get Free Books -WikiHow
3. 15 Ways to Get Free Books

Current Read: Dead of Night