It’s Time to Talk About that Pile of Shame
Without wanting to be a Debbie Downer on your recent-and-hopefully-delightful vacation, many of you are facing a cost of living crisis. I had a reader email me and say (I paraphrase), “I’m not going to start reading your Tyche series because it’s just so many books and I can’t afford that.”
Ignoring the inherent logical pitfall here (where, if you’re going to pay for something, there’s no pro or con to standalone vs. series – i.e., the price is the same for either a) a trilogy or b) three standalones), it does shine a light on where people are at emotionally.
People are feeling fairly fucked by the economy. There may be a way to survive 2024 with more of your dollars intact, though.
Ownership can create an emotional attachment and increase the perceived value of something (the endowment effect). And if we see something that’s cheap or free, we might want to get that thing! But as time goes on, the novelty wears off. You might not feel compelled to actually use or read what you’ve acquired.
It’s why your Kindle is stuffed with dollar books you’ve never read 
I’m calling 2024, “The Year of the Backlog.” It’s the year we can all dig into our libraries and start/finish those things that looked like hot sauce when we first saw them. What if you made a conscious choice to only buy after you’ve exhausted the things you own?
If you’re a gamer, you’ve probably got a shit-tonne of games you got on sale and never played. 2024 is that rainy day you’ve been waiting for.Boxed sets of movies and shows? Now’s the time to think long and hard about whether you really need the subs to Netflix, Disney, and HBO at the same time. Consider ditching the subscriptions, and watching the stuff you bought. Or, re-watching. It’s never a bad time to start that 349th go around on Firefly.And back to books, my word. I mined the Humble Bundle deals I bought just in 2023 and I have enough reading to last until the end of time.I hope you consider joining me. Those things you bought? They’re still awesome, even though the shine’s become a little hidden by dust.
(And if you really must have something new? Consider Libby, where your taxes have already done the purchasing work for you).
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Tom wrote: "Richard, your sensitivity to cost creep is awesome..."Thanks, Tom 🙂 Kobo's answer to Amazon's KU is Kobo Plus, which is more or less the same thing - so, if you're a high-volume reader you can really win there. I can't be in KU because I like my books being on all retailers (KU requires Amazon exclusivity), but I am in Kobo Plus so those high-volume readers can catch a break 🤣
BookBub continues to provide amazing value. A think I really like about the Bub is significant editorial curation; they only promote books of a higher bar so you tend to get not just cheap, but good value 🙂
We both love books so a few things that help are, Book Bub - they offer $1.99 book deals almost every day, Libby - like you say, already paid for in taxes, and Amazon. Amazon will give you "digital credits" if you buy something and delay delivery a few days. Amazon Kindle Unlimited will save you money IF you read a half dozen books a month or more from Indy authors, typically not found in libraries. I'm checking into Kobo but don't see any price advantages over Amazon yet. Back to Libby - Google the crap out of free or low cost libraries in your county, state and country. I have six library cards in Libby, three are free (Broward County, FL, Johnson County, KS Olathe Branch, and local). The ones I pay non-resident fees for are as little as $10/year (Coronado Island, CA). The two I pay for are Monroe County, NY and New Orleans PL, NOPL being the better of the two. We found that if we sign up in person, we can usually get it done for less than online. Keep this in mind as you travel. Ask your library about reciprocity agreements with other libraries. Google's Gutenberg Project is also free. Digital lending varies as some libraries will give you a non-resident card but restrict borrowing to physical items (KCPL, Hillsborough County, FL). Hope this helps someone. Richard, please continue your awesomeness.