On Free Books

Stephanie recently wrote an informative post on a subject dear to every bookworm’s heart: how to get a fix for free. Or, in other words, how to have books magically appear in your mailbox. She also asked others for their advice, and I realised a post would be better than the longest comment known to man!  All of this advice is very American-centric, which I know must be frustrating, but there you go.  Due to postage issues, I’m unsure as to how many of the sites/programs I talk about work with people outisde the States.  Bookmooch is the exception-it has a whole system to address international issues!  Some of you non-Americans should write posts as well-that’ll fix the problem!

If you haven’t heard of Bookmooch you’ve probably been living under some sort of rock (or you’re new to the book blogging community). It’s not *exactly* free, because you have to pay postage on the books you send out, but at least in the States, with Media Mail rates, that usually means $2-$3 a book. The FAQ page on the site explains it much better than me, but for those who may be hesitating (as I did for a long time), I’ve been on the site for months and mooched *mumble, mumble* over 100 books, and I’ve never had any issues. Plus, quite a few bloggers are on bookmooch, so if you can always start out looking at their inventories! Also, the way the system is set up, you end up getting some bonus points, so you can mooch more than you send, which is in effect free books. Looking at it that way, I’ve gotten 22 free books, which is nothing to scoff at! As Tara pointed out, there’s also Paperback Swap, which is similar to Bookmooch, and which a lot of bloggers use as well.

Now for the really free books-there are several online reviewing sites that are looking for new reviewers. Typically, you send them an e-mail (usually with a sample review attached), and then as long as you’re chosen, you give them your mailing address and what books you want to review, and they appear! Granted, you then have to write a review of the book, but obviously you enjoy that or you wouldn’t be a book blogger! The one I’ve had experience with is Curled Up With a Good Book. Personally, I love this site! The editor is always very prompt in communication, the guidelines to reviews are broad enough for you to fit your personal style in, and best of all, it seems as if they want you to choose a ton of books. :) There aren’t any deadline for book reviews, and there’s a blog for reviewers so if you end up really not wanting to finish a book, you can look for someone else to send it to. Sound like heaven? Then go sign up! Don’t be shy, or think your reviews aren’t good enough; if you’re really nervous, just read some of the current reviews to get a feel for how the site works. But if I was accepted, you will be too! :)

Recently, I’ve stumbled across some other review sites, with various set-ups. I’m still in the application phase for these, so I can’t talk about them with personal knowledge. But I can provide links! Upon Further Review (which has a one book at a time policy and doesn’t ask for a sample review), Pump Up Your Book Review (which actually references Stephanie’s post and is looking for blogs with “a good amount of traffic”-no idea what that might be), and Wantz Upon a Time (which is run by a mom with a new son who still replied very quickly to my initial e-mail!-even if it was just to let me know I’d forgotten to attach the sample review *blush*). Megan told me about Front Street Reviews, another site that’s always looking for new reviewers (edited to add: the FSR editor contact me, and they do ship overseas; also, on the site it says they’re especially looking for reviewers for Christian fiction and non-fic). Gautami let me know that Curled Up is US-only, but Harper Collins (see below) is international. Dewey shares that: “Another option, if someone is a mother, is MotherTalk. I don’t know how easy/hard it is to get in with them, but they send a free book AND an amazon gift certificate once the review is posted. I get a few books a month through them, and at least $40 per month to spend at Amazon. One month I had $120 Amazon bucks from them!” I’m not a mom, but I know a lot of you are, and this sounds like something to look into. :)

Then there are ‘first look’ programs, which send out ARCs to readers with the implicit or explicit expectation that the reader will then either review the book or join in some kind of discussion. The ones I know of are: Harper Collins, LibraryThing, and Barnes and Noble. These are free to sign up for, and don’t require any sample reviews, but there’s an element of chance as to whether you’ll get a book or not. Still, gotta play to win! SuziQ told me about Bookbrowse. While you do have to pay dues to be a member, they have a First Look program to get free ARCs.

Finally, I second Stephanie’s advice to get out there in the book blogging community-leave comments/join challenges/whatever. In addition to the benefit she lists, bloggers tend to have book giveaways pretty frequently! Dewey, for instance, has decided this year to offer most of the books she reads and owns to other bloggers, in an attempt to conquer the TBR mountain. In fact, she has a page explaining it.

So, there’s my advice. And in return, I’m asking you to share other reviewing sites you know that enjoy enlisting amateur reviewers like us, or other ‘first look’ style programs! Spread the love. :)