Ridiculous Textbook Prices and How to Beat Them

I started college yesterday. The community college system here in Houston seems disjointed at best. The professors (are they professors at the community college level or teachers still?) don’t seem fond of the bookstore and almost all of them said to avoid it unless you’re buying the custom packages for that particular school.

Those “packages” were just specific books with a web access code or something like that — things you could get separately only the book is specifically for this college system and you have to use it. At least some of the professors make you use it, others don’t.

Even without those packages, textbooks are expensive. One of my science textbooks cost $144 new at the college’s bookstore. On Amazon I managed to get one used for $66, but my professor said I had to have that edition. Otherwise I would’ve gotten an older edition for way less. We did that with my husband’s English book as well as my American History textbook (which I managed to get an as ebook, yay).

Total, if we’d bought everything at the college bookstore, we would’ve paid more than $1000 between my husband and myself. Because we didn’t buy all the books, just the darn custom ones with web codes (which we might turn in and just get the codes, but more on that in a minute), we spent around $300 less. It could have been more if we’d realized those custom packages weren’t anything special and we could’ve done without, but we didn’t know at the time.

So, how do you get cheap books? In a word, Amazon. Or Half Price Books, or any place like that that offers a expansive list of used copies. I’d recommend Amazon because it was a good $70 cheaper than Half Price Books. The other place to go to would be a local used bookstore or used textbook store.

Other than that, don’t be afraid to get older editions. Most of the time the newer editions only flip up a few things as well as add on slightly more current information, but most of that information (especially for history classes) you’ll never get to because you just don’t have that kind of time in a semester. Who actually gets to the end of the textbook by the end of the semester, anyway? Now, sometimes your professor will insist on you getting the newest edition, and that’s unfortunately where you’re out of luck. Beat that price by trying to buy used, or buy new at Amazon, but never buy new at your college’s bookstore. Remember that $144 science book? Well, brand new on Amazon, it was $95, which is way less expensive.

In short, buy an older used (or even new, depending on how particular you are) edition of most of your textbooks, but if you have to buy the latest edition, get it on Amazon or Half Price Books or some site like that. I still recommend Amazon though. They had the best deals, and you can trade your textbooks back to them for varying amounts of Amazon gift cards. That $66 science textbook can be returned for a gift card anywhere from $20 – 58. Either way, it’s extra money for a used copy.

Oh PS! If you have a math book or any book that required you to have an online access code, check the code’s website (ex: WebAssign.net). You might be able to get the code there as well as an online copy or at least access online to the book, saving you a lot of money. I didn’t know that beforehand and bought my math book when I could’ve just bought the code and gained access to the book that way.

PPS: I haven’t found a good reason for the price on textbooks, but if someone has one please educate me (haha, see what I did there?). Thanks.

What do you think about textbook prices? Are you in college? How’s college going for you so far?

Borrow Kindle eBooks From Your Library

I recently learned that Amazon has certain ebooks in the libraries, through a company called Overdrive. I know, I know, I’m slow on the uptake, but I recently just got a Kindle and recently just became aware that the libraries offer ebooks (is it ebooks or eBooks?). Now, the availability of said ebooks in Kindle format at your library depends on your local library. For example, the Houston Public Library (among other local libraries) offers a decent collection of Kindle ebooks for borrowing, but I don’t know if it’s the same for all libraries in the U.S.

So far, I’m on the waitlist for five, which is the max amount you can place a hold on. Meaning I haven’t read any of the ebooks (yet), but I’m excited to. These ebooks are ones I can’t afford to buy ($9.99 – $12.99, more or less) at the moment. Right now my ebook price range is anywhere from .99 – 7.99, though I prefer the 2.99 – 5.99 area. Anything above 7.99 I just can’t justify. I mean, at 9.99 I’d be better off buying a print copy (which is, I think, what the publishers are aiming for, but that’s a totally different issue). We’ll see if waiting for an ebook copy of a story is worthwhile or if I was better off not bothering. On one of the waitlists (for the book 1Q84) I’m number twenty-seven in line to borrow the book. On the other ones I placed a hold on (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Wicked, Soulless, and The Kite Runner) I’m only number one or two on the list, so that’s not so bad. But with the really popular books, the waitlist can sometimes be up to seventy or eighty people! How long of a wait do you think that is? Haha.

Now, the default period for ebook lending is fourteen days. Two weeks to read a book. Not bad. You can change this to seven days if you want, which is nice. Options are good. I love choices and variety.

Anyway, Overdrive also offers other formats. Audio files, different ebook formats other than Kindle, and so on. It’s really neat and I sincerely hope Overdrive manages to expand its selection of titles as well as the copies available. I mean, I know physical libraries can only stock so many copies of a single title, but why have that limitation online? I mean, maybe have twenty copies available of a popular title (for a limited time if publishers throw a fit) to meet demand. Because an eighty-person hold list is ridiculous.

What do you think about libraries lending ebooks? Is it a good idea or a bad one?

Supporting a Friend’s Self Publishing Debut: A Glimpse of The Dark

Now I’ll admit, I usually don’t announce when a friend of mine has self published or when a story of theirs goes live. This is for two reasons, 1) I hate spamming and 2) I haven’t really had any close friends actually become self or traditionally published (yet).

But when Natasha decided to self publish a collection of her short stories, I wanted to do something like this, mostly because of how much she’s helped me stick to my own ideas. Often (as a few others *cough* Dane *cough* can attest) I found myself wavering between traditional and self publishing as if it was do or die. She’s been a really reassuring friend in those times (and still is).

So here’s her debut! It’s $1.49 and in ebook format only. Decently priced, so be sure to give it a try, yes? For me? *nudge, nudge*

Amazon blurb for A Glimpse of The Dark:

A teenager’s taste of death.
A lover’s fall from grace.
A spiteful ex’s chance at revenge.
A fearful girl’s moment of peace.
An ancient heir’s breakthrough in magic.
A succubus’ memories of a painful past.
A scorned son’s night of fun.

Seven stories, seven topics. Seven tales fill this book and lurk in the darkest depths of fantasy. The dark is their common theme, while each individual story shows an entirely different view. The victim, the successor, the antagonist. Take a look through the eyes of each character and live their lives, feel what they feel, and find out what drives them.

Many horrors lurk in the dark. Are you ready to see them?

PS: what do you think of my blog’s new look?

Sorry for My Absence: Updates, a New Kindle, and Anne McCaffrey

Yeah, I think I dropped off the face of the internet. It would’ve been good if I’d actually gone and been more social. Unfortunately, I just stayed indoors playing Skyrim for the past week. Man, when people say that game absorbs a good amount of your life, they weren’t kidding. NaNo screeched to a halt; I’m at 13k and doubt that I’ll make it very far past that by the end of the week, thanks to Thanksgiving.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, happy early Turkey Day to all of you Americans (or those who celebrate it anyway elsewhere). Unfortunately, the husband has to work on Black Friday, so we’re having a small little Thanksgiving with the three of us, my mother, my husband, and myself. Turkey, sparkling cider (I’m boring and don’t drink). It’ll be delicious, especially since we’re getting a pumpkin pie from House of Pies. Man, if y’all live in Houston and aren’t getting pies from there, you’re missing out. Such goodness.

Also good, I’ve decided to stop stalling on self publishing. New Fate is still under construction and Dominant Race just needs that last coat of paint, but I have plenty of short stories just sitting around. I’m going to self publish them on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple (since I have a Mac and there’s a way to get your stuff directly into the Apple store  if you have a Mac — yay). I’m a little hesitant about Smashwords; I hear their meatgrinder system is the worst, so I’m avoiding them for now, until I can do some more recon. But I’m getting there. In theory, the short stories should be available by December. Also, a friend of mine and I are putting out a self published short story collection featuring other authors. This is just to see how well fellow authors can band together and create a self published ebook, and I hope it does well. My collection will probably $1.49 (because there’s not that much word count-wise) while the other would be $2.99 because it’s going to be around 30,000 words. Tell me if you think those prices are decent.

The cool thing is that my husband bought me a Kindle as an early birthday present. It’s one of those new $79 ones, and it’s absolutely awesome. I finished Dracula, sampled a few ebooks, some indie, some traditionally published, but ended up buying The Help and The Forever War by Joe Haldeman. I haven’t finished the first yet, but it’s fascinating so far, and the first was beyond amazing. I really, really love The Forever War (I’ll post a review of it soon) and would really recommend it to any scifi lover. Really. The Kindle itself is amazing. I actually read a lot more now, which is amazing. So far I haven’t found a good indie book, but I admit that’s because I’m pretty picky. Three of the samples I read that were indie books were decent, but they just weren’t grabbing me. So I’m not saying traditional books are better; I actually seem to have a thing for books written in the 70s and the 80s (The Forever War was written in the 70s). My favorite books were written around that time period, especially the original Dragonriders of Pern trilogy by Anne McCaffrey.

Today On November 21, actually, Anne McCaffrey passed away. She was 85. Her work was — and still is — phenomenal; she’s been my inspiration as an author since I was twelve, and it makes me sad to hear she’s gone. I didn’t realize it until today, but her work inspired a lot of my female main characters. You know, the average ones that aren’t gorgeous, aren’t damsels, and sure as hell aren’t asking for a handout. They rely on their own wits, not a man, though they aren’t afraid of love. She’s also the reason fantasy and science fiction tend to merge in my mind, since, to me, the Dragonriders of Pern series was neither at once but both at the same time. I encourage you to read any of her books, all of work is fantastic. Did you know she was the first woman to win the Hugo and Nebula Awards? They were well deserved, that’s for sure.

Expect the regular three posts a week after Thanksgiving. Have a good one, and stay safe on Black Friday! Things can get pretty crazy.