1 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:09,680 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning. 2 00:00:11,039 --> 00:00:16,720 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:22,480 Speaker 1: tip is to read the free sample. With ebooks, it 4 00:00:22,520 --> 00:00:25,599 Speaker 1: is often possible to give a book a try before 5 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 1: buying it. This might nudge you to be a more 6 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:33,520 Speaker 1: adventurous reader. After all, you might wind up liking the book, 7 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:37,680 Speaker 1: or you might not, but then you've saved yourself some 8 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:43,840 Speaker 1: money and clutter. So I know some folks hate reading 9 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:47,960 Speaker 1: on screens. It's not my favorite either, but it is 10 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:53,559 Speaker 1: also so convenient that I think it's worthwhile. With ebook 11 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:57,600 Speaker 1: apps like Amazon's Kindle, you can read on your phone 12 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:01,440 Speaker 1: and turn any downtime or waiting time into reading time. 13 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:06,480 Speaker 1: That's good in its own right. But I've also realized 14 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:09,240 Speaker 1: a little hack for making sure you are mostly buying 15 00:01:09,319 --> 00:01:13,000 Speaker 1: e books that you like. If you were in a bookstore, 16 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:16,240 Speaker 1: you would be able to pick a book up and 17 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:18,920 Speaker 1: read a few pages to see if it was appealing. 18 00:01:20,319 --> 00:01:24,280 Speaker 1: To approximate this, Amazon allows you to download a free 19 00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:28,160 Speaker 1: sample of many ebooks through the Kindlap. This is often 20 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:31,640 Speaker 1: a fairly generous sample, like ten to fifteen percent of 21 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:35,840 Speaker 1: the actual book. Now I recognize that this is a 22 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:39,880 Speaker 1: leap of faith for retailers and publishers. With some books, 23 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:42,080 Speaker 1: you can kind of get the point in ten to 24 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:47,120 Speaker 1: fifteen percent. You could also download six samples before getting 25 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:50,280 Speaker 1: on a plane and have a reasonable amount of entertainment 26 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:56,040 Speaker 1: without ever working over a cent. But I assume most 27 00:01:56,080 --> 00:01:58,920 Speaker 1: people who read ten to fifteen percent of a book 28 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 1: and like it do buy it. I almost always do, 29 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:06,240 Speaker 1: because by that point I am reasonably certain I will 30 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:09,400 Speaker 1: like the whole thing. People tend to go as they go, 31 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:13,640 Speaker 1: I mean not always. I was blindsided by a book 32 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:17,080 Speaker 1: recently that started off strong and then the author veilered 33 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:21,280 Speaker 1: off into some cringeworthy personal opinions, but hey, you can't 34 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:25,000 Speaker 1: win them all. I've also been saved from buying some 35 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:28,360 Speaker 1: real doozies that seemed like they would be right up 36 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 1: my alley, but then it became clear in the sample 37 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:34,720 Speaker 1: that the author wasn't going in the alley. I thought 38 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:39,640 Speaker 1: they were good to know. I've argued on this podcast 39 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:43,240 Speaker 1: before that being willing to quit a book makes it 40 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:46,880 Speaker 1: more likely that you will read more books. You'll be 41 00:02:46,919 --> 00:02:50,720 Speaker 1: willing to try things outside your usual genres, You'll try 42 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:54,519 Speaker 1: things by new authors. The fact that you can almost 43 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:58,280 Speaker 1: always get a free sample of a book. Like even 44 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:01,079 Speaker 1: a book your library has a three month hold list 45 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 1: for just makes trying new things even easier. So if 46 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:09,600 Speaker 1: you've got a few minutes of time to kill, go 47 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:11,960 Speaker 1: ahead and download the free sample of an ebook you've 48 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:15,720 Speaker 1: been thinking of reading. Even if you don't like the book, 49 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:19,680 Speaker 1: you will have spent more time reading, which is probably 50 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:25,080 Speaker 1: better than scrolling. Also, now you know no need to 51 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:28,200 Speaker 1: go put a library hold on that book. But if 52 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:32,040 Speaker 1: you do like the book, you will feel confident buying it. 53 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:38,800 Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and 54 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:48,720 Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for 55 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:53,600 Speaker 1: listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, 56 00:03:53,920 --> 00:04:03,240 Speaker 1: you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. 57 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:07,400 Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts 58 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:12,040 Speaker 1: from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 59 00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:13,920 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.