WEBVTT - Read the free sample

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is to read the free sample. With ebooks, it

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<v Speaker 1>is often possible to give a book a try before

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<v Speaker 1>buying it. This might nudge you to be a more

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<v Speaker 1>adventurous reader. After all, you might wind up liking the book,

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<v Speaker 1>or you might not, but then you've saved yourself some

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<v Speaker 1>money and clutter. So I know some folks hate reading

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<v Speaker 1>on screens. It's not my favorite either, but it is

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<v Speaker 1>also so convenient that I think it's worthwhile. With ebook

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<v Speaker 1>apps like Amazon's Kindle, you can read on your phone

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<v Speaker 1>and turn any downtime or waiting time into reading time.

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<v Speaker 1>That's good in its own right. But I've also realized

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<v Speaker 1>a little hack for making sure you are mostly buying

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<v Speaker 1>e books that you like. If you were in a bookstore,

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<v Speaker 1>you would be able to pick a book up and

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<v Speaker 1>read a few pages to see if it was appealing.

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<v Speaker 1>To approximate this, Amazon allows you to download a free

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<v Speaker 1>sample of many ebooks through the Kindlap. This is often

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<v Speaker 1>a fairly generous sample, like ten to fifteen percent of

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<v Speaker 1>the actual book. Now I recognize that this is a

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<v Speaker 1>leap of faith for retailers and publishers. With some books,

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<v Speaker 1>you can kind of get the point in ten to

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<v Speaker 1>fifteen percent. You could also download six samples before getting

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<v Speaker 1>on a plane and have a reasonable amount of entertainment

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<v Speaker 1>without ever working over a cent. But I assume most

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<v Speaker 1>people who read ten to fifteen percent of a book

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<v Speaker 1>and like it do buy it. I almost always do,

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<v Speaker 1>because by that point I am reasonably certain I will

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<v Speaker 1>like the whole thing. People tend to go as they go,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean not always. I was blindsided by a book

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<v Speaker 1>recently that started off strong and then the author veilered

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<v Speaker 1>off into some cringeworthy personal opinions, but hey, you can't

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<v Speaker 1>win them all. I've also been saved from buying some

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<v Speaker 1>real doozies that seemed like they would be right up

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<v Speaker 1>my alley, but then it became clear in the sample

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<v Speaker 1>that the author wasn't going in the alley. I thought

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<v Speaker 1>they were good to know. I've argued on this podcast

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<v Speaker 1>before that being willing to quit a book makes it

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<v Speaker 1>more likely that you will read more books. You'll be

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<v Speaker 1>willing to try things outside your usual genres, You'll try

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<v Speaker 1>things by new authors. The fact that you can almost

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<v Speaker 1>always get a free sample of a book. Like even

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<v Speaker 1>a book your library has a three month hold list

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<v Speaker 1>for just makes trying new things even easier. So if

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<v Speaker 1>you've got a few minutes of time to kill, go

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<v Speaker 1>ahead and download the free sample of an ebook you've

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<v Speaker 1>been thinking of reading. Even if you don't like the book,

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<v Speaker 1>you will have spent more time reading, which is probably

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<v Speaker 1>better than scrolling. Also, now you know no need to

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<v Speaker 1>go put a library hold on that book. But if

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<v Speaker 1>you do like the book, you will feel confident buying it.

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<v Speaker 1>In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

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<v Speaker 1>here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for

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<v Speaker 1>listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,

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<v Speaker 1>you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts

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<v Speaker 1>from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

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<v Speaker 1>wherever you listen to your favorite shows.