How do you get books? Do you like a variety of methods? How do you like to read? Paper? A Kindle? Audio? What are your reading habits? Do you binge-read a series? Read only on vacation? Do you buy the next book an author publishes?

We all have our reading habits and preferences. I know people who love the feel of a paperback book. I like that, too, and if they were priced the same as eBooks and didn’t take up any space at all (and cost no postage), I’d probably just buy paperbacks!

Where do you get your books? The library? Amazon? A physical bookstore? An online subscription?

I think it’s interesting to ask these questions, simply because as time goes by, our options for reading explode with possibilities. There was a time when the pessimistic pundits predicted the demise of paper books. It was thought that the visual media culture was so strong that no one would want to spend time reading.

I think we all know those people were wrong, despite some decline of reading among young people in favor of technology. The reading culture is still strong but doesn’t always look the same as in the past.

Between 80-90 % of adults ages 18 to 60 read regularly (and only slightly less beyond that age.) The average adult in the U. S. reads 12 books per year. The rise of eBooks and audiobooks has given us even more options because now we can have a hundred books in our hands at one time or listen to one as we commute to work or take a trip.

And of course, Covid gave a great big boost to reading. The one good thing that came out of it.

Do you know about subscription services? Amazon has Kindle Unlimited, and for a monthly fee, you can borrow as many books, audiobooks, or magazines as you want. But there are others out there, such as Kobo (the Canadian competition to Amazon), which offers Kobo Plus, a similar program, in 37 countries. Kobo has its own brand of readers and they are more popular in other countries than they are in the U.S., due to the dominance of Amazon. Scribd is a subscription service as well.

Some of the subscription services allow unlimited audiobooks, too. The Amazon subscription program (Kindle Unlimited) is “exclusive” for authors, which means that authors whose books are available through the unlimited subscription program, whether audio or eBook, cannot publish through other storefronts.

That’s why my eBooks aren’t available through the Kindle Unlimited subscription plan, though they are freely available on the regular Amazon website in paperback or eBook. I wanted to be able to offer them on many other storefronts and countries. Now they are available in eBooks through Apple, Barnes and Noble, Scribd, Kobo, and in libraries, too! Paperbacks can be ordered at physical bookstores (and on Amazon). I don’t have audiobooks yet, but that’s one of my goals for the near future.

What else is coming in the near future? Currently, my website leads you to Amazon, even though books are available at the stores I mentioned. Soon, I’ll update that so all the options will show up on the site. I plan also to make my eBooks available directly on my site, direct from me. I’ll keep you posted on those developments.

I’d love to know what your reading preferences are and where you get your books if you’d like to leave a comment!

What am I working on now?

So, what am I working on now? I’m writing the next novel in the Second Chance Series, called Sydney Rewound. I’ve really enjoyed writing this story, and I hope you’ll love reading it. It will be available this summer. Then, you’ll have 3 out of 4 of the series. Don’t forget, you can read Book 1 for free. If you didn’t get your copy of Marissa Rewritten when you signed up at the website, let me know and I’ll send you a link.

I hope you enjoyed learning some new things about book access if you didn’t know already. The options are wide.

Reading is still a thing!