A few years back I had a habit of every six months or so doing a thread on Fedi about options for getting books other than Amazon. Eventually it finally occurred to me that I could write it once, put it up on website, and update as needed, rather than constantly reinventing the wheel.
Here’s the updated version for the new site.
Couple of notes before we get started:
This is geared towards US book sellers. I just don’t know much about book sellers in other countries. If you know any others please leave them in the comments.
Many folks aren’t aware that Goodreads is owned by Amazon (as, of course, is Audible, and anything with ‘Kindle’ in the branding). The focus here is ebooks, but we’ll also talk a bit about audio books, Goodreads alternatives, and anything else I can squeeze in.
Ebooks:
Authors website — some authors have a webstore where you can buy their books. Bonus: Author gets more money
Publishers website — ditto, without the bonus
Smashwords — support indie authors!
Your Local Bookstore — some indie book stores have ebook sales. (Don’t know any local book stores? Find one on Indie Bound)
Someone’s Local Bookstore — if your local book store doesn’t, you can find a list of other local book stores that do through Indiebound (downside, must use the My Must Reads app)
DriveThruFiction — lots of indie and oddball stuff
Kobo — will give a percentage to your local book store (or someone else’s local bookstore) downside: DRM-locked books can only be read in app or the Kobo e-reader, some books now readable in browser
Google books — yeah, it’s Google. But when it comes to books, google is the lesser of two evils. Many of the same problems as Kobo, but all DRM-locked books can be read in browser
Avoid
Barnes & Noble — their DRM thing won’t let you read your books if you don’t have an active credit card on file
Amazon (of course)
Pulp Books:
Your Local Bookstore
Authors website — some authors have a webstore where you can buy their books. Bonus: Author gets more money
Publishers website — ditto, without the bonus
Someone’s Local Bookstore — Book Bound will let you pick a local store to shop from
Thrift Books — great for used books of all types
Avoid
ABEBooks (It’s owned by Amazon)
Amazon (of course)
Walmart (it’s Walmart)
Audio Books
Librevox — free audio versions of books in the public domain
Libro.fm — subscription service similar to Audible, but you can download actual MP3 files
Chirp — really good sales
Avoid
Audible (owned by Amazon)
KU Alternatives
Everand — monthly subscription to thousands of ebooks, audio books, magazines, and more. BONUS! Many KU ebooks are available on Everand as audiobooks so you can leave KU and still read stuff from some of your fave authors.
Your Local Library — Go old fashioned! Paper books, ebooks, and audio books for free!
Goodreads Alternatives
(Yeah, Amazon owns Goodreads)
LibraryThing (better for institutions than individuals, but some folks make it work)
Where I Buy Books
My book buying priorities are:
I want DRM free ebooks in .epub format
I want the author to be paid as much as possible
So the first place I look is on the authors website.
Many authors have their on webstores these days. Those webstores almost always offer DRM free epub, and if I’m buying from the website I know that the ‘retailers cut’ on an sale is ALSO going to the author.
My next stop is the publishers webstore (if there is a publisher who has a webstore. Most of them don’t, but a few do.)
If neither the author nor publisher have a webstore, my next stops (in order) are:
Smashwords
Google Books
Kobo
Used bookstores for paper copies
I prefer to buy ebooks because they are cheaper and I’m less likely to lose them if my family becomes homeless again. The cheaper is not the biggest factor these days, which is why used bookstore is the last spot on the list. Authors don’t get a percentage when I buy used books, and I want them to get paid. So even though used books are cheaper than ebooks, I go for ebooks first.
I also have an Everand account and (of course) Overdrive through my library.
Community Suggestions
Stuff other folks have suggested that will be added to the main article in the next update:
Bookshop.org
Waterstones – UK
Blackwell’s – UK w/ international shipping
Better World Books – Used
eBay – Used
Pluto Press – UK
Kenny’s Bookshop — Ireland
Standard Ebooks — public domain ebooks
Project Gutenberg — public domain ebooks
Alibris — US and UK with international shipping