By Jori Hanna
If you are an avid reader and you love reading ebooks, you’ve come to the right place. Every week, thousands of authors and publishers list their books for free in various locations for your reading pleasure. All you have to do is know where to look.
What follows here is an incomplete list of legal places where you can find free and discounted ebooks, some of which require an honest review in exchange for the book, and others are simply giveaways. In most cases, books are listed for free in an attempt to help increase what’s known as word-of-mouth marketing. Books succeed and fail based on whether or not readers are talking about them online or in person with friends, family, or followers. If you enjoy a book, authors and publishers greatly appreciate when you leave a review for it somewhere online or share your copy with a friend. It is every author’s dream to have people enjoy the work they’ve poured years of their time, attention, and effort into, but they don’t always get to see whether someone has enjoyed their book. Reviews on social media or sites like Goodreads, BookBub, and The Story Graph allow readers to share their appreciation in a way that an author can see.
Now, let’s get to the good stuff.
Free eBook Listings with No Strings Attached
This list features a ton of ways to get more books to have on your device. These books are downloaded or added to your library as if you bought them (unless you’re borrowing them from the library). No action is requested from you beyond eventually reading the book when you decide it’s the right time.
- Your Local Library. This list would not be complete without mentioning your local public library. Many books can be found or requested at your local library at no cost to you. If the library doesn’t already have a copy, and you want to read a copy, it is highly likely that they will buy one for you if you ask. Libraries also often have deals with ebook companies, Libby (Overdrive) and Hoopla, which will allow you to rent ebooks through your local library.
- Free ebook deals on retailer sites like Amazon, Kobo, and Apple. Many retailers have a rotating selection of free or discounted books every month, so if you are a dedicated Kindle reader, it’s worth browsing through the currently free ebooks promoted in Kindle deals for your preferred genres. You may discover a new favorite book or author in the process!
- Free and bargain book newsletters. The most well-known email newsletter of this nature is produced by BookBub. Every day, they curate free and bargain book lists that are only available for a limited time, often as short of a window as a day or a week, on bestselling and currently beloved books from authors and publishers of all backgrounds. BookBub is not the only company doing this, however, and you can find similar lists featuring books from lesser-known authors through companies like The Fussy Librarian, Bargain Booksy, eReader News Today, eReaderIQ, BookRaid, Crave Books, and more. There are also genre specific lists (such as Book Barbarian for Fantasy and Sci Fi, and Book Adrenaline for Mystery/Thriller/Suspense). Subscribing to two of these lists would give you more free book recommendations than you could ever hope to read. Some of these lists, like eReaderIQ, also allow you to track books on their site and be notified if the price drops, so if there’s a book you’re hoping to snag at a discount, you can hear about it from them if or when that book becomes available!
- Enter giveaways! Whether you find book giveaways on social media through Bookstagram, BookTube, or BookTok, or through sites like The Story Graph and Goodreads, there are thousands of books being offered in a sweepstakes style every month. Some systems, like BookSweeps, offer giveaways of 10+ books in a genre to the winner. So if you’re looking to load your eReader, that style of sweepstakes giveaway can be highly effective!
Free Book Listings (for an Honest Review)
This list features ways for you to get access to books prior to their release. These are known as Advance Reader Copies (ARCs or DRCs–Digital Review Copies) and allow you to receive a copy of the book before it is publicly available. In exchange, authors and publishers expect you to leave a review or at least talk about the book somewhere publicly, such as on your social media. These ARCs are often uncorrected proof copies, books that have not gone through the final phase of the editorial process. It is normal to expect some grammatical errors to be included in these pre-release copies.
- ARC distribution sites. There are three major locations for readers to request books prior to their release. These three major locations are Edelweiss, Netgalley, and BookSirens. There are others, but they are less well known. In each of these systems, once you have an account you can request to be added to the review team for a book. If your request is approved by the publisher or the distributor running the ARC campaign, you will gain access to the electronic copy and have a month or two to read the book and share your reviews. This is a popular option for book bloggers, Bookstagrammers, BookTokers and BookTubers—anyone who wants to be on the cutting edge of reader spaces. But you do not need to have a large platform to succeed in these spaces. Most of these spaces only require that you actively post reviews of the books you read on Goodreads or Amazon. (Active, in this case, is often defined as having at least ten new reviews in the last year). You get the book, the authors and publishers get early book buzz. It’s a win-win.
- Readers Favorite and other book-for-review sites. Readers’ Favorite is a unique site in that it allows books to be posted to their site and offered in exchange for a review even after the book is released, meaning you can get published copies of the books you request rather than advance reader copies.
- Author and publisher websites and newsletters. When a book is added to these ARC distribution sites, authors and publishers are given a link that will automatically approve people they direct to the site. If your favorite author has a newsletter you can subscribe to, you’ll likely be the first to hear when they put out a call for an influencer team, “street team,” or ARC team. These teams are often comprised of dedicated fans who have already made it their life’s mission to talk about this author’s books to anyone who will listen. Joining these teams may include compensation from the author or publisher in the form of a street team giveaway (often a signed copy of the book, a gift card, and some fun “swag” for the new release, like bookmarks or a custom candle). In exchange, you agree to help spread the word about the book using your circles. This is a great way to make sure you never miss out on new releases from your favorite authors. To join our review team, you can view our current ARCs and subscribe for email updates here.
- Blog tours. If you are a book influencer and you have a blog, you can likely apply to be a stop on a blog tour through various blog tour companies. These companies work with authors and publishers to help spread the word about new or upcoming releases. Some of these tours are cover reveal teams or author interview stops. Some only require that you post about the book on your blog. Some will require a custom post and honest review. This is a great opportunity if you’re more of a fan of physical books, as some blog tours require physical copies be sent to their tour partners for marketing purposes. This is a great way to flesh out your bookshelf if you’re on a budget. Some of our favorite blog tour companies are iRead Book Tours, MTMC Book Tours, TLC Book Tours, and many more not mentioned here.
What are your favorite ways to get free ebooks? We’d love to hear about them! Send us a note through our contact page. Happy Reading!
