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Norine Wiltshire
[00:03:38] Donnell: Yeah. Either a finder, an asset locator, whatever you want to call it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I took a note from your book and I wrote an ebook to help people do it because I was so successful with it. So again, um, everything that came from your show, it took us to really branch out and figure out how to make this work,
[00:09:14] Donnell: Um, honestly, we really just looked at the initial conscious spending plan that you gave us, um, that we did, um, talking about homework, uh, because you definitely gave us a lot of homework.
[00:13:01] Donnell: So I was a reseller. I was trying to make a couple of dollars, and it was all brand new stuff. It looked like it was trashy in there, how I took the camera view or whatever, but it was all brand new stuff.
How could I not be invested? And when we spent so much time talking about a microwave, and then I got mad at that Philly cheesesteak place, and I was like, how are we still talking about this when we have $200,000 of debt? How can we be focused on this tiny thing when your rich life is so much bigger?
[00:26:24] Donnell: We look at it now like, do I really need to pay $220 for a pair of sneakers, or can I actually put that up and have that money make money for me? Whereas, though, I can still get a pair of sneakers, but now I got 220 making me x amount of money per month. Yeah.
Ebooks have not swept away traditional tomes the way streaming services for music, movies, and TV shows have slashed sales of discs. Physical book sales are booming, but ebooks and audiobooks have a dedicated, appreciative audience. If you love to read, an ebook subscription service is a great way to discover new titles, find recommendations, and read more indie books. We tried out several of the most popular options, delving into their available libraries, apps, and features to determine the best ebook subscription services and audiobook subscriptions for different people.
While an ebook subscription might sound ideal, you should take some time to consider the pros and cons of each one. These digital reading services are often billed as the equivalent of Netflix or Spotify for books, and there are similarities, but ebook subscriptions also have some unexpected restrictions.
The big five publishers (Penguin Random House, Hachette, Macmillan, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster) dominate the bestseller charts in the US but have had limited dealings with ebook subscription services so far. Current best-seller lists are not well represented, and the modest list of mainstream hits that appears mostly comprises older titles. Whatever service you are considering, we advise browsing the available library of ebooks and audiobooks before you commit.
Reading Habits: If you only read one or two books a month, you might be better off buying popular titles, recommendations from trusted friends, or works by your favorite authors. That way, you get to choose the best ebooks and keep them. With ebook subscriptions, you lose access the moment you stop subscribing, and the library of available books can change at any time without notice.
Voracious readers who are happy to try new and unfamiliar authors will likely get the most value from ebook subscriptions. But while these services are typically described as unlimited, they often do have hidden limits. This is where they differ from services like Spotify and Netflix. With Scribd, for example, the available library is reduced when you hit opaque limits.
On the downside, there are limits to your monthly reading. Frustratingly, the rules are not clear. If you hit the limit, access is restricted to a smaller subset until the next month begins, and some titles are labeled Available Soon. While the formatting for ebooks is generally good, some magazine formatting is poor. Everand has also raised prices twice since I first tried it and scrapped the perks program that gave you additional subscriptions to services like Curiosity Stream. It is also harder than it should be to cancel Scribd, and you don't get a warning when your free trial ends, so set a reminder.
The new Plus subscription makes Audible more affordable, and offers a more traditional subscription model where you can listen as much as you want but you do lose access when you stop paying. The pricey Premium Plus plan is the previous membership model, and you can also opt for a two credits per month plan at $23 per month ($230/year) now.
Spotify tops our best music streaming services guide with slick performance, handy music discovery algorithms, and an expansive library of over 100 million tracks and 5 million podcasts. To sweeten that pot further, Premium subscribers in the US, UK, and Australia can now access a library of more than 200,000 audiobooks and listen for up to 15 hours a month as part of their existing subscription. Open the audiobook hub, and you will find many best sellers (Spotify says 70 percent of bestselling titles) and titles from the big five publishers alongside audiobooks from independent publishers and authors. As with music, there are curated recommendations, categories, and playlists.
While there are a few graphic novels on some ebook subscription services, the choice tends to be limited. By far the best option for comic book fans, ComiXology Unlimited gives you access to thousands of comics and graphic novels from all of the major publishers, including DC, Marvel, and Dark Horse. The website and mobile apps are straightforward and sync progress across devices. While you can read on a smartphone, you are better off with a good tablet, laptop, or desktop to enjoy the high-resolution art. The Unlimited service is a great way to discover new comics, and the app recommends titles the more you use it.
BookBeat: For folks in the UK or Europe, BookBeat is a slick audiobook service with a decent choice and a unique subscription model. After 30 days or 30 hours of listening (whichever comes first) your free trial is over and it costs 6 a month for 20 hours, 10 a month for 50 hours, or 15 a month for 100 hours.
BookBub: Sign up for free to get alerts on discounted ebooks with this service. You can specify genres and authors you are interested in and get daily or weekly emails with links to buy heavily discounted ebooks.
Bookmate: While it boasts a large library of ebooks, audiobooks, and comics, many are out of copyright. There's a seven-day free trial, then it costs $10 per month, but the choice is not as varied as with Scribd.
Oyster was a commercial streaming service for digital e-books, available for Android, iOS, Kindle Fire, and NOOK HD/HD+ devices. It was also available on any web browser on a desktop or laptop computer. Oyster held over 1 million books in its library, and as of September 2015, the service was only available in the United States.[1]
In September 2015, Google acquired Oyster.[2] No terms were disclosed but speculation put the price at somewhere between $20 million and $30 million.[3] As a part of the acquisition it was reported that the founders would be leading Google Play Books in New York. In conjunction with the acquisition, Oyster shut down its existing service in early 2016.[4]
Oyster launched on September 5, 2013, opening paid access, at $9.95 a month, via invitations available on a first-come, first-served basis. The service was the first subscription service to bring on a "Big Five" publisher in HarperCollins, with Mashable calling the service the "first true Netflix-for-E-books."[7] Common early criticisms included limited content and lack of multi-platform support, but its reading experience and design were widely praised. Within ten days, users had read over a million pages.[8]
On October 16, 2013, Oyster launched support for the iPad.[9] The company also removed invitations as a requirement to join, and offered a 30-day free trial to all new users. Along with an iOS app redesign, the website additionally allowed for browsing of curated book lists.[10]
In November 2014, Oyster launched its online editorial magazine, The Oyster Review, and its Author Advisory Board. Oyster's Author Advisory Board was composed of authors Roxane Gay, Megan Abbott, and Lauren Oliver.[12]
In April 2015, Oyster launched an ebook store, offering complete catalogues from all of the Big Five publishers for individual purchase, as a complement to its existing subscription service, Oyster Unlimited.[13]
Oyster offers several different reading modes, access to over 1 million titles, and book recommendations from its editorial staff. Users could also take advantage of highlighting and notes features and share their activities with friends using the platform.[17] In June 2015, Oyster added a new feature, called Lumin, to help readers sleep better. The feature adjusts a reader's phone or tablet's light based on location and time of day, reducing the amount of blue light at night. Studies have shown that the blue light from smartphones and tablets can interfere with sleep.[18]
Oyster offers over 1,000,000 titles from over 1,600 publishers.[19] Of the Big Five publishers, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, and Macmillan Publishers had titles available through Oyster Unlimited,[20] as well as a number of smaller presses including Perseus Book Group and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.[21] Smashwords, a self-publishing platform, also distributes to Oyster and appears to be the primary publisher of works available on Oyster Unlimited.[citation needed] All of the Big Five publishers offered books for purchase in Oyster's ebook store.[22]
In January 2014, Oyster brought the entire Harry Potter series to the service through a partnership with J.K. Rowling and Pottermore.[23] Oyster created a special user interface for reading the books as well as several exclusive interactive features to showcase the collection.[24]
Carolyn Reidy, CEO of Simon & Schuster, told a panel at Digital Book World in 2014 that the publisher had not signed up over "unresolved questions about how to avoid devaluing books and cannibalizing sales."[25] However, in May 2014, the publisher added their entire backlist at that point, consisting of about 14,000 titles, to the platform.[26]
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