A word about my sponsors (you!)

This message is an updated version of a post that I ran a couple of years ago and again last year. Since the original post, Amazon has added Kindle eBooks to their list of referral eligible products (instead, Android Apps are now excluded) and I've actually made enough referrals from some of the non-Amazon affiliate programs to buy dinner now and then. So, I've edited the original post a bit (and fixed a few typos), but it mostly still applies as well today as it did then. I gave up posting my Book Budget some time back, as the ones I purchased were being swamped by the free books on Kindle. I still buy more books than I manage to read, what with free books, $1 KSO books and books bought for others in the household. So, here's the original, but updated post:

As the holiday season approaches, a commercial reminder/note for readers of this blog. As you may (or may not) know, Amazon pays what they now call advertising fees for referrals on Kindle books, but not subscriptions, and other purchases, such as the Kindle itself and Gift Certificates (even if used to later buy Kindle books); of course, any percentage of zero would still be zero, for free books. Using the links on these pages won't cost you anything extra, but helps support my efforts in keeping the blog updated, as does using the Amazon search box on the side menu when making non-Kindle book purchases at Amazon (for that matter, just click any link to Amazon, in any blog post and shop as you normally do). I also make a tiny amount from referrals to some other ebookstores (Barnes & Noble, for non-ebook purchases only, Kobo, and Smashwords, mostly). Many of the other bargains I post are not affiliate linked - PDF files, free books at Sony, Christian audio, eHarlequin, deals at Books on Board and so on. I post the bargains as I find them (or as you send in tips; thanks to those of you that do), regardless of where they are located.

I've had a few people ask if I've read every bargain book I post. No, I don't - there is no way I physically could do so (I haven't even read thru all the free books Amazon has given us), even if I could afford to do so. I do purchase and read some, with more being bought than I manage to read (just like with my paper library). I do post some reviews (although not for every book I read). Some of these books are provided by the publisher or author and some of them are books I've purchased myself. I have quite a stack of both and limited reading time, so make no promises on reviews for those who send them (and never guarantee a favorable review ... although if a book is one I can't get thru, I'll usually just let the author know and pass on writing a review).

Feel free to use (or not) the links in my posts or on the blog menus when making Amazon purchases; these do help support my efforts (at no additional cost to you) and are greatly appreciated. A few of you have also sent direct PayPal donations (the link is on the right sidebar); these are also very much appreciated (and are usually immediately spent on more books, especially now that Kobo takes PayPal; I will miss Fictionwise, as that was my other go-to bookstore for PayPal).

Thank you to all that read the blog, whether it's on the web site, on Kindle, the RSS feed or following on Facebook or Twitter. I hope you have a great holiday season and promise that I'll keep posting the bargains I find, to help you stretch the holiday budget. I suspect the free reads and big discounts will continue so long as there is competition amongst ereader devices (just as there was in the BluRay/HD war a few years back), even though the Apple and Agency publishers have taken a number of steps to eliminate that competition. Even as the Agency publishers have stifled competition amongst ebookstores (and withdrawn from libraries, in some instances), they have found they still have to compete for readers and for your money, both against other entertainment options (television, movies, video games, etc) and against the proliferation of other reading choices that we now have. More open e-publishing also has benefited readers and the many authors who have been able to bring their backlists in to "print", either directly or thru a number of small publishers that have sprung up in the last few years. Hopefully in the next year, we'll see the demise of most of the Agency agreements, if not all of them, and even get a bit of a refund on the purchases we made in the last few years, from these publishers.

Books on the Knob is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, amazonsupply.com or myhabit.com.