Tuesday 20 January 2015

My reading plan for the coming year

As many of you are aware the addition of VAT to the cost of ebooks bought from an international site from 1st January this year has hiked the cost of a book by 20% for readers in the UK. RJ Scott has written some interesting posts on the matter. Personally I'm peeved that if I buy a Treed read from a local bookstore or supermarket I don't get charged VAT but if I get an ebook version--using paper, cluttering up my home, and eventually creating rubbish (although all finished with books in my house get passed on to friends or charity shops)--I get penalised. In my opinion the UK goverment should pull ebooks from the list of goods to which this EU ruling applies.

Anyway, my point is, I'm not going to be able to buy as many books as I have done in the past. Publisher who try to entice me with 25% off are now only barely covering the cost of the VAT price rise and are less likely to encourage me to buy a book I was on the fence about or try out that new author. My autobuys will get first dibs on my money, if there is anything left the best deals on wishlist books will be the winners here. (FYI, anyone currently publishing with Amber is unlikely to see any of my money. They now refuse to serve us on their site meaning that we are no longer privy to the 50% off deals that they have been recently running and where I've spent an awful lot of money recently.)

But let's see this as a positive. I have hundreds of unread books on my Kindle. I've started series and often bought the rest of the series, then not found the time to read them. So this is my reading plan for the year is simple. 

Clear my backlist.

Finish at least one series a month. (My series for January is Tyack & Frayne by Harper Fox.)

Have a couple of themed months where alternate books have to follow a theme (oldest books on my ereader, novel length fanfic, free reads, genre picks).



Join me friends.

Free the books languishing on your ereaders.

1 comment:

  1. that whole VAT thing sucks so hard :(((( Is there any plan to fix it? Any rumblings, rumors, etc? Because that's not right that you're paying LESS for a paper product then an electronic product. *sigh*.

    Looking forward to seeing your reading lists :D

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