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Writings

Are ebooks Really Cheaper Now?

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Many eBooks are cheaper than paperbacks & many are free to download. Look at the economics of the system & you’ll see the price inefficiencies woven throughout the pricing mechanism.

Here’s some very important consequences of the internet & eBooks:

1) The publisher’s old standby of the no, or very little, royalty cost book business has been devastated by the existence of sites like Project Gutenberg. Now, instead of buying a copy of Plato’s Dialogs in paperback format, just download it for free at the Plato page on gutenberg.org!

2) Downloaded eBooks have a moderately high cost of creation, but a near zero cost of distribution. The distribution expenses of server storage & electronic marketplace are a high barrier of entry, but ultimately amortize over millions of downloaded eBooks.

3) There is an ongoing fight over the pricing of eBook versions of Best Seller books.

See Amazon.com: The Battle of $9.99, How Apple, Amazon, and the Big Six Publishers Changed the E-Book Business Overnight (Kindle Single) eBook. A $0.99 eBook on a part of this war!

4) The fact that places like Amazon, Barns & Noble, and others have “Discount Books of the Day/Month” and other pricing schemes & the eBook pricing bounces all over the map as the sellers attempt to maximize sales & profits. (Think airplane seats & the idea of “Yield Management” and you should get the picture.)

Even so, over the years a lot things have changed the industry, the publishers and ultimately the end users: readers.

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So to answer the question, “Are ebooks really cheaper now?”, you have to read our earlier article here : Why Are E-books More Expensive Than Printed Books? 

Yet bear in mind, that article was written and compiled in 2013.

In the recent years, it is relatively cheaper. And to make things easier to compare, I will list it in points.

  1. Read Amazon books for FREE
  2. How to Buy Kindle Books For Those Living Outside US
  3. Amazon FreeTime Unlimited (Unlimited ebooks, apps and TV programs for kids)

And lastly not forgetting, we have FREE book swaps in Singapore.

So on an ending note, e-books might be cheaper. It depends on where you are getting it from and if you have the promo links to get the better, cheaper rates for your reading pleasure.

 

 

 

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Announcements, book swap, Writings

How To Book Swap in Singapore?

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To book swap means you exchange book or books with another person. In other words, it will be Book A to be swap with Book B. That simple.

If you want your books back, that will be called a swap back, and you should indicate your preference from the start.

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Before you start, you will need to have the followings:

  1. Telegram app (iPhone, Android, Blackberry, etc..) No? Then download from:
    iPhone: https://telegram.org/dl/ios
    Android: https://telegram.org/dl/android
    or web version: https://web.telegram.org
  2. Some books to swap or swapback. Duh.

 

 

Once ready, do the following:

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Step 1: https://t.me/booksavenuebookswapsg
Or you can look for the BooksAvenue Bookswap Group @booksavenuebookswapsg

Step 2: Share the books you would like to swap. This can be done by taking a picture, or to literally list out the books you would like to swap.

Step 3: Indicate your preferences, such as what books you are looking for to swap, whether to swap back and etc.

Once there is a match, you may contact the interested party directly to swap your books.

 

There you go. Volia. No fees, no service charge or whatsoever. All arrangements are done at your convenience.

Be sure to SHARE the Telegram group with MORE readers. This increases your chance to get more book swaps too!

 

Please note, BooksAvenue staffs will not ask for any fees or whatnots. Do report to us if there is any of such abnormality.

It is a FREE and SOCIAL group to promote reading by readers for readers.

 

 

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If you do not like to book swap, and would prefer to read FREE ebooks, click here: https://booksavenue.co/2019/05/02/read-amazon-books-for-free/

 

 

ebooks, Writings

FREE eBook: Tea with Crypto Shakers: A 17 Years Old Crypto-Investing Prodigy in Conversation with Crypto Shakers Kindle Edition

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Tea with Crypto Shakers is a book on how to get prepared for the upcoming cryptocurrency market by getting into the minds of Crypto Shakers about how they think and what they are working on to capitalize on this upcoming opportunity that the blockchain technology promises.

Here the list of Crypto Shakers that Shawn managed to team up with

– Roger Ver
– Timothy Draper
– Sherman Lee
– Chris Long
– Warren Seah
– Lex Na
– Hong QiYu
– Sen Ze
– Malcolm Tan
– Max Ng
– Kathryn Hew

Now, with this book, watch 17-year-old Shawn who has achieved success in early age with cryptocurrencies, has interviewed and team up with a group of crypto shakers to provide you their insights into cryptocurrencies.

Here some insights you are going to learn about the crypto shakers
– How they got started into the crypto space
– What are they working on
– How are they preparing for the blockchain revolution?
– What’s their advice to a 17-year-old if they can turn back time and transform to their 17-year-old self, how will they get prepared for the upcoming blockchain revolution

Yes, this is going to take determination and hard work with any new disruptive technology, but once you have received the new perspectives from these successful crypto entrepreneurs, it’s going to make you see cryptocurrencies in a whole new way.

 

Now with BooksAvenue, how can you get this book for free?

 
Step 1: Sign up for a free Amazon Account to access the app for unlimited reads on cryptocurrency trading: https://amzn.to/2Vxv9jQ

Step 2– Download his book for free with this link. It should appear automatically in your Kindle App, after you click to buy at $0.00. https://amzn.to/2VW4MDD

Step 3– You will receive an email from Amazon with download instruction too.

If you enjoy this ebook, please give him a five stars review. He’s a young trader who gives refreshing perspectives. Let’s support him!

Thank you for your help.

 

 

ebooks, Writings

How to buy Kindle Books for those living outside US

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buy kindle books in singapore

Previously, we discussed how to have UNLIMITED FREE reads on Kindle in Singapore and Malaysia. In this post, we are going to talk about how to buy Kindle books in Singapore as well as buy Kindle books in Malaysia, both countries use the same method, but let’s just refer to Singapore.

This tutorial will be showing you on how to buy English Kindle book from US Amazon.

Continue reading How to buy Kindle Books for those living outside US →

ebooks, Writings

PROMO Code: Amazon FreeTime Unlimited

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WHY WOULD YOUR CHILDREN LOVE FREETIME UNLIMITED?

 

Amazon FreeTime Unlimited is an all-in-one subscription that provides a world of content for kids to explore within a completely kid-safe environment. Coupled with easy-to-use parental controls, parents can choose what content their child sees, and set educational goals and time limits. It’s highly customizable and parents can personalize each kid’s experience with profiles, up to four profiles per subscription, letting them watch, play and read what they want, where they want to – on Fire tablets, Kindle eReaders, Android, iOS phones and tablets, and compatible Echo devices.

Amazon FreeTime Unlimited offers thousands of books, movies, TV shows, and educational apps and games featuring kids’ favourite characters from PBS, Nickelodeon, Disney and more.

Starting at only $2.99/month, after the 30-day free trial period, this low monthly membership fee gives access to all of the below benefits:
BRANDS KIDS LOVE AND PARENTS TRUST
  • Access your child’s programs from Disney, PBS, Nickelodeon, and Amazon Originals, and more all in one place.
  • Instantly access thousands of kid-friendly books, apps, movies, skills, Audible books, music, and TV shows, and create your child’s personal profile.
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STEP 1: Click on this link here to sign up Amazon FreeUnlimited
STEP 2: Set your iPad or mobile devices on strict parental controls before passing it to your child.
STEP 3: With the Amazon FreeUnlimited, let your child browse and read through the books.
ebooks, Writings

3 Steps To Read Amazon books for FREE

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With e-commerce portals such as Lazada and Qoo10, you can now easily get a Kindle Device.

But books in Amazon costs money, so can we still do the ultimate way and read for FREE?

Glad that you asked! Good that you have been following us and bookmarked us for future updates to know this today.

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You can read on Amazon for FREE apparently. AND no, it’s not a scam or some click bait. 3 steps, 3 legit steps. All you need is an Amazon Kindle Unlimited account (does not require a subscription to Amazon Prime).

 

Step 1: Register an Amazon Kindle Unlimited account. You will need it later.

Step 2: Get a Kindle E-reader. I assumed you would have purchased the Kindle either from Amazon or through one of the e-commerce portal. If not, use our link for a discounted price.

No Kindle?

If you have NOT purchased the Kindle device, you can download the free Kindle Reading App from iTunes or Google Play Store. The free books work with both the Kindle device and the reading app.

This only works if you have signed for Amazon Kindle Unlimited.

Step 3:

After creating an account, go to Departments > Books & Audible > Kindle eBooks.

Then search for “free Kindle books”. You will then see a list of books that say “Kindle Edition” $0.00. You don’t need to be a Prime. All with a reading app, or a physical Kindle

BONUS:

Now an extra step, this has been my ultimate secret for a few years now and every day I have been browsing it constantly for the latest free books.

Freebook sifter is the answer!

Its is a web application where it scans the entire Amazon catalog and displays the link to the free books on its web site. It sorts the books into 30 different categories such as Parenting, Investing and Friction. It also proudly displays the number of free books you can actually download.

So there you go, an Amazon with free books.

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Now if you would like to read PAID books for FREE, there is another way too.

Kindle Unlimited Membership Plans are available with 6, 12 and 24-month membership plans.

AND there is a 1 month trial period available before paying. So the idea is to read all you can for FREE in that 1 month.

There will be:

  • Unlimited reading from over 1 million ebooks
  • Unlimited listening to thousands of audiobooks
  • Read on any device
  • Membership plans are also giftable

 

Readathon baby!

If you like this post, please help to LIKE and SHARE with your friends. Your small gesture goes a long way for us. 🙂

Click the banner below to read more:

Kindle Unlimited Membership Plans

Blog, Writings

Why is BooksAvenue not selling books anymore?

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With so many books now published on Amazon, in particular, the competition to attract book buyers is fierce.

While there are countless sources of advice and marketing tricks on how to sell ebooks and books online on Amazon, the most important factors of all are to have a good product and to attract positive attention to your books. Likewise, if you have published more than a couple of titles, perhaps it has been some time since you analysed what you are really doing to attract attention.

As with all things Internet, change is the only constant, so while certain approaches may have been successful a year or so back, it is not necessarily true that they are working now.

These summarises the external factors why BooksAvenue not selling books now. It’s true that BooksAvenue started with book sales. Yet it is not sustainable in Singapore from different perspectives. Rather to paraphrase this, it is totureous and inefficient to compete with online retailers as well as physical bookstores. That competition itself, is an uphill challenge for us on many levels.

The other factors also include the buyers’ willingess to spend which resulted in profit margins, the book conditions, economic of scale, as well as the availability of title choices.

At the end of the day, it defeats the fundamental purpose of BooksAvenue: Bringing people closer to literature and art. We rather be building bridges to minimise the gap between readers and books efficiently, than to exhaust our resources to fight against profit driven business and corporations.

With a more focused and specialised scope, BooksAvenue believes that this will be the better way to bring people closer to the world of books.

Writings

Mother’s Love

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What is Mother’s love?

A search on Google derives the following statement from Helen Steiner Rice:

A Mother’s love is something that no one can explain, It is made of deep devotion and of sacrifice and pain, It is endless and unselfish and enduring come what may. For nothing can destroy it or take that love away—Helen Steiner Rice.

This is something not as simple as a sentence or two. Surely not an element or a simple emotion, a feeling that derives from the given relationship by birth. It is more than just platonic selfless care and concern for another’s well being, possibly even at the cost of caregiver’s expense and safety.

Is it an obligation due to the arrival of a new life? Or a conscripted responsibility which is out of will? From the spectrum of logic, I do not think so and certainly not. Ever.

18th Nov this year on a peaceful glorious morning, a little prince is born. A magical event to witness the beginning of life, the start of another chapter in life, surely another significant milestone to be marked and more exciting times ahead. Even before the arrival of the baby prince, daddy and mummy have committed and promised each other to give only the best to ensure his growth and well being.

That commitment and decision is the epitome of mother’s love.

And that prince? He is my son.

Writings

Altruism

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Six degrees of separation is the idea that all living things and everything else in the world are six or fewer steps away from each other so that a chain of “a friend of a friend” statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps. It was originally set out by Frigyes Karinthy in 1929 and popularized in an eponymous 1990 playwritten by John Guare.

Now with this chain of friends and acquaintance, consider the effect and repercussions of positive actions done for your friends and the people around you. It forms a happy environment, producing positive energy that will pulse thought the network of connected friends and beyond.

If we all can help each other without expectations of direct benefit or renumeration, the world will be a much, much better place.

This brings up the topic of Altruism, which is disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others. A good example is one who may choose to work with vulnerable elderly people out of altruism, probably at one’s expense.

A glass of water is not the same for a thirsty man and a drowning man. A donation of $100 to a homeless man is not the same as to a middle income working executive. In other words, the same help rendered might not have the same effects.

To help someone effective, it is better to ask the beneficial party directly how to help better. Social media likes and shares might bring about some forms of awareness, but the actual help is limited, and not as instaneous.

Similarly in my opinion, performing a good deed for a picture to be shared and post on social media, is not considered an altruistic action. To me, I would view it as somewhat like a “personal marketing campaign”. For personal fame and glory perhaps?

As surprising as it sounds, altruism helps to bring about a better us. It reinforces our perspective to care for people around us, creating a better place for everyone.

Try to sleep on the streets for a week, and you will know how the homeless feels like. Try to skip 3meals a day and forge for food in malls and whatnots, and you know how the hungry is experiencing it every day. The point is there are people worse off than us. We have to help to the best of our abilities to ensure that everyone around is happy. This creates happiness and peace around them, and around us too.

Do something for the homeless man around the corner, or the person in queue who is seeking coins. Help them, give them and assist them with zero expectations.

And if you are lucky, you might receive a smile brighter than sunshine.

Writings

Which Countries Read The Most?

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The Importance Of Reading

Being able to read is one of the most important basic skills that a person can learn today. In fact, reading is crucial to being able to relate to and take part in society. It is required for reading traffic signs, medical instructions, and news stories. Additionally, accessing information online or in books and magazines helps keep people educated and informed about the world around them. The human brain needs constant development and reading is just the activity to help. Reading helps people create a more active imagination and leads to higher levels of creativity as well. So, where in the world do people spend the most time reading?

 

Countries That Spend The Most Time Reading

The World Culture Score Index conducted a global study to measure the amount of time that people around the world spend reading on a weekly basis. The results of this study do not specify what type of material is being read, which could be anything from online news to work e-mails and magazines to books in print. Additionally, the study does not report specific information about the people surveyed (like age, educational level, or sex) or how many people were surveyed. The findings are as follows:

India

India topped the list with its citizens reporting an average of 10 hours and 42 minutes a week spent reading. Achieving the number 1 position on the list is quite an accomplishment for this country, which has a literacy rate that is lower than the global average (only 74%). This rate has, however, increased by more than 6 times since the country gained its independence in 1947, which could be an indicator of an increasing interest in reading. This time spent reading does not necessarily reflect the amount of time reading printed books, however, and may include time spent reading online or in electronic format.

Thailand

Thailand is the country with the second highest number of hours spent reading. Here, survey respondents reported that they spend a weekly average of 9 hours and 24 minutes reading. Additional surveys have found that approximately 88% of the population reads book in print and spend around 28 minutes a day reading them. This means that significantly more time is spent reading online. As seen in India, smartphones and tablets have changed reading habits in Thailand as well. In fact, the amount of time spent reading books in print has decreased from reports published in previous years.

China

The third greatest amount of time spent reading is in China, where survey respondents report spending around 8 hours every week partaking in this activity. This country has a 96.4% literacy rate, which is higher than the global average of 86.3%. Of this time, only around 11 minutes a day are spent reading newspapers and magazines. In a study conducted by the OECD, researchers found that over 90% of students in Shanghai, China report reading for entertainment purposes, which is an increase over previous years. This increase indicates that perhaps reading is gaining popularity among the citizens of this country.

Other countries included in the survey results can be found in the chart published below.

The Countries That Read The Most

Rank Country Hours spent in reading per person per week (selected countries)
1 India 10:42
2 Thailand 9:24
3 China 8:00
4 Philippines 7:36
5 Egypt 7:30
6 Czech Republic 7:24
7 Sweden 7:06
8 France 6:54
9 Hungary 6:48
10 Saudi Arabia 6:48
11 Hongkong 6:42
12 Poland 6:30
13 Venezuela 6:24
14 South Africa 6:18
15 Australia 6:18
16 Indonesia 6:00
17 Argentina 5:54
18 Turkey 5:54
19 Spain 5:48
20 Canada 5:48
21 Germany 5:42
22 USA 5:42
23 Italy 5:36
24 Mexico 5:30
25 UK 5:18
26 Brazil 5:12
27 Taiwan 5:00
28 Japan 4:06
29 Korea 3:06

 

 

Last updated on August 1, 2017

Taken from: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-countries-that-read-the-most.html

Taken