The Cheapest Way to Score E-Books and More

Q: I spend a fortune on e-books each month—and that's on top of subscriptions to Netflix and HBO Go, Audible for audiobooks and Texture for magazines. How can I trim my digital-media budget?

A: Have you browsed your local library's website lately? In addition to e-books, chances are you can also borrow audiobooks, digitized magazines and movies—and enjoy them on your smartphone or tablet for weeks at a time.

Overdrive provides digital content for 93% of public libraries, and its mobile app for iOS, Android and Kindle Fire is your hub for free stuff. Here's a quick tour of offerings often available to members:

Listen on the go. Using the OverDrive app, you can borrow audiobooks from your library and download them to your device for offline playback—which means you can listen to Tina Fey read "Bossypants" during your commute without eating into your mobile data.

Catch a flick. Many libraries offer feature films, documentaries and TV shows on-demand. These can be streamed using OverDrive's app or website. Want to watch on a proper TV? A Chromecast, Apple TV or similar device will let you beam the video over.

Browse the newsstand. Digital magazines are an often overlooked perk. Because the licenses for most digital magazines allow at least 25 patrons to read them simultaneously, you're likely find plenty of new titles available—everything from Cooks Illustrated to The Week. (Note that reading digital magazines requires the Nook app.)

Go easy on your eyes. With the OverDrive app, you can read borrowed e-books on your smartphone or tablet, but certain titles can also be delivered wirelessly to a Kindle with just a few taps. If you're a frequent borrower, the Kobo Aura ONE ($230) is another good e-reader. It has a crisp, large screen and allows you to search for and borrow library books directly from the device.

Once you're hooked, consider joining as many local libraries as you qualify for. (Some will issue cards to anyone who works locally.) This will give you access to a wider range of digital content. And since loans are automatically returned, you'll never incur a late fee.

Penguin boss admits the company read too much into the eBook hype

Penguin wrongly lost confidence in the power of the printed word and invested "unwisely" amid the rise of eBooks, one of the company's bosses has admitted.

Joanna Prior, the managing director of Penguin's general books, said the firm jumped the gun and incorrectly pre-empted a major shift towards digital books.

The "bad moment" means Penguin – one of the UK's biggest publishers – now takes steps "much more cautiously" than it would have five years ago.

The comments came after figures showed eBooks sales fell for the first time since 2014 last year. Experts said the data showed reports about the death of the traditional book had been greatly exaggerated.

Speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, Ms Prior said: "There was a definite moment when we all went shooting out after the shiny app thing and spent money on that and invested probably unwisely in products that we thought could in some way enhance the book.

"We somehow lost confidence in the power of the word on the page, which was a bad moment."

Ms Prior added that Penguin had been forced to "regroup", and that eBooks were now released "harmoniously" alongside physical copies.

Sales of eBooks declined  2.4 per cent to 47.9 million units last year, according to figures from five UK publishers.

In 2014, more than 49 million eBooks were sold. In comparison, just under 200 million print books were sold last year.

The biggest hardback seller – shifting more than 546,000 copies – was The Girl on the Train.

Clare Alexander, a literary agent who worked for 20 years as a publisher, said five years ago bosses at Penguin would have consulted "digital gurus".

"Now the rainmakers are the editors," she said.

Penguin is now focusing on providing app developments for picture books aimed at pre-school children, which Ms Prior believes can make money.

"There is beginning to emerge a financial model for that, I think it is an exciting way of getting very young children into reading," she said.

During the talk, the two women also suggested it was a good time to be a debut novelist, as publishers were looking for writers with "no track record".

They admitted this was sometimes bad news for authors who had already produced two or three books.

"If you are a brand new name it is fantastic, and success is bigger than it has ever been, but to be in the middle it is very difficult… talented people are in danger of being sidelined," Ms Alexander said.

How E-books Have Changed The Way That College Students Study

E-books were once thought of as a nice way to read books for entertainment purposes, and not much else. In recent years, they have exploded onto the education scene, as many schools are using them almost exclusively. It's interesting to consider how e-books have changed the way that college students study.

In many college courses, students can get the books that they need a in e-book format instead of buying a printed copy. These books are becoming required reading in many classes across the country. In fact, almost 60 percent of students who bought e-books said that some of them were required course material.

With this method, students can simply download the book that they need onto an e-reader like an Amazon Kindle, and start reading it. Many different types of schools are using e-books for their classes. Graphic design schools, trade schools, nursing schools, and regular universities are all jumping on the e-book bandwagon.

One reason that a lot of schools are going to e-books for class is because they save a lot of paper. Without having to physically print up the books, a ton of paper can be saved. This creates a solid eco-friendly brand image for educational facilities.

Another big reason that students are turning to e-books is so that they can save money. When you have to buy a book, it is usually quite a bit cheaper in e-book form. In addition to being able to save money on the purchase of the e-book, you can also rent e-books. For example, Amazon makes it possible to rent textbooks for as little as one day or as long as you need to. This is a lot easier than having to rent the book from a local store or ship it back and forth to a rental company. You just pull up the book you need on an e-reader, and then send it back when you’re done.

Although e-books have started to catch on, they have not completely replaced regular textbooks just yet. Many students don’t yet own e-readers, which is a bit of an obstacle to being able to read e-books. You could always download an e-book and read it on a computer or on a smartphone, but it’s not as easy as reading it on an e-reader. As the prices of electronic readers come down, more students will start to get them, and e-books will become even more common in college.