How to Get Free Books Online

I love reading. I’m always looking for something new – or even not so new – to read. If you are serious about reading and about saving money, you can look for free books online. If you have an e-reader, it’s that much easier to download free books from some sources.

Here are some ways to access free books with the help of the Internet:

1. Get books from publishers.

If you are recognized as a book reviewer, you can get free books from publishers for review. An established blog in a particular niche can help you catch the eye of publishers. I’m always offered financial books for review, due to the nature of most of my writing. You can receive hardcopies for review, or ask about electronic copies. I’ve started asking for electronic copies whenever possible.

It’s also possible to sign up for the newsletters offered by different publishers. Many of these newsletters include offers for advance copies, and you can pounce on those. It’s also possible to email public relations representatives to find out about advance copies for authors.

2. Try reviewer programs and blog book tours.

When my co-author and I released a book a couple of years ago, we went on a blog book tour, speaking with podcast hosts and writing guest posts for blogs reviewing our book. You can sign up for blog book tours, such as Blog Stop Book Tours. This is a great way to find out about new books, and get copies for review.

It’s also possible to sign up for programs like Goodreads First Reads and Barnes and Noble First Look Book Club to access free titles for review.

3. Find free books online.

You don’t have to be a book reviewer to access free books with the Internet. There are websites that provide free books, particularly those that are in the public domain.

One of my favorite things to do is to download classics for my Kindle. There are numerous literary classics available for free on e-readers. Also, if you have Amazon Prime (which costs money), you can borrow books from Amazon’s lending library.

Other opportunities to find free books online come from websites devoted to digitizing books with available copyright and that are in the public domain:

• Project Gutenberg: If you want to access free ebooks for major e-readers, as well as on your computer, this is a great opportunity. The site is easy to navigate, and prides itself in offering some of the best free books available.
• Open Library: Use this book resource to borrow from the lending library. Unlike Amazon’s lending library, which has greater restrictions, you can “take out” up to five books at once. Not only do you have access to the titles in the lending library, but you can also look at ebooks from a network of brick and mortar libraries around the country.
• iTunes: It’s possible to find free books if you visit the App Store. Look for the Free Books section, though, since not every book on iTunes is free.
• Google Books: There are more than one million books available for free on this project. You can access them through Google Play Bookstore, and see a quick description of the top free titles. You do need to pay attention, though, because most of the books on the site are for sale – not for free.
  

It’s also possible to get free books for trying out different services. Audible generally offers a free book when you try out its audio book service, which is compatible with most devices that play MP3s.

With a little searching, it’s possible to build quite a library – particularly an electronic library – with free books.

What’s your favorite way to get free books? Leave a comment!

Miranda writes about personal finance almost every day. An experienced freelance writer, she's covered your money online and in print from every angle and is always looking for new ones.

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