It is no secret that the people living at my house are huge fans of ebooks. The day the Kindle came on the market, I began plotting for how to buy one for each of us. Since that time, the explosion of smart phones and tablets have made ebooks of all kinds (including PDF) just a tap away for most all of us.
There are some great advantages to buying books and curriculum in electronic form, but the best reasons boil down to two things: money and convenience.
Let’s start with money. Last year, I self-published my first ebook, Delightful Planning: a Unit Study Planner for Every Homeschool. I had a desire to write that book for quite awhile, but finding a publisher is not an easy feat for someone who has never been published before. So I was finally able to self-publish it, but to self-publish it as a print book was not possible. To do that, I would have either had to invest literally thousands of dollars into printing costs (which I could not afford to do), or use an on-demand printer, which would have made the book over $30 to purchase (and my royalty would have been paltry). While I’d like to say the book is worth $30, that’s really a crazy amount of money to spend if it can be made available for $10.95 in an ebook (which it is).
This is not an unusual scenario for most new authors, and even seasoned ones. Publishing and printing books is crazy expensive.
Then there’s the convenience factor. As I write this article, my family is vacationing at the beach to celebrate my husband’s recent retirement. I’m mostly unplugged, so of course, my number one goal is to read as many books as I can. But, to pack a bunch of books (or even choose last week which books I want to read) is a hassle. So instead, I packed my Kindle. It already contains literally 100s of books I haven’t read yet, and buying or borrowing something I don’t have is just a click away.
It’s the same with homeschool curriculum. For years, my house was overrun with books and curriculum for our homeschool. I filled bookcase after bookcase until there was no room for more bookcases. Once we were able to start buying books for Kindle for our homeschool (or download them for free), and replace some of our curriculum with electronically formatted files and online courses, the clutter began to diminish. I don’t know about you, but clutter drives up my stress level.
I love books as much as the next homeschool mom, but at some point, the madness had to stop. So I’m grateful that so much is now available in ebook format. Plus, I would like to write more books myself, and then makes that possible for me. In fact, I have a brand new book for teen girls coming out this week, so if you have girls who love Jesus and love adult coloring books, be on the look-out!
Need more convincing or ideas for how to manage your ebooks? Head over to this popular post I wrote last year: 3 Reasons to Buy eBooks and How to Organize Them.
