How I get free books!

I get quite a few free books and today I thought I’d share just how I do! I’ll be sharing a few referral links here which will give both of us bonus points to use towards free books. Let me know if you end up taking advantage of any of these!

Swagbucks… I just love Swagbucks. I get gift cards from them and can use them for all kinds of things but lately I’ve been mostly getting Amazon gift cards.

Blog reviews! I get free books to review on my blog through Tyndale, LitFuse, Blogging for Books, and BookLookBloggers. I signed up for quite a few other programs early on but I’ve found that these four are my favorite so they’re the only ones I use now. You have to review the book they send you, whether or not you liked it, but you choose your book personally so there’s a pretty good chance you’ll enjoy it.

Book Launch Teams! Watch your favorite authors for announcements of their book launch teams. I've seen some for several of my favorites but I often miss my window since I don't get online every day. I've only actually made it in time to join two, but what fun! On top of getting a free book in exchange for a review (most people ask that you review it on Amazon these days), I also got entered to receive fun prizes.

Tyndale’s Reader Rewards Club… I am new to this one but I’m super excited about it. You can earn points by reviewing books, but also by giving them your birthday, signing up for the email newsletter, and answering fun quizzes… then you pick a book and they send it to you with free shipping. Easy-peasy, no strings attached.

Thrift Stores… one of my town’s thrift stores offers a free children’s book to every child who enters the store. We don’t go often (four car seats, nah) but when we do, we always make it a point to let the kids each pick a free book.

Summer Reading Programs… my kids love these. We always sign up for the library’s program but there are all kinds of other opportunities if you know where to look. Some programs offer non-book options but many offer a free book. Barnes & Noble, ChristianBook.com, Scholastic, and local bookstores with a reading program often reward your readers with free books! Some libraries offer these programs for adults too.

Used bookstores… some used bookstores let you trade in your used books for store credit and then swap that credit straight across for new books. There seem to be more and more stores that will only let you pay for half a purchase with store credit but there are occasionally still big ones that will let you pay exclusively in credit.

Library events… every once in a while the library will put on a free event that ends with each child receiving a free book. We’ve gotten them for Dr. Seuss’ birthday party and Valentine’s & Christmas events, for example.

ARCs… Advanced reader copies are a fun way to get your hands on a book that isn’t even out yet and will cost a pretty penny once it is. There was a great bookstore while we lived in Wyoming that kept a basket of these up front with a sign that told you to take any that interested you. You can ask at the libraries and bookstores you frequent if they have any ARCs they give away.

Book Swaps… Host a book swap party, sign up for an online book swap, or find a Take-a-Book-Leave-a-Book/ Free Little Library box in your area. These can be a lot of fun.

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library... This is such an awesome program which will mail you one (really nice) book per month until your child's fifth birthday. Unfortunately our current town doesn't offer it, such a bummer, but we had it before and received really nice copies of great books each month!

Chick Fil A… We don’t actually have a Chick Fil A but my mother-in-law does and she eats there instead of other fast food restaurants so she can get the kids meal and send my kids the books inside. There have been a few series I wasn’t necessarily a fan of (Caillou, you’re the whiniest!!!) but in general these are honestly great books. We’ve gotten some from the Amazing Animal series, Library Mouse, I Spy, Karma Wilson’s Bear series, and board books of Marianne Richmond, Corduroy, Rainbow Fish and Nancy Tillman. This option of course isn’t technically free, but if you’re planning to eat fast food anyways you might as well get some books out of the deal instead of the junky toys most restaurants offer instead.