All the Ways I Get Free Ebooks Legally

Piracy is never the answer

Photo by Perfecto Capucine on Unsplash

I grew up in Latin America, where pirating books is normalized.

Everyone does it. Your friends do it, your family does it, your coworkers do it. Nobody sees anything wrong with it. It’s just how you get books when you can’t afford them. It’s so normalized that people consider you stupid if you pay for an ebook or audiobook because “it already exists on those websites.”

And I get it. Books are expensive. A single book can cost a week’s worth of groceries in some countries (here in the Dominican Republic, you can buy a week's worth of groceries for a family for the price of a single book). So when pirating is free and legal alternatives aren’t advertised or easy to find, people take the pirating route.

But piracy is never the answer, and I have learned how much harm it does to authors now that I’m more educated.

Even when books are expensive, even when you genuinely can’t afford them, piracy is not the solution. It’s stealing from authors; it’s supporting illegal distribution; it’s contributing to a system that harms the people who create the content we love.

And there are actually legal ways to get free books. A lot of them. And most people don’t know about them.

So instead of resorting to piracy, instead of stealing from authors, here are all the legal ways I get free ebooks.

Libby and Hoopla Let You Borrow ebooks From Your Library For Free

If I had to pick one discovery that changed my reading life, it would be Libby and Hoopla.

These apps are literally your library’s collection but in ebook form. You connect your library card to one of the apps, and you can borrow ebooks for free.

Yes, for free.

Most libraries in the United States have both services, and if they don’t, they probably have at least one. You just need a library card. And most libraries let you get a card online without even going in person.

I was shocked when I first discovered this because I had been paying for ebooks for years, when this option existed the entire time.

With Libby, you can browse thousands of ebooks, put them on a waiting list, and when it’s your turn, you borrow them for a set amount of time. It’s just like borrowing a physical book from the library, except it’s digital.

You don’t have to return it late; it automatically goes away when the borrowing period is over. You don’t have to worry about losing it or damaging it. You just read it on your phone or tablet, and then it’s gone (but I actually return them early so others can enjoy the books sooner, too).

And Hoopla is similar, except there’s usually no waiting list and a larger catalog of audiobooks, music, and movies, too. You just borrow the book and read it immediately.

I’ve borrowed hundreds of ebooks using these two apps. Books I would have never paid for, books I wasn’t sure about, books I wanted to try without committing to a purchase.

And the selection is huge. New releases, classics, indie books, all kinds of genres. They’re constantly adding more.

So if you have access to a library, Libby and Hoopla are literally free ebooks waiting for you.

No piracy needed.

And the best part is that even though it’s free for you, the authors are compensated through the digital license libraries buy.

ARC Reads: Get Free Books From Authors In Exchange For Reviews

ARC stands for Advanced Reader Copy, and it’s basically authors and publishers giving out free books in exchange for reviews.

Apps like NetGalley, BookSirens, and BookFunnel connect authors and publishers with readers willing to read their books and leave reviews before they are officially published.

So you get the book for free, you read it, and you leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or wherever.

That’s it. That’s the deal.

I’ve gotten so many free books this way. New releases, books I was curious about, books I never would have picked up otherwise because I wasn’t sure about them.

And honestly, as an author, I know how important reviews are. Reviews help books get noticed; they help other readers decide whether to read them; they help the books gain visibility on platforms like Amazon.

So by reading an ARC and leaving a review, you’re helping an author get their book out into the world. And you’re getting a free book in the process.

It’s a win-win.

NetGalley is the largest platform for this, but BookSirens and BookFunnel also have tons of books. You create an account, you browse the available ARCs, you request the ones you want to read, and if the author or publisher approves you, you get the book.

The only catch is that you’re expected to leave a review. And you have a deadline, usually a few weeks after the book is released, to leave that review.

But if you’re reading anyway, if you’re someone who leaves reviews, this is an easy way to get free books.

I’ve gotten dozens of ARCs this way, and I’ve discovered so many amazing authors and books I never would have found otherwise.

Unlike Hoopla and Libby, which are only available in specific countries, this option is available worldwide, and you can access these catalogs from anywhere.

Stuff Your Kindle/Kobo Days: Free Books From Hundreds Of Authors

A few times a year, Amazon and Kobo host events called Stuff Your Kindle Days and Stuff Your Kobo Days, where hundreds of authors put their books up for free.

It’s exactly what it sounds like. You stuff your Kindle or Kobo with free books.

Authors participate in these events because they want to get their books in front of readers, get reviews, and build an audience. So they make their books free for a few days and hope readers will download them and leave reviews.

And you get free books.

These events last a few days, and hundreds of books participate. You can browse by genre, by author, by whatever you want, and download as many free books as you want.

I’ve downloaded so many books during these events. I’ve found favorite authors; I’ve discovered new genres; I’ve gotten books I was on the fence about without spending any money.

The only thing is you have to download them during the event window. Once the event is over, the free period ends and the books return to their regular price.

But if you follow authors or book pages on social media, they usually announce when these events are happening. Or you can just search for “Stuff Your Kindle Days” to find the pages listing all the participating books.

It’s one of my favorite ways to get free books because the selection is huge and you can really load up your Kindle or Kobo with books to read for months. Also, there is no return period because it's like you “are buying” the book for free, so it’s yours forever.

Amazon Prime Gives You Free Books With Your Subscription

Most people know about Amazon Prime for shipping and Prime Video, but what they don’t know is that Prime also comes with free books.

Prime Reading is a service that comes with your Amazon Prime subscription. You get access to a rotating selection of ebooks that you can borrow for free.

You can have a certain number of books borrowed at a time, and you can return them whenever you want to borrow new ones. It’s like a mini library built into your Prime subscription.

I don’t use Prime Reading as much as I use Libby and hoopla because the selection is smaller and the books rotate, so if you see something you want, you have to grab it before it’s gone.

But if you already have Prime for shipping or video, you might as well use the free books that come with it.

It’s not a huge selection, and it’s not the best way to get free books, but it’s there, and you’re already paying for Prime anyway, so why not take advantage of it?

I’ve borrowed a few books from Prime Reading, found some I liked, and it’s nice to have the option when I’m between Libby holds or looking for something specific.

BookBub Sends You Free and Cheap Books To Your Email

BookBub is an email newsletter service that sends you deals on ebooks.

You sign up, you choose your favorite genres, and then every day (or however often you want), BookBub sends you an email with free books and books on sale for usually $0.99 or less.

It’s passive. You don’t have to search for deals; you don’t have to check websites constantly. The deals come to you.

And there are always free books. Sometimes they’re popular books, sometimes they’re indie books, sometimes they’re new releases. But there are always free options.

I’ve gotten so many books from BookBub. I’ll see a title in my email that looks interesting, I download it, and I’ve discovered some amazing authors this way.

The nice thing about BookBub is that you can customize it. You choose which genres you’re interested in, you choose how often you want to receive emails, you choose which platforms you use (Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books, etc.), and the links go directly to where you can download the book.

So instead of searching for free books, free books come to you.

And the selection is huge because BookBub works with thousands of authors and publishers. So there’s always something new, always something different.

It’s one of my favorite ways to discover new books because I’m not actively looking; the books are just showing up in my inbox.

People often ask me how I manage to read so many books without spending thousands of dollars every year.

This is how.

I use my library. I read ARCs. I take advantage of Stuff Your Kindle Days. I borrow books through Prime Reading. I sign up for BookBub deals. I wait for sales. Sometimes I simply add a book to my wishlist and buy it later when I can afford it.

Because there are so many legal ways to read for free that piracy has become an excuse more than a necessity.

As an author, I now understand what I didn’t understand growing up. Every pirated book is someone else’s years of work being distributed without permission. Behind every ebook is a person who spent months, sometimes years, writing, editing, revising, and investing their own money to create something they hoped people would enjoy.

When we pirate books, we’re not taking them from giant corporations. More often than not, we’re taking them from individual authors trying to make a living.

So if money is tight, I completely understand. I’ve been there.

But before you open a piracy website, try one of these options first. You might discover that you never needed piracy in the first place.

You’ll support the people who create the stories you love, discover incredible new authors, and fill your Kindle with more books than you’ll probably have time to read.

That’s a much better ending for everyone.

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