Sheesh. Where to start? Well, I will assume that you have a device for reading ebooks (if you don’t, fear not, I will write about that, too).

It may be silly to try to tell you how to build an ebook library. After all, would you listen to someone telling you how to buy books? Well, maybe you are the kind of person who reads book reviews in the papers, but how often do you actually buy those books?

I don’t. Ever. Unless I have been waiting for the book, in which case I really don’t read the review, I just wonder how I happened to be unaware that my absolutely, favorite-in-the-world writer has released a book without my knowing. I usually keep track of my favorites.

So I’ll tell you how I do it. What else is a self-proclaimed authority on ebooks going to do?

1. Try a writer you like

If you have a favorite writer (who doesn’t?), why not start with that one? Don’t get the latest book – it will cost virtually as much as the print version – but go for an older book you haven’t read yet. It will get you started with ereading and it will support the author. Win-win!

2. Get the entire back catalog of that writer

I have to admit I am horrible at this. As soon as I finish an ebook I like, I start looking up the writer’s back catalog and buy the lot. I have almost all of Greg Bear’s books as ebooks now…apart from those I bought in print back in the day. It’s perhaps not the cheapest way to build your library, but it is definitely among the fastest.

3. Try a new genre

The ebook stores have a wide catalog. I tend to spend most of my time in the science fiction ebook shelf at ereader.com or fictionwise.com. But I occasionally dip into the crime/thriller department, and on crazy days I stumble into the science or even the philosophy corner (although I mostly tend to read fiction). Spreading wide will help you find new stuff, and you get it much cheaper than treebooks.

4. Try a new author

I have a long list of authors I read everything by. But now and then it’s time to pick up a new writer. That’s how I discovered Vernon Vinge, a stellar sci-fi writer. It’s also how I picked up on Kim Stanley Robinson – I had his Red Mars book but never managed to complete it. Somehow it was easier in ebook format! Trying new authors widens your horizons and let’s you drop funky author names at boring parties.

5. Get the old books you want to read again

Remember *that* brilliant book you read some 15 years ago? And now you can’t find the book for the life of you? It’s most likely around in ebook format. Now’s a good chance to catch up!

6. Spy on your wife/husband/partner/significant other

My wife knows nothing about science fiction (she keeps mumbling about that one good book where “things came out of the wall” – she now claims that it was Arthur C. Clarke’s epic Rendezvous with Rama…). But she knows a lot about picking up books by writers I have never heard about. And it gives you the added bonus of having your wife/husband/partner/significant other smirking at you when you admit to having read that book, too.