How do I get free books?
For readersUpdated 2 min read
Readers never pay on Booklabria, and there are four ways to read a book for free: ask for a free early copy from an author's campaign, enter a giveaway, open a copy an author sends you, or read the sample or free story an author offers to their followers. Which one you can use depends on what the author has opened.
The short answer
Booklabria does not sell books and readers never pay. The books that are free here are free because an author chose to give them away. There are four ways to get one.
1. A free early copy
When an author runs a campaign, the book page shows Request this copy and the Early copies page lists it under Free early copies. Add a short note and send the request. The author decides; you are told under the bell. A campaign copy asks for an honest review by the campaign's date, and says so before you ask. See Requesting an early copy.
2. A giveaway
A giveaway is a campaign where winners owe no review. Enter from the book page; the winner is drawn, or the first people to enter get a copy, as the campaign says. A copy you win arrives in your Library. See Giveaway campaigns.
3. A copy an author sends you
An author can hand you a protected copy through a link, or send one to your email address. The page says whether it is a gift (nothing owed) or a campaign copy (a review date). See A copy from an author.
4. A sample or a free story from an author you follow
Some authors offer the opening of a book, or a whole short story, to the people who follow them. Follow the author and open it from their page. See Samples and free stories for followers.
What you will not find
Not every author offers free books, and a request can be declined. There is no list of every free book at once; Discover and Early copies show what is open now. Smart shelves can watch for new ones: choose the rule Open early copies in my genres (Smart shelves).
Where this lives
Related
- Requesting an early copy: When an author runs an active campaign, the book page shows Request this copy and the **Early copies** page lists it under **Free early copies** with the reasons it fits you; a request carries a short note, waits for the author's decision, and can be cancelled while pending. There is no waitlist.
- Giveaway campaigns: A giveaway is a campaign type with no review obligation: the author offers protected copies to readers who enter, either first come or drawn, and each winner receives the book the way the campaign delivers it. A win counts as one reader toward the author's plan, a winner owes nothing, there are no reminders, and an entry that is not drawn costs the reader nothing.
- A copy from an author: the delivery link: An author can hand you a protected copy of their book through a link, a QR code or a giveaway you win, and every one of them lands in your Library, marked with the pen name who sent it. The page shows the author, the book and their note, with one button: without an account you create a free reader account in one step and the book opens; signed in, it is one tap. A copy from a link is a gift: nothing is owed, no review and no deadline, and nothing about it goes on your record. If a link is full, expired or revoked, a claimed copy stays on your shelf.
- Follow to read: a free story or sample for followers: An author on the Creator plan and above can offer a sample (the opening of a book) or a free story (a standalone) that is readable on Booklabria by anyone who follows them. The reader follows with one press (or a one-step free account) and reads at once in the same reader as an early copy, with their place kept, in the Library under Samples and stories, below the shelves. It stays there after an unfollow, and reading it again asks for the follow: the follow is the door, not a lease. Nothing is downloaded, nothing is owed.
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