I took my Nook on vacation with me with the intent of reading down some of the Nook TBR. Let me just say... I DNF'ed 6 of 11 ebooks. There's a reason a lot of these authors are not signed by a major publisher LOL! And please understand, I'm picky to begin with. These should have all been home run winners because I only download the stuff that truly looks interesting.

I believe you. I've had to return some ebooks bought from Amazon, even if they were only a dollar, because they were so bad.

So true, Nancy! These days tons of people without much talent are self-publishing. That's why I try to get at least some friend's recommendation before picking up freebies/cheapies.

I don't know if you read YA or PNR but Angelfall is terrific and it's just $2.99 for the ebook.

Yes, I agree!  I tend to stick to freebies from unknown authors because I hate paying money for anything that's bad.  I've got lots of DNF freebie ebooks but at least I'm not out anything but a little bit of time.

See if I DL a freebie that is bad, I try to leave a constructive review, so those after me can make a good choice.  I try to ignore bad grammar, the odd bad spelling mistake but I cannot get passed bad plot or characters. 
I get many friends saying I should self publish my stories, but I KNOW they need work and do not wish to inflict them on others until they are fixed, but many writers sadly think they can by pass the edit/fix/edit/fix/rewrite stage.

That's why I won't pay anything unless I know the author or its recommended by someone who I know has similar tastes to mine. 

I just finished Angelfall - I think it's the only self-published that I have liked.  I'm waiting for the next in the series.  Everything else has been just passable or horrible.

Yes, sadly it's true. Some people shouldn't be published, whether self-published, and/or definitely because of the reasons why they weren't picked by legit publishing companies which have STANDARDS.

Unfortunately, while I can jettison the book from my device, I can't jettison some of what I've read from my brain for a while. 

That's when it's time to re-read an old favorite, or start a new one by a favorite author, that you've been "saving".

I have downloaded lots of freebie books and so far, out of about 120 I've read, I only DNF three. They were so bad I thought a five-year-old wrote them. It's incredible what raving reviews some of those books got, too. I assume they or friends posted them. Since they're free, I just move on.

On the other hand, I've found some really great books from the freebies, so I guess it more than balanced out.

On the other hand, I've found some really great books from the freebies, so I guess it more than balanced out.

I think it also depends on why the book is free.

A new author needs the advertisement, and any good reviews they can get. Because of all the competition, it's either get noticed or get no later sales.

For the older and established authors, it's a way to drum up interest in their series by giving away the first one. The other books are already for sale and ready to go, if they can hook another reader into starting them.

For some semi-retired authors, it's a way to get their name back out into the public and drum of business for their backlists. Some authors are getting more of their copyrights back as time goes on, so those long out-of-print books are now theirs again. More of them are coming and trying their hand at selling their older stuff, and giving some away as freebies to catch people who may know their name, but haven't yet read any of their work yet.

It's like fanfic. Lots to weed through, but some stories out there I wouldn't have missed for the world.