Do you always buy finished copies?


The publishing world seems to be going full steam from the months of September until May and I can never keep up (nor can my wallet).
Quite a few of us are in the book blogging world are fortunate enough to have access to ARCs. Be it from blogger lists from publisher contacts, sites like netgalley/edelweiss, the #arcfortrade tag, or our friends, we are able to read and review books months before they hit the shelves. I've noticed that the books I receive for review far outweigh the number of books I purchase. In fact, there are only a few books on my shelves that I bought after I read the ARC. Since I'm not a big re-reader, finished books that I buy are mostly for decoration on my shelves. If I do end up buying a finished copy of an ARC, the reasons are usually as follows: 

The ebook is on sale
If it's a book I really enjoy and I want to give the author a sale, I typically wait to see if the ebook is available at a cheaper price. Sure it's not pretty on my shelves, but I have access to it and the sale counts! This also counts for audiobooks. Since I am an audible member, I get one credit per month and I usually have at least 2 credits available at all times. If I see the audiobook is available and I think I might want to re-read the book at some point, I'll usually go for the audiobook. Having the content in a different format keeps it fresh!

The book gave me the FEELS
If a book is super special and I want to push my friends to read it, I usually buy it. This typically goes for all my five-star reads and maybe some 4.5 stars. I'm pretty generous with my shelves and lend my books out to friends, so I want those precious 5-star reads available for me to push onto unsuspecting visitors!

I attend a book event and the author is speaking
After hearing an author speak about the writing process and getting to know them as human beings, I'm a lot more willing to buy a book right afterward. This is notably true if they are doing a book signing because I want to show them that I financially support them (and most signing lines ask that you purchase a copy from their store). 

I want to show my support for the author and/or make a statement
This is mainly true for debut authors that have blown me away and I want to ensure that they succeed. We all know that money talks in the publishing world, and if a book/topic/author is important to me, I will be sure to buy it. I do this in hopes that the publisher sees that readers want more and are more open to similar books in the future. I just finished The Hate U Give and I've already put aside some money for it to buy the finished copy in February. It's extremely important for me that publishers see that books about black teens written by black women WILL sell in the YA category. 

The above four points highlight when I must own both the ARC and finished copy on my shelf. I also enter giveaways for the book in question as well, but I'm a lot stricter when it comes from spending my own money, especially since I only buy 2 or 3 books per month. 


Do you always buy finished copies if you have read the ARC? 



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