Earlier this week I told you about a huge eBook sale, with 97 books and courses being offered for just under $30, and I recommended it.
I still do recommend it overall, but I want to temper that earlier recommendation a bit, if you’ve been debating about purchasing it. First of all, 97 items? I can’t imagine anyone who is really interested in all 97 items, so ignore that $640-value figure they’ve been tossing around. What I’d look at is what the value of the package is for you: add up the prices on the pieces you want, and see if their usual cost makes the overall deal still worthwhile.
So why am I adding some caveats, and yet still recommending it? Because of that value-to-me formula.
In Monday’s post, I said how I was excited to try the two-months free to Fit2B Studio – that alone would be $20. The iPhone Photography book is $10, so those two alone add up to the cost of the bundle overall. (I’m rounding with the numbers, but it’s within pennies.)
Now, what are my caveats to the bundle overall, and why have I been disappointed in some of the eBooks?
- Some of the formatting doesn’t work well when I try and read them on my Kindle. The eBooks are all PDFs, and sometimes PDFs work beautifully on my Kindle. Sometimes they don’t, and every page I end up having to zoom in and move things around to try and read the screen. One book in particular combines that with a really light font that is all but impossible to read on my Kindle. Super frustrating.
- The quality is varied. Some of the books are really well-done and polished. Some of them, well, they needed an editor. Hey, I make typos and mistakes all. the. time. (Almost every post that goes up I see something after it’s published.) But if you’re releasing something as an eBook, I really really really think you need to make sure that it’s as mistake-free as possible. And some of the mistakes I saw? Weren’t just typos – there were completely wrong words used. (Wrong as in, they used a homophone for the word they should have used.)
- If you’re not a Christian mom, a lot of the titles won’t necessarily apply. And while I’m not an expert at classifying various forms of Christianity, I’d also say that it skews to the evangelical/fundamentalist Christianity side.
Despite these issues, I’m still glad I bought the bundle. The NOT a DIY Diva book? Not one I was super anxious to read, but it’s been one of my favorites so far. (I’ve done nothing but skim a lot of the books, so I may be missing some that I’ll turn out to adore.) Some other highlights for me?
The Homemakers Guide to Creating the Perfect Schedule. Turns out this book is geared to homeschoolers, but I still enjoyed the whole “are you a schedule or routine sort of family” discussion.
28 Days to Hope for your Home. Kind of fly lady like, but I like it.
Embracing Beauty. Thinking I am going to end up loving this one.
Simply Summer and 20-Minute Meals. Will these recipes be winners for my family? Too soon to tell, but I hope to find out.
And, there are still a ton of books in the bundle that I enthusiastically recommend, as I’ve read them all before and enjoyed them:
One Bite at a Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler
Simple Blogging: Less Computer Time, Better Blogging
Tell Your Time
The No Brainer Wardrobe
Truth in the Tinsel
Reuse, Refresh, Repurpose
How to Have Your Cake and Eat It, Too
Organizing Life as Mom
31 Days to Clean
Kept: a 13-Week Inductive Study on 1 Peter
Love Like Him: an 8 week Inductive Bible study on 1 Corinthians 13
The Dig for Kids: Luke (Volumes 1 and 2)
Do I recommend that you buy the bundle? Not necessarily – what I recommend is that you look over the list and see what books you’d be interested in, and what they’d cost you to buy individually. See if any of the bonus offers are ones you’d want, and what that adds to the overall value for you. It might be worth it for you, or it might not, and you’d be better off buying a title or two individually if that’s all you want.
What I absolutely suggest is that you do look at the titles and consider if it’s a good deal for you – the offer is only good through May 4 (as in, tomorrow), so if you want it, grab it soon. The offer is over – you can now buy individual titles, but the bundle itself is no longer available.
If you have any questions about any of the individual titles (like whether or not their formatting works well on the Kindle, or if the title matches the contents – the homemakers schedule ebook didn’t really; it was more for homeschoolers), let me know either by commenting below or sending me an email. I always like knowing what I’m buying, especially if I’m particularly interested in one or two of the items specifically. I’ll do my best to respond as quickly as possible.
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Ultimate Homemaking Bundle: Why NOT To Buy It originally appeared on The Deliberate Reader on May 3, 2013. Consider leaving a comment!