On one of my “authors backchannels”, the topic of the new Scribd subscriber service came up. I won’t bore you with a run-down of that discussion, which doesn’t apply to readers anyway. What I WILL do, though is suggest you sign up for a subscription!

Dreamspinner has a lot of their book titles available, and there are a number of other publishers who have set up a relationship with Scribd, so for $8.99/month you can’t really go wrong. That’s pretty much less than the full price of two ebooks these days! You get unlimited reads, and you can read across platforms (iPhone/iPad, Android, or computer browser).

If you’re concerned that you won’t be supporting your favorite authors by using the service, then I can assure that’s not true. Publishers and authors get what amounts to royalties from each time a book is read by a subscriber. You will help pay my rent by reading all my books. PLEASE DO!

On a more general note, I think this is part of the future of books. No, not everyone will want a subscriber service, just as not everyone wants to read ebooks. The key here is having options available for a wide variety of readers.

The Scribd service is a fantastic choice for voracious readers who plow through one or two books a week or more — it’s money-saving for you, the reader, while still supporting the writers (and the publishers!) you love.