Up to this point, I have been leery of Fictionwise’s "Buywise" discount club (which offers a 15% discount on all Fictionwise titles) because to get my money’s worth out of it, I would have to order two hundred dollars’ worth of books over the course of one year and that is just not in my budget.
However, today I learned about a special offer over at Fictionwise: until September 18th, when you sign up for a $29.95 one-year membership, you get a $29.95 "micropay rebate." That means that your $29.95 membership fee goes directly into a store credit account, so you effectively get $29.95 worth of e-books free for buying the membership (or get the membership free for buying $29.95 worth of store credit, however you want to look at it).
I wouldn’t necessarily call it a "free" membership, since you are obligated to spend that $29.95 on e-books from Fictionwise, but it is at least "pseudo-free." (Those who are already members of Buywise may also take advantage of the offer and get a "pseudo-free" one-year extension on their current membership.)
To receive the discount, just register at Fictionwise and add a one-year membership to your shopping cart. If you see a $29.95 Micropay Rebate show up under the list price (as at right), then the promotion is still on. If you do not see a Micropay Rebate, then the promotion has ended. The offer was supposedly sent to "a small percentage of Fictionwise customers," but it seems to work for all comers.
Furthermore, ordering a one-year membership gets you a coupon code worth up to $10 off the price of any one book.
All things considered, it’s not a bad deal; Fictionwise’s prices are reasonable (at least on e-books whose print versions are out paperback) and their DRM is not obnoxious. Most of their titles are available in multiple formats, including eReader—currently the most polished of any of the iPhone e-reading apps—and can be re-downloaded at any time as long as Fictionwise stays in business.
One-year Buywise membership: until September 18th, $29.95 for $39.95 worth of e-books, plus a 15% discount on all Fictionwise books for one year. Get it while it lasts.
Note that the Buywise discount is on top of any other discount that they may be offering on a book. So if they are offering a 50% discount on a book, you get a further 15% off the discounted price.
I took advantage of this! I am considering an ipod touch and that way I could read non-multiformat books again. This was a great deal for me.
I also took advantage of this. It’s amazing how fast that $30 dollar goes. You can hunt around for bargains on Fictionwise, the newer books are usually more expensive than paperbacks but there are many good selections for $6-10