One of the main advantages that physical book stores have over virtual bookstores is the ability to allow customers to browse. You don’t have to purchase a book based purely on its title and some reviews. In a bookstore, you can read a few pages or even a few chapters to decide if a particular title is worth your money. Many people don’t realize that the iBooks Store that is available on all iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad devices also allows you to browse before you buy. You can download a free sample, most of which are 20 pages or more, of nearly any book you’d like just by following a few basic steps.

Step 1

Download the iBooks application onto your iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad. iBooks is Apple’s free, first-party eBook reader. The application is available at any time by tapping the “App Store” icon on your device’s “Home” screen. You can search for iBooks by name or download it from the “Books” category in the App Store.

Step 2

Open the iBooks application on your device by tapping on its icon one time. You will be greeted by your current eBook library. Tap once on the icon labeled “Store” in the upper left corner of the screen to access the iTunes eBook Store on your device.

Step 3

Search for an eBook that interests you. You can do this in a few different. Use the icons at the bottom of the screen to browse based on different criteria. For example, tapping the icon labeled “Featured” will show you recent and notable eBooks that have been selected by the people that run the Apple eBook Store. Tap the icon labeled “NYTimes” to view a list of books on the New York Times best sellers list. Tap the icon labeled “Top Charts” to view a list of the most popular and highest grossing books in the eBooks Store. You can also tap the icon labeled “Categories” to browse by various categories including sports, arts and entertainment, literature and more.

Step 4

Tap on the name of the eBook that interests you. The Apple eBooks Store allows you to quickly purchase a particular book by tapping on its price in the eBooks listing on screen. However, to download a free sample of a title you must instead tap on its name. A new page will open in the iBooks application that contains information pertaining only to the book you have selected.

Step 5

Locate the grey button labeled “Get Sample.” The “Get Sample” button is on the left side of the screen, immediately below the picture of the book and the price. Tap this button one time to download a free sample of the book in question.

Tap the button labeled “Library” at the top of the screen to return to your iBooks library. The sample will appear among the other books in this screen, just as it would if you had actually purchased the book. Tap the picture of the book to read the sample.

If you decide that you want to purchase the book in question after reading the sample, scroll to the last page of the sample and tap the button labeled “Purchase.” You do not have to return to the iTunes eBook Store. If you decide that you don’t want to purchase the book, swipe your finger across its name in your iBooks library to reveal the “Delete” button. Tap the “Delete” button to remove the free sample from your iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad library.

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Laura loves to read books on her Apple devices however she does recommend running an internet speed test if you find you have problems.  As book downloads usually take seconds this is a good idea if you are struggling to download.