# Free is burnt out



## philstern (Mar 14, 2011)

From my own experiences, and looking over the posts on this board, I think it's clear that the whole going free thing is burnt out, and at this point might even be counterproductive.

Not only is the market glutted with an excess of books, but anyone with half a brain is now simply scanning the lists of free books every day, and simply picking out ones that look good. There's no reason to really buy books anymore, unless it's something you really, really want and don't think is going free anytime soon.

Yes, it's very frustrating trying to promote yourself and an independent author. Believe me, I've been very frustrated at times. But I think we all need to accept that the free thing is now probably doing more harm than good, and the next stage of the ebook revolution is valuing our product at a certain level, even if that's only $2-$3 a pop.

I like the borrowing aspect of Select, but it wouldn't bother me at all if Amazon fazed out the free stuff, or at least limited it to a few days a year. Really, I don't think there's any other choice.


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## dalya (Jul 26, 2011)

I have $ in sales (on my romance pen name) today that say otherwise. Biggest sales day since the gold rush era.

HOWEVER, you have to hit it HUGE on the free charts and be on POI/ENT and every little site in between and hit Top 20 on the free list. I had 32k downloads.

It's more feast or famine, with a little less feasting.


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## Lisa Grace (Jul 3, 2011)

Are you writing series? Putting the first free in a series is still working well for many authors. 
I'm getting ready to do two free runs on different books. It has always garnered me more fans (those who actually read the books and go on to buy more.)


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## Rachel Schurig (Apr 9, 2011)

My July free run has netted me enough post-free sales (of the free book and subsequent books in the series) to allow me several more months of freedom from the day job.

I'm still pretty happy with free


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## philstern (Mar 14, 2011)

I'm not trying to take anything away from anybody. And i think the whole free thing has made a lot of sense. For a limited time.

But an industry can't grow while the product is being consistently devalued. It's like a rock band giving away free cassettes when they're on their way up, but then charging $20 for a CD.

The reason I'm saying this is because so many authors are complaining their free runs aren't as effective as they used to be. That only makes sense. The longer free goes on, the less effective it will be generally. For everybody.


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Free is more difficult to leverage into sales than it was before. That's true. Part of the problem is that many people don't realize what it takes to have a "successful" free run. There is still a lot of misinformation about how the whole process works too.


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## NathanWrann (May 5, 2011)

The first book in my series Dark Matter Heart is free (has been since June or so and has never been picked up by the biggie free sites) and sales of book 2 are strong (could be stronger. were stronger). book 3 just came out and sales are good there too. Basically I've had the best 2 month run since I started publishing a year ago. (and these are the summer doldrums from what I hear)


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## Rachel Schurig (Apr 9, 2011)

philstern said:


> I'm not trying to take anything away from anybody. And i think the whole free thing has made a lot of sense. For a limited time.
> 
> But an industry can't grow while the product is being consistently devalued. It's like a rock band giving away free cassettes when they're on their way up, but then charging $20 for a CD.
> 
> *The reason I'm saying this is because so many authors are complaining their free runs aren't as effective as they used to be*. That only makes sense. The longer free goes on, the less effective it will be generally. For everybody.


I'm simply offering a counterpoint; in my experience, free runs can still be very effective, maybe even as effective as they ever were.


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## dalya (Jul 26, 2011)

DanielJamesDavis said:


> ... We are all but clawing, grasping souls sinking in the vast pool, hoping our flailings attract the attention of those with the life preserver.


Yes.

Also, I wanted to clarify, I AGREE WITH THE OPENING POST.

Free really isn't that great for the majority of books, especially if they aren't in the most popular genres.


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## sarracannon (Apr 19, 2011)

I don't really buy the argument that having a lot of free books on the market devalues everyone else's. People buy what they want to read. Sure, I scan the free books every day or every few days. A lot of the time, the books on the free lists are the same books I've already seen or read before. When I see something interesting that's free that I haven't read before, I download it. If that book was awesome and is the first of a series, you better believe that I go right out and purchase the subsequent books in the series.

I don't download books that don't interest me simply because they're free. And I have no problem paying for books that _do _interest me. I believe the same is true for most readers out there. Free might be less powerful than it was in the beginning. This is an ever-changing career so we have to learn to study and adapt. I still think free can be a powerful tool to get noticed by readers, particularly if you have a large backlist or a series.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

I have been having an very good month as far as paid sales. Obviously, there are still plenty of people who are buying eBooks.

As Sarra said, I don't download books that I don't want to read and do_ buy_ ones that I do want to read. To be frank, the biggest cost to me is rarely the cost of the book but the time to read it.


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## Bone Bard (Aug 1, 2012)

I feel your frustration, but I think free is far from burnt out.

So long as authors can, free will always be around. It might
become less effective... probably will, but everyday there'll
be a new author who thinks the only way to get noticed is
to go free.

I don't think free can be killed.


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## Andykay (May 10, 2012)

I completely agree that free is a terrible idea. It scares me how easy it is for readers to spend their whole lives not paying for anything, and the long term impact of that, in terms of expectations, is pretty grim for writers. To me it feels like the ease with which digital content can be pirated, coupled with an increased belief that they should pay nothing for books, will steadily erode sales numbers, making it progressively harder to make a living in this gig.

Unfortunately, people won't stop. Someone posted about this in another thread a few days back (possibly Dalya), but the fact is that while free may be detrimental to the entire group of people you'd refer to as writers, for the individuals partaking, the immediate benefits are high enough that they have no incentive to stop. And furthermore, the more people that realise that free is bad and do stop, the better the immediate benefits are for those that continue to abuse it. 

It's based on a psychology theory, the name of which escapes me now, but it often gets used in relation to the poker industry, which is where I've hung my hat over the past few years. There will always be people who take advantage of an exploitable situation in the present, because they either don't care about  or can't see the long term picture. You can even see it happening here on these forums. People express fears that free is hurting the overall sales of books, and other people reply with "But it works so well for me," or "I had no sales until I made something free." If the entire writing world chose to simultaneously abandon the model of using free as a promotion, then authors who felt like free was their only option for selling books would find that was no longer true, since now they're on a level playing field. But then the first person to decide to break the truce and go free would get an incredible sales boost, and that incentive would be too much for some, causing the whole system to break down again.

The only hope really is that the booksellers recognise the long term damage free is going to do to their margins (if it hurts us it hurts them) and does something about it.


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## dalya (Jul 26, 2011)

Andykay said:


> I completely agree that free is a terrible idea. It scares me how easy it is for readers to spend their whole lives not paying for anything, and the long term impact of that, in terms of expectations, is pretty grim for writers. To me it feels like the ease with which digital content can be pirated, coupled with an increased belief that they should pay nothing for books, will steadily erode sales numbers, making it progressively harder to make a living in this gig.
> 
> Unfortunately, people won't stop. Someone posted about this in another thread a few days back (possibly Dalya), but the fact is that while free may be detrimental to the entire group of people you'd refer to as writers, for the individuals partaking, the immediate benefits are high enough that they have no incentive to stop. And furthermore, the more people that realise that free is bad and do stop, the better the immediate benefits are for those that continue to abuse it.
> ...


Yeah, I posted something about that.

I agree that "free" has bitten off the bottom of the "cheap" market. It's a shame. But, it's the world we're in right now and each of us has to do what's best for us.

Our position isn't that much different from publishers. They have to pay co-op advertising to put books on tables in big stores. We have to ... do 9 million things that don't work and pray for a good Freebie day.


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## Bone Bard (Aug 1, 2012)

Andykay said:


> It's based on a psychology theory, the name of which escapes me now,


Very well said.

I think you're referring to Dynamic Inconsistency which is the larger name
for temporal discounting or the immediacy effect which I think is appropriate
here.

In other words, writers are making short term decisions based on immediate
gratification which are arguably hampering long term positive outcomes.


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## Greg Banks (May 2, 2009)

philstern said:


> From my own experiences, and looking over the posts on this board, I think it's clear that the whole going free thing is burnt out, and at this point might even be counterproductive.
> 
> Not only is the market glutted with an excess of books, but anyone with half a brain is now simply scanning the lists of free books every day, and simply picking out ones that look good. There's no reason to really buy books anymore, unless it's something you really, really want and don't think is going free anytime soon.
> 
> ...


There are times and situations where free is detrimental, but to say that it's silly to suggest that it's burnt out. Especially when a whole lot of authors here claim that piracy has "helped" sales. If the free giveaways are used properly, they can benefit you, however, just because they don't work for every book, in no way justifies the idea that it works for no books at all.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

Bone Bard said:


> Very well said.
> 
> I think you're referring to Dynamic Inconsistency which is the larger name
> for temporal discounting or the immediacy effect which I think is appropriate
> ...


Or they are making short term decisions _giving_ long term positive effects in allowing us to make a living and thus WRITE. That writers are supposed to sacrifice themselves "for the greater good" is one that publishers have been pushing for a long time. I am always appalled to see it coming from writers as well.


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## dalya (Jul 26, 2011)

Does dynamic inconsistency explain why I stay up late even if I have to get up early the next morning?


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

If you don't like giving away your books, you don't have to. Do something else to market them.

Free is a marketing decision.

Create the desire for people to read your book other ways. It's silly to think all the free books means that people don't have to pay for anything to read. Books are not like soap. You can't interchange them. ONE free book does not take a sale away from YOUR book. Your book is different.

If someone wants to read Hunger Games, you can't say, "Well, look at all the free books that are similar. Just get one of those free, and you don't have to pay for it."

So, if you don't like the idea of giving away your book, even for a short time, create the desire for people to read your own book. It's not impossible. It might be expensive, or time consuming, and THAT is why authors do give away their books. It's cheap advertising, and sometimes it works.

I really don't care that I've given away 300,000 ebooks. I've earned real money. Thousands of dollars. If I choose to give my books away to get there, so be it. It's not hurting anyone else. It's a marketing decision.

Plus there are ALWAYS going to be the people who have the "You get what you pay for" attitude. They won't download buckets of free books. They are the ones paying $9.99 to $14 for books because they are buying authors they know they like.

Your job is to become an author they know they like.


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## RM Prioleau (Mar 18, 2011)

Free works for some, but not all. It's sort of like how it was when everyone was making their books 99-cents. Certain prices work for certain genres of books.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

Victorine said:


> If you don't like giving away your books, you don't have to. Do something else to market them.
> 
> Free is a marketing decision.
> 
> ...


Vicki, you are always such a voice of calm good sense.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

JRTomlin said:


> Vicki, you are always such a voice of calm good sense.


 Awe, thanks! (Just don't come over while I'm yelling at my kids. That will ruin the illusion.)


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## Rachel Schurig (Apr 9, 2011)

Victorine said:


> If you don't like giving away your books, you don't have to. Do something else to market them.
> 
> Free is a marketing decision.
> 
> ...


I couldn't agree more.

There have always been and will always be people who don't want to pay for books. My parents NEVER buy books. Never. They use the library pretty much exclusively. If there's a popular book they want, they sign up to wait for their turn. My best friend buys a TON of books, but rarely buys them new. She shops at used book stores a majority of the time. Free/cheap books are not a new phenomenon.

I have yet to see any evidence that book sales have gone down since KDP Select has come along. As far as I can see, people are still buying books, regardless of how many free books are out there.


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## dalya (Jul 26, 2011)

I download free books, but rarely read any.

I pay $$ for the books from authors I dig.

I'd imagine people get a Kindle, go through a free-book phase, perhaps discover a few gems, and then return to their regular pre-Kindle buying habits.


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## Andykay (May 10, 2012)

JRTomlin said:


> Or they are making short term decisions _giving_ long term positive effects in allowing us to make a living and thus WRITE. That writers are supposed to sacrifice themselves "for the greater good" is one that publishers have been pushing for a long time. I am always appalled to see it coming from writers as well.


I don't think either of us suggested authors need to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. Like I said, it's pretty clear that authors giving up the free model wouldn't fix the problem, since that just increases the benefit to those still doing it. I personally think the book stores need to shy away from allowing anyone to 'sell' something for free. That even's it out for everyone and stops the gradual erosion of consumer expectations.



Victorine said:


> If you don't like giving away your books, you don't have to. Do something else to market them.
> 
> Free is a marketing decision.
> 
> ...


I'm not arguing against free because I think it takes away from individual sales. I think free is bad because of the overall damage it does to the beliefs of the book buying public and the carry over effect that has on author sales. It's not an effect we'll be feeling straight away, but it will come soon enough.

If you'd spent the last ten years paying $50 for books, that would seem totally normal to you. Obviously you'd probably read less and there's be a number of other effects, but they're not particularly relevant for this discussion. The point is, if someone then came along and tried to sell you a book for $100, you'd think that was insane. But that's exactly the sort of situation we'll eventually reach with free books. There are already plenty of people out there that post messages in discussion groups to the tune of 'why pay for books? There are plenty out there for free."

Another good example is the 'how much would you be happy to pay for an ebook' posts that often crop up here.. Six or seven years ago, if people got a book below $10, it was a bargain. Now, many people aren't comfortable paying more than $5. Again, there are other factors here, paper vs ebook, the quality of indie editing vs trad editing etc. but the point is a gradual decline in the overall price people are willing to pay.

People like to think that because their book is unique, people will still buy it anyway, and right now that's true. The majority of people are still totally happy to buy books. But the expectations will gradually shift. Like it or not, there are tons of people out there that aren't as picky as us about what they read. People who read heavily into genres know the sort of thing they like and they're happy to find books that fit that model. If your book sounds cool and is a few dollars, but there are twenty free ones that also sound like they'll hit the things they like, they're not going to pay.


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## philstern (Mar 14, 2011)

All I'm saying is that the free thing has been great for getting our names out there, but obviously is a cycle that will become detrimental, and I think we're already into that detrimental stage. 

And to the larger point, yes, we do need to find promotional tools beyond free. That's the challenge.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

Just wanted to say one last thing, and that is that Amazon is not stupid. You bet they look at buying/downloading patterns. Of course they know how many people just download free books. They know how many of those pay for some books, and how many they buy vs. how many they download.

I'm a cheapskate. I admit it. I do read a lot of free books. (Or start to, then go on to the next if I don't like it.) BUT I buy books too.

Amazon knows all the book buying statistics. If free books were hurting book sales, they would stop it.


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## Rachel Schurig (Apr 9, 2011)

philstern said:


> All I'm saying is that the free thing has been great for getting our names out there, *but obviously is a cycle that will become detrimental*, and I think we're already into that detrimental stage.
> 
> And to the larger point, yes, we do need to find promotional tools beyond free. That's the challenge.


Your presumption is not obvious to me, sorry. I disagree that it's a given that having free books will lead to some terrible end-scenario.

Your second point I completely agree with. It's important to look for lots of ways to promote and get your work out there. But I think the reason for that has more to do with things beyond our control (amazon changing algos, POI/ENT not picking you up,etc.) than the supposed glut of free books.


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## Rachel Schurig (Apr 9, 2011)

Victorine said:


> Just wanted to say one last thing, and that is that Amazon is not stupid. You bet they look at buying/downloading patterns. Of course they know how many people just download free books. They know how many of those pay for some books, and how many they buy vs. how many they download.
> 
> I'm a cheapskate. I admit it. I do read a lot of free books. (Or start to, then go on to the next if I don't like it.) BUT I buy books too.
> 
> Amazon knows all the book buying statistics. If free books were hurting book sales, they would stop it.


I'm just gonna hang out next to Victorine and agree with everything she says 

Edited: Because I know Vicki's real name. Sorry


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## Sybil Nelson (Jun 24, 2010)

In this case, I think there are four types of people.

1. People who want free everything. These people will never ever pay for an ebook. They will troll the free lists from now until eternity. These people will never buy your book, but they may download it for free. In which case, they may like it and recommend it to others. You have not lost a sale. You have potentially gained more through word of mouth.

2. People who will not download free books because they feel you get what you pay for. If it's free, it must not be worth anything. These people will not download your freebie. They may, however, see your book because of it's gained visibility due to a free run. After seeing your book on different lists or also-boughts several times, they may pay for your book. Once again, you have not lost a sale by going free. You might be gaining one.

3. People who are a mix. They may download your freebie, like it and then buy your other books. Once again, you have not lost a sale. You have potentially gained sales of your other books.

4. People who don't care about price and just get what they like. Here you might be losing a potential sale because the person may have bought your book had they known about it before the free run. But, if you think about it, the only way they know about your book is BECAUSE of the visibility from the free run. In which case, you may have lost a sale, but you've gained a reader. Still a win.

In any case, offering your book is a way to promote your work without paying for it. Musicians don't complain that their songs get played for free on the radio because they know if people hear the song enough and like it, they may go purchase that song and their other songs. Personally, I am in the free music group. I refuse to pay for music unless it is an artist I am crazy about and want to support. Otherwise, I'll just go listen to their YouTube channel. Of course, music is a different medium, but I think the general idea is the same. Free never really hurt anyone...in my humble opinion.


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## Emma Daniels (Jan 21, 2011)

I have made three of my books free permanantly. I think that's enough of a range for people to decide if they want to read more of me. That way I have been able to return a lot of my books to the other sales outlest since I do sell well on B and N and itunes. That way I don't have to do the free thing anymore where I need to announce my promo to all the different sites. Most of them don't take work that has less than a 4.2 star rating anyway, and since most of mine are 3.5 to 3.8 they aren't interested. It only worked for one of my books that had a 4.5 star rating before the free promo, and now has a 3.5 star rating. Yes, I got a sales bump, but it wasn't very long, and it earned me several one star reviews I could have done without.

I agree that more readers are picking up the freebees and not bothering with paid books. Why should they when there is so much free stuff around? For me I would reather pay for something good than to read half a dozen free bad books, although I have downloaded quite a few free books in the genre I like reading, and if I like that author's free offering I will buy more of their work. But most of them are still just sitting on my Kindle unread.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

Rachel Schurig said:


> I'm just gonna hang out next to Victoria and agree with everything she says


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## Andykay (May 10, 2012)

Sybil Nelson said:


> In this case, I think there are four types of people.
> 
> 1. People who want free everything. These people will never ever pay for an ebook. They will troll the free lists from now until eternity. These people will never buy your book, but they may download it for free. In which case, they may like it and recommend it to others. You have not lost a sale. You have potentially gained more through word of mouth.
> 
> ...


I agree with this breakdown. I just think that the glut of free ebooks will cause people to gradually move categories.

Music is actually a good example. When I was 12-15 (mid-late 90's) I accrued a huge amount of CDs because buying CDs was the norm and it was the only way to acquire the music I liked. But once I got broadband, easy access to pirate sites, and subsequently things like Youtube and Spotify that gave legal and free access to music, that gradually went down the toilet. I bought a few less every year and now I don't buy them at all. I don't like that I now spend all my time on Spotify, not compensating the artists that I enjoy, but the ubiquitous nature of free music for a large portion of my life actually makes me hesitant about the idea of paying for it, despite how wrong or illogical that might be. I had no hesitation 15 years ago when it was normal to pay, but I do now. It's a sense of entitlement that just develops over time. I recognise that it's wrong, but it's still there.

You'd be hard pressed to argue that most of the developed world doesn't feel the same about music in this day and age.


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## Adam Pepper (May 28, 2011)

Produce one shread of evidence that even remotely hints at free books hurting the sales of books. On a global scale, on an industry scale or on a personal scale.

I've read dozens of posts that state this as if it's fact without providing any facts.


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## Andykay (May 10, 2012)

Adam Pepper said:


> Produce one shread of evidence that even remotely hints at free books hurting the sales of books. On a global scale, on an industry scale or on a personal scale.
> 
> I've read dozens of posts that state this as if it's fact without providing any facts.


http://ictwithmissc.weebly.com/reading.html

_There are stacks of ebooks and interactive readers available out there and many cost a few dollars to buy. But why buy when there are so many good, free ones out there? Here are some of my favourite stories or collections that are available for free!_

A single example, but I think it qualifies as a shred. This person has adopted a 'why buy ebooks when there are great free ones out there?' mentality, therefore they are buying less books. They are encouraging others to do the same.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

Victorine said:


> Just wanted to say one last thing, and that is that Amazon is not stupid. You bet they look at buying/downloading patterns. Of course they know how many people just download free books. They know how many of those pay for some books, and how many they buy vs. how many they download.
> 
> I'm a cheapskate. I admit it. I do read a lot of free books. (Or start to, then go on to the next if I don't like it.) BUT I buy books too.
> 
> Amazon knows all the book buying statistics. If free books were hurting book sales, they would stop it.


Very true. IF the day comes when Amazon decides that "free" is hurting sales, you can bet that* it stops.* Until then, you can also bet that they know it isn't hurting sales.

The fact is that we _don't have the data_ to know except whether it seems to be hurting our own sales. The speculation that it is is nothing but that: speculation. It isn't hurting my sales. Quite the contrary, so I'll go with that.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

Andykay said:


> http://ictwithmissc.weebly.com/reading.html
> 
> _There are stacks of ebooks and interactive readers available out there and many cost a few dollars to buy. But why buy when there are so many good, free ones out there? Here are some of my favourite stories or collections that are available for free!_
> 
> A single example, but I think it qualifies as a shred. This person has adopted a 'why buy ebooks when there are great free ones out there?' mentality, therefore they are buying less books. They are encouraging others to do the same.


That is known as an anecdote. It is not evidence. Not of anything.

I can go out and find anecdotes of people buying 5 times as many books as they did before. Neither prove anything.

Edit: Come to think of it, it's not even an anecdote since she doesn't even say that she downloads all her books free, just implies that she may.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

Victorine said:


> Awe, thanks! (Just don't come over while I'm yelling at my kids. That will ruin the illusion.)


Heh. Maybe you get all the aggression out before you come here to talk to the crazed writers.


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## Andykay (May 10, 2012)

JRTomlin said:


> That is known as an anecdote. It is not evidence. Not of anything.


It's not just an anecdote. It's a person who has quite clearly said "why would I buy books when there are free ones?" and has then made a list of free books, complete with links and descriptions, and encouraged other people to adopt a similar approach. They don't expressly state "I buy less books now than I did because of free book promotions," but you can pretty clearly infer that they're doing so.

Adam asked for a shred of evidence that free books were affecting book sales, even as small as on a personal level. That pretty clearly satisfies that request.

As for the argument that free books aren't hurting sales or Amazon would stop it, I agree with you. If they knew, they'd stop it. But the whole ebook industry is still in relative infancy and the free model Amazon condones is incredibly new. It hasn't existed for long enough for them to be drawing long term conclusions from. I'm not saying that right now paid books are suffering terribly because of free, although I do think there are some early signs of this, I just think that in fifteen years there will be an appreciable effect on the paid market.


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## BrianKittrell (Jan 8, 2011)

My marketing plan for free is exactly this series of steps to follow. I do so little promotion now that it is basically the only source of sales.

1. Write in a series. Release book #1 at whatever price. (Mine usually start at $4.95 for 70k+ words)
2. Write book #2. See how book #1 is doing right after release. Decide whether or not to go free on book #1.
3. Write book #3.
- 3a. If #1 is free, see how book #2 is doing. If not so great, reduce price slightly. ($1 usually)
- 3b. If #1 is not free, see how book #2 is doing. If not great, consider going free now or waiting 30 days to see if new release improves things.
- 3c. If #1 is free and book #2 is doing fine at regular price, leave it alone.
4. Release book #3.
- 3a. If #1 is free and #2 is discounted, #3 goes out at full price and remains there forever.
- 3b. If #1 is free and #2 is full price, #3 goes out at full price and remains there. This remains in effect for at least 30 days.
- 3c. If #1 is not free, #3 goes out at full price, and I will spend extra on marketing. (because, if all books in the series are still paid and running strong, they have real mainstream potential.)

That's about it. If #1 is free, 90% of my effort goes into promoting that book alone, mentioning the rest of the series at the end of the promo material if there is room.

All books carry the titles and (wherever possible) links to my other work on the marketplace. (if Amazon book, Amazon links. Nook links don't matter right now/unclickable. Smashwords gets titles only.)

Notice that there's a lot of writing and releasing there. Free is used to expose new readers to the series, and my business is built on continuing readers/fans, not on the first book. People who want to keep going don't have a problem paying for the next one, especially considering that my prices are usually half or less of a Big 6 book.

Yes, there is a glut of free books. However, one can either be unhappy about that or work within the marketplace conditions, adapt, and overcome.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

I sell more books after a free promotion. Even if I sold the same number of books after a free promotion, it would still not be hurting sales. The only way it hurts sales is if I were selling fewer books after a free promotion. (This has happened, but it's NOT the norm.)

Times my experience by all the authors trying free, and you see that Amazon is selling more books with the free promotions.

Now, there are authors who are giving up the free promos because either they don't help with sales, or the sales bump is small enough not to bother. Fine. Those authors will quit and there will be fewer authors giving away free ebooks. That will weed out the authors who aren't getting sales bumps. What you have left are the authors who DO see sales bumps.

Thus Amazon sells more books.


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## Andykay (May 10, 2012)

Victorine said:


> I sell more books after a free promotion. Even if I sold the same number of books after a free promotion, it would still not be hurting sales. The only way it hurts sales is if I were selling fewer books after a free promotion. (This has happened, but it's NOT the norm.)
> 
> Times my experience by all the authors trying free, and you see that Amazon is selling more books with the free promotions.
> 
> ...


People sell more books after a free promotion because the Amazon algorithm gives them a big boost on the popularity list, increasing their exposure. Those sales come at the expense of people who aren't running promos and who get bumped down the popularity list as a result. Your free books aren't actually generating more sales, they're just shifting the distribution of them.

The other side of the free book coin is sales you get for sequels of free books you give away, but people have limited time. The time they spend reading those sequels they would have spent reading something else if they didn't get your book. There will obviously be some flexibility here, since if your book is great it might encourage them to spend more time reading than they planned, but the general trend is still a shift in the distribution of sales, rather that generating more.

I know people use the argument that books aren't an exclusive product where obtaining a free one prohibits you from paying for one as well, but like I said, people only have limited time. The more free books they obtain, the more of their reading time gets consumed by those and the less paid books they need to buy. Sure, if there's a paid book that really catches their eye, or one that is by an author that they love they'll still buy it, I'm not discounting that, but it's the general trend that's worrying. The gradual gravitation away from needing to pay for literature you love.

I actually agree with Brian, that your best bet is to adapt and do what you can in the current environment. I'm not trying to discourage people from going free. The way the situation has unfolded, it's in no one's best interest to stop running free promos, since you can't force everyone to go along with it. I'm just pointing out that I think it's dangerous long term.


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## Rashaad Bell (Oct 7, 2011)

Andykay said:


> It's not just an anecdote. It's a person who has quite clearly said "why would I buy books when there are free ones?" and has then made a list of free books, complete with links and descriptions, and encouraged other people to adopt a similar approach. They don't expressly state "I buy less books now than I did because of free book promotions," but you can pretty clearly infer that they're doing so.
> 
> Adam asked for a shred of evidence that free books were affecting book sales, even as small as on a personal level. That pretty clearly satisfies that request.
> 
> As for the argument that free books aren't hurting sales or Amazon would stop it, I agree with you. If they knew, they'd stop it. But the whole ebook industry is still in relative infancy and the free model Amazon condones is incredibly new. It hasn't existed for long enough for them to be drawing long term conclusions from. I'm not saying that right now paid books are suffering terribly because of free, although I do think there are some early signs of this, I just think that in fifteen years there will be an appreciable effect on the paid market.


By this argument, the library was the downfall of the print industry...


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## Andykay (May 10, 2012)

Rashaad Bell said:


> By this argument, the library was the downfall of the print industry...


Not really. The library and the print industry are different beasts. I don't own a library book, I don't get to keep it on my shelf with my other books, I don't get to read it over and over whenever I want. When I obtain a free Kindle book, it is functionally identical to a Kindle book I've bought in every way. The two goods are indistinguishable from one another, except I paid for one and not for the other.


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## BrianKittrell (Jan 8, 2011)

I am seeing a ~500% increase in revenues over August, 2011. September could see 1000% growth. If one of my books being free is causing a sudden downturn purchasing, I have not personally seen the evidence of that.

Free has been around a lot longer than Select, too. People have been going free since before I started publishing in 2009. It should be noted that free is not a replacement for a business plan; it is a tool, and it must be used as a tool.


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## 56139 (Jan 21, 2012)

BrianKittrell said:


> I am seeing a ~500% increase in revenues over August, 2011. September could see 1000% growth. If one of my books being free is causing a sudden downturn purchasing, I have not personally seen the evidence of that.
> 
> Free has been around a lot longer than Select, too. People have been going free since before I started publishing in 2009. It should be noted that free is not a replacement for a business plan; it is a tool, and it must be used as a tool.


Wow Brian, congratulations on those numbers! Amazing!

And I 100% agree on the second point - free is a tool to be used, not a marketing plan. You have to have the "sales funnel" plugged into the freebie to make the most of it.


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## Alondo (Aug 30, 2011)

Andykay said:


> People sell more books after a free promotion because the Amazon algorithm gives them a big boost on the popularity list, increasing their exposure. Those sales come at the expense of people who aren't running promos and who get bumped down the popularity list as a result. Your free books aren't actually generating more sales, they're just shifting the distribution of them.
> 
> The other side of the free book coin is sales you get for sequels of free books you give away, but people have limited time. The time they spend reading those sequels they would have spent reading something else if they didn't get your book. There will obviously be some flexibility here, since if your book is great it might encourage them to spend more time reading than they planned, but the general trend is still a shift in the distribution of sales, rather that generating more.
> 
> ...


Well, my permafree first book has been a spectacular success for my series as whole. As Vicki says, it's a marketing tool. I hope to get people so enthralled with the story that they want the rest of the series and a number of the reviewers who have posted on Amazon have confirmed that that's exactly what they did. I write SciFi and SciFi readers, despite the progressive subject matter, are paradoxically some of the most conservative readers out there - they will only pick up titles from established authors, and it's extremely hard to break into the market. Offering the first book free removes the biggest obstacle - price. They are happy to try me out, knowing that if the story doesn't "grab" them, then they haven't lost anything. It's a strategy that works, and my numbers have proved that.

A word on price psychology - what most people are actually after is QUALITY. They will buy something they want, and then justify the price to themselves afterwards. So everything about your book from the price to the cover, from the blurb to the editing should say "this is a quality product".


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

Andykay said:


> It's not just an anecdote. It's a person who has quite clearly said "why would I buy books when there are free ones?" and has then made a list of free books, complete with links and descriptions, and encouraged other people to adopt a similar approach. They don't expressly state "I buy less books now than I did because of free book promotions," but you can pretty clearly infer that they're doing so.
> 
> Adam asked for a shred of evidence that free books were affecting book sales, even as small as on a personal level. That pretty clearly satisfies that request.


Which is merely anecdotal and a weak one at since she *may not* buy books--but there aren't even any examples of books she wanted that she didn't buy because she had to pay for them. Quite definitely not evidence.

Sorry.



> As for the argument that free books aren't hurting sales or Amazon would stop it, I agree with you. If they knew, they'd stop it. But the whole ebook industry is still in relative infancy and the free model Amazon condones is incredibly new. It hasn't existed for long enough for them to be drawing long term conclusions from. I'm not saying that right now paid books are suffering terribly because of free, although I do think there are some early signs of this, I just think that in fifteen years there will be an appreciable effect on the paid market.


You're going to tell me that Amazon doesn't track sales trends. Of course they do and it has certainly been long enough for them to start drawing long term conclusions. At least they have SOME data to do so--as opposed to one weak anecdote which you assure me proves something.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

BrianKittrell said:


> I am seeing a ~500% increase in revenues over August, 2011. September could see 1000% growth. If one of my books being free is causing a sudden downturn purchasing, I have not personally seen the evidence of that.
> 
> Free has been around a lot longer than Select, too. People have been going free since before I started publishing in 2009. It should be noted that free is not a replacement for a business plan; it is a tool, and it must be used as a tool.


That's great, Brian! I had never looked at in quite those terms. There hasn't been a single month this year that I haven't had sales that were between 600% and 1200% above my highest sales last year. No doubt that has something to do with my extreme skepticism with anyone mentions that the bottom is dropping out of sales because of freebies.


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## Saja (Mar 22, 2012)

Rashaad Bell said:


> By this argument, the library was the downfall of the print industry...


Library books are free to the public, but the book was still purchased from the publisher in a sale - so the publisher was compensated, even if just initially. 

Personally, the pool of free books on the market hasn't stopped me from buying books. Maybe there aren't enough of the kind of books _I_ like to read going free to make a difference in my buying patterns. I think if I were a big reader of romance or YA, it might be a different story. It's easier to fill a kindle up with great quality, free content in those genres.

I also think that Amazon will always do what's in Amazon's best interests. If free books are cutting into paid sales for them, they certainly won't sit idly for long.


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## Andykay (May 10, 2012)

JRTomlin said:


> Which is merely anecdotal and a weak one at since she *may not* buy books--but there aren't even any examples of books she wanted that she didn't buy because she had to pay for them. Quite definitely not evidence.
> 
> Sorry.
> You're going to tell me that Amazon doesn't track sales trends. Of course they do and it has certainly been long enough for them to start drawing long term conclusions. At least they have SOME data to do so--as opposed to one weak anecdote which you assure me proves something.


Nobody is going to go out there on their blog and announce in clear terms that "I didn't buy a copy of X book that I normally would have because I got Y book for free instead." But if you really aren't going to make the logical jump from someone saying "why would you buy a book when there are tons of great free ones around? Here are some of the free ones I found," to them probably buying less books, then I don't know what there is left to talk about. There are messages like that all over the internet. Are they irrefutable proof that these people have bought less books than they would? No. But their prevalence and implication combined means it is incredibly likely (ie: beyond reasonable doubt) that at least some of these people have probably spent less on books than they would have before.

I'm a regular middle class consumer. I read fairly frequently and the quantity that I read is largely dictated by time as opposed to money. If I want to read something, I basically always buy it irrespective of cost (within reason). I don't really trawl the free lists or pay any attention to free announcements at all. Even so, I've encountered a bunch of free books just from posts on these forums. I've downloaded and read maybe 3-4 of them, both short stories and full length novels. That is time I didn't spend reading books I otherwise would have bought. It doesn't have a big impact, given how many books I read on average, but it's still an undeniable change.

It seems like you just assume that people who stock up on free books suddenly double their reading hours to accommodate and still buy the same number of books they always did, since they don't have to spend any more money to do so. That doesn't really make any sense to me. For most people, reading is leisure, and their leisure hours are far more limited than their budget when you're talking about items that cost <$10.

In any case like I said, I wasn't actually here to rant about free books destroying the market right now. I don't believe it's having a substantial effect at the moment. People should do what works for them. I have a book in Select and am experimenting with free days myself because that is what works.

What I am worried about is ten or fifteen years in the future. I think the implications are much more dire then than now.


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## Andykay (May 10, 2012)

BrianKittrell said:


> I am seeing a ~500% increase in revenues over August, 2011. September could see 1000% growth. If one of my books being free is causing a sudden downturn purchasing, I have not personally seen the evidence of that.
> 
> Free has been around a lot longer than Select, too. People have been going free since before I started publishing in 2009. It should be noted that free is not a replacement for a business plan; it is a tool, and it must be used as a tool.


Yea like the others said, congrats! Your results are actually one of my big inspirations, since you write in the sort of genres I'd like to explore and you do extremely well. I certainly don't deny that free works now for people using it. Figures like yours show how effective it can really be. Like I said, I'm worried about the long haul more than right now.


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## Shane Murray (Aug 1, 2012)

Monique said:


> Free is more difficult to leverage into sales than it was before. That's true. Part of the problem is that many people don't realize what it takes to have a "successful" free run. There is still a lot of misinformation about how the whole process works too.


so what does it take to have a successful free run?


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## Simon Haynes (Mar 14, 2011)

dalya said:


> I download free books, but rarely read any.
> 
> I pay $$ for the books from authors I dig.
> 
> I'd imagine people get a Kindle, go through a free-book phase, perhaps discover a few gems, and then return to their regular pre-Kindle buying habits.


Agreed. If someone finds an author they love, it doesn't matter if their ebooks are free or $19.99 a copy, they'll buy them.

The two issues facing unknown (unloved) authors, are that nobody knows about them, and nobody is seeking their work out. Going free with one title gets you in front of new readers, and after that it's all down to whether the novel is any good. Word of mouth does the rest.

Saying that free may not work any more assumes that all ebooks have the same potential audience, and that's clearly wrong. It depends on genre, whether the story is interesting enough to hook in readers, etc.


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## Guest (Aug 20, 2012)

I don't like the idea of free for a novel that you're proud of.


I poured my heart and soul into my book, the least the reader can do is pay me.


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## Guest (Aug 20, 2012)

Harper Alibeck said:


> I may make the first free permanently, like Sarah and Rose have. It opens the door.


Good idea. How many words is a novella, like 20k?


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## Bilinda Ní Siodacaín (Jun 16, 2011)

sicklove said:


> I don't like the idea of free for a novel that you're proud of.
> 
> I poured my heart and soul into my book, the least the reader can do is pay me.


SickLove, sometimes you are awesome


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## Austin_Briggs (Aug 21, 2011)

dalya said:


> I download free books, but rarely read any.
> 
> I pay $$ for the books from authors I dig.
> 
> I'd imagine people get a Kindle, go through a free-book phase, perhaps discover a few gems, and then return to their regular pre-Kindle buying habits.


Yep, that's exactly what happened to me. The only free books I download now are those out of copyright. Otherwise I buy exactly what I want to read (my time is more important to me than the cost of a book right now).

I haven't gone free on my - as yet - single book offering, apart from running limited free giveaways to harvest some early reviews. But as I start publishing the other books in the series, I might want to do that.


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## Quinn Richardson (Apr 20, 2012)

There is an enormous amount of data here on the board that suggests Free is a very good thing for the individual.

I don't think anyone here has access to Amazon's data to understand what the effect might be on the overall economics of the eBook industry.  I would love to have a few days to sift through their numbers.

But really, the largest reason many individual writers love Free, is that it helps put their product way up on a list that makes them visible to the casual browser.  Is there any alternative out there that places eBooks in a highly visible place based solely on quality, rather than quantity?  I really don't know the answer to this one.  Suggestions?


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## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

philstern said:


> From my own experiences, and looking over the posts on this board, I think it's clear that the whole going free thing is burnt out, and at this point might even be counterproductive.
> 
> Not only is the market glutted with an excess of books, but anyone with half a brain is now simply scanning the lists of free books every day, and simply picking out ones that look good. There's no reason to really buy books anymore, unless it's something you really, really want and don't think is going free anytime soon.
> 
> ...


I just blogged about free books yesterday. My last free days were in early June, and it worked out well for me. I have some more coming up soon, so it'll be interesting to see what happens. What works for me is not so much the free book having a big increase in sales (although it did in June, at the moment, sales are slow), it's that the sales of my other two books in the series start to sell steadily as people get around to reading the free one.

Does everyone read every free book they download? Of course not, and as a reader, I'm the same way, but I have received plenty of feedback from readers who mentioned that they got my first book free and went on to buy the next two. I have read plenty of free books--unfortunately, only one I can think of had a sequel (which I then bought for $7.99, so yeah, would not have bought it without reading the first for free.).


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## Alondo (Aug 30, 2011)

TattooedWriter said:


> The people who download your free book most likely won't be buying your next book...they are more likely to just download a free book from another author. Still, if you think the only way you can reach readers is by giving away your work, you're probably right. Argue for your limitations and they are yours.


Not true in my case. Many people write to me saying they bought the rest of my books on the strength of the first freebie. Last month my leverage was 116%, i.e. more people buy my books than download the freebie.


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## BiancaSommerland (Mar 8, 2011)

As a reader, I've been introduced to many new authors through free books. The way I see it, it's not all that different from having the first few chapters available for sample. I never buy a book without reading the sample first--it gives me an idea of the authors style and the characters. When I get a free book I give it the same attention I would any other book. If it holds my attention and I enjoy it I'll look for more work from that author.

That said, my one free book is a Christmas book, and while it's done pretty well and gotten me some good exposure most of my sales come from people talking about my two series. My biggest jump in sales came a few months after my second hockey book came out--the brief free run of the first one didn't really change anything and neither did making it .99. 

I agree with the posters who mentioned free being a marketing tool. It's one of many. What I find works best is getting the next book out there.


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## FH (Jul 30, 2012)

i think a handful of high profile individual successes where people have got like 30K downloads then 3K sales have distorted peoples opinion of what to expect.

Free promotion isn't going to ensure you get a big bump in sales - only the quality of your book can do that.

All free does is catapult you from the slush pile in the 100K's nowhere list onto the alsobots of lots and lots of other books pages. Out of that if your book is worth having you find a bigger customer base.

it doesn't matter if you PAY people to read your book, if they don't want to read it nothing will persuade them.

All number of downloads tells you is that people gave you a shot, since they didn't invest anything they may abandon the read on the first page, the tenth or whenever they just feel like it and move on to the next. There is no investment in the purchase so no incentive to push through parts they don't like.

It's like TV.

if you have free TV you channel hop, the minute a program gets boring you jump to the next and so on.

When you go to the cinema you pay fifteen bucks and sit through it even if its rubbish and you complain about it afterwards. What you don't do is go running around diving in and out the other screening rooms hoping its better.

If you treat free as a launch pad to get better visibility on Amazon's search system then you won't be disappointed.

if you do free and expect to move to Malibu and have lunch at the Ivy then you are an exceptional fantasist and have the makings of a great author.

but will free kill paid booksales?

No i actually think its pushing prices up, people have read a lot of rubbish at the 99c and free point put out by people that think book selling is about price alone and then been so disappointed they stick to big 6 premium.

Of course there is a big ONLY FREE market. we are in the worst economic slump since the 1930's, there is a huge amount of people who can't afford to pay their rent, car payments or food bills, they can't afford to put gas in the car, they can't afford to buy their kids the latest XBOX HALO game, they are economically inactive and bored so will consume huge amounts of books - lets not forget the whole reason returns came about was the publishers wanted to keep books in stores during the great depression when discretionary purchases were at their lowest.

Remember, books aren't essential to life. you will not starve or die because you didn't read a book. People don't need to spend money on your book, its somewhere down the list alongside buying pot plants and other stuff, instead of criticising a lot of the 'free only' brigade lets try and remember that authors have a great power to keep people going through hardship, perhaps your book brightens up someones day enough that they decide life isn't bad enough to stick a pipe in their car exhaust, maybe they will look back on your books in 2 years when they get a new job and be thankful for the lift in spirits they bought and become a loyal reader.

Of course if they are a 500K a year hedge fund manager who only gets free books they should be burnt at the stake.

Just because you or i think 5 bucks is nothing doesn't mean a single mom with 2 kids to feed on welfare does. stuck at home 45 hours a week a free book could be the only entertainment she gets, and before you say go to the library - well that costs money to get to. 

What annoys me is if people just download books when they are free to hoard them for no reason - i'd like to see Amazon have some sort of time limited DRM on them like software trials have, don't read it within 7 days and it gets deleted - that would stop the deluge of consumption and huge binging on free and probably settle the market into a normal pattern. but if people are downloading my books because they genuinely want to read and be entertained by my stories and can't afford the price then I'm happy to have them for free if it brings some light to their lives during these difficult times.

Nobody asked us to become authors, we choose to believe through vanity that we are good storytellers, if people want to reward us with money because they think we are worth it we should be grateful, if people don't think we are worth it - then maybe we aren't, sad to say but not everyone was born to be Denzel Washington or JK Rowling.

I've sold 10 copies of my first book with no promotion at 4.68 USD. its not a huge number, but since i just bought a DTB copy of a Frederick Forsyth thriller from my local supermarket for exactly the same price i'm grateful for each and everyone of those people who valued me enough to pay the same price as one of the worlds best and most known thriller writers.

Sometimes we should be grateful for the things amazon does for us, without free and price flexibility i doubt any of us would sell more than a handful of copies and certainly never get catapulted into mass readership without spending 10's of K's on marketing budget like the old trad publishers do.


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## Jan Strnad (May 27, 2010)

What if there were a "free beer" section at the grocery store? What would happen to beer sales? How would breweries retain their buyers in the face of free beer?


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## Alondo (Aug 30, 2011)

Jan Strnad said:


> What if there were a "free beer" section at the grocery store? What would happen to beer sales? How would breweries retain their buyers in the face of free beer?


The analogy is flawed. Water is free. Does that affect beer sales because people don't have to pay to drink?


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

TattooedWriter said:


> The people who download your free book most likely won't be buying your next book...they are more likely to just download a free book from another author. Still, if you think the only way you can reach readers is by giving away your work, you're probably right. Argue for your limitations and they are yours.


Please Don't make assumptions about readers. Many of us get free books AND buy books. I probably downloaded 300 free books last month, and I refuse to total & admit to, just how much I paid for the books I paid for, but I know it was over $200. I have 11 people on my account. I do all of the purchasing. I buy 95% indie (just got Dalglish's Paladin's book 4 this am.)

I have Many MANY series I have picked up up to 8 books in, based off of reading 1 freebie. If you don't want to put YOUR book free, then don't, no one is forcing you. but don't try to force others to think like you, and certainly DON'T assume that "The people who download your free book most likely won't be buying your next book". You have no way to read into our minds, just your own.


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## FH (Jul 30, 2012)

Jan Strnad said:


> What if there were a "free beer" section at the grocery store? What would happen to beer sales? How would breweries retain their buyers in the face of free beer?


there already is a free beer section at least in our supermarkets, you can buy 12 cans of stella Artois and get 12 free. People are still buying Heineken even though they are getting half as much for the same price.

you can get a can of premium lager for less than 60c in the supermarket and drink it at home, or you can pay 4.50 down your local bar for the same drink.

people are still going to bars.

and nightclubs have done free drink promo's for years. people still go to other nightclubs and pay.

its all down to disposable income and choice. If you have a income to dispose of and prefer a alternate choice you have no barrier to purchase.
People who have barrier to purchase are the people with no income who will always choose free or cheap regardless.

then there is the section of people who have their wallets sewn in their pockets no matter how much money they have. if the world was entirely made up of those people none of us would have a job because nobody would pay for anything from taxi's to airline tickets and capitalism and free market economics will collapse.


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## 60911 (Jun 13, 2012)

Jan Strnad said:


> What if there were a "free beer" section at the grocery store? What would happen to beer sales? How would breweries retain their buyers in the face of free beer?


With my luck, it'd probably be Bud and Miller, and I'd still have to shell out for the Guinness. 

There's always going to be a strata of people who don't want to pay full price for something, and another strata who don't want to pay anything at all. The people who troll the free bins include some of the same folks who used to browse the bargain bin at the local used bookstore or hit the local library. The fact that people still pay $12.99 for the latest Stephen King novel proves we're not all going to become pirates, awash in a sea of free, plundered ebooks.

As previously mentioned by other posters, Free still works. It doesn't work like it perhaps used to, when it was new and shiny and people hadn't seen many freebies on the Kindle, but it works. I'll echo what the other series writers have said; Free on my first book worked so well it vaulted me from selling a couple dozen books per month in June to a few hundred a month for the last two, and rising every week thus far. Subsequent books in my series are priced at $4.99 and people keep buying them, even though they downloaded the first for free.

Let's cut to the real issue, though, shall we? People are concerned about free because we're all indies, trying to get noticed amid the Tradpub offerings and the sea of other indie releases. It sounds like the same argument I've heard before ("How will we ever be discovered in this sea of indie crap?") and it always thrives on the concept of a race to the bottom, the idea that eventually, people will just take whatever free stuff comes their way instead of seeking out what they want. The fact that James North Patterson still sells massive numbers of copies proves that there is (and always will be) a market for higher priced ebooks.


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## Sybil Nelson (Jun 24, 2010)

Alondo said:


> The analogy is flawed. Water is free. Does that affect beer sales because people don't have to pay to drink?


Water is free and people still pay for water.


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## Adam Pepper (May 28, 2011)

TattooedWriter said:


> The people who download your free book most likely won't be buying your next book...they are more likely to just download a free book from another author.


Back that up with evidence, and furthermore, some evidence that shows that has any impact on other readers purchasing habits.


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## Adam Pepper (May 28, 2011)

Andykay said:


> http://ictwithmissc.weebly.com/reading.html
> 
> _There are stacks of ebooks and interactive readers available out there and many cost a few dollars to buy. But why buy when there are so many good, free ones out there? Here are some of my favourite stories or collections that are available for free!_
> 
> A single example, but I think it qualifies as a shred. This person has adopted a 'why buy ebooks when there are great free ones out there?' mentality, therefore they are buying less books. They are encouraging others to do the same.


I agree. It's a shred. The first shred anyone in all of these debates has provided. We've got boatloads of data showing how it's helped us.


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## Adam Pepper (May 28, 2011)

Jan Strnad said:


> What if there were a "free beer" section at the grocery store? What would happen to beer sales? How would breweries retain their buyers in the face of free beer?


They'd need to put public bathrooms in.


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## DB Boyer (Apr 17, 2012)

I just bought _Ready Player One_ by Ernest Cline.

It sells at $9.99. It has 935 reviews currently.

It is Cline's first release.

Obviously, it's quite good.

And obviously, people are buying.

I don't know if he ever "went free" or whatever, but my only point is that quality sells. Even at higher prices.

Now obviously, I'm not Ernest Cline. But I think it behooves me to act like I am.

I'm going to try a new strategy for awhile - no more free, just work on _more_ books. Volume, I have determined is key.

Now Cline, didn't need volume. He was in the right place at the right time with the right stuff. So lightning can be caught in a bottle. But until that happens (if it ever should, recognizing the fact that most likely not), I'm working on volume. That will be my promotion.

Because I agree - there's such a glut of free stuff out there. Not to say people won't still pay, obviously they do. But are readers really looking for new books when they have 100 downloaded items they haven't even gotten to? And more freebies being offered every day?

They probably are. But not nearly as much, I suspect.

That said, I'm staying in KDP Select, only because I don't think the other markets are worth my time. So, with higher-priced works, the advantage to me is borrows. And I want to be on-board when amazon offers new perks for Select (which I know they eventually will). But the freebies will be a very-limited weapon among my arsenal.

I think. For now. Everything is always in flux.

(This isn't a "rant" by the way... it's a "rambling".)


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## WyattM et al. (Jul 11, 2012)

I have very little experience at this and have had only a tiny amount of success (sales-wise), so I sure ain't no authority. But what I'm gonna do is . . . prefer to believe (and follow the methods of) TW and Bilinda. I'm convinced by their evidence and the tone of their posts.

I tried Select free a few months ago, and it worked pretty well the first time--but after that . . . bust.

I write things that people like me would want to read. So, I'm also gonna assume they've got book-buying habits like mine.


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## Rachel Schurig (Apr 9, 2011)

TattooedWriter said:


> The people who download your free book most likely won't be buying your next book...they are more likely to just download a free book from another author. Still, if you think the only way you can reach readers is by giving away your work, you're probably right. Argue for your limitations and they are yours.


This doesn't jive at all with my experiences since January. Every time I have offered a free promo of my first book, I've seen an increase in sales on the rest of the series.

I'm not trying to be a cheerleader for free. I think everyone has to do what works for them. But I do think it's important to have info from all sides of the argument. If you don't like free, fine. But my free promos have given me exposure I never would have had before.


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## Adam Pepper (May 28, 2011)

WyattM et al. said:


> . . . prefer to believe (and follow the methods of) TW and Bilinda. I'm convinced by their evidence and the tone of their posts.


Sometimes intent gets lost on the internet, but I read the tone of TW's post was belittling to other writers who didnt agree with his worldview without offering any evidence to the contrary.


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## Andykay (May 10, 2012)

martinfreddyhansen said:


> there already is a free beer section at least in our supermarkets, you can buy 12 cans of stella Artois and get 12 free. People are still buying Heineken even though they are getting half as much for the same price.
> 
> you can get a can of premium lager for less than 60c in the supermarket and drink it at home, or you can pay 4.50 down your local bar for the same drink.
> 
> ...


I don't think most of these are fair analogies. You're differentiating stuff by price and saying that there are people who will pay more for a better product/experience (although Heineken is an atrocity of a beer heh). With books, there are a ton of free books that are easily the equal of non free books, since they're written by talented authors trying to promote that work, or others in the series. The price doesn't correlate to quality. Also, there are many many books written by many authors across every genre, not just one title.

A better analogy would be: what if all the beers in the supermarket went free for small periods of time in little batches and you had newsletters that told you what was free when. Would you still buy beer? Or would you just stock up on the beers you liked when they're on special? You'd probably still buy some beers, when the free stuff wasn't to your tastes or when you really felt like that delicious Rochefort 8, but you'd certainly spend a whole lot less on beer in general. After all, you can only consume a finite amount of it, much like you can only consume a finite amount of books.


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## 56139 (Jan 21, 2012)

DB Boyer said:


> I just bought _Ready Player One_ by Ernest Cline.
> 
> It sells at $9.99. It has 935 reviews currently.
> 
> ...


This book = awesome. I bought the e-book for myself, then the hardcover for my son, and then the audiobook for him as well (he used to like to read-along with the audio-book). So - Even thought this book was WAY expensive in every single format, I purchased it THREE times.

And it was worth it.


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## WyattM et al. (Jul 11, 2012)

Adam Pepper said:


> Sometimes intent gets lost on the internet, but I read the tone of TW's post was belittling to other writers who didnt agree with his worldview without offering any evidence to the contrary.


Well, what I detected wasn't "belittling," but rather _exasperation_. Could be wrong, though, I reckon.


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## 56139 (Jan 21, 2012)

Jan Strnad said:


> What if there were a "free beer" section at the grocery store? What would happen to beer sales? How would breweries retain their buyers in the face of free beer?


Funny you should mention this - all the breweries in Fort Collins had free beer when I lived up there for school (New Belgium and Odells)- we went there all the time to get the "samples" which was really a tray full of little mini-beers.

But we still went to Sullivan's bar to get drunk later!


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## Andykay (May 10, 2012)

JanneCO said:


> This book = awesome. I bought the e-book for myself, then the hardcover for my son, and then the audiobook for him as well (he used to like to read-along with the audio-book). So - Even thought this book was WAY expensive in every single format, I purchased it THREE times.
> 
> And it was worth it.


Yea it's great. The number of pop culture Easter eggs was a gold mine for a guy like me.


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## Bilinda Ní Siodacaín (Jun 16, 2011)

I've done the free thing. Did it do anything for my sales? No, but that is me. If it works for others that is all well and good. I'm an avid reader. Would I download free books now? No. Would I download .99c books? No, unless it was the intro to a series. Even at that I'm a little wary. Why? Simply because I believe in paying an author a fair price for their work. I'm more inclined to search out books by authors who price their books according to how much they feel it is worth. Do I have a problem with paying big money for books? Nope.

I do however agree with those who are looking long term at the free aspect of books. I do believe it will harm the market overall. I do think it will create a greater expectation that books should be free or at least really cheap (99c) I disagree with the race to the bottom mentality, I always have.

Can free be used as a marketing tool. Of course it can but it should be used with other marketing tools as well. And honestly for the most part all I see authors doing is using free as the only tool in their kit.

Just my 2cents.

Bilinda


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

Andykay said:


> I don't think most of these are fair analogies. You're differentiating stuff by price and saying that there are people who will pay more for a better product/experience (although Heineken is an atrocity of a beer heh). With books, there are a ton of free books that are easily the equal of non free books, since they're written by talented authors trying to promote that work, or others in the series. The price doesn't correlate to quality. Also, there are many many books written by many authors across every genre, not just one title.
> 
> A better analogy would be: what if all the beers in the supermarket went free for small periods of time in little batches and you had newsletters that told you what was free when. Would you still buy beer? Or would you just stock up on the beers you liked when they're on special? You'd probably still buy some beers, when the free stuff wasn't to your tastes or when you really felt like that delicious Rochefort 8, but you'd certainly spend a whole lot less on beer in general. After all, you can only consume a finite amount of it, much like you can only consume a finite amount of books.


But that's the thing. Amazon has never done this...where all books are free for a limited time. Only the free books are free. (Sounds really dumb to say that, but there it is.) If I want to read a book, I have to buy it if it's not free. I can wait, check every day to see if it's free, but that's a pain in the butt. I won't do that, especially if it's only a few dollars. I get a great amount of entertainment from certain authors. I will gladly pay a few dollars for several hours of great entertainment.

It goes back to authors creating a desire for people to read their work. Don't make your book be one of those that people say, "Meh, that book is just like all these free ones over here. Don't pay for it, just get the free ones."

Make your book an experience. Make your characters stand out. No book can substitute the experience of reading Harry Potter. Those characters stand out. We have to do that, too.

I guess that's the crux of this whole thing. Don't make your book a commodity. Make it a brand.


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## Jan Strnad (May 27, 2010)

Sybil Nelson said:


> Water is free and people still pay for water.


Okay, that made me laugh!


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## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

Shane Murray said:


> so what does it take to have a successful free run?


I give some pointers in my newest blog post. (link in my siggy).


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

MaryMcDonald said:


> I give some pointers in my newest blog post. (link in my siggy).


Great post, Mary! I agree with everything you said.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

Not all readers that get free books get nothing but free books. Many of us read a lot and so we love a bargain, but are still paying regular price on other books. I get free books, 99 cent books and 7.99, all at the same time. I don't pay more than 7.99 though. In the genre I like to read most new releases are 7.99, sometimes 9.99, but then I wait. 

I don't just randomly download anything free though. In my early days of Kindle, back in 2008, I did get free books I will never read. The initial OMG free books syndrome set in  . But there wasn't even close the amount of free books available then. Most of them were actually from big publishers. There were way less books in the Kindle store then. 

I read the whole Fever series by Karen Marie Moning because the first one was free. And for the last installment I even broke my price point of 7.99 and paid I think 9.99. 

I know I got hooked on Monique's Out of time series from the free one. There are a few others. If I don't get any more of the author after reading a free one, it has nothing to do with the fact that it was free, it has to do with the fact that I didn't like the authors voice or story or writing etc. The same rules still apply to me if I pay zero or 7.99. 

I also read all books in the Lady Grey series by Deanna Raybourn because of a free 1st. 

Tina Folsom is another one that had the first in her vampire series free and I read it a long time after I actually downloaded it and because I loved it, I will read the others in the series, and potentially her other series. When I get to it that is. 

It has been a bit harder finding freebies I am interested in and I have been downloading less of them. But if I see an interesting one and its in the genre/genres I like to read? I snap it up. It isn't going anywhere or taking up space in a bookshelf. 

But there is the thing. I pretty much never get to the books in any short time after I downloaded them. It could be a year before I get to that free book. And if I didn't have a shelf on goodreads for those free books, by then I wouldn't remember that it was free. 

So I am probably not the kind of reader to base any download and after sale pattern on.  .
I don't follow the: download book, read book right away, get next book, read that book right way. I am just way to all over the place for that. My reading choices, even within my genres, are still based on what I feel like reading next. Where is my mood, where is my gut at. 

But you better believe I snap up a freebie of a book I want or might want. It helps with the pain of paying 7.99 for books that been out for a while.  . And all the sales of course help too.


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## NS (Jul 8, 2011)

I agree with the OP and I think it's going to get even worse.


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## scottnicholson (Jan 31, 2010)

LOL, Pepper!

I've given away probably close to 1.2 million books now. Am I a household name? Hardly. Do I care? Hardly.

I did it because I could, and this is the easiest time in history to do it, and the only time in history it will actually be actually noteworthy. (If you don't believe me, does anyone remember all the aspiring musicians and bands on Myspace desperately trying to give their music away?) Free is the new normal. 

Now, I recognize I am in the minority in believing this is all about getting read, not making the most money (although those are not mutually exclusive), and I understand fewer than 10 percent of those people will ever read my books. Even if it's only 1 percent, that's thousands more than I had a few years ago. I don't expect those people to go buy my other books--they owe me nothing. In five years, most of those copies will have been deleted. In 10 years, the new kids will be slightly startled to learn that anyone once paid for ebooks.

Heck, I am a Taoist, so everything and its opposite is equally true. Free books are the best and worst things that ever happened to writers. And vice versa.


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## Adam Pepper (May 28, 2011)

TattooedWriter said:


> You're not wrong...you are dead right.


The fact that you are exasperated by my career decisions is in itself belittling.

More importantly, I agree with Scott. You can't fight progress and technology. Well, you can but you'll lose. Digital products are intended to be cheap or free. It's only our sheer arrogance and self importance that makes us believe we have any say in that trajectory.


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

TattooedWriter said:


> The people who download your free book most likely won't be buying your next book...they are more likely to just download a free book from another author. Still, if you think the only way you can reach readers is by giving away your work, you're probably right. Argue for your limitations and they are yours.


Many people who download a free book from an author buy subsequent books. I know it's true for me and my books. How many? That I can't say. It's been a good strategy for me.

Do authors here really feel it's the ONLY way to reach readers? Who said that?

I'm surprised at the turn this thread has taken. Why be so insulting, TW? Is that your own insecurity speaking?


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## Gin_Price (Aug 1, 2012)

I think free is a very silly idea, unless you have the backlist and series to support it--in that case, giving a sample is smart.

My supermarket does this all the time with ice cream. (Sorry, dumping the beer analogy.) I have my favorite ice cream, but I'm not exclusive to it. If I taste something else the attendant gives me and I like it, I'll buy it a few times when I tire of my favorite and need a change, or the market's sold out. (On the rare occasion, I find something I like even better!) If I try something I don't like...I don't buy anything from that company. Flat out.

Which brings me to a hard truth about a possible reason some people do well while others think freebie marketing is the worst idea since bicycles with metal seats...quality. When you write your genre well and you give out free tastes--I truly believe you are opening yourself up to future fans who will buy your flavor because they've acquired a craving. When you're just another basic vanilla in a sea higher quality vanillas...you'll become lost.

Now, *before the hate spreads*, I want to clarify that not all lack of success stories are because the writing sucks. Sometimes, it's just bad decision making. Or a road block unrecognized.

Under my other pen name, I write in two different genres. Romance and Adult. I have only one romance at the moment, but I have several adult. If I were to "freebie" my romance and sit back and wait for sales, I'd wait forever. Why? I don't have anywhere for a reader to go! You have to "freebie" smart. The freebie you give out, should be a good indication of what all your other books are like.

I think we have to realize our genres, our books, and our brands, all need to be taken into account when determining the right kind of marketing for ourselves.

Maybe some genres cater to a specific group of people that share similar opinions, and some of those opinions might lean toward an ideal that free = crap. While other genres, that are supported by more forgiving readers, do well with freebies.

Some books on the freebie list just don't look good. Cover appeal is a real decision maker, like it or not. Also, blurbing. If those things aren't your strong suit, despite your stellar skills as an author...throwing down a freebie isn't going to work well.

And branding? Well, this was an exceptionally hard pill for me to personally swallow.

Let me exploit my own fail as an example of what not to do. I realized (too late), as an author with two different genres under one pen name, I'd actually ruined my own brand, thus negating the perceived genius of my .99 cent decision.

I had one 99 cent book for romance and one for adult. The adult readers had somewhere to go on my backlist. The romance readers had nothing. True, the romance book was the first in a series, but who cares when the rest of the series wasn't published? Having two different .99 cent books out there was equivalent to shooting myself in the foot. I needed to rebrand and separate my genres, at least a little, but I didn't know that at the time.

What made me realize I was a marketing fail? A buyer would try my first cheap read and say (hopefully) "cool! I'm going to buy another". Unfortunately, making assumptions based on my sales sheet, the second book readers chose wasn't another adult at a slightly higher price, but the other .99 cent book, which lead them to a different genre and a vat o' confusion as to who I am as an author.

Not a very brilliant decision on my part, I'll admit. I was just blinded by all the posts I'd read about self-pubbed authors who were making a killing with their cheap books. In the end, the books I published through a small press, which marketed my books for me, sold better than my cheaper kindle books because I screwed up. The .99 cent ideal wasn't to blame, just my execution of it as well as my failure to realize it wouldn't work with my branding choices.

Lesson learned.

Now that I've really taken a good look at my marketing and branding fails, I won't be making the same mistake with this YA genre and freebies. I'll be waiting until I have books for readers to read before I go offering up a sample. I'll also be making sure the freebie is part of a series, or at the very least, THE best sample I can put out of what a reader can expect from my books. All my marketing decisions will only be right for me based on my own branding, book appearances and genres. And let's not forget, quality is in there somewhere, too, as I mentioned first and foremost, though we have to admit, a few of the biggest success stories were less about quality and more about successful marketing--oh, and a good dose of luck.



Write On

This post brought to you by...
Gin's .02


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## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

Alondo said:


> The analogy is flawed. Water is free. Does that affect beer sales because people don't have to pay to drink?


Well, actually, water is free and yet people still buy it by the case.  Thirty years ago, we would have laughed at the idea of buying bottled water.


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

TattooedWriter said:


> Have fun with your hobby while I continue my business.


I suppose that was just "exasperation" too?


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## Alondo (Aug 30, 2011)

TattooedWriter said:


> Yet, strangely, I don't remember addressing you or mentioning you anywhere on this or any other thread.
> 
> Have fun with your hobby while I continue my business.
> 
> ...


Can we lose the sarcasm, please?


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

TattooedWriter said:


> The people who download your free book most likely won't be buying your next book...they are more likely to just download a free book from another author. Still, if you think the only way you can reach readers is by giving away your work, you're probably right. Argue for your limitations and they are yours.


Tell that to people who have gotten huge boosts in sales of series by making the first book in it perma-free. Take a look at Gemini Sasoon's _Crown in the Heather _ series for example.

Simply not true.


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## Mike McIntyre (Jan 19, 2011)

I've never downloaded a free book, just like I've never accepted a free haircut from a barber school. No doubt I'm missing out on some quality reads and trims, but I don't want to invest the time to identify them. (And this is coming from someone who routinely offers his books for free.) I think the vast majority of consumers behave this way, otherwise Amazon would have already put an end to FREE.


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## QuantumIguana (Dec 29, 2010)

I purchased all of the Hal Spacejock books because I tried the first one for free and liked it. If it wasn't free, I might not have tried the first one.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

scottnicholson said:


> LOL, Pepper!
> 
> I've given away probably close to 1.2 million books now. Am I a household name? Hardly. Do I care? Hardly.
> 
> ...


You may not expect them to read your other books and they don't owe you an obligation to, but as you and I both know: _some of them will_.

And Taoist or not, you will make a profit from it.


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## Gin_Price (Aug 1, 2012)

LOL! 

I like the water analogy. I just spent a whole five minutes thinking about it.

Some people don't mind drinking out of the hose, while others like bottled water because they know what it will taste like. Then there are those who buy Brita.


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## Adam Pepper (May 28, 2011)

TattooedWriter said:


> Yet, strangely, I don't remember addressing you or mentioning you anywhere on this or any other thread.
> 
> Have fun with your hobby while I continue my business.


Well I am quite flattered that you've chosen me as worthy to be addressed.

Businesses run stubbornly and arrogantly based on ones belief of how the world should be rather than how the world actually is often wind up bankrupt.


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## BrianKittrell (Jan 8, 2011)

JanneCO said:


> Wow Brian, congratulations on those numbers! Amazing!
> 
> And I 100% agree on the second point - free is a tool to be used, not a marketing plan. You have to have the "sales funnel" plugged into the freebie to make the most of it.


Exactly. It's not going to make sparks on its own.



JRTomlin said:


> That's great, Brian! I had never looked at in quite those terms. There hasn't been a single month this year that I haven't had sales that were between 600% and 1200% above my highest sales last year. No doubt that has something to do with my extreme skepticism with anyone mentions that the bottom is dropping out of sales because of freebies.


Yeah, and that's the thing. Sales are a little slower in these early fall months, but they don't disappear completely. They can shift to different genres, but every genre has dips and peaks.

As to Amazon not knowing whether or not freebies are hurting their business... well... I'm sure they have some accountants at Amazon. Surely a company that brings in millions of dollars and is continuing to grow is aware of their internal problems. Apparently, free books aren't one of them. Amazon knows that losing a few pennies in delivery costs on a free book is nothing compared to the interest the Kindle generates. Free content is a great way to sell devices. Sell the device based on all this free (and affordable) content, and that person will go on to buy books that they might never have considered. Why? The bookstore is in the home, and that book someone just told you about is only one click away.


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## Romi (Apr 4, 2011)

JRTomlin said:


> Tell that to people who have gotten huge boosts in sales of series by making the first book in it perma-free. Take a look at Gemini Sasoon's _Crown in the Heather _ series for example.
> 
> Simply not true.


Agreed; making my first book perma-free for the last six weeks improved the sales of my sequel by anywhere from 5X more daily sales to 12X more daily sales for the sequel, vs. when book 1 was not free.

And re: this thread: wouldn't it be so much easier if we all agreed that different things work for different authors, instead of big-blanket statements like "this does not work"...unless of course it's more "I don't want this to work because I don't believe in it." Yeesh...(wasn't saying that to you JR, but to the comment you were replying to).

Anyhoo toodle pip and back to work, I only had 2 minutes to add to this thread, and 2 minutes is quite enough!


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## Rachel Schurig (Apr 9, 2011)

TattooedWriter said:


> Have fun with your hobby while I continue my business.


I can't imagine why anyone would have thought you were being belittling.

Writing is my business. I am lucky enough (and work hard enough) to live off my earnings. Free has been a tool that has helped me to achieve that. YMMV.


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## BrianKittrell (Jan 8, 2011)

JRTomlin said:


> Tell that to people who have gotten huge boosts in sales of series by making the first book in it perma-free. Take a look at Gemini Sasoon's _Crown in the Heather _ series for example.
> 
> Simply not true.


Agreed, and even if most don't go on to buy the second book, who cares? We write for the ones who like our writing, and the ones who like it will continue forward as long as the price isn't just ridiculous. And those folks are plenty to keep a writer growing.

Free is just another measure of risk vs. reward. Can you risk putting a book out for free? Will the reward be worth it? It's a very individual decision, and it's one that each must make on his/her own. (But, it's always fun to debate, anyway. )


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## dalya (Jul 26, 2011)

Sybil Nelson said:


> Water is free and people still pay for water.


True.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

BrianKittrell said:


> Agreed, and even if most don't go on to buy the second book, who cares? We write for the ones who like our writing, and the ones who like it will continue forward as long as the price isn't just ridiculous. And those folks are plenty to keep a writer growing.
> 
> Free is just another measure of risk vs. reward. Can you risk putting a book out for free? Will the reward be worth it? It's a very individual decision, and it's one that each must make on his/her own. (But, it's always fun to debate, anyway. )


Probably most won't. That doesn't matter as long as some do, as you say. And if we are good some will--at least sometimes.

As Romi pointed out, it doesn't work for everything. It hasn't worked (or not worked very well) for my stand-alone fantasy novels. Because they're fantasy? Because they're stand alone? Some other factor? I don't know. But it hasn't done much for them while my historical fantasy series has done great using that kind of promotion.

The same thing isn't right for all novels or all authors and there is no point in getting hostile about it. (not addressed to you, Brian  )


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## Kathleen Valentine (Dec 10, 2009)

I think it depends entirely on how you use "free." First of all, you have to do as much as you can to promote your books in advance of them going free. Then it helps if your free book serves as an example of the quality of work readers will find in your other books. I have gained a lot of readers for my full-length novels thanks to free promotions of my short stories and novellas. I am about to launch Volume 2 of a 3 volume series and, when I do, I plan to make Volume 1 free. I had over 20k downloads of one of my free books and have seen some noticeable increases in sales afterwards.

If you just make something free for a few days and expect magic you will likely be disappointed but if you use free promotions as part of a marketing campaign then you can see marked increases in sales.


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## BrianKittrell (Jan 8, 2011)

JRTomlin said:


> Probably most won't. That doesn't matter as long as some do, as you say. And if we are good some will--at least sometimes.
> 
> As Romi pointed out, it doesn't work for everything. It hasn't worked (or not worked very well) for my stand-alone fantasy novels. Because they're fantasy? Because they're stand alone? Some other factor? I don't know. But it hasn't done much for them while my historical fantasy series has done great using that kind of promotion.
> 
> The same thing isn't right for all novels or all authors and there is no point in getting hostile about it. (not addressed to you, Brian  )


I'd be willing to bet that it's the standalone factor. It works very well for series, but standalones can be hit or miss.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

BrianKittrell said:


> I'd be willing to bet that it's the standalone factor. It works very well for series, but standalones can be hit or miss.


That has been my theory, although I am not sure of it. It leaves me scratching my head how the heck you promote stand alone novels. I actually prefer writing those to writing a series. 

In spite of my Scottish "series", one of which is actually a stand alone novel, but no one seems to notice that. LOL


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## BrianKittrell (Jan 8, 2011)

JRTomlin said:


> That has been my theory, although I am not sure of it. It leaves me scratching my head how the heck you promote stand alone novels. I actually prefer writing those to writing a series.
> 
> In spite of my Scottish "series", one of which is actually a stand alone novel, but no one seems to notice that. LOL


If it's selling well, don't tell anyone. lol Well, unless people are getting the totally wrong impression.

Standalones are one of those things. If they're like way off from your regular stuff, that's one thing. If you're a sci-fi writer and you write about different kinds of technology in separate books, it's a totally different thing. A series and Scotland and a standalone about Scotland (or several standalones that are about a very related subject) can be just as good as a series.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

BrianKittrell said:


> If it's selling well, don't tell anyone. lol Well, unless people are getting the totally wrong impression.
> 
> Standalones are one of those things. If they're like way off from your regular stuff, that's one thing. If you're a sci-fi writer and you write about different kinds of technology in separate books, it's a totally different thing. A series and Scotland and a standalone about Scotland (or several standalones that are about a very related subject) can be just as good as a series.


The Scottish standalone is closely related to the trilogy and has mostly the same characters except for different main characters. They're about the same war and all. 

I really thought that if people liked one of the standalone fantasies that they would try the other fantasies. It just doesn't seem to work like that.


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## joeyjoejoejr (Apr 19, 2012)

What I've learned from this thread thus far:
1. Free works great - so long as it's the first in a series.
2. If I attach samples of my work to free beer and ice cream I will makes millions of dollars. Water, not so much.
3. Some of you are very touchy when it comes to the right or wrong way to proceed in this young, ever changing, constantly growing, wild west of a business which does not yet (and may never) have a set in stone right or wrong way of doing things. Yet, a quick search indicates each of the guilty parties have enviable track records, indicating that each of them have found a way to succeed n this chaos.


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## Kathleen Valentine (Dec 10, 2009)

JRTomlin said:


> As Romi pointed out, it doesn't work for everything. It hasn't worked (or not worked very well) for my stand-alone fantasy novels. Because they're fantasy? Because they're stand alone? Some other factor? I don't know. But it hasn't done much for them while my historical fantasy series has done great using that kind of promotion.


I am about to launch the second book in my first series but I've been told by quite a few readers that, after they read one of my books, they wanted to read the rest. My three novels are totally unrelated to one another but all are quite romantic even though they do not qualify as romance novels. I have a collection of 8 romantic short stories (also not romance stories) that I've offered free on a number of occasions and I always get emails or reviews saying "after I read these stories I want to read all your books." That is good enough for me.


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## righterman (Jul 27, 2012)

I have not read this whole thread -- but I too am done with free.  I have 60 books, many of which I was rotating free cycles and reaping the rewards.  I've watched the rewards dwindle over the past months.  About five of my books make up about 80% of my borrows, those five I am keeping in select.  All of the other books are going over to Smashwords as the contracts end.  I unchecked all of my auto-enrolls and I am just slowly transferring them all over.  (The only thing that sucks is the fact that I have to open a different Smashwords account for each freaking pen name -- I literally have eight SW accounts, ugh.  Luckily, I can put the same Paypal email address on all of these.)  

I do have an awesome SW formatter who I found on Fiverr.com of all places, he formats each book for SW for $5!  (I tip him on occasion too, it's such a good deal)  I am now trying a Createspace interior formatter I found on Fiverr, it was $10 though)


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## Greg Banks (May 2, 2009)

Rachel Schurig said:


> ...I have yet to see any evidence that book sales have gone down since KDP Select has come along. As far as I can see, people are still buying books, regardless of how many free books are out there.


I think they continue to go up, not down.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

Kathleen Valentine said:


> I am about to launch the second book in my first series but I've been told by quite a few readers that, after they read one of my books, they wanted to read the rest. My three novels are totally unrelated to one another but all are quite romantic even though they do not qualify as romance novels. I have a collection of 8 romantic short stories (also not romance stories) that I've offered free on a number of occasions and I always get emails or reviews saying "after I read these stories I want to read all your books." That is good enough for me.


Which just goes to show what I said. What works for one author doesn't always work for another. And sometimes what does not work for one author DOES work for another.


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## ToniD (May 3, 2011)

I think it's worthwhile to discuss the question is 'free burnt out' in the same vein as 'does buying an ad on (name your site) work'.

Other posters have explained very nicely that free is a tool, and it works better for some books than others, and at some times than others. So, yeah, I too want to figure out if it's still working.

The key for me is that I'm an unknown Indie who is looking to find an audience for my books. I need a way to get my books in front of readers who might like them. Free does that; free gets me new readers, and (for a short time) gets my books on the popularity lists, which also gets them in front of potential readers. 

I saw a post on a thread (not here) a couple of months ago wherein a reader said she'd picked up Volcano Watch for free because she's loves disaster books and the title and cover caught her eye. She liked it, and in the thread was now recommending it to others. 

That's the kind of word-of-mouth that is priceless. And, in this case, it started with free.

When/if free stops working for me, I'll stop using that tool.


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## BrianKittrell (Jan 8, 2011)

JRTomlin said:


> The Scottish standalone is closely related to the trilogy and has mostly the same characters except for different main characters. They're about the same war and all.
> 
> I really thought that if people liked one of the standalone fantasies that they would try the other fantasies. It just doesn't seem to work like that.


Well, if it's too broad, you're getting back to that "if it's fantasy, fantasy readers will buy it." We both know that fantasy--even by the same writer--can be drastically different even if just one variable is changed. Change the setting, characters, and theme and you might as well be changing authors. Which is why pen names really don't hurt people unless they're big celebrities.


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## Bone Bard (Aug 1, 2012)

It's hard to say how well free is working in a long term perspective.

I am inclined to think that long term, if it continues over say the 
next couple of years or so, that it could do harm.

However, free is working well right now for many folks. But to suggest
that it is a viable strategy because eBook sales is increasing is putting
the cart before the horse.

We don't know that as fact. Kindle just came out a few years ago,
as others have mentioned this is still the early days. eBooks sales are
increasing because only around 19% of Americans own an eReader.

Once the great majority of folks own one, then we'll be able to start getting 
a more accurate idea of whether eBook sales are truly increasing YOY
or not.

Personally, I think giving our art or craft away for free, cheapens the muse
or your God-given-talent or the monkey on your back, whatever you want
to call it. And I think it will not bode well into the future.

Nevertheless, I do hope that more of you continue with it as that is not
the sullied pool I want to be splashing in.

With respect to TattooedWriter, I think he's just frustrated with offering
solid advice in other threads and being practically called a liar for it, so yeah
I get it that he's not impressed and a little prickly. I would be too.


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## Paul Clayton (Sep 12, 2009)

I agree.  I've read on boards about people who have hundreds or almost thousands of free books in their Kindles.  Why buy when they're are so many free books?  It wouldn't bother me either if Amazon stopped teh free promos.  Too much free devalues all books, except the 'traditional' ones that cost 9.99 and up.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

Bone Bard said:


> Nevertheless, I do hope that more of you continue with it as that is not
> the sullied pool I want to be splashing in.


I think we dirty people in a "sullied pool" can live with that.



Paul Clayton said:


> I agree. I've read on boards about people who have hundreds or almost thousands of free books in their Kindles. Why buy when they're are so many free books? It wouldn't bother me either if Amazon stopped teh free promos. Too much free devalues all books, except the 'traditional' ones that cost 9.99 and up.


I can say why *I* buy books rather than the free books that I_ don't want_. I can't speak for the hundreds of thousands (going on millions) of other people who do the same thing, since I can't assume their reasons are necessarily the same as mine.


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## Paul Clayton (Sep 12, 2009)

I haven't bought any ebooks in months because I've been backlogged with free books, books I'm beta reading for others, and treasure troves of public domain classics I bought on Amazon for pennies.  Due to my work schedule and writing schedule I probably won't have to buy a book for another two or three years.  If all that free, or almost free material was not available to me I WOULD have to buy books.  But I'm good now.  I don't have to take a survey and I don't 'know' the answer to why the market has slumped (for a lot of Indies).  I simply have an opinion based on my own experience and the anecdotal stuff I've seen on various posts here and there.


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## lbgraham (Aug 14, 2012)

Fortunately for all of us, people are impatient as well as cheap. That is, while they might prefer to acquire the whole catalogue of books by the new writer they just discovered (when they downloaded his/her free book) by waiting some indefinite number of days to find all of his/her other books also being offered for free... they probably won't. They'll just go buy them for a couple of bucks and enjoy.

Once again, the weaknesses of human nature to the rescue.


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## Zelah Meyer (Jun 15, 2011)

I've said this before on other threads - but I check the free lists pretty much daily.  

I've bought books after reading a freebie by that author, so I totally understand the value of having a loss leader freebie.  However, there have also been several instances where I was willing to buy one or more of that author's other works, and yet they offered all their books for free - one by one - so I didn't have to buy.  That's the type of free promotion that I, personally, don't quite get.  I realise that it gives each book that goes free an extra push in terms of visibility - but most people who like your work and follow it, probably discovered it while a title was free, and can spot the pattern and work out that all your books will eventually be free.  Thus, you'll have more readers than customers.

I am not judging that as a sales technique.  Obviously, it is working well for some people here.  However, I wanted to raise it in this thread because I know that people tend to think of free downloads as means to sales, rather than as something that can involve lost potential sales.  I thought it was important to point out that sometimes authors can lose out on sales if they give away their whole catalogue.  As a reader - yes, please, keep doing it.  As a fellow writer, I thought it was worth mentioning!

And no, I'm not worried about someone else's free promotion stopping someone from reading my work.  I'm someone who buys that bottled water we're talking about, so I trust that others do too!

Edited to add:  The trouble with expecting people to instantly buy books rather than wait for them to be free - is that someone who got your book for free probably has a really, really long 'to be read' list.  I've often got someone's entire catalogue before I get around to reading the first one.  If they look like they might be my sort of thing, I'll download them all even if I haven't read one of them yet.  I'm probably not alone in that.  I'm not saying that people don't go out and make impulse buys - obviously they do - but it does also work the other way!


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## dalya (Jul 26, 2011)

On the topic of the FREE effectiveness, I noticed a big drop as of July.

My medium-success downloads (7 to 10k over 2 days) barely nudged my sales as of July. It wasn't as dramatic a drop as what happened in March or whatever, but I think something happened.


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## Justawriter (Jul 24, 2012)

I've downloaded a lot of free books that I've ended up deleting unread. I don't think I'm alone in that I don't usually bother sampling free books, takes the same amount of time to download them....then when I check them out, they either grab me or not, and if not, I don't usually read further.

So, in a sense, maybe Free is just another way to sample. The free books I've liked I have gone on to read more of the authors books....just recently did for Bella Andre, the first book in her Sullivan series was free, read that within a few hours of downloading it and bought two more the same day.   I think lots of readers do this when they happen upon a new author. I don't even know what Bella prices her books at, I just had to have the next ones in the series.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

lbgraham said:


> Fortunately for all of us, people are impatient as well as cheap. That is, while they might prefer to acquire the whole catalogue of books by the new writer they just discovered (when they downloaded his/her free book) by waiting some indefinite number of days to find all of his/her other books also being offered for free... they probably won't. They'll just go buy them for a couple of bucks and enjoy.
> 
> *Once again, the weaknesses of human nature to the rescue.*


That's me! I'm weak! Exploit me! 

And speaking to series.... I love series. If I read the first one in the series, I'm one of the ones who must read the next one, er, next. So I'll buy. If the series runs out and I really like the books, I'll branch out to others by the author. Even stand alone, JRT.

Betsy


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## Steve Silkin (Sep 15, 2010)

I loved reading all the posts on this thread. Then I asked myself, why? 

In order to answer that question, I then asked myself: What have I learned from this thread?

- That some people don't think giving away free copies of books is effective for driving sales, or at least not as effective as it used to be way back in the days of glory, i.e. several months ago.

- That some people think giving away free copies of books undermines the future of writing and publishing.

- That many writers have successfully used free copies to increase their visibility and sales.

- That some other writers feels this is harmful to those who do so, to themselves and to others.

- That people buy bottled water. (I think, though, that this bottled water is often sold and bought as a convenient system for carrying and drinking while exercising and driving - although there are exceptions. Mine, for example: Last residence was in dire need of repiping. Water was yellow when not brown with rust. Unappetizing for both cooking and consumption.)

- That there is such a thing as free beer.

I think I already knew all that, except maybe for the last point about the free beer. So I asked myself again: Why did I love reading this thread?

And the only answer I can think of is that some of us are funnier than others. And just so you know, I place myself in the latter category.

Props, as usual, to Victorine and Brian for their excellent crystallization of the issues.


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## Rykymus (Dec 3, 2011)

As a readers, I've never restricted my shopping to only free books, not even when I could barely afford a $2.99 book. I search based on content.

As a writer/self-publisher, I never used free as a way to sell more books. I used it to get more eyes on the book and get some reviews, since as a reader I almost never buy a book that has no reviews.


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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

I've read books that were free, and I've read books I pay for.

As Vicki says, free is a marketing decision... one I'll be making shortly by (hopefully soon) having UNDER CONTRACT free everywhere. Having one book free permanently will spark sales for my paid titles.

How do I know this? Because I have a pseudonym where that very strategy has worked well. And friends who've done the same thing with solid results. One book permanently free: everything else has a price tag.

But aside from waiting till you have at least 4-5 books available (I'm not quite there yet) and having one book free, there's another key ingredient to long-term success: patience.

Too many of us want the overnight thing, and it draws our energy away from working on more new titles.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

Zelah Meyer said:


> I've said this before on other threads - but I check the free lists pretty much daily.
> 
> I've bought books after reading a freebie by that author, so I totally understand the value of having a loss leader freebie. However, there have also been several instances where I was willing to buy one or more of that author's other works, and yet they offered all their books for free - one by one - so I didn't have to buy. That's the type of free promotion that I, personally, don't quite get. I realise that it gives each book that goes free an extra push in terms of visibility - but most people who like your work and follow it, probably discovered it while a title was free, and can spot the pattern and work out that all your books will eventually be free. Thus, you'll have more readers than customers.
> 
> ...


I have used the tactic you describe. That I think it has questionable value is why I'm taking my series of historical novels out of Select and will work on making the first one free. (The question remains which is the "first" one lol That's not as easily answered as you might think)


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## RuthNestvold (Jan 4, 2012)

BrianKittrell said:


> I am seeing a ~500% increase in revenues over August, 2011. September could see 1000% growth. If one of my books being free is causing a sudden downturn purchasing, I have not personally seen the evidence of that.
> 
> Free has been around a lot longer than Select, too. People have been going free since before I started publishing in 2009. It should be noted that free is not a replacement for a business plan; it is a tool, and it must be used as a tool.


Congrats, Brian, that's excellent news! It seems as if a lot of the posts here (including yours) seem to indicate that patience and producing new material are key. 

To take advantage of free in a more sensible way, I intend to write a prequel in the world of the Pendragon Chronicles and make it free permanently. (Something in me balks at making a 190,000 word novel it took years to write permanently free ...)


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## Cheryl Douglas (Dec 7, 2011)

If you look at the authors who are selling a huge number of books every month, (Bella Andre, Liliana Hart, Marie Force, just to name a few), they all have one book perma-free. Obviously, the strategy works or they wouldn't be doing it. I just surpassed 10K in 5 months (which I realize isn't huge by a lot of people's standards), but since I'm fairly new to this, it's better than I expected. The only thing that gave me the visibility I needed to attain those numbers were a few successful free runs, so free will definitely be part of my long-term plan moving forward.


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## dalya (Jul 26, 2011)

Cheryl Douglas said:


> If you look at the authors who are selling a huge number of books every month, (Bella Andre, Liliana Hart, Marie Force, just to name a few), they all have one book perma-free. Obviously, the strategy works or they wouldn't be doing it. ...


Popular genres, great covers, huge library of titles, big names on the covers + perma-free or paid ads or select free or a combination = win.

Also, write romance.


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## Thomas Watson (Mar 8, 2012)

I'd say the one book perma free is likely to be an item in my toolkit - as soon as I have more than one book in the series available.  Can't have a loss leader without something to lead.   I can see other uses for the concept of freebies for promotional purposes, as well (think Goodreads giveaways). Switching back and forth from free to a price, and changing the price, to boost sales . . . Still thinking that over. The comments I'm reading on WC give the impression of great inconsistency in results - works well for some, poorly for others, not at all in some cases. I'll stick with slow and steady, keep writing, and see how it goes.


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## PhoenixS (Apr 5, 2011)

Zelah Meyer said:


> I've bought books after reading a freebie by that author, so I totally understand the value of having a loss leader freebie. However, there have also been several instances where I was willing to buy one or more of that author's other works, and yet they offered all their books for free - one by one - so I didn't have to buy. That's the type of free promotion that I, personally, don't quite get.


I'm "guilty" of this as it's part of my marketing strategy. For me, at least, the reason is the same as I give to Nook and Kobo owners who ask if they are not important customers too. Of course they are. But so are the customers on Amazon I have yet to reach with any of the books I'm managing. If a relatively small number of customers get all of the titles Steel Magnolia ever offers for free, that's OK, because the reach, hopefully, is well beyond even a couple of thousand of ardent fans watching the patterns. Heck, you don't even have to guess at our patterns. I spell them out in our newsletter each month. I tell people who cared enough to sign up exactly when each book will be free or on sale that month, and I let them know which books aren't likely to be free in the future. That you might pick up all our books for free is no more the cost of a lost sale than someone else picking them up for free. The net result is higher visibility and more sales.

But those additional sales don't address the OP's concern. What struck me a few pages back, though (and sorry I'm not going back to find the exact quote), is the idea that a redistribution of sales is somehow a reduction in sales. Yes, if my books coming off free place higher than someone else's on the pop list and a customer chooses to buy my book over a book that's been displaced, that is still a purchase. There may indeed be a redistribution of wealth over the long term whereby more authors make money while each author's average earnings are less across the board, but that is not evidence of devaluation in action.

I'm with Adam on this. Someone show me serious economic modeling projections that support the theory of devaluation in the long tail and I might become a believer. (Hint: That model will be something more than a handful of folk claiming they'll never buy another book again.) Until then, the overwhelming evidence we have right now supports the idea that free and paid can -- and do -- complement one another.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

dalya said:


> Popular genres, great covers, huge library of titles, big names on the covers + perma-free or paid ads or select free or a combination = win.
> 
> Also, write romance.


Some people are doing very well who don't write romance though, using the same strategy. They don't necessarily advertise their sales numbers.

Edit: I agree on the importance of having a number of titles and great covers.


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## dalya (Jul 26, 2011)

The long tail is a myth.

The higher up the tail you are, the better. The end of the tail is just another term for making next to nothing.


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## Edward W. Robertson (May 18, 2010)

Andykay said:


> http://ictwithmissc.weebly.com/reading.html
> 
> _There are stacks of ebooks and interactive readers available out there and many cost a few dollars to buy. But why buy when there are so many good, free ones out there? Here are some of my favourite stories or collections that are available for free!_
> 
> A single example, but I think it qualifies as a shred. This person has adopted a 'why buy ebooks when there are great free ones out there?' mentality, therefore they are buying less books. They are encouraging others to do the same.


I like a lot of what you've said in this thread, but even in this link you provide as evidence that people are being conditioned to not pay for books, the author of the post is pointing to series that use the same model a lot of people in this thread use. The series she links to have the first book free, but you have to pay for the rest.

It's a complicated issue. A torrent of free books could devalue the market, maybe, but I don't really believe in the race to the bottom. Maybe some people will never buy a book again, but an awful lot of people will pay for the specific content they want. Not all authors are created equal. If I want one of Dalglish's books, I won't get the same experience snagging any free book on the epic fantasy list. (Except for the couple of Dalglish's that are permafree.  )

Meanwhile, the music industry still exists. Traditional publishing isn't about to make all their titles free any time soon, so they'll still be conditioning readers to pay higher prices for books. Indies can afford to charge less, but we still have to eat. Amazon has so far structured their publishing platform to encourage very specific price ranges.

The lure of free books might put downward pressure on ebook prices, but there are an awful lot of other forces putting upward pressures on price.


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## Steven Lee Gilbert (Mar 21, 2012)

Happy to read that most think this horse has not taken it's last trail ride. Just enlisted in Kindle Select. First free days coming soon. Hope to see some of the success I've read about here on the Kindleboards.


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## Pnjw (Apr 24, 2011)

dalya said:


> Popular genres, great covers, huge library of titles, big names on the covers + perma-free or paid ads or select free or a combination = win.
> 
> Also, write romance.


It's not just huge libraries. I only have two books out right now. Book one is permanent free. I'm selling over 4k books a month. I know others with relatively short blacklists this strategy is working for as well.

I do write in a popular genre though.

Btw, I read romance. Would love to know your pen name. Loved Practice Cake.


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## Tuttle (Jun 10, 2010)

As a reader, not a writer, who's intruding into your writers' cafe:

I download and read free books because I can't afford to not. I have no income and am relying on my parents for money so need to limit how much I'm spending, but books are very important to me. I'd download and read free books anyways, though I'd be somewhat more limiting about what I downloaded if I had more money.

Yet, I often find myself spending money because of this. There are authors - indie authors even - which I have read every book they've published, not even just the series the free book was in, because of the book I read for free. I read entire series because of the book I get for free. Free books easily lead to me reading more by the same author.

As for other authors' views - I've been a big fan of baen free library and have read books from there and bought quite a few books because of it for much longer than amazon has had free books available: http://www.baen.com/library/intro.asp


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## Jan Strnad (May 27, 2010)

Tuttle said:


> As a reader, not a writer, who's intruding into your writers' cafe:


The Writers' Cafe is not a place where readers need fear to "intrude." We welcome them! It's just that our conversation is usually really boring and peppered with the word "algorithm."


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## Ty Johnston (Jun 19, 2009)

Setting aside my writer's cap for a moment, as a reader I can say this: A free e-book will not entice me in and of itself to pick it up. However, because everybody and their brother is making their e-books free at some point, I do not feel _any _urgency to purchase an e-book. Why should I? I already have hundreds of freebies, and I pretty much know any e-book I want is likely to be free sooner or later. I've got tons of reading material already. I can wait.

And my guess would be thousands of other readers are thinking the same thing, at least when it comes to indie books.


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## Simon Haynes (Mar 14, 2011)

A free ebook plus a lot (20-40+) reviews and an average of 4+ stars, that would make an insta-click for me. I'd still look at the reviews though, to make sure they weren't all bought and paid for. (One good marker is a bunch of 1-star reviews saying all the 5-star reviews _must_ be fake.)


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

Jan Strnad said:


> The Writers' Cafe is not a place where readers need fear to "intrude." We welcome them! It's just that our conversation is usually really boring and peppered with the word "algorithm."


Too true!


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

Tuttle said:


> As a reader, not a writer, who's intruding into your writers' cafe:
> 
> I download and read free books because I can't afford to not. I have no income and am relying on my parents for money so need to limit how much I'm spending, but books are very important to me. I'd download and read free books anyways, though I'd be somewhat more limiting about what I downloaded if I had more money.
> 
> ...


Jim Baen was an amazing man and built quite a publishing company, and I'm someone you don't frequently see singing the praises of publishers. Their free library is a nice source for some good fiction.

Hopefully, we won't bore you to death but readers are always welcome.


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## Katie Salidas (Mar 21, 2010)

philstern said:


> From my own experiences, and looking over the posts on this board, I think it's clear that the whole going free thing is burnt out, and at this point might even be counterproductive.
> 
> Not only is the market glutted with an excess of books, but anyone with half a brain is now simply scanning the lists of free books every day, and simply picking out ones that look good. There's no reason to really buy books anymore, unless it's something you really, really want and don't think is going free anytime soon.
> 
> ...


I've been saying this for a while now. There is no reason to buy an indie book anymore. Most people's TBR list is so packed with freebies, they can hold out until other books go on sale.


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## MrPLD (Sep 23, 2010)

Katie Salidas said:


> I've been saying this for a while now. There is no reason to buy an indie book anymore. Most people's TBR list is so packed with freebies, they can hold out until other books go on sale.


My sentiment as well - so perhaps it's time a lot of us stopped behaving and sounding like Indies and started putting our prices up to where it's more realistic, $3.99~$7.99.


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## TLH (Jan 20, 2011)

One of these days I'll get to those free books. In the mean time, I'm really enjoying the one I spent three bucks on.


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## Edward W. Robertson (May 18, 2010)

MrPLD said:


> My sentiment as well - so perhaps it's time a lot of us stopped behaving and sounding like Indies and started putting our prices up to where it's more realistic, $3.99~$7.99.


What strategy do you suggest to someone who is priced between $3.99-7.99 and is selling nothing?

Haha, that sounds way more combative than I mean it. But seriously, what should an author try if their books aren't moving? What's the alternative?


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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

I agree that having one's price jump all over the place is probably creating a lot of consumer uncertainty.

Why buy today for $3.99 a book that two days ago was free and prior to that was $0.99?

While some indies have reveled in the "complete freedom" of self-publishing, I suspect we've thrown the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to garnering some wisdom on pricing strategies and consistency from our trad-pub forebears.

When I was growing up, most mass-market paperbacks were right around $3.50. They'd stay that price until the market as a whole shifted and a new printing was ordered. Maybe by then, the price would go up to $3.95, but when it did, it would be because that author had something new out, and his/her backlist all received new covers with the price increase.

But if the price had changed on a weekly or monthly basis (aside from some seasonal discounts), it would have been hard to decide, "When do I buy the next FLETCH novel? As soon as it hits paperback? Or wait an extra six months to see if it goes on a discount sale for a holiday?"

I've already shifted some of my prices more than I wanted to, but I'm getting better and selecting an appropriate price and sticking with it for a long time.

In its history as an eBook, MOST LIKELY has been at $0.99, $2.99, and $3.99. I'm keeping it at $3.99 pretty much forever, now...

In its history as an eBook, SHADA has been at $0.99 and $2.99... and it'll be staying at $2.99 pretty much forever, now.

In its history as an eBook, UNDER CONTRACT has been at $0.99 and is about to hopefully go free everywhere. Once it's free everywhere, that's where it'll stay.

With the prices I've stuck with, I've come up with my own personal pricing strategy based on length. (Making UNDER CONTRACT free is a marketing decision.)

EyeCU will be at least 85K words, but I may not be the one setting the price on that one as I have some interest from a small publisher.

EMBER will be at least as long as EyeCU, though, and for EMBER I'm thinking I'll probably price it around $3.99-$4.99, depending on where the length ends up on that one.

Sure, I don't get mega-sales numbers yet, but that was true when some of those books were cheaper, too. So I'd rather have a consistent price, and readers can just know, "If I want Book A by Craig, this is what it'll cost."

Consistent pricing can help shed that indie image, I think.

P.S., To those wondering out loud "Why buy an ebook when so many will go free or are free," I'd say the main reason is that while we'll all sample a large number of authors, when we find favorites, we want everything they've written.

I own just about everything (or used to) by Stephen King, James Patterson, Charlaine Harris, Jeff Lindsey and others.

Since discovering eBooks and sampling a lot of authors, I've come to own everything by those whose writing made them new favorites for me. So, that means (for me), folks like Amanda Hocking, Victorine Lieske, David McAfee, John Locke, Daniel Pyle, and more...

I think most readers are the same way.

The reason to buy is because someone's become a favorite author, and you can't wait to read whatever's next from them.

That's why one should only make one title perma-free and not change pricing constantly just to "spur sales."

"Here's a free taste of my writing... the rest have reasonable prices given their length."

This is the approach I've grown into over the last 15 months.


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## Chris Northern (Jan 20, 2011)

Tuttle said:


> As a reader, not a writer, who's intruding into your writers' cafe:
> 
> I download and read free books because I can't afford to not. I have no income and am relying on my parents for money so need to limit how much I'm spending, but books are very important to me. I'd download and read free books anyways, though I'd be somewhat more limiting about what I downloaded if I had more money.
> 
> ...


Hi, and welcome. You are a living example of why free works. I do the same thing; I read one Zelazny book (long ago and far away, now), then I bought them all, everything he'd written. The problem for us writers is now in saturation; readers taking a free copy and _not reading it._ That particularly happens with the big sites where a few thousand readers take large numbers of free books; their libraries are over full. I guess we need find new ways to reach new readers, readers whose bookshelves aren't quite so full...

As far as editors go, Jim Baen was one of the few I had any time for. I knew about the free library and picked up a copy of something from there just the other day.

I'm just thinking about making another story free because the Dancing with Darwin stories are not being read. I love these stories. I believe in them. I want people to read them; there's just no joy in this if the work isn't read. Heck with it, I'm going to the smashwords site now to make the shortest one free.


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## NoCat (Aug 5, 2010)

Edward W. Robertson said:


> What strategy do you suggest to someone who is priced between $3.99-7.99 and is selling nothing?
> 
> Haha, that sounds way more combative than I mean it. But seriously, what should an author try if their books aren't moving? What's the alternative?


Not to sound combative either, but there are two things someone whose books aren't moving should do. A) write better books and B) write more of them.
(You can also make sure your cover and description match up with the quality you'd expect to see walking into a bookstore and picking up a hardback from the display rack. If people aren't saying "hey, that's like a book I'd see in bookstores" about your sales stuff (ie cover and description), likely there is still work to be done if you want to command prices outside the bargain bin).


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## MrPLD (Sep 23, 2010)

Edward W. Robertson said:


> What strategy do you suggest to someone who is priced between $3.99-7.99 and is selling nothing?
> 
> Haha, that sounds way more combative than I mean it. But seriously, what should an author try if their books aren't moving? What's the alternative?


Look to alternative marketing options outside of pricing models.

That's the thing I think that was so attractive to a lot of us for the whole 99c / free thing, because pricing-shifts were the easiest marketing option available.

Good luck though - it's not easy, I completely understand - but as others will likely say, just keep on writing, eventually it'll fire off.


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## Zelah Meyer (Jun 15, 2011)

I have deleted this post as I do not consent to the new Terms of Service that Vertical Scope are attempting to retrospectively apply to our content.  I am forced to manually replace my content as, at time of editing, their representative has instructed moderators not to delete posts or accounts when users request it, and Vertical Scope have implied that they will deal with account deletion requests by anonymising accounts, which would leave personally identifying information in my posts.

I joined under the previous ownership and have posted over the years under different Terms of Service.  I do not consent to my name, content, or intellectual properties being used by Vertical Scope or any other entity that they sell or licence my data to.


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## philstern (Mar 14, 2011)

One of the things I've garnered from all the replies to my original post is that going free may have deeper, long-term benefits for series than stand alone books, which makes sense.

I still think, though, that as incredible as the free promotions have been, authors need to start thinking about life after free. Someone on here said it best. Free can be an element of your promotional strategy, but it can't be your only strategy.


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## Edward W. Robertson (May 18, 2010)

MrPLD said:


> Look to alternative marketing options outside of pricing models.
> 
> That's the thing I think that was so attractive to a lot of us for the whole 99c / free thing, because pricing-shifts were the easiest marketing option available.
> 
> Good luck though - it's not easy, I completely understand - but as others will likely say, just keep on writing, eventually it'll fire off.


Well, it did fire off. Right after I started giving away a ton of books.

Writing more books and better books _is_ good advice, but it doesn't really do anything for you now if you're already sitting on a good book. It's very difficult for an unknown book to become known without a big push; the stores aren't pointing shoppers at it, there's no word of mouth. Maybe the next book will help, maybe it won't. It'll be just as unknown.

Doing a giveaway on one of my books built it up to the point where I was able to pull it from Select and distribute to the other stores, where it'll only be free under very specific circumstances from here on out.

Free is an extremely powerful tool. It can literally create careers and give desirable books the visibility to sell. Once an unknown book is known, the fact it's been free in the past doesn't stop people from buying it--even, as I've tried, when you price it at $7.99.


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