New Years action: Giving away my book
I've never been one for New Years resolutions. Quit smoking? Yeah, right. However, a New Years action I can deal with. Here's the plan: starting today, I'm going to be giving away the ebook version of Republic for free.
No more sample chapters, partial books that end in the middle, none of that. You can download and read the complete book. Share it with your friends, email it, do anything you want with it except sell it. Hope you enjoy the book and tell others.
Ebook Links: Adobe Acrobat PDF | Podcast Links:
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You can also order from Amazon: $16.95
Okay, so maybe you are wondering why? After all, I'm hoping that within the next few years, I'll be making enough money from book sales that I'll be able to write full time. Isn't giving the book away somewhat counterproductive to that goal?
I don't think so. Here's why: the biggest challenge most authors face isn't online piracy. It's not people out there diabolically copying their works and distributing them for free. In fact most authors (including yours truly) suffer from a different problem entirely -- no one has ever heard of them. After all, literally hundreds of thousands of new titles come out every year, and only a few hundred writers in the entire United States (if that many) actually live off their books full time. So, by giving away the book, I hope more people actually read it.
Want to share it with a friend? Feel free. Email it to them, send them the link, whatever. If you find that you enjoy the book, I'm hoping you'll order a copy, but that isn't required. You could also post a review somewhere. Post a link in your blog. Ask your library to order a copy, so more people can get it for free. Whatever. If you do post a link somewhere, let me know about it. I'd love to see lots of people reading the book, the more the merrier.
Will giving it away cut sales and make me a poorer person? I don't think so. There's plenty of evidence out there that giving away the book will actually boost sales. If you don't believe me, check out Eric Flint's column in Jim Baen's Universe, which actually runs the numbers and takes down some of the myths associated with Digital Rights Management, publishing, encryption, and copyright fanaticism.
http://www.ericflint.net/index.php/2007/04/27/eric-flint-on-drm-and-copyright/#more-316
Update:
I did not expect this to end up on the front page of Digg. That is excellent. Someone asked about the license -- it's under the Creative Commonse 2.5 Attritibution, No Derivatives license. In other words, read it, give it to other people, but don't make money from it. Thanks to those who mirrored when my server went down last night!
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BTW You made the digg frontpage.
I just want to commend what you are doing. I think free the book is a great idea and leads to more awareness and and ultimately profits. Well done, i'm sure to read it now and will tell all my friends.
tommy
I've been writing a free serialized novel online for the past few months and it's almost finished. The readership is now over 5500 people, and more than 800 have asked to buy a printed copy when it's done. No bookshop, no publisher, no agent. The book is called ED Day, it's about life in Sydney after a bird flu pandemic and you can read it here for free : www.ed-day.blogspot.com
All the best to you! I even hope you surpass my totals. Be well!!! Charles Copeland
and a Happy New Year
Regards and Happy new year.
I think you may have started more here than a new marketing spin. Craig
I'll start to read the pdf - and if I like it, I'll order a hard copy. It's too hard to read on the laptop in bed. ;-)
I clicked "private" yet my email still appeared. I request you remove it please. Feel free to use my mirrors. I have enough bandwidth to share with nice authors. PDF: ut3.yourfirstcreditcard.com/Republic_ebook.pdf Kindle: ut3.yourfirstcreditcard.com/Republic-ebook.zip Rich Text Format: ut3.yourfirstcreditcard.com/republic.rtf
I hope that the free version is different from the one that will go to press, that is to say, from before you had it proofread, otherwise I'd suggest taking these errors up with your editor ASAP.
I'm 18 chapters in on an Erotic Horror/SF podcast novel that has garnered over a thousand readers (and this is a novel-in-progress). The ebook version will come out this summer. Your efforts provide additional encouragement for me to push on and keep writing.
no sweat, really good story and great initiative publishing on line
Congrats!
By the way, "Attributions No-Derivatives" would mean that you have to be credited and people aren't allowed to make derivatives of your work such as foreign translations, screenplays, etc. It has nothing to do with profiting or not. The book itself (at least the html version) makes no reference to any CC licence. You may want to post a hyperlink to the exact licence you're using, just to avoid confusion and possible future complications. Anyway, good luck!
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