Serialization vs. Free ebook?
April 14th, 2007It’s all Randy Richardson’s fault — him and his giving his novel away as a free ebook! From Randy’s interview to Joe Konrath’s blog to an article in Writers Weekly it’s been quite a journey.
I’ve just finished reading Richard Hoy’s article, “Giving Ebooks Away For Free - A Good Idea?” [By the way, although I didn't get a link for my trouble, I'm pretty sure that I'm the author Richard refers to!]
Here’s my summary:
- First, he infers the inaccuracy of Cory Doctorow’s numbers due to the number of potential downloads by robots and search-engine spiders. However, he admits that even making allowance for this that “a large number of real people” are downloading the files.
- Second, because Doctorow has no system in place to directly link a download with a sale, Hoy suggests that the popularity of Doctorow’s blog could be the deciding factor, not the give-aways.
- Third, Hoy makes the argument heard everywhere else: “How do you create value for a book in the eyes of potential buyers if the author places no value on it by giving it away for free?”
Two things which make this article worth reading in its entirety are 1) an anecdote about an author who re-organized his website and sales dropped; and 2) the story of Doug Clegg’s serialization strategy.
[Compare this to Lew Weinstein's plan]
| Return to or visit Cheryl Hagedorn's web site |
So what do you think? I read Joe Konrath’s blog and will read the other’s as well. I’ve got one old manuscript that I think is great but I can’t sell to save my life. Yesterday I decided I should turn it into an e-book. But then I decided I should wait to build up an audience for my blog. Now I’m not sure. Besides, I asked Konrath if I could link to him and he ignored me. Guess he focused on the “bipolar” and not the “writer.” Actually, I’m spending so much time thinking about marketing and blogging these days that I’m not working on my new book. Yikes! What’s a writer to do?
Susan
Comment by Susan Bernard ? April 14, 2007 @ 2:19 pm
More free stuff…Subterranean Press is offering a free audio book of Kage Baker’s Rude Mechanicals on their website: http://subterraneanpress.com/index.php/magazine/spring2007/audio-rude-mechanicals-by-kage-baker/
Comment by Randy Richardson ? April 15, 2007 @ 7:25 pm
Things worth noting:
In the very first paragraph which precedes a description of the book, there is a link to order a hard copy.
Second, the cost for a Limited edition is $35, a Lettered edition is $150 (I don’t know what a lettered edition is).
Third, the book comes in ten installments.
Comment by Cheryl ? April 16, 2007 @ 10:22 am