Who benefits from free eBooks?
- J Conrad Guest
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Re: Who benefits from free eBooks?
Exposure? Nah.
I was once approached by someone through my website who wanted to know how he could score a copy of one of my novels. I directed him to Amazon and my then publisher's website. He replied that he never pays for his books. After a couple exchanges he seemed rather put off that I expected to make a buck off my work.
If there is one person who "never pays" for their books, there surely must be a host of others, like those who hunt for garage sales to score big on something valuable the seller doesn't understand is valuable—like the first edition The Beatles White Album, pressed in white, numbered, which a friend of mine lost at a garage sale when his sister-in-law sold it for a dollar. To this day he hasn't forgiven her.
My former publisher rotated free copies of his stable of authors. He did mine. My royalty statement showed the many free downloads, but I never saw an increase in sales in later months.
As writers I think we devalue our work by giving it away. It's like the rendition of a naked woman on a highway underpass from which most people look away in disgust. But slap that same image on a canvas, hang it in a museum, and those same people will pay to look and nod approvingly at it.
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- Major
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The consumer and all electric books are now free to download if you know which sites to access.Joe McCoubrey wrote:I’ve been wondering more and more these days about what readers really make of the current explosion of free eBooks. If you believe the fad is reaching a peak, think again. There’s a lot yet to come, and it remains to be seen whether the craze will result in a welcome sea-change or inflict permanent damage to an industry that is being forced to reconstruct itself in the modern world of push-button technology. SEE MORE AT: http://BLACKLISTED/2012/06/15/who-benef ... he-author/
A shame for the authors, eventually there will be no money in writing.
- Diah
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Also, the website selling the book gets increased traffic, and can digitally suggest others, often by the same author.
- Naval Aulakh
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- J Conrad Guest
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The world existed just fine for centuries before digital technology came along, and ebooks won't do a thing to prevent a nuclear winter or be worth anything should the power grids go down.JAtoms wrote:E book is the best thing that has been in existence. I wonder how the world would be without it
I own a Nook, but I still prefer the look, the feel, the smell of an actual book. Additionally, I'm annoyed by having to charge my Nook every five hours.
The original question was who benefits from free downloads? Obviously consumers. Authors not so much, despite the claims in this string that giving away free downloads is a great way to promote oneself. It hasn't helped my literary career in the least.
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- raikyuu
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The value of one's work is not necessarily equal to its selling price or the profit that it earns. If your work is free (without charge), it simply becomes accessible to those who are unfortunate to not have money or a bank account. Public domain works are technically free, and some of them are really good like the classics. But just because you have a lot of downloads on your free book, it doesn't say anything about your book being good or not. There are always good and bad books, whether they are free or not.J Conrad Guest wrote:I'm not sure there is any benefit whatsoever.
Exposure? Nah.
I was once approached by someone through my website who wanted to know how he could score a copy of one of my novels. I directed him to Amazon and my then publisher's website. He replied that he never pays for his books. After a couple exchanges he seemed rather put off that I expected to make a buck off my work.
If there is one person who "never pays" for their books, there surely must be a host of others, like those who hunt for garage sales to score big on something valuable the seller doesn't understand is valuable—like the first edition The Beatles White Album, pressed in white, numbered, which a friend of mine lost at a garage sale when his sister-in-law sold it for a dollar. To this day he hasn't forgiven her.
My former publisher rotated free copies of his stable of authors. He did mine. My royalty statement showed the many free downloads, but I never saw an increase in sales in later months.
As writers I think we devalue our work by giving it away. It's like the rendition of a naked woman on a highway underpass from which most people look away in disgust. But slap that same image on a canvas, hang it in a museum, and those same people will pay to look and nod approvingly at it.
For people who just don't want to risk their money for buying a bad paid book, they would just go for the free ones.
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- ZeroChill
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