Giving it away for free: Obscurity vs. Making Money as a Writer
The debate about whether or not it’s a good idea for authors to provide their work for free (especially back titles) continues to rage on around the internet. I usually think of this in terms of ebooks, as they are easier to give away for free without the burden of printing and shipping costs.
The main argument in favor of giving your works away for free goes something like this: You provide an ebook or two for free, and it will give readers a sampling of your work, enticing them to buy future ebooks that they would, of course, pay for. This has worked for many authors who claim that giving their stuff away does increase their sales of other books.
On the flip side, the argument against giving your work away for free is that readers will expect it for free and will expect the same thing with all of your books, thus no one will want to pay. Why pay when you can get it for free, right? The other issue that comes into play here is that authors should be fairly compensated for their work.
I recently read good article about this subject by Angela Hoy who runs writersweekly.com. I have been reading her site and subscribing to her newsletter since at least 2002-2003, so I highly respect her opinions and what she says. In her recent article Think Twice Before Giving Away Your Entire Book Online for Free she argues against what I often promote here at Brad’s Reader, and many other writers/bloggers promote as well – giving stuff away for free as a promotional tool.
A big part of Angela’s argument is this:
Giving someone an entire ebook for free, especially for unknown authors, gives the potential buyer zero incentive to buy your book. Why pay for something (by an unknown author) that’s completely free, especially in this economy? Some authors think doing this will generate lots of press (it won’t – too many authors have done it before so only well-known authors get big press for this now). Others think giving away their book will increase their readership and help sales of future books.
Based on my own personal experience, when I download a free ebook (either onto my iPhone or Sony Pocket Edition), I want to like the author’s work enough to buy their future novels. I’ve bought many ebooks from authors who offered their back list titles for free, and I know a lot of others who have done the same.
Obscurity or Making Money as a Writer?
Cory Doctorow, a science fiction author, blogger and a tech guru is one who knows something about giving his work away for free. Whenever he has a traditionally published novel released, he also releases it as a free ebook and audio version – making the title available in as many formats as possible. He says this increases his sales. He also makes an interesting comment about obscurity.
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