Free eBooks...Good Idea Or Waste Of Time?

[Sue Wentz]

This subject has probably been addressed before, and if so, I apologize.

I'm considering putting up my latest eBook (novella length) for free, in the hopes that doing so will boost sales of the other books I have available, and hopefully garner some decent reviews that might carry dividends to my other work. Does anyone have experience with doing this? If so, do you think it increased your sales...or not so much?

Thanks in advance!

Sue

[Sakinah D. Rasheed]

I found this article that may help you out. It really opened my eyes too. Few people actually read the free books they download. I'm beginning to rethink continuing with KDP if that's the case.

http://armandrosamilia.com/2012/05/25/free-ebook-um-who-cares-anymore/

[Chris Ward]

Of course they don't read them.  I just love the way how the same authors who were all over select when it started are now lambasting it as the end of self-publishing.  If select doesn't work I'd love to know what does, because I can't shift a single copy no matter how many interviews, giveaways or guest posts I do, or how many reviews I receive.

[Sakinah D. Rasheed]

That's what I'm wondering. Social media may be the answer I suppose since I personally don't have a big presence there. I did get one sell from Select though with the free promo so I'm going to give it another go when I publish the second part of my novella to see how it goes.

[Tiffany Price]

I am not an author but a reviewer and I browse a site that has free ebooks daily on it. If I like the author of the free book I chose I will go back to purchase more of their work. I have reviewed authors I've never read before, free books, and the majority of them I have gone back to buy from that authors other books.

[David H. Donaghe]

I put the first book of a series up for free on Amazon and Smashwords.  The first day it was free on Amazon, I got 128 downloads.  So far I have seen no increase in sales, but that is still 128 people who read my work and I have recieved 2 reviews.  It may not show up in increased sales right away, put putting your book out there for free helps build your name and platform on the internet.  When someone is browsing Amazon and they see your new book for sale, they likely to buy if if they have already read some of your work.

[Chris Ward]

I think it's good if they did actually read it.  However, I reckon no more than 1 person from every 100 downloads actually reads it.  I think that if they did, and what you had written was good, then there would be a clear increase in sales, based on word of mouth promotion.  The fact is that people load their kindles with free stuff that they might get around to reading in the future. I've heard of readers boasting thousands of free downloads, and while it might be the pessimistic view but I'm pretty sure they only read a tiny percentage of those.

[Sue Wentz]

Chris, I really appreciate your insights. I can guiltily admit that I have some free downloads (not many) that I haven't gotten around to reading yet. Although, to be fair, most of those are older books in the public domain.

It's definitely a challenge to get work noticed by the public, that's for sure!

Sue