Readers - what do you really think about free ebooks?

[Paula McBride]

There has been a lot of moaning recently, on author forums and communities, about free ebooks killing the self publishing market.
With so many free books why would anyone need to buy one!
Is this the case though?
It got me thinking, because luckily (or maybe not luck) my sales aren't down - infact they're up for the beginning of May - so what do readers think of a book if they see it's up for free?
That the writer can't sell the story so is giving it away, or 'Oh goody another freebie that looks like my sort of read,' or does it make no difference about your opinion of the book.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the subject.

www.tothewillowgarden.co.uk
http://paula-artist-author.blogspot.co.uk/

[Alison M.]

I enjoy freebies if they're my type of book. The problem is there are SO many of them. I bought a kindle a year and half ago so I've downloaded free books on and off since then. I've haven't read all (or even many) of them yet.

I will say that free books have encouraged me to buy more books from the author. The free book was the first in a series. I really enjoyed book 1 so I ended up buying books 2 and 3.

[Paula McBride]

I think you've hit the nail on the head! With sooooo many freebies, readers have a backlog and so sales are slumping.

I have used promotions on my children's ebook on Amazon. This did make people aware of my other picture books too, but with all these freebies will anyone have the time or still be inclined to buy?
Or as Grace mentioned are they treated with caution and so taint your name as an author?

Funnily enough, my best seller - Hairy, Scary Spider? - has never been in the 'select' programme of Amazon and has never been put on for free.

[Grace]

I don't download free books just because they're free; it has to be something I'm already interested in or looking for.  My main determination isn't price so much as whether the book looks both interesting and well-written.

___________________________

Books Without Any Pictures

[Isiah Hurts]

A lot of authors use freebie as avway to build an audience. I downloaded a couple book for free became a find of thiers and bought some if thier newer books

[ManOfLaBook.com]

First, publishing is killing the publishing market.

Second, the price of the book has nothing to do with the quality (see #1). I read some wonderful free eBooks and some which I paid for and wanted my money back.

http://www.ManOfLaBook.com