Okay, here's the situation: My parents went away on a week's vacation, and...
Oh, wait. Wrong situation. Let's do this one:
For those of you who are not aware, I was inspired by my recent attention on the NYT and other blogs and e-book interested parties to write a book on the historical background of e-book development, from my perspective as a tech-head whose career and hobbies have moved parallel with the e-book industry for years (IOW, not a facts-and-footnotes reference, but personal observations).
The book is entitled: "Why Is This Hill So Steep? (subtitle) E-books: The simple idea, sensible concept and understandable product that took twenty years to pull off." It's a modest 55,000 words.
Here's where I need advice: I'm trying to figure out the best way to put this book out. Although my wife thinks I should charge for the book, using a price more in line with reference books ($5-10, given that it's an e-book and not printed), I'm not so sure about the price... or even charging at all. Part of me considers this might be good to use as a free product, spreading my name further afield, and drawing potential customers to my books. The "charge it!" part of me thinks even $5 is pushing it for a 55,000 word book.
So: Any thoughts from the corner? Your perspectives?