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I'm not going to claim to be the norm on this topic, because I have no idea what the norm IS in this case.
Speaking specifically to the Chaos Chronicles, I did it all backwards. I've had the first three in paperback for what seems like forever. Sunborn was one of the first "freebies" I picked up...and then promptly used Paypal to donate the pb price equivalent for it and all three of the others. Hope the beer was good! LOL
In another case, I picked up a free copy of Karen Marie Moning's book, Darkfever, last summer. By then end of the year, I'd bought everything else she's ever written in ebook form, and copies of 5 of those in paperback, plus one in hardcover, for a friend for Christmas--all new from Amazon, not used. I've also lost track of how many people I've convinced to read those books; at last count before I gave up, it was over 25. So that's 25 new readers for her. Were most of them ebook readers? Yes. But not all the friends and family they recommend to are going to be!
Because I read those books, others were recommended to me as things I'd also like. I've picked up over 10 new-to-me authors and series since last summer that are all a direct result of Random House giving me one free book. In each case, I've bought all the books (in ebook form), recommended them in half a dozen places, and bought paperbacks as gifts. We're talking literally hundreds of dollars in sales now--all from one "free" book.
Again, I'm not saying I'm "the norm". What I do believe though is that there is simply no way to tell what the overall ramifications of issuing a free book may be. I don't download every free book that's made available, but I end up buying the complete series for about 80% of those I do obtain and read. And if they're good enough to read, they're good enough to recommend to others--many of whom don't have e-readers.
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