Hi, I'm interested in what fellow authors and readers think about e-book pricing. I recently published a collection of short stories via Smashwords. My primary intention - based on the assumption that I was never going to earn enough royalties to make a living - was simply to get my work out there, perhaps build a little following to set things up for a bigger response to future, more significant works, ie a novel. I priced my book at a rather nominal USD2.99, but soon came to the conclusion that having a handful of extra dollars in my pocket was nothing compared to having no dollars but literally hundreds of extra readers. So I made it free and overnight, in terms of download statistics, it took off. I just wondered what others thought about this conundrum. Do too many of us fall for the illusion of short-term gain? Shouldn't we as authors be using e-books effectively to promote our talents, rather than simply to try to do a hard sell on them? I love that hundreds of people are reading my book. I'll happily sacrifice a few dollars for that.
Oh, since you asked
:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/22744
"Porn stars and serial killers, Nazis and nymphomaniacs, hunchbacks and bare-knuckle boxers: just a few of the disparate cast of characters who call the remote moorland community of Fryupdale their home. These 18 short stories reveal the unflinching truths behind their lonely, sad and sometimes hilarious lives - and why the world beyond village limits will always seem so distant."
fryupdale.blogspot.com