Baen release two new free books

[banjomike]

Today, 9th, Baen have two new books in their free library


"Selections from By Blood We Live"
http://www.webscription.net/p-1183-s...d-we-live.aspx

and:

"Selections from The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes"
http://www.webscription.net/p-1184-s...ck-holmes.aspx

both edited by John Joseph Adams

[wallcraft]

These have about 25% of the stories of the full edition, which is ok for free ebooks and is perhaps something that other story collections should try as a marketing tool.

The "also in" links are wrong, because the nightshade versions are the full editions.

[NormHart]

Well, I'm a bit appalled, I hope this does not foreshadow a change in Baen Books Free Library policy.

The Free Library has always featured full books and this is little more than a marketing gimmick. Not a very well thought out one either IMO.

[CraftyDan]

Norm,

I know what you mean, but for compilations, it kinda makes sense. If you've read Eric Flint's introduction to the library, it's clear the library's concept from inception was as a marketing gimmick -- and not a bad one at that. The purpose of the free book library is to give a good, full taste of the writer so you know who's worth buying from.

Case in point: Christopher Anvil

When they first posted his compilations they had 3 total on the shelf . . . 2 of which were in the library. That's 2 out of 3 books they couldn't sell if they tried. They've released (oooh, hadn't seen there's a new one) 3 more since then, and other than the new one, I've bought them all.

My point is, I'd have been hooked on his short stories after 1/2 of the two they gave away, and gladly paid for the second half of the stories. They also would have had a better measure of which authors are better liked -- they'd have had 3 book's sales to gauge, not just 1.

Now if they'd done that to a David Drake novel, I'd have never given it a try, been wholly unsatisfied if I had, and I currently wouldn't be reading one I'd purchased.


If they do this to a novel, I'll completely agree. Without a full story, how do I know the author has the ability to wrap it up? If they only split up compilations of short stories and novellas, you still get a full taste of the author and series AND they'll get a sale only if you like it.

I don't see how this isn't a win-win.

Dan <><

[mtravellerh]

I am a long time fan of BAEN myself but I am also a bit underwhelmed by this strange change of politics!

[Riocaz]

I may be missing something but at least one of those books isn't a "Baen" title. It's a Nightshade books title. Up until now hasn't everything in the BFL, been Baen through and through? Or have I just not noticed before?

I know Nightshade are one of the other publishers involved in webscriptions but as I understood it they are otherwise a seperate entity to Baen .

[mtravellerh]

Originally Posted by Riocaz

I may be missing something but at least one of those books isn't a "Baen" title. It's a Nightshade books title. Up until now hasn't everything in the BFL, been Baen through and through? Or have I just not noticed before?

I know Nightshade are one of the other publishers involved in webscriptions but as I understood it they are otherwise a seperate entity to Baen .

Jeffrey (A. Carver)'s books are e-reads Books. This is also a separate entity from BAEN!

[Riocaz]

Ahh so I just missed it then.

[NormHart]

Originally Posted by Riocaz

I may be missing something but at least one of those books isn't a "Baen" title. It's a Nightshade books title. Up until now hasn't everything in the BFL, been Baen through and through? Or have I just not noticed before?

I know Nightshade are one of the other publishers involved in webscriptions but as I understood it they are otherwise a seperate entity to Baen .

Ah, of course.
Nightshade has had a different marketing scheme within the Webscription umbrella all along. It makes sense that what appears to be their first entry into the "Free Library" venue would carry their own style. (Edit; based on that I went ahead and added The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes to my next months planned purchases.)

@ CraftyDan I'm not sure I follow you in regards to Anvil, in looking at the ebooks offered they both seem to be in the size range of a full ebook (~500KB - 1,100KB) (591Kb & 772KB for the free ebooks) where as the samples from Nightshade are in the ~250KB area. While Flint could have combined the two Interstellar Patrol ebooks it would have been a monster.

[CraftyDan]

My overall argument is that the Free book library is there for us to get a taste of the authors. In the case of compilations, a sampling of the volume meets this goal because a reader has enough to measure if they like the author or not. For Novels, that simply doesn't work.

I agree that Flint did a good job in editing the IP 1 & 2 books into marketable volumes, but that's beside the point. My point was that a preview version of IP 1 and Pandora's Legions likely would have sold more books, because it could still convince readers to buy the unread books AND the full versions of the sample books. In my case, I'd have paid more for the stories, and been just as satisfied.

The Baen's Free Library isn't there as an altruistic effort to provide the world with free book content. It's there to convince us that the authors within are or are not worth the cost of the next book. As I said before, it's a marketing gimmick, and a good one at that.

Again, if Baen, or any of their new marketing partners publish half a novel, novella, or splits a book right in the middle of a short story, I'll completely agree that they've lost the point. Instead, complaints I hear voiced about only getting part of a compilation imply that it's the complainers that have missed the point.

Don't throw the baby out with the bath water, especially if the bathwater isn't even dirty.


Dan <><

[NormHart]

Ah, now I see what you are saying, Dan, and I have to disagree.

Baen Books offers free sample chapters of all of their ebooks on the purchase page for each ebook, The Baen Free Library, on the other hand, offers free complete ebooks.

The sample chapters are indeed an excellent marketing tool, they are what drew me into ebooks. Well the CD that was included in one of the Baen books I purchased lead me to the site and then the free sample chapters got me buying. What Night Shade Books should have done is follow Baen's example and posted sample chapters on the purchase page of the specific ebooks rather than cluttering up the Free Library with emasculated "ebooks". (oddly I thought I'd follow up and see whether Night Shade had Sample Chapters and they do, although they are only a single chapter. I am at a loss to understand why they thought that offering only marginally better samples would draw new readers, these things do not belong in the Library IMO)

It is interesting to contrast the Baen Free Library approach with the suvudu (Random House) "Free Library" which offers complete ebooks for a limited time and then rotates in new ebooks removing the older ones. More of a rotating sample book offering rather than a Library IMO. TOR is even more confusing occasionally offering free ebooks, or serial episodes of ebooks, while flirting with Baen/Webscriptions. At one time you could purchase ebooks directly from TOR but they seem to have removed those listings now, understandable since the prices were well above the paperback prices let alone the Mass Market prices.

Free is free and it is all good but it is clear that most publishers have no idea what is going on with the emarket and how to best reach their readers.

I believe that Baen's model is superior to any alternates I have seen and I will continue to vote with my pocketbook but I'd rather they hadn't cluttered up the library with this stuff.

[NormHart]

BTW it is probably a good time to remind everyone that Baen Books offers free ebooks to the disabled.

http://www.webscription.net/news.aspx?showarticle=2

This includes, so far as I can tell, their entire catalog of ebooks.

[calvin-c]

Originally Posted by NormHart

Ah, now I see what you are saying, Dan, and I have to disagree.

Baen Books offers free sample chapters of all of their ebooks on the purchase page for each ebook, The Baen Free Library, on the other hand, offers free complete ebooks.

The sample chapters are indeed an excellent marketing tool, they are what drew me into ebooks. Well the CD that was included in one of the Baen books I purchased lead me to the site and then the free sample chapters got me buying. What Night Shade Books should have done is follow Baen's example and posted sample chapters on the purchase page of the specific ebooks rather than cluttering up the Free Library with emasculated "ebooks". (oddly I thought I'd follow up and see whether Night Shade had Sample Chapters and they do, although they are only a single chapter. I am at a loss to understand why they thought that offering only marginally better samples would draw new readers, these things do not belong in the Library IMO)

It is interesting to contrast the Baen Free Library approach with the suvudu (Random House) "Free Library" which offers complete ebooks for a limited time and then rotates in new ebooks removing the older ones. More of a rotating sample book offering rather than a Library IMO. TOR is even more confusing occasionally offering free ebooks, or serial episodes of ebooks, while flirting with Baen/Webscriptions. At one time you could purchase ebooks directly from TOR but they seem to have removed those listings now, understandable since the prices were well above the paperback prices let alone the Mass Market prices.

Free is free and it is all good but it is clear that most publishers have no idea what is going on with the emarket and how to best reach their readers.

I believe that Baen's model is superior to any alternates I have seen and I will continue to vote with my pocketbook but I'd rather they hadn't cluttered up the library with this stuff.

I disagree. At least in the case of anthologies of a single author's work. I routinely ignore sample chapters-they're too much like movie previews, showing the only 5 minutes of interest during the two hour film. Mostly, I base my choice on what I know of the author's work-and the Free Library is one of the best places I've found to get to know new (SF) authors. (2nd best is a used-book store. More often than not I'll pick up my 1st book by an author there, then search out their other books online.)

I do find it strange, though. As with Anvil's work, the 1st 4 volumes of the Belisarius double-trilogy are there. It took me quite a while to get around to reading them as they didn't sound like my cup of tea and I probably wouldn't have started at all if the first couple hadn't been free-but I didn't need to read more than the 1st two volumes before I knew that I just *had* to finish the series.

So I believe that the best use of the Free Library (other than simply as a public service) is to introduce people to new authors, or to new series of known authors, and for that complete stories are, IMO, essential. And whether Baen agrees with me or not, I'm very grateful to them for providing the service.