Quote:
Originally Posted by Kumabjorn
My point, albeit not eloquently expressed, was that if an author provides a new book for free, either for a time span, but more likely a limited number of downloads, and as a proviso has stated that shis (is that gender neutral enough?) intention is to receive reader input on the material, then I can decide if I want to download it and provide that input, or pass on the offer.
To me it is a little like being a beta tester of new software. You get to test it before anyone else, with warts and all, and hopefully your discoveries will help make it a better product. Hence, I see the author's free download offer as a second draft, on the brink of being publishable, but in dire need of some extra eyes to kill of those last beloved darlings that need to go.
However, if I paid for the pleasure of reading the text, then I totally agree, I have absolutely no other obligation than to myself and my delectable interest in the text. Even to the extent that the book after five pages or so may find itself the dogged victim of the digital dustbin.
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I am also someone who gives up on novels that aren't entertaining me rather than finishing them out of some misguided sense of duty or whatever. I know people who always finish a book no matter what, but my time is more precious than that, and there are plenty of great books out there. Don't get me started on my TBR piles, both print and electronic.
Your beta testing idea is actually pretty interesting, but my issue with the concept of offering a free download of a
published book in exchange for it is that this kind of thing will only add to the already growing pool of of crappy ebook originals out there. (Before anyone jumps down my throat for this comment, please know that I was the first kid on the block with an e-reader, I've been buying and enjoying ebook originals for a long time, and I may very well publish some of my own if my backlist ebooks continue to sell well. But we all know it's a crap shoot in terms of quality. Of course, it is with traditionally published books as well, but the proportion of drek is lower there.)
Whenever ebooks, free or not, are published without having been thoroughly edited first, it reflects poorly on e-publishing as a whole. We need to be encouraging quality, authorial pride, and a professional approach to self-publishing. Inviting people to publish second drafts isn't the way to do it.
However, it is an interesting concept. Novelists often have beta readers--trusted friends and colleagues or even readers we've come to know and respect--who read our manuscripts before we send them off to the publisher. Writers who are self-publishing ebook originals may not have access to these kinds of people, in which case a beta-reading clearinghouse might serve that function--an online venue where beta readers could be matched up with authors. They get free books and the authors get guaranteed feedback. Kind of like your idea, but without presenting the book as a "published novel."
Pat