Quote:
Originally Posted by leebase
Yes, I'm an Eric Flint fan because of his free books. And David Weber. And John Ringo. Yes, sometimes I have disposable income that I'm inclined to spend on books. And yes, those three are now authors I could choose to spend that money on. But not if they always give their books away free. Then I start to wonder why I should spend my limited money buying their book, when I can buy a Tor or Ace book that I also want to read, and then read the Baen book a month or two from now -- for free?
Lee
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While there is a small overlap in the middle, people who buy ebooks and people who download them for free are two entirely separate markets. Just like people who buy new hardbacks and people who buy second hand paperbacks. If people who want the free ones couldn't get them directly from the publisher they would get them somewhere else instead. Getting them direct from the publisher allows the publisher to advertise products to them that aren't free (either on the site or within the free product). By having them on the publisher site they are also a lot less likely to appear on torrent sites because there would be less prestige in pirating something that was already free (though I'm sure they are).