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Originally Posted by J. Strnad
In a sense, we are already buying ebooks on a "donation" basis.
I've used before the public radio analogy. Anyone can listen for free, so why does anyone donate? Because a certain percentage of people recognize that without support, the programs they like go away.
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I agree and think as far as public radio goes, it's more than that. The pledge drives usually have various "gifts" based on the donation amount related to the program airing at that particular time. NPR (in the US) does a really good job of communicating value, and the people that donate (myself included) do so because they like the programming (a positive), not necessarily because it might go away (a negative). Sometimes the amount they donate is influenced by the "gift" offered.
Quote:
Originally Posted by J. Strnad
My book is DRM-free. Theoretically, a single copy sold can become a million or a hundred million ebooks overnight given away free to family and friends in a never-ending spiral (until everyone has a copy).
Yet, my sales continue to go up every month. Why? Because word of mouth is good and there are many, many people out there who do "donate" to my efforts.
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So you've made your book easy to use/read and people like your work enough to recommend it to others. Sounds like a home run.
Have you experimented with different pricing levels? If so, what were the results?
Quote:
Originally Posted by J. Strnad
But I believe that if you have good ideas and can write decently, enough people are out there to support you. You just have to find them.
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I agree, but think its more a matter of readers finding you. Continuing to build your readership and producing quality work is a recipe for success.
And you need a donate button(s) as Giggleton suggested. Maybe you'll get some ideas for different donation levels the next time you listen to a pledge drive. I think one cool donation level could be where you incorporate donor(s) into your short stories set in your universe. I think for a fan of the genre, that would be way better than dining with an author (but you could offer that as well.)