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On the issue of the efficacy of free offerings:
When I started publishing my fantasy trilogy on Smashwords in 2010, I used the "pay what you want" option. Other sites like Barnes and Noble posted those books at $4.95 each, since they don't offer the same option. I sold about half a dozen copies of the first two volumes per month. My Smashwords sales were about evenly divided between those who paid a buck or two and those who paid nothing. I even sold a few copies at the $5 rate at B&N.
When I decided to add the books to the Kindle store, I lowered the price of the first book to free and set the second book (and the third, when it was done) to $2.99 at all sites. The first book got about six thousand downloads in the first month and has settled down to about a thousand a month now. The big thing for me is that it definitely has driven sales of the later books in the series. I'm now selling 40-50 copies a month and I believe it's definitely related to having the first one being free. Even with free samples easily accessible, I think readers like having the ability to try an entire work without any risk or commitment.
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