Quote:
Originally Posted by Peadar Ó Guilín
But in my opinion, his method will only work for as long as the vast majority of readers out there don't have proper e-ink devices. Once that happens, he won't be giving away a sampler any more, a sampler that will never be as good as the real thing: he will be giving away the product itself.
To my mind, that's a whole different situation. At that point in time, he will either find a different way of making those free books pay, or he'll be looking for another job.
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This was my conclusion when I first read Doctorow's comments in this area a year or so ago. I think his observations are probably true for now, but this is changing quickly. At some time in the future, we'll reach a "tipping point" and authors probably won't want to give away entire texts of new books, though older books (e.g. the first in a series) may still be worth giving away to entice new readers, who tend to stick with authors they like once they find them.