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Originally Posted by starrigger
And that, indeed, is the theory behind giving away ebooks to promote the tree-books. Which was what got me going on this whole enterprise, initially.
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This theory ... which Cory Doctorow explains in his introduction to the electronic version of
Little Brother
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Originally Posted by Cory Doctorow
What's more, I don't see ebooks as substitute for paper books for most people. It's not that the screens aren't good enough, either: if you're anything like me, you already spend every hour you can get in front of the screen, reading text. But the more computer-literate you are, the less likely you are to be reading long-form works on those screens — that's because computer-literate people do more things with their computers. We run IM and email and we use the browser in a million diverse ways. We have games running in the background, and endless opportunities to tinker with our music libraries. The more you do with your computer, the more likely it is that you'll be interrupted after five to seven minutes to do something else. That makes the computer extremely poorly suited to reading long-form works off of, unless you have the iron self-discipline of a monk.
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So ebooks sell print books. Every writer I've heard of who's tried giving away ebooks to promote paper books has come back to do it again. That's the commercial case for doing free ebooks.
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And, if I only had a PC on which to read electronic books, I'd agree with Doctorow. But, technology has come up with a viable substitute for paper with the hand-held readers. Those of us who have adopted this technology now look at free eBooks differently. For us, they aren't a come-on to the print/paper books. For us, they *can* be a come-on to purchasing books in electronic formats -- if they are available. So it's not encumbent upon the authors and publishers to see that among the other formats -- hardback, trade paperback, mass-market paperback -- they bring books out for the electronic readers.