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My overall argument is that the Free book library is there for us to get a taste of the authors. In the case of compilations, a sampling of the volume meets this goal because a reader has enough to measure if they like the author or not. For Novels, that simply doesn't work.
I agree that Flint did a good job in editing the IP 1 & 2 books into marketable volumes, but that's beside the point. My point was that a preview version of IP 1 and Pandora's Legions likely would have sold more books, because it could still convince readers to buy the unread books AND the full versions of the sample books. In my case, I'd have paid more for the stories, and been just as satisfied.
The Baen's Free Library isn't there as an altruistic effort to provide the world with free book content. It's there to convince us that the authors within are or are not worth the cost of the next book. As I said before, it's a marketing gimmick, and a good one at that.
Again, if Baen, or any of their new marketing partners publish half a novel, novella, or splits a book right in the middle of a short story, I'll completely agree that they've lost the point. Instead, complaints I hear voiced about only getting part of a compilation imply that it's the complainers that have missed the point.
Don't throw the baby out with the bath water, especially if the bathwater isn't even dirty.
Dan <><
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