Quote:
Originally Posted by starrigger
So I put it to you folks: If you download a free ebook, and assuming you actually read it and like it, what are the chances that you'll pick up a paper copy of it, either for your own library, or to give as a gift to someone else? Do you talk it up and recommend it to friends? Are there less obvious ways in which you support the authors of books you like?
|
For my own library, pretty much zero, unless it's a truly epic story that I fell in love with and want to own a hard copy of, in which case I'd buy the hardcover version, not the paperback.
It's possibly I'd buy it for someone else. I don't have many friends who read so the chance of this is also small but in theory I'd do it.
I like the offer-one-free-and-charge-for-the-rest method. You could also maybe offer just the first chapter free or something like that to split the difference.
I think there are two kinds of people: one is the kind who actually appreciate the work authors do and are willing to pay whatever they can afford for it, even if it's in the form of small donations. The other kind is cheap and getting any money out of them will be like getting blood from a stone. I think somehow you have to weed out the second type without scaring off the first type.