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I'd used US public library for audio books and printed novels, and they are free for sure. In this way, I've known some authors that I enjoyed reading/listening very much, and some that I don't like.
Later, when I returned to my home country, I've searched high and low to find books from those authors that I liked. And I actually bought several old series of several authors' books through airport, internet, mail-order and local English book store. Without the free source, I might not be interested in buying any books from those authors.
Free source is just like the advertisement for readers to get to know the author. There's a sea of old and new authors. From the Public Library, I got to know many "old" authors that have been famous in the book world for many years, but to me, they are just new authors like any other new budding authors.
The decision of buying new printed books depends on several factors:
(1) the desire to know the story immediately(these reader would buy hard cover copy instead of waiting for a cheaper paperback, in this case, free ebook might not be a good idea)
(2) the desire to own the "physical" book (ebook won't influence the sale)
(3) the desire to read the book but doesn't like to read in e-form (like most of my friends).
(4) do I really want to read the book or doing something else, such as watching movie/TV, play games, or else?
It is undeniable that less and less people are reading seriously, and less and less people are buying books.
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