Decided to offer digital editions of my debut novel for free. Here's the explanation I give at the beginning of each of the various editions.
Author’s Note:
This is an electronic edition of my first novel. Although the novel itself is copyrighted and has been assigned an ISBN, I’ve decided to offer the electronic versions for free. You may send this to your friends, print it, pass it around, upload it to torrents, share it at will. All that I ask is that you don’t remove my name from it or edit the contents. There’s no practical way I can enforce that request, so I’m simply asking in good faith.
Why am I offering my novel for free? Well, I’m at a point in my life that I find myself not needing much money. No, I am not rich, nor wealthy. By Western standards I am exceedingly poor. But I have a place to live and food to eat. I could charge for this novel, make a profit, then spend the money on things I don’t really need, but I’d rather just give it away. I am suggesting that, if you enjoy this novel and have a little extra money, you consider donating an amount of your choosing to one of the charitable organizations I support. The organizations are listed on my website, http://matthewmalone.co.cc.
So enjoy the book ( I think it’s pretty funny ) and consider donating.
So that's my reasoning. Right now I have the book available in PDF, ePub, MOBI, HTML, Scribd, and Google Books editions. They're all on my site.
http://matthewmalone.co.cc