Are free books good quality?

[James_Wilde]

Originally Posted by DavidKitson

If it was easier to find a publisher - if it was easier to follow that process - I would most certainly consider it over self publishing. Like most new writers, I don't even know how to effectively approach this problem. Most of us feel that it's like stumbling through the dark with both feet tied together. You get nowhere fast and you still get hurt in the process.

<snip>

So why did I self-publish? Because the barriers to finding a publisher otherwise are too high and because I'm really not very strong at that part of the process.

And maybe a little bit because I'd rather that someone reads my work and enjoys it than it sit hidden until forgotten. After all, I write for the enjoyment.

I like to think I might make money one day, but if not, I will self publish. I do what I can to address my own self-myopia and participate extensively in critting circles at different stages of development. I learn new writing skills and expose these to the same process.

I won't pretend I'm going to be famous because I probably won't be. But in 10 days, I've had 600 e-book downloads. It's hardly a bestseller and no doubt the price plays an important part in that, but hey! I'm stoked, I really am. So that really reinforces the experience for me. ( Does anyone know the typical rate of downloads for e-books? )

I'm with David (Kitson) 100% on this part of his post. Well, 99% since in my case it's agents and not publishers that I have been contacting. And still will, even though I've chosen the self-publish route in the meantime. OK, then, 98% since I've not had 600 downloads in 10 days.

The thing is I have three film scripts sitting in a drawer. Two of them have been touted on both sides of the Atlantic without success, and now they're gathering dust in a drawer, and I stumble over them now and again when I have a tidy-up.

I'm touting my first book at the same time as I'm writing the second. It's been to half a dozen agents already. But the difference between a book and a film script is that it doesn't have to sit in a drawer and gather dust. I can self-publish a book whilst I wait to be "recognized", and maybe someone will have as much fun reading it as I had writing it - several people have already. I can't create a full-length film and upload it to YouTube.

But as David says, the threshold to getting an agent or publisher is just too high.

Originally Posted by neilmarr

What I can't and won't do, though, is to even hint that because a book is self-published and offered freely or cheaply and without professional editorial input means that it is necessarily unworthy. I have read self-published work that has impressed me greatly and traditionally produced books that have not.

Of course, Neil. Let's face it, every book you've ever published can be classed as self-published - admittedly for one reader, you - until you take it under your wing. That's just it, it's the work that has impressed you greatly that you have published.

[Lemurion]

In my experience, free books are of equal quality as other books from the same source.

Baen's free books and Amazon's commercially published freebies are of the same quality as any commercially published novel. Some good, some bad, but all showing at least basic competence.

Self-published freebies are another thing entirely. The good ones are as good as anything else on the market, the bad ones are really bad. It's a slush pile and not everyone wants to wade through slush. Commercially published books are generally better, because someone's already gone through and weeded out all the absolute garbage.

[Vandy]

Hello, All.

I've spent a good deal of time reading through this thread and thoughtfully reflecting on the good replies (as well as the satirical, obviously obtuse, I's "my way or the highway", etc. type of replies...) and have very much enjoyed the discussion thus far.

I consider myself an amateur writer (good, bad or indifferent notwithstanding) of poetry, prose and short stories. Someday, I'll write my novel. (Probably the same day my ship and / or prince(ss) comes in.)

The point I'd like to make is from the reader's view. When I pick up a book to read (be it paper or electronic), I am not concerned with how much it cost, it cover and binding, the weight of the paper, etc. My chief and only interest is in the content. I've read some very expensive books and thought to myself what a waste of time. I've read many free books that I would put miles ahead of well-known works by well known authors.

To me, it's the subject matter and the story. It doesn't matter if the book is free or for sale, it's the way in which the text grabs my interest and keeps it; the way I read a passage and am instantly transported into the scene set by the author. Without a story to tweak the reader's interest, all you have are a bunch of words on a page.

In conclusion, I want to thank every author who has gone through the painful process of taking an idea from their brain and committing it to paper. I very much appreciate you and all of the effort you've made to provide us the provocative, thought-provoking and entertaining books on which our minds can gloriously feast!

Thank you, authors, for making my life that much better.

Regards,

[Redcard]

I tend to not treat free books any differently than any other writing out there. I approach them, generally, as I approach all books. This is a modified Nancy Pearl approach. I tend to try to read around 10%-20% of the work. If it has me hooked, I continue. If it does not, I move on to something else.

Free or cost, it doesn't matter. If I hit the 10% mark, I ask myself if I want to continue. If I hit the 20% , I force myself to either put it down, or continue. I've read all fiction this way. Fan fiction, free fiction, pay fiction. Serials, Baen books, Asimov's Science Fiction, whatever. It doesn't matter to me.

[screwballl]

Originally Posted by Redcard

I tend to not treat free books any differently than any other writing out there. I approach them, generally, as I approach all books. This is a modified Nancy Pearl approach. I tend to try to read around 10%-20% of the work. If it has me hooked, I continue. If it does not, I move on to something else.

Free or cost, it doesn't matter. If I hit the 10% mark, I ask myself if I want to continue. If I hit the 20% , I force myself to either put it down, or continue. I've read all fiction this way. Fan fiction, free fiction, pay fiction. Serials, Baen books, Asimov's Science Fiction, whatever. It doesn't matter to me.

That is pretty much how I am. I have put plenty of seemingly good books down from a major author that just never kept my attention or the writing was just there as if they were going through the motions of their 20th book without any real story or catch to it. Others started slow and I kept reading knowing that it will get better, and sure enough halfway through it picked up and really took off... This happens with free, paid, shared or lended books, so cost is not an impact, it is reading material that affects whether I continue to read.

[Joykins]

Publisher promotional freebies generally reflect the quality profile of that genre or publisher--that is, some will be bad, but it's the quality of bad that you might otherwise pay for before discovering; and some if it just won't be your cup of tea. But since they're promotional, they're of a quality such that the publisher might reasonably hope to hook some new fans in. That is, I'm not into human-alien slugfests, so I might avoid certain offerings by Baen. On the other hand, Baen has Bujold freebies, which are some of my favorite books ever. And Lackey. And Moon...

Self-pubbed freebies -- I avoid these unless the author's previously published somewhere before or I've heard something good about it. Some of them can be good but I've chosen not to search for a needle in that particular haystack myself.

[The Terminator]

It depends on were you get them from, if you get them from Kobo, Sony or Kindle they will be just as good as the ones you buy, so great quality. books from feed-books are fairly good they give you the book cover, the one downside is page count it sometimes will say one page and it will actually be two page turns, project Gutenberg is still pretty good but you don't get the cover and they still have the same downside as feed-books, so if you can, get them from the the kobo sony or kindle store. Hope this helps

[darknessangel]

For me... all books are free! =D

[Redcard]

Originally Posted by darknessangel

For me... all books are free! =D

Well, some of us don't pirate books :P Or read only free books.