Anyone try a shareware model?

JeremyR · 03-18-2011, 07:04 AM

I did find a post from 2 years about this. But I'm curious about any other experiences.

The proofreading and editing of my first novel is almost done. I was looking at Smashwords, but it seems like it would be a lot more work getting it into something they would accept (as opposed to an Epub that I can make myself) and it seems like most titles there sell very poorly, so probably not worth the dozens of hours of effort.

Same goes for Amazon. Even though I've made dozens of books for my kindle (including this one dozens of times, that's how I proofread it), they insist on doing it their own way...

So it would be much easier to just release the epub and mobi versions in various spots and hope people read it and like it enough to send something. Or just read it.

Then again, years ago when I was out of college and still knew how to program, I tried making a couple of shareware programs. Thousands of downloads, exactly 1 buyer (whose check I kept as a memento, instead of cashing). But I guess all authors secretly hope they'll be a huge success, even though they know they'll be lucky to get 10 people to read it.

And also, especially for the Epub version, what's to keep someone from just editing the file and changing the address for Paypal?

jbcohen · 03-18-2011, 07:49 AM

I have been using a shareware model for many years at home and frequently here in the office. My office, here in the US Government uses shareware frequently as the shareware terms makes more sense, the government can test the software to see if it adds anything before any checks are cut. Although we tend to perferr freeware: 1) less work to be done on the software, as we do not need to test it at all, if it does not help anything the office simply deletes the software but if its helps then great; 2) It's a lot more cost effective to the taxpayers as free means fewer tax dollars are spent. More dollars saved means less the department needs in taxes.

mr ploppy · 03-18-2011, 08:01 AM

I serialise mine on a website and ask for donations. I've had one so far, which is enough for me to think I'm not just wasting my time. What you would need to go down that route would be some incentive for people to donate. Extra content, or something else that they would think was worth having. I don't think just holding your hand out and scratching yourself is going to work.

I'm thinking of free ebook versions for donators, available as soon as the story starts being serialised, and maybe more cliff-hanger chapter endings. So anyone who doesn't want to wait until next week can pay and read straight away. But once a story is over on the website the ebook version can go on the pirate sites and hopefully draw in people to the website for the next one.

My main problem is my target audience only likes analogue books. Most of them still buy vinyl records.

MartinC · 03-18-2011, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeremyR

Then again, years ago when I was out of college and still knew how to program, I tried making a couple of shareware programs. Thousands of downloads, exactly 1 buyer (whose check I kept as a memento, instead of cashing). But I guess all authors secretly hope they'll be a huge success, even though they know they'll be lucky to get 10 people to read it.

This has been my experience with ebooks. Thousands of downloads, one payment. It's difficult even to judge the quality of the downloads - are people actually reading the book, or will they download anything that's free?

Has anybody tried out the Flattr model for donations? This is quite ingenious because you have to donate to someone else before you can receive any donations yourself - a sort of community of people showing their appreciation for one another with little bits of cash.

Steven Lyle Jordan · 03-18-2011, 09:23 AM

Stephen King's "The Plant" experiment was basically a shareware model that bombed incredibly (though the high set price of the material surely had a lot to do with it). I believe Jeffrey Carver may have had better luck getting donations for his books, but I couldn't say whether he made a "significant" amount from those donations. (Jeffrey? You there?)

By request from a patron, I put in a donation button, and received exactly one donation... from the patron. This, with (at the time) three free products on my site.

There are obviously exceptions to every rule, but in general, you'll find the shareware model does not work for ebooks because most ebook readers are just not that charitable.

mr ploppy · 03-18-2011, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

There are obviously exceptions to every rule, but in general, you'll find the shareware model does not work for ebooks because most ebook readers are just not that charitable.

I think it's more a case of people being used to stuff on the internet being free. The newspapers are having similar problems with getting people to pay for online content. And those are household names, not the likes of us.

altworld · 03-18-2011, 11:19 AM

I'm trying to understand something here.

You've gone to all the trouble of getting your novel to the point you want to publish it, but you can't go the extra step to format to be accepted?

The Smashwords style guide actually gives you a pretty decent manuscript that is very eReader friendly once your done. I use it to format all my work, then kick if over to the Smashwords meatgrinder, Pubit converter and Kindle converter. Zero problems with all formats, its clean and readable, which in the end is what you want it to be.

I say, don't get precious about it, eBooks are a lot different to publish than traditional print you simply have to let go of all your fancy formatting. Remember it may look amazing on your screen, but it might look like crud on a handheld device like an iPhone.
Arigato,
Nick Davis

starrigger · 03-18-2011, 12:50 PM

Steven pointed me toward this thread.

First of all, what Nick said about formatting for the SW style requirements. I have found the SW guide to be an excellent checklist for producing a quality ebook in various formats. Since I started my own Kindle/Pubit/SW publishing experiment a few months ago, I've taken to putting book files into SW-ready state before I do anything else with them. Then I commit the Word doc to the meatgrinder for SW, but I use Calibre to build proper ebook files for upload to Kindle and Pubit. Even if you don't use SW, you'd be wise to follow their guide for document preparation.

As for the question about donations for free books, my experience has been a little different. For about two years, I had half a dozen books up for free, with encouragement to donate. (Keep in mind, these were books that already had a publishing track record; they'd all been published in paper by Tor, and thus had reviews and a web presence, etc.) I did receive donations, some quite generous. I'd say I totaled $1-2K per year, for the two years. I still get one once in a while. But it was clear only a very small percentage of people who downloaded actually donated. There was also some payback in the form of purchases of my other ebooks.

I largely discontinued the free downloads last fall, in favor of low-priced editions through Pubit, Kindle, and SW. I'm earning a lot more through those sales than I did through donations. But again, these books already had a presence online. As to whether the tens of thousands of free downloads helped or hurt the sales of the current editions, I can only guess.

03-18-2011, 07:04 AM	#1
JeremyR Guru Posts: 973 Karma: 2458402 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: St. Louis Device: Kindle Keyboard, Nook HD+	Anyone try a shareware model? I did find a post from 2 years about this. But I'm curious about any other experiences. The proofreading and editing of my first novel is almost done. I was looking at Smashwords, but it seems like it would be a lot more work getting it into something they would accept (as opposed to an Epub that I can make myself) and it seems like most titles there sell very poorly, so probably not worth the dozens of hours of effort. Same goes for Amazon. Even though I've made dozens of books for my kindle (including this one dozens of times, that's how I proofread it), they insist on doing it their own way... So it would be much easier to just release the epub and mobi versions in various spots and hope people read it and like it enough to send something. Or just read it. Then again, years ago when I was out of college and still knew how to program, I tried making a couple of shareware programs. Thousands of downloads, exactly 1 buyer (whose check I kept as a memento, instead of cashing). But I guess all authors secretly hope they'll be a huge success, even though they know they'll be lucky to get 10 people to read it. And also, especially for the Epub version, what's to keep someone from just editing the file and changing the address for Paypal?

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03-18-2011, 07:49 AM	#2
jbcohen Wizard Posts: 3,030 Karma: 11196738 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Where am I? Device: Kindle Paperwhite Signature edition and a Samsung S24 Ultra	I have been using a shareware model for many years at home and frequently here in the office. My office, here in the US Government uses shareware frequently as the shareware terms makes more sense, the government can test the software to see if it adds anything before any checks are cut. Although we tend to perferr freeware: 1) less work to be done on the software, as we do not need to test it at all, if it does not help anything the office simply deletes the software but if its helps then great; 2) It's a lot more cost effective to the taxpayers as free means fewer tax dollars are spent. More dollars saved means less the department needs in taxes.

03-18-2011, 08:01 AM	#3
mr ploppy Feral Underclass Posts: 3,622 Karma: 26821535 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Yorkshire, tha noz Device: 2nd hand paperback	I serialise mine on a website and ask for donations. I've had one so far, which is enough for me to think I'm not just wasting my time. What you would need to go down that route would be some incentive for people to donate. Extra content, or something else that they would think was worth having. I don't think just holding your hand out and scratching yourself is going to work. I'm thinking of free ebook versions for donators, available as soon as the story starts being serialised, and maybe more cliff-hanger chapter endings. So anyone who doesn't want to wait until next week can pay and read straight away. But once a story is over on the website the ebook version can go on the pirate sites and hopefully draw in people to the website for the next one. My main problem is my target audience only likes analogue books. Most of them still buy vinyl records.

03-18-2011, 09:23 AM	#5
Steven Lyle Jordan Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,478 Karma: 5171130 Join Date: Jan 2006 Device: none	Stephen King's "The Plant" experiment was basically a shareware model that bombed incredibly (though the high set price of the material surely had a lot to do with it). I believe Jeffrey Carver may have had better luck getting donations for his books, but I couldn't say whether he made a "significant" amount from those donations. (Jeffrey? You there?) By request from a patron, I put in a donation button, and received exactly one donation... from the patron. This, with (at the time) three free products on my site. There are obviously exceptions to every rule, but in general, you'll find the shareware model does not work for ebooks because most ebook readers are just not that charitable.

03-18-2011, 11:19 AM	#7
altworld Evangelist Posts: 495 Karma: 746472 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Deep in Maryland Device: Android G1	I'm trying to understand something here. You've gone to all the trouble of getting your novel to the point you want to publish it, but you can't go the extra step to format to be accepted? The Smashwords style guide actually gives you a pretty decent manuscript that is very eReader friendly once your done. I use it to format all my work, then kick if over to the Smashwords meatgrinder, Pubit converter and Kindle converter. Zero problems with all formats, its clean and readable, which in the end is what you want it to be. I say, don't get precious about it, eBooks are a lot different to publish than traditional print you simply have to let go of all your fancy formatting. Remember it may look amazing on your screen, but it might look like crud on a handheld device like an iPhone. Arigato, Nick Davis

03-18-2011, 12:50 PM	#8
starrigger Jeffrey A. Carver Posts: 1,355 Karma: 1107383 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Massachusetts, USA Device: Lenovo Yoga Tab Plus, Droid phone, Nook HD+	Steven pointed me toward this thread. First of all, what Nick said about formatting for the SW style requirements. I have found the SW guide to be an excellent checklist for producing a quality ebook in various formats. Since I started my own Kindle/Pubit/SW publishing experiment a few months ago, I've taken to putting book files into SW-ready state before I do anything else with them. Then I commit the Word doc to the meatgrinder for SW, but I use Calibre to build proper ebook files for upload to Kindle and Pubit. Even if you don't use SW, you'd be wise to follow their guide for document preparation. As for the question about donations for free books, my experience has been a little different. For about two years, I had half a dozen books up for free, with encouragement to donate. (Keep in mind, these were books that already had a publishing track record; they'd all been published in paper by Tor, and thus had reviews and a web presence, etc.) I did receive donations, some quite generous. I'd say I totaled $1-2K per year, for the two years. I still get one once in a while. But it was clear only a very small percentage of people who downloaded actually donated. There was also some payback in the form of purchases of my other ebooks. I largely discontinued the free downloads last fall, in favor of low-priced editions through Pubit, Kindle, and SW. I'm earning a lot more through those sales than I did through donations. But again, these books already had a presence online. As to whether the tens of thousands of free downloads helped or hurt the sales of the current editions, I can only guess.