Do free eBooks affect sales? - Page 2

RobertJSawyer · 07-11-2008, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pshrynk

Rob's a member? Cool! Anyone know his screen name?

Hee hee. Yup, I'm a member. I vist every day -- just don't post much. My screen name is RobertJSawyer (a clever disguise, I admit!). And, as others have noted, there's a long (and mostly skeptical) discussion on this same topic over in my blog right here.

(The comments section there includes messages from John Scalzi and Tobias Buckell.)

Cheers,

Rob

===

ROBERT J. SAWYER, Science Fiction Writer
*** Hugo Award winner for HOMINIDS ***
http://sfwriter.com * sawyer@sfwriter.com

pshrynk · 07-11-2008, 01:31 PM

Wow. I'm responsible for more than 10% of Rob's postings to MR. I'm honored. Not humbled, because that would take some doing, but honored.

Nate the great · 07-12-2008, 04:34 PM

BTW, Charles Stross is also here occasionally.

Cthulhu · 09-01-2008, 01:34 PM

Does anyone know if the Creative Commons license under which Mr. Stross has released his work--other than Accelerando allows for the work to be changed from an on-line form into something more palatable for a SONY PRS-500?

I would much rather run the web pages through calibre and read it on my e-ink book than on my laptop.

Lemurion · 09-01-2008, 02:31 PM

I think Eric Flint has conclusively proved that giving away free eBooks can have a positive effect on paperback sales. However this does not mean it will always have a positive effect, and raises another question.

How much of the increase in sales comes from publicizing the free giveaway rather than giving away the book? Obscurity is the biggest enemy of any writer, and it may be that writers who relentlessly push their free books online are reaping the rewards of self-promotion rather than the specific rewards of giving away books.

Time to wait until all the numbers are in and then see what happens.

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07-11-2008, 01:31 PM	#17
pshrynk Beepbeep n beebeep, yeah! Posts: 11,726 Karma: 8255450 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: La Crosse, Wisconsin, aka America's IceBox Device: iThingie, KmkII, I miss Zelda!	Wow. I'm responsible for more than 10% of Rob's postings to MR. I'm honored. Not humbled, because that would take some doing, but honored.

07-12-2008, 04:34 PM	#18
Nate the great Sir Penguin of Edinburgh Posts: 12,375 Karma: 23555235 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: DC Metro area Device: Shake a stick plus 1	BTW, Charles Stross is also here occasionally.

09-01-2008, 01:34 PM	#19
Cthulhu Technologist Posts: 488 Karma: 585237 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: I'm between Cities Device: SONY Reader PRS-500	Does anyone know if the Creative Commons license under which Mr. Stross has released his work--other than Accelerando allows for the work to be changed from an on-line form into something more palatable for a SONY PRS-500? I would much rather run the web pages through calibre and read it on my e-ink book than on my laptop.

09-01-2008, 02:31 PM	#20
Lemurion eReader Posts: 2,750 Karma: 4968470 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Note 5; PW3; Nook HD+; ChuWi Hi12; iPad	I think Eric Flint has conclusively proved that giving away free eBooks can have a positive effect on paperback sales. However this does not mean it will always have a positive effect, and raises another question. How much of the increase in sales comes from publicizing the free giveaway rather than giving away the book? Obscurity is the biggest enemy of any writer, and it may be that writers who relentlessly push their free books online are reaping the rewards of self-promotion rather than the specific rewards of giving away books. Time to wait until all the numbers are in and then see what happens.

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