What do you think of free series openers?

[ownedbycats]

A quite common thing I've seen on both Kindle and Kobo (there's an entire section for it!) is for an author to make the first book of a series available for free, presumably to draw readers in and make them want to buy others.

So, what are your thoughts on these? Do you have any you'd particularly recommend?

My thoughts: Personally, I find them a bit of a mixed bag. Not quite Sturgeon's law but not far from it either.

[Quoth]

It seems like pot-luck as to the quality. Can be junk or brilliant, but about 10 to 30 minutes reading will tell. Less if really bad, or not your thing.

[haertig]

I guess free series openers are better than pay series openers.

Generally I don't buy into many series until they are finished. But not always. Some I will jump into once they have a few books completed and have good reviews. I can't think of any series I have invested in on the first book. Sometimes I have gotten the first book of a series when there are no other books yet, but that's only when it's ... free. So I guess it is a reasonable marketing technique, it works on me! How many of these "free first books" have I actually read? Hmmm ... I'm thinking somewhere near zero. But maybe I read one once and have forgotten.

[drofgnal]

Originally Posted by haertig

I guess free series openers are better than pay series openers.

Generally I don't buy into many series until they are finished. But not always. Some I will jump into once they have a few books completed and have good reviews. I can't think of any series I have invested in on the first book. Sometimes I have gotten the first book of a series when there are no other books yet, but that's only when it's ... free. So I guess it is a reasonable marketing technique, it works on me! How many of these "free first books" have I actually read? Hmmm ... I'm thinking somewhere near zero. But maybe I read one once and have forgotten.

Yes, this. GMM and Game of Thrones taught me to wait for a series to finish. I wasted so much time on GMM.

[issybird]

Back in the day, I picked up a lot of free first in series books, but they were all tradpubbed. It wouldn’t work for me as a come-on for an indie series, where I think Sturgeon’s law is too generous.

I’m generalizing, but I think there’s an aspect of people valuing paid-for books more and there are so many freebies out there that clicking on yet one more only adds to the eclutter of books that will never be read. Many here got over free books for just that reason. Moreover, I think it’s a tired strategy; it worked for Hugh Howey but too many try it now for it to be effective. There’s still the problem of differentiating a series from all the other free first book indie series out there.

Admittedly, I’m not in the market for that kind of book anyway.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by drofgnal

Yes, this. GMM and Game of Thrones taught me to wait for a series to finish. I wasted so much time on GMM.

Or Wheel of Time?

Series where each book is relatively standalone are OK; cliffhangers are not except in a book?

[Apache]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Or Wheel of Time?

Series where each book is relatively standalone are OK; cliffhangers are not except in a book?

Authors of books that end in cliff hangers should........to be continued in the next post......eventually.
Apache

[issybird]

Originally Posted by drofgnal

Yes, this. GMM and Game of Thrones taught me to wait for a series to finish. I wasted so much time on GMM.

If everyone waited for a series to finish, there’d be no series.

Why was your time wasted? If you enjoyed them at the time, why wasn’t that good enough? For me, time wasted is when I continue with a series that no longer holds my interest. GoT is a good example; I wish I’d stopped after the third book.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Or Wheel of Time?

Series where each book is relatively standalone are OK; cliffhangers are not except in a book?

I once bought (not free) a series opener that literally cut off in the middle of the action. Not only did it put me off the rest of the series, but it made me decide to avoid the author's other books.

[haertig]

Originally Posted by haertig

Generally I don't buy into many series until they are finished.

Playing devil's advocate against my own post here ...

There are so many series that are good for about the first three books, then turn to crap. So waiting for a series to finish before starting it doesn't gain you much. Just wait until book #3 has been published. Because you're probably not going to read beyond that one anyway.

Said tongue-in-cheek, but at least partially true.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by issybird

If everyone waited for a series to finish, there’d be no series.

If by "no" you mean "a lot less," then ... I'm in!!

I'd love it if there were a lot less series in many genres. More like the exception rather than the rule. But alas...

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

I once bought (not free) a series opener that literally cut off in the middle of the action. Not only did it put me off the rest of the series, but it made me decide to avoid the author's other books.

But a free series opener is only given away for free if there are more book(s) available. So you could have picked up the second book and continued.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

If by "no" you mean "a lot less," then ... I'm in!!

I'd love it if there were a lot less series in many genres. More like the exception rather than the rule. But alas...

Well, yeah.

Part of the problem is that the word “series’ doesn’t differentiate between what I would prefer to call “serials”, where there’s an overarching plot and the books function as episodes, and series which are mostly discrete stories even if there are some continuing elements. The latter generally have more longevity, as serials as they go on and on seem to turn into an exercise in wheel-spinning with no resolution.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

I once bought (not free) a series opener that literally cut off in the middle of the action. Not only did it put me off the rest of the series, but it made me decide to avoid the author's other books.

Did you ever watch Doctor Who back in the day? Where each episode ended on a cliffhanger except the last one of a story?

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Did you ever watch Doctor Who back in the day? Where each episode ended on a cliffhanger except the last one of a story?

I'm not a Whovian. But each episode would be like a chapter in a book. Each book would be a story. And Dr. Who would be the series. A book shouldn't end on a cliffhanger.