March 11, 2007
A Question
I have been reading various debates about free ebooks (mainly in email I've received.) I firmly believe that on the internet, with fiction (but not nonfiction) the free ebook is the way to go if a novelist wants to draw readers to his or her print books.
There are various reasons for my belief in this, not the least of which is the experience of my writing career from having begun doing this in 1999 with my e-serial, Naomi, followed a year later by my e-serial, Nightmare House, as well as several free ebooks of novellas I've offered.
Do me a favor -- answer this one question. I'd love to get your take on it. If you're not sure, subscribe to my free newsletter (click here to find out about it) read one of the ebook novellas I offer soon after you've subscribed, and then come back and answer this question. Thank you!
THE QUESTION:
When a novelist offers a free ebook or e-serial, does it make you -- a reader -- consider seeking out that writer's work when you're in the bookstore?
My belief is that if you read something by a writer and enjoy it, you're more likely to seek out that writer's fiction than you would be if you had never read the writer's fiction before.
So, whether at the library, a book loan from a friend, or an ebook or online story or novella or novel, I believe most of us discovered the writers we enjoy from reading something free first (or from such incredible word of mouth about the book that we had to go grab a copy and read it to see what all the hoopla was about.)
The free book gave me the opportunity to decide if I wanted to keep reading the writer's work. Most of the writers whose work I buy religiously I first discovered in the public library, and of those others, I've usually read work online or in books passed to me by others that got me interested.
But maybe this is me. What do you think? Let me know (comment here, please) -- thank you!
Posted by Doug Clegg on March 11, 2007 04:47 PM
« Comments on News Items | Main | Question: Most Important Element in a Novel? »