I have read about people enhancing their book's exposure by giving it away, which actually increases sales. Based on this, I have decided to serialize my award winning action/adventure novel, The Samson Effect.

To read the announcement where the book will be serialized, visit the my Samson Effect Serial Site.

To read a post on my marketing tips for authors blog from a guest writer who blogged about doing this, read Edwin Crozier's 6 reasons to Blog Your Book.

The Samson Effect

Good for you. Let us know if your sales do increase. In the meantime, check with your publisher that you have the right to do this. You would need to have retained various publishing rights, electronic rights, and so forth.

You should also consider the effect on your copyright once you have "given" the book away on the internet. I've heard of authors whose free books from their sites have turned up on torrents, and also have been sold on E-Bay.

I'm sure you know of these minor annoyances and are on top of them.

Best wishes,
Rowena Cherry

join the copyrightalliance.org

Excellent points, Rowena. I do hold the copyrights to the book. I tried to get the publisher to let me give away the PDF e-book that they created, but they said no. However, I can create my own PDF and in that case, I am free to give away my PDF creation. They only control the actual PFD and physical formats they create. I can recreate them myself, so long as I do not photocopy/scan in their work.

I know that people can steal/pirate my work. It a known risk that I am willing to take for this experiment. Who knows, maybe any pirated copies will increase my notoriety. Besides, there are a certain class of people that will steal. If they buy pirated copies, then they probably would not have bough the book from me anyway, so I will probably not be out as much money as it may look. Most people are honest and will pay legitimately for an author's work.

I learned in my other job where I had to deal with copyrighted material that I can spend too much time worrying about people stealing my work, or realize that some people are thieves and nothing I can do will change that. My time can be spent better focusing on the honest people that are out there.

Well, that's my two cents. But what you said is absolutely right and something that every author needs to consider when releasing his or her book like this. Thanks for the words of support and please pass on the message to the people you know about this serial release.

Have a wonderful week!

Tony

Well done, Tony.

Great conversation. I hope it helps anyone who is following the discussion.

Rowena Cherry

Just to add my two cents and to underscore the "you can't please 'em all" contingent:

Long ago, when I was a freelance copywriter, I got a letter on a Monday telling me that my copy was too "dumbed down" for this potential client. In the same mail lurked another letter from another prospect who sniffed that my copy was far too cerebral! What's a guy to do, but laugh?

Sig
http://sigrosenblum.7p.com/

Had you worked hard to satisfy the highest common denominator, then you likely would have had someone write and complain that it was too middle-of-the-road, not focused enough.

Sounds to me like both parties could have learned something from your piece if they took the time to consider things between the lines.

J.w. wrote: "Had you worked hard to satisfy the highest common denominator, then you likely would have had someone write and complain that it was too middle-of-the-road, not focused enough.

Sounds to me like b..."

Yes, but advertising clients don't read between the lines. Subtlety is rare in that business. Which is one reason I am long gone from it!

Sig

http://sigrosenblum.7p.com/

I did the goodreads book giveaway and now 9 books are on their way to lucky winners!

Tony wrote: "I have read about people enhancing their book's exposure by giving it away, which actually increases sales. Based on this, I have decided to serialize my award winning action/adventure novel, The S..."

I am not sure about this and have had no actual personal experience, but I draw a different lesson from my ragged research. And it is this: It really does not help at all to give your book away. One physician said that he gave away 20,000 copies and had nothing to show for it.

I should not have said I had no experience because more than 300 people asked for a free copy of my "Spymaster" during the recent e-book Week. I have no way of knowing how many of these bought my other books.

Still, my bottom line advice--to myself only!--is, don't give away free books. Someday, when sales lag, I may re-price my older titles at 99 cents or so. But I am extremely skeptical of the "free" strategy. Could I be wrong? Of course!

Sig

http://sigrosenblum.7p.com/

I don't know about giving books away, or at least not a lot of them. A few well placed freebies are a good idea. And I read in a writer's magazine (Writer's Digest I believe) that you can help promote a book by writing a prequel and offering it as a free download.

Of course, this only works if you have back story type information you wanted to add but couldn't, or didn't for various reasons.

Sig wrote: "Tony wrote: "I should not have said I had no experience because more than 300 people asked for a free copy of my "Spymaster" during the recent e-book Week. I have no way of knowing how many of these bought my other books."

Tony, why didn't you include a special discount code at the end of the free version for additional purchases? Then they would have told you if the sales had resulted from your give away.

I have a friend who travels on business a lot. I took 5 copies of my book and affixed the following sticker to them ...

"This book is free to whoever finds it. We only ask that you go to GHMonroe.com and leave a review when you are done reading. If the mood strikes you, it would be doubly appreciated if you could leave it where another person might find it."

... in the three months directly after she dropped the books in various airports I received 2 very kind reviews from people who picked up the books and have since developed online friendships with them.

G.H. wrote: ""This book is free to whoever finds it. We only ask that you go to GHMonroe.com and leave a review when you are done reading. If the mood strikes you, it would be doubly appreciated if you could leave it where another person might find it.""

Except for the review part (excellent idea, by the way), this is the concept behind bookcrossing.com :o)

I have always loved the idea behind BookCrossing!

On a somewhat similar note, has anyone given a copy of their book to PaperBack Swap?

I am looking for ways to promote my book for zero dollars. I know this sounds crazy, but that is my goal. I suppose giving books away is effectively negative dollars, but it seems to me to be more in keeping with my philosophy. I have written a middle grade science fiction novel, The Minution Chronicles -Saving Zinitheron, which has been well received by those children who have read it, but I have no delusions of grandure in terms of selling 100,000 copies. I figure if I spend a dollar a day for cost per click ads, the chances of me generating enough book sales to cover my costs is slim, so I will go the other route, give books to initiatives like KNTR (Kids need to read) and perhaps, some day, I may get a return. It's all good....

Hank Baker
The Minution Chronicles – Saving Zinitheron

Pay-per-clicks are a waste of money. It's not targeted traffic. I used to click on them just to see were other businesses were doing when I did research for my clients. Don't waste the money on pay-per-clicks, especially if you only have 1 title.

I had a client tell me a few months ago that he was paying $200,000 a month on pay-per-clicks with no returns.

I often do book reviews on my blog, whether they're specific review copies or just books I happen to read that fit in with the themes of my blog. I have lost count of the times that people have said they're going to order these books from the library or buy them. From this tiny piece of research i would think giving books away is a good idea, but don't overdo it!

Has the thought of offering excerpts, such as the opening chapter, for free then offering along with it a discount "coupon" for the whole book been any use? I gather that knowing how many offer the coupon will give you an idea of how successful the promotion is, since, after all, if we want to determine how successful the campaign is we need hard data, no?