Casting your bread
The market for ebooks has exploded and a mass of buyers rush daily through the crush of sellers, deafened by the hawkers' cries: half-price, today only, excerpts available here, read my reviews, buy one get one free. I'm expecting to see sets of free steak knives or bonus four-chapter-podcast-ring-tones any day now.
There is a quieter way for readers to find an author whose work they enjoy, and they can steer miles clear of the corporate giants who seem to hog most of the limelight. Oddly enough, it is one of the first avenues independent authors once used to attract an audience and it's still there and it's still just as effective.
Of course I'm referring to the free ebook directories.
Once upon a time, when I still engaged in the 'discussion' of ebooks versus real books and whether or not a book was real if it didn't have pages, one of the loudest arguments in favour of B&M bookstores with print books on shelves was, 'I love to browse'. The ebook directories offer you the chance, dear reader, to browse to your heart's content. And for authors, unlike certain corporate giants, there is no exclusivity with the free ebook directories. You work is there for readers to discover, to read, to pass on to friends. They are, very much, the libraries of our digital universe. And your work can be displayed in various formats to audiences drawn from every continent and most demographics, without cost to you.
Sadly, because some corporate giants have offered a vague whiff of parfum de chance, many authors have decided to opt for exclusivity, banking on a single big market bringing them [and a billion ectypes] wealth and success. And good luck to them, I say. Roll those dice; someone has to win. But there are many free directories, non-exclusive, and each with its own audience. I thought I'd show you around some of my favourites.
First, probably the biggest listing with the widest range you could imagine is Free Online Novels. The list of titles is vast but there is no detailed blurb for each story. You can browse via the basic genre listings or chance a discovery based on a more surrealist category – like Explorer of Dusty Bookshelves, Obsessive Coffee Drinker, or Friend of Simone de Beauvoir. While I'm doing nothing, saying nothing, making no ingenious merchandise, renouncing special offers and, in fact, while I'm making no effort of any kind, thousands of readers a month find my free novels through this one directory.
Another I have a great fondness for is bibliotastic. Not only does James provide access to free books in html, pdf, epub, and prc, he also maintains a wonderful host of reviewing editors. Readers, too, are encouraged to leave their comments and reviews. Once again, without effort I meet around two hundred and fifty new readers a month for the one title I have listed there. I recently spoke to an author who has been a long time fan of bibliotastic, publishing 3 of his 8 of his novels through the site. Having developed a devoted following, he now works directly from his own website – no spamming everyone he knows, no constant progress updates, no need for the things that make knowing fellow authors a royal pain in the nether regions. If he makes it they will come. And they do.
I also love the team at obooko. Once again, this is a directory whose sole aim is to bring the work of authors before an audience. Initially pdf only and directed primarily toward populations where print books were either unavailable or too expensive, obooko has begun converting all their titles, so they are also available now in mobi and epub. There is a star rating system for readers and a private comment function direct to authors.
A newer, and very wide ranging service tapping into the huge and ravenous markets throughout Asia, is Get Free eBooks. I have had, at times, a thousand new readers a week referred by this one directory.
In the webserial forums and amid the numerous discussion sites for DIY ebook authors, there is a constant babble about how to bring new readers to an author's site. How do I advertise? Where should I pay to place my ads? What is the best way to grab the attention of readers? The focus is constantly on how to drag readers from their unfocussed browsing and bind and gag them on my site. So much time and effort is spent on perfecting my site. my illustrations, my layout, my honeytrap. It is all important, of course, but let me suggest going out to where the readers are. Instead of focusing on how to get readers to come to you and to read your serial or your novel, why not consider taking your book and placing it out on the shelves where the readers are already gathered.
Give something away. Rather than list your completed story arcs on your webserial page under 'what has gone before….' why not assemble a .doc or pdf and submit it. The editors at bibliotastic and obooko will do the crunching for you.
If you only have one book and it's taken you twelve years to write and now you are studying the best of the "Thirty Things Successful Authors Do Every Day to Sell Their Book" range of 'how to' manuals, then this isn't for you. But if you have some work to share: a collection of shorts, a novella you always liked but never could quite fit in anywhere on your website, a novel you wrote but just can't seem to market; this could be the solution for you.
Readers do not only comb Amazon looking for inspiration. Many readers will look for a name. If they find and enjoy the novel you wrote and gave away freely on bibliotastic, they will look for other titles you have available. If your work is good, they are happy to pay.
I've only listed four sites that I have a personal affection for here, but there are many, many more. If you are concerned about someone taking off with your work, I guess I should point out there are sites – Pinoy Exchange for example, who offer my free books and others – "BUY 1 take 3 EBOOKS!!! (twilight, h.potter, s.kinsella, a.chrstie, jrr tolkien, etc)" and I suppose your reaction to that depends how rabid you are over piracy. Also, Amazon Drippler did – past tense– advertise a set of 10 free historical novels for the kindle2 which included two of my titles. Also, the bit torrents do pick them up quickly. But if you are giving away a title, exposure is gained everywhere that title goes, and your name is right there on the cover bringing readers who enjoy your work back to you for the next installment.
The big money is now able to redirect even free content by making vague promises to authors who live in hope of wild, wild riches, and the day might soon come when there are no more free independent directories. They will go as the libraries are going and the world will be a little poorer.
Until that happens, why not dig out a good yarn you have gathering dust, or the one that sits four links down on the 'other' tab on your website and package it up for free distribution. You might be surprised just how much attention you can get.
