Giving Away E-Books for Free and the Damage This Can Do

A controversial though well expressed argument which can be summed up by the following quote, “I agree with Foster’s entire article. If indie authors want to establish a solid reputation amongst themselves, they must ban together, so to speak, and

imbue quality in their work by not giving it away for free. Yes, there are books given away for free that have great ratings, but then it drowns out the

rest of those who want to attach a value to their work. Authors, do not undervalue your efforts. If every single author never gives away a book for free

again, readers will have no choice but to pay, will not expect free books (save review copies), and you will be making money that is well-deserved.”

The problem with this perspective which is, as I say extremely well articulated is that it presupposes a perfect world in which all authors (or most) determine not to give away free books which, in the real world simply isn’t going to happen.

I understand the blogger’s argument and have some sympathy for it but, as an author I have received a number of 4 star reviews as a consequence of giving away my books for free, reviews which would, almost certainly have not been forthcoming had I insisted on keeping my books as priced publications. Once reviews are forthcoming this does, I hope encourage others to part with hard earned cash. To my mind many self-published writers have little alternative other than to utilise tools such as KDP Select if they wish to get their foot in a crack of the door and be noticed.

Originally posted on :

This is a very sensitive topic that I am going to try to handle with care, as I know some or many authors may disagree with me. However, this is a conversation I had with my personal assistant and the publisher of Writers AMuse Me Publishing. All of us came to the same conclusion: giving away e-books for free (outside of review copies, which are only given to select individuals) devalues both the author and his/her work. Now I’m not writing this article based on a conclusion among three people. However, I will use author Melissa Foster’s

article

to support my points, along with adding a few of my experiences as a YA author trying to compete with books being given away for free. Let me present this graph to your from Smashwords before I begin.