To Free or Not to Free?

[Joel]

That is the question. Most of us who write books want others to read them. For that to happen, people have to know the books are out there. One way we try and get the word out is through mass freebies.
But I wonder if readers have gotten so used to watching for freebies they've stopped looking for books to buy. Freebies for reviews and contests aside, are indie authors doing themselves more harm than good by giving away the store?

[Sarah]

I think it is hard for readers these days too as there are just so many books to choose from. How do we, as readers, find the good ones? I think free books are a way to get a reader's attention and put your book above others in the list of potential reads.

Once I have read a free book, if I like it then I will generally work my way through other books by the same author for which I don't mind paying.

So I think it is still a method that works for both authors and readers. Particularly if the author has a series of books and gives the first one away. If you've read the first book and enjoyed it, who wouldn't want to know what the characters do next?

[Jim]

The problem with providing anything for nothing is that many become used to it and gradually consider it an entitlement. Some develop a philosophy of "why pay for something that will eventually be provided for free".

In the three years that my novel has been available through commercial vendors, the marketing representitive assigned to the book has only provided fifteen complimentary copies; five for me to give to family members when the book was first released and ten, coincidentally, for a giveaway contest sponsored by Goodreads from November, 2013 through January 4, 2014.

At the time, the publisher predicted that at least a thousand Goodreads members would participate and approximatedly half of them would indicate their intent to read the novel. The prediction was accompanied by cautionary advice not to become too excited that the hundreds of "To Read" commitments would actually translate into sales, because they would not.

Both the prediction and advice proved to be accurate. More than a thousand members entered the giveaway and 456 of them placed the novel on their "To Read" shelf. Since the contest ended five months ago, the quarterly sales report and accomanying royalty check have shown no dramatic increase in sales compared to pre-giveaway reports.

[Cheri]

I agree with Jim. I've done freebie giveaways and it did little to increase my sales. I have also offered free copies of my novels to anyone who will review them. I got a decent response for reviews, but once they had downloaded my books, I didn't get any reviews! I felt not only cheated, but hurt that people would stoop to that level; lying to get a free book.

[Micah]

There have been other threads on this here and there.

My take is that for most authors freebies will probably do more harm than good because they can make new authors appear a little desperate for attention.

There are exceptions, of course, and freebies CAN be a good thing. For example, if you have a series, or several works all set in the same history, it might help to have some short works free to allow people to see if they're interested in you as a writer.

But there have been articles out there about the pitfalls of freebies. Aside from their overall devaluating nature, there is also the unfortunate fact that a lot of eBook users are addicted to downloading tons of free books that they will never read. Or if they do read them (or start to) and they find out the book's not in a genre they like, some of these readers will hand out gratuitous 1-star ratings, trashing your book because it's something they were predisposed to dislike from the start.

Personally, I've downloaded maybe half a dozen free books that I thought I'd like to read . . . and I never get around to reading them. They don't seem real in my mind. It's like, hey, they were free so they can't be that good.

Sometimes you really do get what you pay for.

[Wes]

On the whole, if the only way for an author to get people to read their books is by offering them for free, then the book probably isn't very good. While standard prices have dropped with the advent of digital sales, books are still very much a market where people pay what the art is worth, for the most part.

That's not to say that's the same in ALL cases, though. For self-publishers, using free promotions or BookBubs can be an effective marketing tool, but only if used sparingly or in the right context. Many authors of large series or new releases will put their earlier books up for free in order to get readers hooked on the franchise. The same also applies to authors of short stories who may put them up for free to promote their writing style for a full-length novel release.

[Vanessa]

I can say through only brief experience with free books is that it is the ONLY thing I have done that has helped with paid book sales. I'm hoping by the end of the summer to have some really good data and perhaps to finally be on the right track after a lifetime of waste.

[Vanessa]

Cheri wrote: "I agree with Jim. I've done freebie giveaways and it did little to increase my sales. I have also offered free copies of my novels to anyone who will review them. I got a decent response for review..."

Cheri, I've heard that Library Thing is terrible for this. However, I've done very well with goodreads and reviews for free books I've given. I suggest doing review swaps if you are mostly interested in getting the reviews.

[Cheri]

Vanessa wrote: "Cheri wrote: "I agree with Jim. I've done freebie giveaways and it did little to increase my sales. I have also offered free copies of my novels to anyone who will review them. I got a decent respo..."

That's a great idea. Thanks, Vanessa!

[Tracey]

This is very good feedback for me. Don't think i'll do a freebie.

[Stephen]

For my two cents. I don’t have an issue with using FREE as a limited promotion, very limited. The dirty words, or marketing principles that’s killing the Book and Ebook market are the Free and .99 cent pricing models for full length works.

This is a ploy / sales tool used by those selling very high priced Ereaders, Tablets, Smart Phones and other devices. “Look at all the free stuff you can read when you buy our device.”

It also creates a mass, no cost, advertising network driving customers to their sites. It’s a con job for authors. Come ON really? Do you really believe these corporations would invest so much money maintaining these sites to “sell” free books? I think not.

Price your work.
If you as the author do not value your work, who will?
Certainly not the reader you’re trying to sell.
The only thing freer than the download is the delete button.
No reader investment.....click...recycle bin instead of book shelf

[Tracey]

Good point, Stephen.

[K.D.]

My book is in editing right now, and I am probably going to be doing a short time free giveaway to select Goodreads members. It will be free to everyone, but I will only be telling some people. The idea is that by only inviting certain people, they will be more likely to write reviews (either good or bad).

[Tracey]

That's a good idea.

[John]

I found 5-day free promotions a great way to reach new readers, and to make money from paid after-sales, in 2012 and 2013.
By 2014 things had changed, though.
Which isn't to say that a free promotion no longer has any value or effect, but it has to be done sparingly perhaps.

[Ben]

Another key question is how many books you have published and whether free books, promotions, etc. are part of a unified strategy.

Scattershot freebies may provide a sales boost, but it seems to become a lot more powerful when, say, you're giving the first book in a series for free and charging for the rest. It gives readers a chance to sample your work at no risk, gives you a chance to draw them into your world, and (if you're disciplined about minimizing promotions on later books) avoids the problem of training your readers to wait for the freebie/deal instead of buying.