Photo: ericdoeringer.com
Athens is very hot today. We have reached temperatures in the upper thirties (100 F) while the weather service is promising new highs for tomorrow – summer in the Mediterranean can do that! People are seriously considering spending the day and probably the night on the beach. I, on the other hand, think that sitting indoors is much smarter, and writing blog posts is even better. So, here I am!
As the new working season starts soon, I am trying to organize a promotion and marketing schedule for my books. A question that keeps popping up is whether I should be giving any of my books for free. Since the universe is always working to provide me with answers to my questions (thank you, Coelho), I read an interesting blog post on Publishers Weekly which discussed that same issue.
The general consensus is that there are so many free ebooks available around, that the notion of free is losing its interest. You could probably spend a whole year reading a book a day and still have to pay nothing for your reading. If you asked me a few years ago, I would have said that this is wonderful and that the Internet has really freed us and given us the opportunity to enjoy art –generally speaking- for free.
Now that I am an author and plan to making some sort of living through my books, I will say that writing a book is hard work, and creators of any intellectual work should eventually get something in return for their efforts. Therefore, giving away your hard work is something that you should consider carefully, and only as part of an overall marketing strategy. For example, giving for free the first book of a series or a novella is a good step for people to getting to know you and get a grasp of your writing style.
Another good idea is to include a gentle request at the end of your free ebook for readers to get in touch with you for any ideas they might have, leave a review or simple point out any flaws they have found. In a sense, it’s a way to kindly ask them for something in return for getting the book for free.
Free can be an invaluable tool for first-time authors. When it’s your first book, you need people to get to know you. Still, make it part of a strategy. When I started, I used my free days on Amazon rather erratically and without a clear goal. I was so eager for people to read my book that, had a marketer suggested that I should actually pay my readers to pick my book, I would have done it! Now, I am more careful. I feel it’s a bit like when a shop does a huge sale: you look forward to it because they do it only so often.
Which leads me to my final thought: in order for people to be looking forward to your book sale, it means that they know you already and are eagerly waiting for your book to be free. Which implies that they have already checked you, which inevitably guides me to the well-known conundrum of the chicken and the egg, i.e. how can you make people expect your book with anticipation when they haven’t ever tried your writing? And how can you attract people to read your first book, if you don’t give it away for free?
I believe that the answer is to start your social platform well before you actually publish your book and create a brand of yourself. Create a buzz before you even launch; that way, when the time comes, your platform will be ready to complement your free days to generate the necessary buzz. My friends Nat Russo, Danica Cornell and MMJaye offer some great examples of this approach.
Clearly, this is something I didn’t do and which I learnt progressively as I was trying to promote my book. Heck, I only started this blog in March, and I sent my first tweet weeks after publishing my first two books! However, it is now picking up and I enjoy tremendously the whole author-reader relationship and the networking with the rest of the author community. I just wish I had thought of it 2 years ago, as it would have saved me a lot of hard work and sleepless nights!
When you read these lines, I’ll (hopefully) be on a beach, catching some sunshine. So, please forgive me if I take longer than usual to answer any comments! If I do answer you before the 25th, please remind me that I’m on vacation and shame me into shutting off that darn laptop! 🙂
Like you Nicholas, I did it backwards and now still catching up with it all. I’m not sure about the whole FREE book issue, I do have a short story offered for free but not entirely convinced it works. It comes down to the type of story you’ve written and whether it “fits” into the popular genres. I know mine doesn’t. So it will be a slow slog but a worthwhile journey.
Great post Nicholas. Enjoy the heat in Athens. Spring has arrived here in Australia 😀
Thank, glad you enjoyed it. We were joking with Electra, how it must be fun downunder, with spring approaching…
I’m still torn between giving away Schism or not. Oh well…
Giving away the first book in my series free has made a huge difference to sales. I have gone from selling one or two books a month to downloads of the free books most days and follow up actual paid sales.
However, I do get caught between a rock and a hard place in that, I’ve written some wacky books, which is why I’ve self published them. However, unless I advertise on one of the free book sites, nobody has heard of my book or even knows it’s free. Unfortunately, a lot of those sites are looking for a good commercial sell which means they’re actually looking for the kinds of self published books which would get a publishing deal anyway. Which defeats a big chunk of the idea of self publishing.
It’s very irritating.
Cheers
MTM
Thanks for sharing your experience, especially since it provides an answer to Charles’ negative view on freebies! The whole thing is a bit of a Catch-22, isn’t it?
Lol, great post, great dilemma. So I see you have chosen to take the ‘machine’ with you. Incidentally I have reblogged one of your posts :). Enjoy the holiday. I am also venturing on a journey in a few days and will be sparsely checking in. 🙂
Reblogged this on theowlladyblog.
Hi Nicholas, thank you for the mention! The building of an author’s platform is a process which takes time, mental energy, and patience. I kept reading over and over to start this very early, otherwise I too would’ve waited. My husband asks me about this quite often, and I keep telling him the same thing: It’s basically a Catch 22. Without readers being made aware of an author’s existence, it’s very difficult to sell books. On the other hand, time spent marketing and building those relationships via social media, takes away from learning the writing process itself. I’m afraid on this issue, there are no easy answers. And as for offering books for free, I’m giving this a lot of consideration, too. After all, there’s no guarantee folks will buy a new author’s books simply because they’ve been following them. No doubt I’ll be wrestling with this until around the time I publish my fourth book. Hopefully after that, I’ll have settled on a strategy that works best for me. I do hope you’re enjoying your time away from work, sweetie! Best wishes to you and your lovely wife. xoxo 🙂
I had a great time, thanks! I’ll let you know how it went, as I’m preparing a relevant post. 🙂
You’re right about the Catch-22 feeling. It’s one I share almost daily, but my problem is that I love both sides of the coin – writing and networking – too much! 😀
I agree with you about giving for free as part of a strategy rather than perm-free. I still have at least 12 books I downloaded during a free promotion that I never read and probably never will unless I’m stranded on a deserted island or something like that.
Hope you have a wonderful time at the beach and thanks for your thought provoking posts!
Thank you for your kind – as always – words! 🙂
Just the 12? I must have hundreds of them! No wonder Electra complains I’m a hoarder! 😀
I didn’t start building a following before I published, either. For one thing, I was brand new to social media back in September or 2011, when I first joined Twitter. Now I’ve learned that the people who find my books fascinating are out there, but they aren’t easy to cultivate. I will occasionally give away books, as I did on my Facebook event, TermiteWriter’s Birthday Giveaway, but don’t count on a regular onslaught of FREE from me. Personally, I avoid taking free books. I’m not going to clutter up my Kindle with 50 or 100 books that I’ll probably never read.
A wise approach. As I was just telling Elle, I do download a lot of books, in the vain hope of finally finding myself crashed on a remote island with nothing but a Kindle and a conveniently-placed charging station… 😀
Enjoy the beach. I think the free book idea has lost a lot of steam with Amazon’s borrowing library, Kindle Unlimited, and the rise of perma-free. It’s made it that a book going free isn’t that special unless you put a ton of promotion behind it. I figure I might as well have a price tag if I’m going to be promoting a bunch.
You make a very good argument. It is interesting that MT made an equally good one, that support permafree. As I’m trying to decide whether to give away Schism on Amazon or not, I find it fascinating.
Great timing on this post for me. I’m getting myself set for launching one book, possibly two if a I delay a few weeks more. My difficulty is both books are very different. I’ll probably gift both books for a week or more as much to get reactions as to establish a readership. Where I go from there? Only the reactions will determine that! 🙂
Welcome and thanks for the comment! You should check out my experience with free books as a tool to let the world know I exist on https://nicholasrossis.me/guides/a-z-guide-how-both-my-books-reached-1-on-amazon/
Best of luck with the launch! Let me know if I can help spread the word in some way. 🙂
Thanks for the positive vote! However, whether the “buzz” I’ve created starting my author platform a year before publishing will help me boost sales, remains to be seen. Success is a combination of so many factors it’s mind-boggling! Enjoy your holiday!
Many people seem to agree with the idea of connecting and not just promoting all the time, and doing it early. Kudos to you!
Thank you for implying I’m doing it right. I’m always terrified of blog visitors rolling their eyes thinking, “If I read about Pearseus one more time, I’ll scream” 😀
I’m confident that you’ll do great. In fact, we’ll probably all live off you, on the island you’ll buy with your earnings. And then I’ll finally be able to finish reading all the books on my TBR list! 😀