Free E-Books?

By Angela Giles Klocke

You see the ads all the time: "Free E-Book." As a professional writer, you wonder why anyone would write a book to give away. You can't imagine spending your time on even one article without some sort of financial compensation. So why does a writer publish an e-book and hand it out to anyone who wants it?

Traffic, Subscribers and More

"It got me a lot of extra web traffic, free publicity and more newsletter subscribers. But most important of all, people will begin to see you as an expert, and then they will value your opinion and articles," explains Dirk Dupon, author of Web Site and E-Zine Promotion for Idiots.

It is true that offering anything for free online draws attention. Anyone who has an item they are willing to give away can draw traffic, but there's something extra special about a free e-book. The public loves free information and entertainment.

Shery Ma Belle Arrieta, publisher of several free e-books and zines, says, "I plan to release one free e-book every month and right now, I've got the August to December free e-books already lined up." Shery recognizes the benefit of name recognition online and has found that the better known she is through helping others through her free works, the more she will succeed.

Many free e-books contain various articles by more than one writer. The articles are usually reprints so the writer isn't giving up an original piece of work. In fact, many writers jump quickly to be included in a free e-book. Not only is this exposure for their name, but also it gives them the credit of being in a book. As e-books gain more and more respect, this is a very positive thing for a writer to be a part of.

Marketing

What if the book is a completely original piece of work by one author? What are the benefits then? Judith Tramayne-Barth, author of Conspiracy to Love, explains that she decided to give her first work of fiction away "for marketing purposes. I wanted to build a customer base for the second and third e-book in this series."

Most recently, Judith has begun charging a small fee for this once-free e-book. Although it's been given away to thousands of readers, she says, "I am in the process of changing my 'free' e-book to charging $1.25 for it. Mostly so it can start covering the expense of having a domain name and my web hosting fees."

Teasers

Many writers use a free e-book as a teaser to something more. Dirk explains that one of his e-books is meant to do just that. "I hope that people find it interesting enough to want more. And most people who use my demo (e-book) like it, and then buy the deluxe version."

Others release free e-books that contain just a few samples of their full book, even if it is in print. An e-book featuring sample chapters of a print book lead readers to web sites and book stores to buy the actual book.

One for Free, One for Sale

Why give one e-book away and sell another? The reasons are many. Not only can releasing an e-book free before selling one build up your reputation as a writer, but it can also give you a following of readers/fans for the next one you plan to sell.

Judith explains her reasoning. "I wanted people to know who I am and ascertain whether they liked my writing style. They did and sent me unsolicited testimonials, which I put on my own site. They also asked to be put on an e-mail list for when my next e-book is released."

"I think it's a matter of the kind of information an author is offering. In my case, the first e-book I am selling is more like a virtual textbook. I spent months researching, restructuring, rewriting that e-book. Whereas the free e-books . . . the stories and articles I publish in there have more or less 'done the rounds,'" Shery explains. She goes on to say that the difference shouldn't be mistaken for any disparity between the quality of an e-book that's for sale and an e-book that's being given away for free.

Free Doesn't Equal Bad

With all that is available on the web for free, a writer still has to compete for attention. One cannot throw just anything together, call it a book and try to give it away. Shery suggests, "Put quality on top of everything else. A lot of e-book authors who produce e-books and give them away for free don't put much effort into putting together a good e-book, just because they intend the e-book to be a freebie."

Writers can quickly tarnish their reputations if they give away e-books of poor quality. Just as they can make a good name for themselves with a great piece of work, they can also easily ruin it with sloppy work.

Free E-books Today, Success Tomorrow?

While it may not necessarily be true that one who releases a free e-book will gain success, the chances are certainly raised. Many who participate in the publishing of free e-books reap several benefits. They have reported higher sales in their other publications and contribute it to the fact that their free e-book brought in the clientele they needed. They have also found that it has been easier to approach other publishers and have been able to get their foot in the door because of name recognition and the fact that their work is already familiar to so many.

Can you become well-known from releasing a free e-book? Maybe. Will it make you successful? Possibly. Should you try it? Why not? With the many benefits of doing so, one could hardly find a reason not to.

Contacts:

Dirk Dupon - http://www.smart-web-promotion.com/idiots.htm

Shery Ma Belle Arrieta - http://www.ewritersplace.com

Judith Tramayne-Barth - http://www.agoodread.com

 Download Angela's free ebook The Write Advice.

This article previously appeared on Inkspot and in the Writing for Dollars zine.

Angela Giles Klocke is the owner of Klocke Publishing: http://klockepresents.com and publishes several online zines, including The Writing Parent and In Udder Words. This article is published with permission.

* Feel free to write and let me know what's on YOUR mind. agklocke@klockepresents.com

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