Isn't that what KU/KOLL is about - you get paid by Amazon for keeping their subscribers amused.LaraWhitmore said:Just curious.
I wonder if readers would begin to expect free after awhile. I wonder if making everything free would grow a fan base faster than anything else. I wonder if, when something is sold for $2.99, you'd see any sales at all. Sometimes people who download free ebooks vs. paid ebooks are completely different audiences. But if you build enough of a reputation, could you break through the "free only" mindset?
Put out ten free novels. Five short stories. Then one paid item. Would anyone buy it?
At the moment, writing is 90% a labor of love for me anyway. I write under a couple pseudonyms and they're doing all right. About $100 a month. But *my* mindset also changes when I start writing to sell more books. Sometimes I enjoy writing less when I'm trying to make money. I don't know. Just contemplating the possibilities.
I feel like people under-value the creative arts, sure. But if they do, they do. Ironically, the key to proving your work is worth something seems to be giving away at least a portion of it.
Ever Given Thought to Writing Entirely for Free?
Just curious.
I wonder if readers would begin to expect free after awhile. I wonder if making everything free would grow a fan base faster than anything else. I wonder if, when something is sold for $2.99, you'd see any sales at all. Sometimes people who download free ebooks vs. paid ebooks are completely different audiences. But if you build enough of a reputation, could you break through the "free only" mindset?
Put out ten free novels. Five short stories. Then one paid item. Would anyone buy it?
At the moment, writing is 90% a labor of love for me anyway. I write under a couple pseudonyms and they're doing all right. About $100 a month. But *my* mindset also changes when I start writing to sell more books. Sometimes I enjoy writing less when I'm trying to make money. I don't know. Just contemplating the possibilities.
I feel like people under-value the creative arts, sure. But if they do, they do. Ironically, the key to proving your work is worth something seems to be giving away at least a portion of it.
I wonder if readers would begin to expect free after awhile. I wonder if making everything free would grow a fan base faster than anything else. I wonder if, when something is sold for $2.99, you'd see any sales at all. Sometimes people who download free ebooks vs. paid ebooks are completely different audiences. But if you build enough of a reputation, could you break through the "free only" mindset?
Put out ten free novels. Five short stories. Then one paid item. Would anyone buy it?
At the moment, writing is 90% a labor of love for me anyway. I write under a couple pseudonyms and they're doing all right. About $100 a month. But *my* mindset also changes when I start writing to sell more books. Sometimes I enjoy writing less when I'm trying to make money. I don't know. Just contemplating the possibilities.
I feel like people under-value the creative arts, sure. But if they do, they do. Ironically, the key to proving your work is worth something seems to be giving away at least a portion of it.
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There are people who've blogged serials who've made amazing transitions to Amazon. Check the recent Rocking Self Publishing Podcast interview with Linda Poitevin, who gave novels away free on Wattpad and "leveraged" it into incredible Amazon sales - http://rockingselfpublishing.com/episode-83-leveraging-wattpad-build-following-bolster-sales-linda-poitevin/
True, but you can't go wide. And if the point is increase exposure, you'd want as much as possible.TobiasRoote said:Isn't that what KU/KOLL is about - you get paid by Amazon for keeping their subscribers amused.
Welcome to KB, Lara. 
I had everything free for a little over a year, but "everything" was only one novel. It took me so long to finish my second book I figured I might as well give away the first one -- not only to help build my mailing list and audience for the second book but also to keep myself motivated (getting reviews and emails from readers is really nice). I think I can report that having one book free for a good while without having anything for readers to move onto is not a great strategy for building readership. People forget about you quickly; even if they liked that free book they read ten months ago, they've moved on. But if you had a big stable of free books, that might be enough to be habit-forming.
I had everything free for a little over a year, but "everything" was only one novel. It took me so long to finish my second book I figured I might as well give away the first one -- not only to help build my mailing list and audience for the second book but also to keep myself motivated (getting reviews and emails from readers is really nice). I think I can report that having one book free for a good while without having anything for readers to move onto is not a great strategy for building readership. People forget about you quickly; even if they liked that free book they read ten months ago, they've moved on. But if you had a big stable of free books, that might be enough to be habit-forming.
Sure, when you can get free food, free housing, free transport, free clothes.
Interesting how people think authors should work for the love of the game, but editors, cover artists, formatters, bookbub, and everyone selling shovels expects to get paid market rates.
I get a lot of people like to write as a hobby, but why would anyone invest money in something to give it away? Is our time worthless? Plenty of people love acting so why should movie stars get paid 20 million. Most people would drive a formula 1 car for free, so why do they get paid millions?
I'd argue paid books benefit readers because there is a strong commercial imperative to write to market, produce quality work and satisfy reader's genre interests. If you weren't interested in commercial appeal most writers could put out whatever they wanted rather than genre fiction.
I don't mind using free as a loss leader, but if books ceased to have any value i'd stop writing. And writing 10 to get 1 paid? Just no, unless i only have to pay 1 month's rent a year.
As the joker said "if you're good at something, never do it for free"
Interesting how people think authors should work for the love of the game, but editors, cover artists, formatters, bookbub, and everyone selling shovels expects to get paid market rates.
I get a lot of people like to write as a hobby, but why would anyone invest money in something to give it away? Is our time worthless? Plenty of people love acting so why should movie stars get paid 20 million. Most people would drive a formula 1 car for free, so why do they get paid millions?
I'd argue paid books benefit readers because there is a strong commercial imperative to write to market, produce quality work and satisfy reader's genre interests. If you weren't interested in commercial appeal most writers could put out whatever they wanted rather than genre fiction.
I don't mind using free as a loss leader, but if books ceased to have any value i'd stop writing. And writing 10 to get 1 paid? Just no, unless i only have to pay 1 month's rent a year.
As the joker said "if you're good at something, never do it for free"
Hi Lara!
I have a series and made my first book free. The following books are not though. I went from having about 300 mailing list subscribers before going free to almost 3000 now in the span of five months. My sell through rate is pretty high I think. I give away about 15 to 25k month and sell about 7k. I know for sure if my first book wasn't free I wouldn't be where I am now. Also I get tons of messages from people saying they usually only read free books but had to finish my series and paid for the rest. However just giving away random free books not in a series or anything I don't know how helpful that would be, but I've seen Jodi Picolut giving away free books so what do I know? LOL
I have a series and made my first book free. The following books are not though. I went from having about 300 mailing list subscribers before going free to almost 3000 now in the span of five months. My sell through rate is pretty high I think. I give away about 15 to 25k month and sell about 7k. I know for sure if my first book wasn't free I wouldn't be where I am now. Also I get tons of messages from people saying they usually only read free books but had to finish my series and paid for the rest. However just giving away random free books not in a series or anything I don't know how helpful that would be, but I've seen Jodi Picolut giving away free books so what do I know? LOL
I wouldn't. I'd wait for you to make it free.LaraWhitmore said:Put out ten free novels. Five short stories. Then one paid item. Would anyone buy it?
Lydniz, I've been meaning to tell you for the longest time...I love your posts! You are always so funny...and now it looks like you have common sense too. I'm a fan.Lydniz said:I wouldn't. I'd wait for you to make it free.
^ What she said, only not in a British accent.Lydniz said:I wouldn't. I'd wait for you to make it free.
I don't think Lara asked whether authors should give their work away for free. That seems to be quite a different question from the ones she's interested in exploring, which are more along the lines of "Has anyone tried this?" and "Could doing this end up having practical commercial value in the end?"B&H said:Sure, when you can get free food, free housing, free transport, free clothes.
Interesting how people think authors should work for the love of the game, but editors, cover artists, formatters, bookbub, and everyone selling shovels expects to get paid market rates.
I get a lot of people like to write as a hobby, but why would anyone invest money in something to give it away? Is our time worthless? Plenty of people love acting so why should movie stars get paid 20 million. Most people would drive a formula 1 car for free, so why do they get paid millions?
I'd argue paid books benefit readers because there is a strong commercial imperative to write to market, produce quality work and satisfy reader's genre interests. If you weren't interested in commercial appeal most writers could put out whatever they wanted rather than genre fiction.
I don't mind using free as a loss leader, but if books ceased to have any value i'd stop writing. And writing 10 to get 1 paid? Just no, unless i only have to pay 1 month's rent a year.
As the joker said "if you're good at something, never do it for free"
FWIW, I think it's fine for people to invest money in something and then give that item away, if they're financially able to do so and if it gives them pleasure. My brother-in-law went through a period of finding beautiful rocks, painting them, and then leaving them in random places -- along a hiking trail, in a public restroom, whatever -- for strangers to find. My sister-in-law does community theater. Art isn't a commercial endeavor for everyone. Sharing free work with readers just for the pleasure of doing so is a perfectly respectable choice, IMO. It's not a choice I'd make because I need the money. But some folks don't need it or simply choose not to ask for it for reasons of their own.
Hi Lara,
I started in fanfic. I wrote over 50 stories in that realm and my stories got about 10,000 views a month. I didn't get a lot of sell-thru. That said, I did get a lot more than I first appreciated. When I Bring the Fire first came out I had immediate sales, and after the initial rush I sold about two a day, and then when Monsters came out, I sold an average of about four a day, without any advertising except in my fanfic notes. And if you saw my very first cover, your eyes would pop out of your head and you would realize what an accomplishment that was.
But really, I needed to make I Bring the Fire Part I free before I got any traction in original fiction.
For free to work well you need it to be in a series. Also, for each book in a series you get a little fall off--even if all the books are free (I know this from fanfiction). A better strategy would be to write the books, keep them paid, make no money (because it's a labor of love for you anyway) and THEN make something free.
I started in fanfic. I wrote over 50 stories in that realm and my stories got about 10,000 views a month. I didn't get a lot of sell-thru. That said, I did get a lot more than I first appreciated. When I Bring the Fire first came out I had immediate sales, and after the initial rush I sold about two a day, and then when Monsters came out, I sold an average of about four a day, without any advertising except in my fanfic notes. And if you saw my very first cover, your eyes would pop out of your head and you would realize what an accomplishment that was.
But really, I needed to make I Bring the Fire Part I free before I got any traction in original fiction.
For free to work well you need it to be in a series. Also, for each book in a series you get a little fall off--even if all the books are free (I know this from fanfiction). A better strategy would be to write the books, keep them paid, make no money (because it's a labor of love for you anyway) and THEN make something free.
True. This is exactly what I'm getting at.Becca Mills said:I don't think Lara asked whether authors should give their work away for free. That seems to be quite a different question from the ones she's interested in exploring, which are more along the lines of "Has anyone tried this?" and "Could doing this end up having practical commercial value in the end?"
FWIW, I think it's fine for people to invest money in something and then give that item away, if they're financially able to do so and if it gives them pleasure. My brother-in-law went through a period of finding beautiful rocks, painting them, and then leaving them in random places -- along a hiking trail, in a public restroom, whatever -- for strangers to find. My sister-in-law does community theater. Art isn't a commercial endeavor for everyone. Sharing free work with readers just for the pleasure of doing so is a perfectly respectable choice, IMO. It's not a choice I'd make because I need the money. But some folks don't need it or simply choose not to ask for it for reasons of their own.
Personally, I don't like that something I love to do has been the cause of such irritation and frustration. I'm not against making a career out of something I love. But handing over my work with a smile is almost preferable to being at the mercy of whatever pittance people are paying me. One brings joy. The other is a near-insult. It's more about personal choices and deciding if payment is something I'm interested in. Most writers aren't full-time and though they "need" the money, they don't NEED the money. So if going after money is causing emotional distress or a small number of readers, it might make sense to go free for awhile.
I feel that way too, Lara. And it's not always a choice between accepting pittances and giving work away to many readers with a smile. My first book went several months with NO sales at all before I made it free. It really was a choice between having it read and not having it read -- money had left the equation. I suppose the commercial choice was a longer-term one: between "wasting" free downloads when I had no second book for sell-through or "banking" those free downloads so that they could happen later, when I eventually got Book 2 out. The latter would unquestionably have been the better choice, monetarily, but I'm not sure it would've been nearly as good psychologically, and in the end, the psychological aspect proved quite important for me. There's no point banking downloads of Book 1 for when Book 2 is available for sell-through if you never manage to get Book 2 out.LaraWhitmore said:True. This is exactly what I'm getting at.
Personally, I don't like that something I love to do has been the cause of such irritation and frustration. I'm not against making a career out of something I love. But handing over my work with a smile is almost preferable to being at the mercy of whatever pittance people are paying me. One brings joy. The other is a near-insult. It's more about personal choices and deciding if payment is something I'm interested in. Most writers aren't full-time and though they "need" the money, they don't NEED the money. So if going after money is causing emotional distress or a small number of readers, it might make sense to go free for awhile.
Which people do you mean? Readers? Because I can't see "shovel sellers" purporting that writers give away their work. And you can love your work (it's preferable), but you gotta pay the bills. Back to service providers--I, for one, want my authors to sell and sell well. After all, my clients' success is what allows me to be successful. As for readers.Some people will always want free. They'll prefer to get cheap product for little or no money, and there's not much you can do about it. But I don't think anyone should build their business plan around catering to entitled cheapskates.B&H said:Interesting how people think authors should work for the love of the game, but editors, cover artists, formatters, bookbub, and everyone selling shovels expects to get paid market rates.
Help! Now I feel under pressure to be clever.JeanneM said:Lydniz, I've been meaning to tell you for the longest time...I love your posts! You are always so funny...and now it looks like you have common sense too. I'm a fan.
It's not an unusual tactic to 'give away' content on a website/blog format and then turn around and sell collected print/ebooks. In this case, the content is also the advertisement and this method has been around for longer than the modern ebook boom (circa 2001 for the webcomic Megatokyo).
People doing this supplement the collection sells with merchandising and 'bonus' materials that are paid only.
It works because the internet runs on viral word of mouth growth and people willing to give money just to make sure the thing they like is continually produced. In the end, this is where most content is going to end up going as the venues of entertainment become far more democratic and the barriers for entry disappear.
People doing this supplement the collection sells with merchandising and 'bonus' materials that are paid only.
It works because the internet runs on viral word of mouth growth and people willing to give money just to make sure the thing they like is continually produced. In the end, this is where most content is going to end up going as the venues of entertainment become far more democratic and the barriers for entry disappear.
In this instance I'm not actually referring to readers (people always want a free lunch) but the privileged (usually venture capital funded) tub thumpers from new tech who believe everything digital should be free. There are countless articles from these 'mavens' who give this holistic art should be free mantra, ignoring the fact their lifestyle is being paid by someone.Anne Victory said:Which people do you mean? Readers? Because I can't see "shovel sellers" purporting that writers give away their work. And you can love your work (it's preferable), but you gotta pay the bills. Back to service providers--I, for one, want my authors to sell and sell well. After all, my clients' success is what allows me to be successful. As for readers.Some people will always want free. They'll prefer to get cheap product for little or no money, and there's not much you can do about it. But I don't think anyone should build their business plan around catering to entitled cheapskates.
Regarding my "shovel sellers" comment; note i broke out book professionals who contribute to the production value of the book, shovel sellers refers to the endless stream of people trying to sell vapor-ware (usually marketing schemes or non-tangibles like facebook likes). I get spammed daily by people trying to sell marketing related wheezes, and as far as i can see they are charging money to sell fresh air.
Yes, I wrote for free in my twenties, thirties, forties and fifties. But the books sold for money as I gifted the royalties to charity as writing wasn't my main job at that time, it was a hobby I did for the love of it. I gained heaps; I gained experience and the joy of doing something useful. Some of those works are still in publication and selling. I don't own the copyright to them. They would outsell anything I write now. I'm glad that I did it--back then. I don't do that now that I am a full-time author--this writing time is for me and my family. Besides, everything I have earned goes back into improving what I publish or marketing it, at this early stage of my self-publishing career.
This, of course, is totally different to what you are talking about. I also know an author who gained a reader base via Wattpad. I've not tried it. Hers is a different genre. I don't think it would work well for mine. I intended to try the blog a novel, in blogs targeted to your genre reader, but have not had the time to do that regularly and do a decent job of writing a novel at the same time. I still think that would be a good idea and I will follow up oon that idea in the future.
While I have my first book in a series free, I don't read many first books in a series that are free. I put a cost value on my reading time and want satisfaction for my investment of time. That is more important to me than the cost of the book. I read a second book by an author because I loved the first, not because of the price.
So no, I'd probably not buy your one, at paid price book.
This, of course, is totally different to what you are talking about. I also know an author who gained a reader base via Wattpad. I've not tried it. Hers is a different genre. I don't think it would work well for mine. I intended to try the blog a novel, in blogs targeted to your genre reader, but have not had the time to do that regularly and do a decent job of writing a novel at the same time. I still think that would be a good idea and I will follow up oon that idea in the future.
While I have my first book in a series free, I don't read many first books in a series that are free. I put a cost value on my reading time and want satisfaction for my investment of time. That is more important to me than the cost of the book. I read a second book by an author because I loved the first, not because of the price.
So no, I'd probably not buy your one, at paid price book.
I have to make enough money from sales to put out the next book. I do have the first in series free, and if I am at a party event I don't mind giving away a lot of free ebooks to readers who don't know me.
If for some reason I wanted to do all free, I write Harry Potter fanfic.
If for some reason I wanted to do all free, I write Harry Potter fanfic.
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