Who benefits from free eBooks?

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J Conrad Guest
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Re: Who benefits from free eBooks?

Post by J Conrad Guest »

I'm not sure there is any benefit whatsoever.

Exposure? Nah.

I was once approached by someone through my website who wanted to know how he could score a copy of one of my novels. I directed him to Amazon and my then publisher's website. He replied that he never pays for his books. After a couple exchanges he seemed rather put off that I expected to make a buck off my work.

If there is one person who "never pays" for their books, there surely must be a host of others, like those who hunt for garage sales to score big on something valuable the seller doesn't understand is valuable—like the first edition The Beatles White Album, pressed in white, numbered, which a friend of mine lost at a garage sale when his sister-in-law sold it for a dollar. To this day he hasn't forgiven her.

My former publisher rotated free copies of his stable of authors. He did mine. My royalty statement showed the many free downloads, but I never saw an increase in sales in later months.

As writers I think we devalue our work by giving it away. It's like the rendition of a naked woman on a highway underpass from which most people look away in disgust. But slap that same image on a canvas, hang it in a museum, and those same people will pay to look and nod approvingly at it.
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Post by csimmons032 »

Pretty much only the ones that benefit from free e-books are people who own kindles or other devices that involve e-books. I will admit that I love free e-books, but I am not sure how much they would benefit the authors. Then again I wouldn't know the details of this because I have actually never done that much research on it.
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Post by WestIndie001 »

Free e-books benefit readers and e-reader buyers. It can also benefit the author through word of mouth. I love downloading free books, and I've actually found treasures amongst them.
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Post by Major »

Joe McCoubrey wrote:I’ve been wondering more and more these days about what readers really make of the current explosion of free eBooks. If you believe the fad is reaching a peak, think again. There’s a lot yet to come, and it remains to be seen whether the craze will result in a welcome sea-change or inflict permanent damage to an industry that is being forced to reconstruct itself in the modern world of push-button technology. SEE MORE AT: http://BLACKLISTED/2012/06/15/who-benef ... he-author/
The consumer and all electric books are now free to download if you know which sites to access.
A shame for the authors, eventually there will be no money in writing.
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Post by Diah »

Everyone involve benefit from the free books. Authors, readers, amazon, publisher, and so forth. I always bought the free books and end up bought all the book series. Its addiction.. :!:
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Post by Clemenciah Bwari »

How do i download a selected book or how do i read it
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Post by bluegreenmarina »

I looooove the concept of free e-books and have been reading the classics in the public domain for over a decade now. I always had desk jobs and it was really easy to pull them up on a browser and read in between doing work (precursor to e-readers). I also really appreciate the collection of more modern books I've acquired through the free book giveaways on this site :)
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Post by Storygamer88 »

More publicity for the books in question which may lead to more sales, especially fans who want to buy physical copies or spread it via word of mouth. Its also enticing for those who cant afford many books or just want the convenience of digital media.

Also, the website selling the book gets increased traffic, and can digitally suggest others, often by the same author.
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Post by Naval Aulakh »

Through free eBooks authors can make a large people read their books. Also, people who can't afford to buy books get a lot of benefit from free eBooks.
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J Conrad Guest
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Post by J Conrad Guest »

JAtoms wrote:E book is the best thing that has been in existence. I wonder how the world would be without it
The world existed just fine for centuries before digital technology came along, and ebooks won't do a thing to prevent a nuclear winter or be worth anything should the power grids go down.

I own a Nook, but I still prefer the look, the feel, the smell of an actual book. Additionally, I'm annoyed by having to charge my Nook every five hours.

The original question was who benefits from free downloads? Obviously consumers. Authors not so much, despite the claims in this string that giving away free downloads is a great way to promote oneself. It hasn't helped my literary career in the least.
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Post by Desmond Abey »

Apart from the author gaining publicity or an email on his list, i dont think there is any other gain
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Post by raikyuu »

J Conrad Guest wrote:I'm not sure there is any benefit whatsoever.

Exposure? Nah.

I was once approached by someone through my website who wanted to know how he could score a copy of one of my novels. I directed him to Amazon and my then publisher's website. He replied that he never pays for his books. After a couple exchanges he seemed rather put off that I expected to make a buck off my work.

If there is one person who "never pays" for their books, there surely must be a host of others, like those who hunt for garage sales to score big on something valuable the seller doesn't understand is valuable—like the first edition The Beatles White Album, pressed in white, numbered, which a friend of mine lost at a garage sale when his sister-in-law sold it for a dollar. To this day he hasn't forgiven her.

My former publisher rotated free copies of his stable of authors. He did mine. My royalty statement showed the many free downloads, but I never saw an increase in sales in later months.

As writers I think we devalue our work by giving it away. It's like the rendition of a naked woman on a highway underpass from which most people look away in disgust. But slap that same image on a canvas, hang it in a museum, and those same people will pay to look and nod approvingly at it.
The value of one's work is not necessarily equal to its selling price or the profit that it earns. If your work is free (without charge), it simply becomes accessible to those who are unfortunate to not have money or a bank account. Public domain works are technically free, and some of them are really good like the classics. But just because you have a lot of downloads on your free book, it doesn't say anything about your book being good or not. There are always good and bad books, whether they are free or not.

For people who just don't want to risk their money for buying a bad paid book, they would just go for the free ones.
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Post by Papercup »

Both parties has given an opportunity to test waters. The reader can see what book fits for them and the author can get a meaningful feedback from the reader.
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Post by ZeroChill »

I think its the author. By giving out the free ebooks, the author gains some value in the writers community so the next time people are waiting for him to write a book
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Post by Kristin Ransome »

I think it depends on where the ebook is being published and why! If the author is publishing a free ebook to get audiences interested in their work, then there is a definite benefit to the author! But if the free ebooks are being published without the authors consent, then it can be detrimental to them (unless the reader then proceeds to buy the rest of the author's published books as a result??). Further, I also believe that free ebooks allow people who would not be able to afford a conventional book the chance to explore the world of reading!
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