Ian, I actually volunteer on the board of two registered charitable non-profits. So your idea about working for no salary takes on a new light. Granted, I do that part time, and if I did it full-time my kids and I would starve. Likewise, if I gave away free advertising on OnlineBookClub.org to authors to plug their book my kids and I would starve.Ian Mackenzie wrote:I have a serious problem with anyone who promotes FREE books. As an author, my books are my stock in trade. I didn't spend months writing. re-writing, editing and re-writing again before spending money on professional editors and publishing costs so that I could give my books away... How about all you guys who want FREE books, get out of bed every day 5 days a week, go to the office or workshop, take s**t from your boss and the customers and then come the end of the month walk away without a salary because you're happy to give your time and effort away... Get real.
However, from a business perspective (not a volunteer/goodwill perspective), there is a lot of good reasons for someone to give away products for free.
For an up-and-coming product (like a debut book by an indie author or a mixtape by a hopeful musician), it can make a lot of business sense to give the product away for free as a way to start to get off the ground in that industry. It depends on the product and the going rate for that product at the time, which in the case of books and music is mostly dependent on the reputation and popularity of the author and publisher (which if self-published is only the reputation and popularity of the author). The irony is the musician or author can build that reputation by giving away free books or playing free gigs.
I've read free ebooks, and I've spent $10+ on some ebooks. That's $10+ for just an ebook. I've spent that much multiple times. On the other hand, I wouldn't read 99% of books even if someone paid me $1,000 per book to read those. It depends on how great I expect the book to be, and how much I'm willing to risk of my time and my money on the book. (See: The #1 Mistake Most Authors Make). It's not what the producer pays to make the product that determines the amount a buyer would be willing to pay. Granted, there is a correlation: an author/publisher that skimps on editing and re-writing would be much less likely to command a higher price (or any price). But the correlation is rough. There are a lot of musical bands that might have spent a lot of time and money on their music but still don't have the reputation and popularity to charge a high price or any price.
Free books from up-and-coming authors won't undercut premium books from authors who can command that higher price. But it takes a lot of work to become established enough to command that higher price. Some musicians can charge thousands of dollars to do a show; others get noise complaints from neighbors while practicing in their garage; one doesn't undercut the other.
Don't get me wrong. I understand your frustration. If readers are expecting an author/publisher that has the reputation to command a high price to price-match those that don't, that's unfair and silly. That's like expecting Coldplay to do a show for the same cost as a high school band, and it's threatening to the livelihood of professionals to expect them to price-match amateurs or price-match up-and-coming professionals for that matter.
With books (and music) the market is so competitive. Millions of books are published each year. All readers have to say "no" to almost all books regardless of the price. It's literally impossible for a reader to even read 0.1% of the books out there. Hopeful authors and hopeful musicians have to be honest with themselves about where they stand in the market. For a self-published author the problem is double; they don't just have to compete as an author but as a publishing company. They have to be an exceptionally great author and an exceptionally great publishing company. The publishing costs of a legitimate publisher are huge. The industry standard of big publishers is to order multiple rounds of professional editing, order professional digital file conversion, professional cover design, professional production edits, and several professional and costly editorial reviews. That is all before the costs of raw advertising and promotion. With self-published authors, or indie publishers, they might be spending 40 hours a week and investing thousands and still coming up short compared to what goes into the typical successful book. Again, the correlation is rough. Spending lots of money doesn't guarantee success; and there are rare occasions where someone who skimps still has a low quality song recording or poorly editing book become a hit. But it's rare. Those competing in these markets need to be honest about where they stand. It's a business being self-published. It's similar to opening a restaurant. Most fail, and lose a lot of money in the process. Those who skimp and buy Grade F beef for their restaurant fail even faster and fail even harder.
If a book isn't selling very well, it's overpriced in the market. If it's priced at even just 1 cent and isn't selling extremely well, it's overpriced. Raising the list price doesn't necessarily mean that the product commands that price. A product's true value is determined by what a buyer would pay for it, not how much the producer paid to make the product or what the producer sets as his asking price. It's also not what the buyer feels the product is worth after reading it. To sell, the buyer has think it commands that price before reading it. That's why trusted reviews, reputation, and word-of-mouth advertising matter so much.
If someone is one of the lucky few who can command a high enough price on music or books to make a living (meaning the author is actually selling the book in great volume at a decent list price), then that musician or author is exceptionally lucky. They are already in the top 1%. They have nothing to fear from the newer less established authors or publishers offering discounts. That would be like Coldplay being afraid that garage bands playing free gigs at local pubs are undercutting Coldplay's prices.
Thank you for reading! I look forward to hearing everyone's thoughts on the matter!