Meryl's Notes Blog

More authors offer a free ebook version of their book in hopes of generating buzz. Godin’s Unleashing the IdeaVirus had 400,000 downloads in 30 days thanks to buzz. Few authors have that kind of success, but this method helps get the book out there. For a short time, Scott Allen has posted an ebook version of The Virtual Handshake for free downloading.

I remember when Cory Doctorow distributed his book, Down and Out in Magic Kingdom. He also sold paperback copies of the book at sxsw in 2002. According to Wikipedia, “This (free downloads of ebook) has not seemed to adversely affect the book’s sales; it received mostly positive reviews and sold relatively well.” He also has a couple of other science fiction books available for free under the Creative Commons license.

The Cluetrain Manifesto had better luck with sales and publicity. So does providing a free copy work or not? Looks like it’s mixed. It’s another tool in the author’s toolbag along with sending review copies to bloggers and print media reviewers.

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