Why Is My Book Free?

For the next ten days anyone who wants one can download a free copy of my last novel, The Reincarnationist. (Click here) But why is my book free? It's a question everyone has been asking me.

Well, it's not because I'm independently wealthy or because I think The Reincarnationist is worthless.

My book is free because my husband always asks me to bring home cookies from Sant Ambrose whenever I go into New York City. It's because I wear one of the L'Oeuvre Noire perfumes by Kilian. And it's because we both use L'Occitane Verbena Shower Gel. And what all those things have in common is at one point in my life as a consumer - or his - we sampled them.

When I was the creative director of Rosenfeld, Sirowitz and Lawson, a NYC ad agency we introduced a new Charles of The Ritz fragrance to the tune of 40 million dollars in TV commercials and print ads. You'd think that was enough to launch it, right? It wasn't. We still made sure that every woman who stopped at every perfume counter in the country got a lovely little pink bottle of the stuff to take home and wear for a week or so. And when we introduced a new breakfast sandwich at McDonald's we gave out coupons to lunchtime customers so they could come back the next morning and eat for free.

It's because trying something for free is the best way of discovering it. And free doesn't mean sampling a quarter of a cookie - it means the whole cookie. It doesn't mean someone spraying my wrist with perfume - it means them putting a small bottle of the fragrance in my shopping bag. It means spending a weekend in a hotel and taking two showers using the same soap. It doesn't mean reading the first five pages of my book online - it means reading my whole book for free as a way of discovering me as an author.

As consumers we are faced with hundreds of choices - and when it comes to books thousands of choices.

So how do you choose?

I was a reader before I was a writer - one of those kids who walked home from school with a book up to my face, about to fall in the proverbial pothole because I couldn't see where I was going. And now I'm one of those people whose books are triple shelved and who can't go anywhere without carrying two titles - one that I'm reading and one back up.

And so as a reader I'm suffering along with every other reader by a wealth of books (over 1000 novels are published every month) but not a wealth of wallet and so every time I walk into a bookstore or go to a bookstore online I'm confronted with more titles that I want to read than I have money to buy.

Books on their own aren't insanely expensive compared to other things; three large cappuccinos cost more than a paperback and two and a half gallons of gas cost more than a paperback. But these days we are all watching our dollars and I find that faced with so many books to buy, I wind up with choice fatigue and all too often end up buying the safe bet - the book by the author I've read before who I'm sure will offer a satisfying read and passing over new books by authors I haven't heard of even if they look interesting because I can't buy everything and I can't afford to make many mistakes.

But if you buy books this way you're bound to miss out on a lot of exciting discoveries.

Back in 1999 and 2000 a few of us... a very few of us... Douglas Clegg, Seth Godin and I... offered free electronic copies of our books in an effort to reach an audience we otherwise wouldn't have reached and to test out a new marketing concept for books. Despite the industry screaming we were crazy, it worked. We each wound up selling many more copies of the books that we gave away than anyone expected and for each of us the experiment was a success. Back then many thought it an audacious move and even though we proved free books led to increased books sales it's been hard for me to convince any of my publishers to try it again. Until now. I guess it's an idea whose time has come, or I've gotten more persuasive, or the VP I asked at my publishing house recently got a nice sample of a new moisturizer at the department store and understood the idea ... but whatever the reason, I'm thrilled.

For the next ten days The Reincarnationist is free to anyone who wants to download it from Amazon's Kindle Store or from my website. Why? So readers like me can take a chance on... well... me.

M.J. Rose is the author of The Reincarnationist that has received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, raves from People, Entertainment Weekly, The Chicago Sun Times, The Providence Journal and more. She's also the creator of AuthorBuzz.com - the first marketing service for authors and she's one of the founding members of International Thriller Writers. Her next novel, The Memorist, will be released on November 1st.

 

 

Comments

[AprilLHamilton]

I'm doing the same thing with my how-to reference book on self-publishing, The IndieAuthor Guide, though not necessarily to drive sales.
I know that in order to match the indie movements in film and music, the indie author movement must reach a critical mass: there must be enough quality, self-published books out there to put the lie to the assumption that all self-published books are necessarily inferior to mainstream books. I'm hoping to empower as many would-be indie authors as possible to get their work out there to readers in polished form, by showing them exactly how to do it and proving to them that it doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg, and it doesn't require highly technical skills or tools. Anyone who wants to know more about the book can look it up on Amazon, and anyone who wants a free, electronic copy can write to me to request one. My email address is available at my website, www.aprillhamilton.com.
While my primary goal right now is raising awareness, not sales, I have seen a slight increase in sales since I started giving the book away. I expect this is because some people decide the book is worth owning in hard copy, and some recommend it to others, who ultimately buy it. In general, I think giving away electronic copies of a newly-published book is a good idea for authors trying to build readership.

[novabird]

What a colossal ripoff.
I went to the site, clicked the link, and I was required to give a lot of personal information (which I did). When I finally clicked the "download PDF" link, (after entering the free code) there was no PDF, only a 1 k file called "ebx.etd". NO PDF, NO BOOK.
So basically I just wasted a lot of time and gave away my personal information to your publishing company... FOR NOTHING.

[M.J. Rose - Huffpost Blogger]

Novabird - and Notmcain - I would be happy to send you both copies of the actual book if you want to read it. Email me at [e-mail]. I have ten copies I'm happy to mail out.

I am sorry you think the publisher asked for too much info.

When all publishers give away books for free they ask for login info - its their business they are entitled to find out who wants to read the book for free - but I'm happy to send you both books if you want to read them.

I meant what i wrote - the point was to introduce my books to people so they might discover them. If you want a copy email me.

[NotMcCain]

Well, ten days of free download. Ten days until her next (non-free) book.

And runs an author marketing website.

Nothing wrong with doing this--fiction is notoriously difficult to sell--but not exactly as altruistic as represented.

[M.J. Rose - Huffpost Blogger]

Here's some info for those who asked:

"One of the most original and exciting novels I've read in a long time, with a premise so delicious I'm sick with envy I didn't think of it myself. It will open your mind to some of the incredible mysteries of the past and the greatest secrets of existence. The Reincarnationist is more than a page-turner-it's a page-burner. Don't miss it." -- Douglas Preston, author of The Book of the Dead

Starred Review. The exploding bomb in Rome that nearly took news photographer Josh Ryder's life triggered in him a series of wildly strange historical flashbacks. Determined to find the cause, he turned to the New York-based Phoenix Foundation, a scientific group dedicated to the possibilities of reincarnation. Memories of his past lives in ancient Rome as Julius, a pagan priest in a desperate mission to save his love, and in Victorian New York as Percy Talmage, son of the Phoenix Foundation founder, haunt Josh as he tries to bring his episodes under control. The foundation's interest in the excavation of a fourth-century tomb sends him back to Rome. But at the tomb, the Memory Stones are stolen, flinging Josh and archaeology professor Gabriella Chase into a race to recover these powerful artifacts. Rose's engrossing thriller effortlessly leaps to and fro through the centuries. Dramatic suspense and intriguing characters expertly set the stage for this first in a series. -- From Library Journal

[mergina]

I make my books free WHENEVER I FEEL LIKE IT. Free is good...(ju­st not all the time cause you know there is the electric bill and the gas bill and the....).

[donatellotomasso]

These days a LOT of books are free. There are whole digital libraries, so there is a lot of competition.

I find free books from places like http://www.freebooksearch.net or from the digital library in Australia.­.. then there is always project Gutenberg and the Million Book Project that was just completed.

Since you are only giving away the first chapter, it is no big deal Arthur Conan Doyle gave away every chapter of all of his books. They all appeared as series' in newspapers, and were only later bound into books after proving successful with readers.

Good luck anyway!

[racom]

I believe you can load the entire book, not just a chapter. I looked at it on amazon and decided against the free copy based on the story description but I could get the complete book by the download.

[loriet]

I have downloaded the book. It contains all 491 pages. It is not a partial download.

[Dianekkdi]

You have a decent idea here. However:

How about a synopsis?

How many books in the series?

I don't care for fiction much these days...but I'm curious about what kind of commitment you are asking of people when you offer one free in a series.

[racom]

Check it at Amazon, I think it is the ninth of the series, not sure as I wasn't interested in the story line.

[irishgawdess]

Thanks, I'll check it out!