It works. I just wanted to share that with you. The concept of offering one free eBook by an author — especially an eBook in a series — worked and tempted me to buy eBooks with my iPad last month.
I finished reading the first book — A Lesson in Passion by Jennifer Connors — then used my iTunes account to log in and purchase the following two books in the series. The hook set firmly, and I finished the series. Not bad, I thought. The books, not the marketing technique. Pretty good, I thought about the marketing.
If you’re a reader new to the eBook download system and building a library, remember that free reads are just the first step. Investing $1.99 or $3.99 in a new book isn’t a bad idea. I admit that I cringed. I’m notoriously frugal when it comes to spending money online. But I justified it because it was a satisfying purchase, I didn’t have to leave the house and drive to the library (wasting fossil fuel in the process, not to mention having to put on shoes and (heavens forbid!) a brassiere. When I’m home, reading and relaxing in the recliner, I’m generally dressed casually, with a cat on my lap and a glass of red wine on the side table. When I finish one book, I’m not interested in getting up, much less going out.
If you’re still reading on a desktop computer, consider purchasing an e-reader instead. I love my eReader, a 3G iPad. I’ve installed the iBooks app, as well as the Amazon, Borders and Barnes & Noble apps, and I keep my library full. Usually, I download free books from Project Gutenberg, but I can only read Pride and Prejudice and The Scarlet Letter so many times. It’s important to me to see what — and how — other romance writers are writing.
My husband also purchased an eBook for his iPad, and the latest Tom Clancy novel cost him $13.99. “Because it was a book. I was going to buy a book anyway,” he said, justifying the amount. “I was going to buy the audiobook instead, but you told me it was too much money.”
I rolled my eyes at the exorbitant price, but I know it’s because the publisher and iTunes/Amazon/Borders/Barnes & Noble set the price. That’s why I admire the independent spirit of the self-published writer. We can set our prices and oversee our marketing. Who says our work isn’t as good as Clancy’s, John Grisham ‘s, or even Nora Roberts? Only you, the reader, can give us that accolade.
A Free eBook Made Me Buy More by Robin Van Auken is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at www.RobinVanAuken.com.
