tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465814199245472416.post1233876611190503777..comments2023-08-05T06:35:34.904-04:00Comments on Notes From the Handbasket: How Do You Feel About Free?Laura Benedicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08474185786017084327noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465814199245472416.post-77891363177973725902009-08-22T01:28:52.695-04:002009-08-22T01:28:52.695-04:00"What we receive too cheaply, we esteem too l..."What we receive too cheaply, we esteem too lightly." That's a saying we have at our house and I'm not surprised to see that it echoes your all's thoughts here. <br /><br />There's so much more to think about as well--thanks for weighing in. It means a lot!Laura Benedicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08474185786017084327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465814199245472416.post-44544185618219816822009-08-21T07:54:38.316-04:002009-08-21T07:54:38.316-04:00Great topic Laura, and very thoughtfully dealt wit...Great topic Laura, and very thoughtfully dealt with.<br /><br />What I was thinking--the entire time that I read--was that storytelling began as an oral tradition. We started out sharing stories, for free. So publishing, in the grand scheme of societies is basically a new idea.<br /><br />We like to tell stories. And we like to hang over the cubicle wall and say, "I just read this book, and it was g.r.e.a.t. Wanna borrow it?" While that might be FREE for the reader, it's also FREE promotion for the writer.<br /><br />I think the market will balance itself out. At the same time, I'm a college English prof, and I insist everyone credit their sources -- one more type of promotion for the author.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465814199245472416.post-20690959086042754592009-08-20T12:53:32.713-04:002009-08-20T12:53:32.713-04:00Free, when used as a marketing tool, is not really...Free, when used as a marketing tool, is not really free in the truest sense. It may be better classed as "coercively-priced".<br /><br />I am an advocate of using this model of free in order to advance a product for sale. In my own books as I have striven for publication I took the route of giving away a free podcast audio version that anyone can download at no charge from ITunes. The catch is that the 100k word book is broken into 20 minute episodes with 30 second bumpers on each end. Yes it is free, but it is a little cumbersome. There is also a "Donations" button on the website. But hey! If you want to listen to the story straight through, go to my website and buy the CD-Audio set for $$ and then the cumbersomnity is done away with. <br /><br />The other benefit is that as a new writer this model has enabled me to build a significant audience that publishers will hopefully look at and say "this guy can write". <br /><br />Putting a couple works up for free has the effect, as Laura says, of getting them hooked. Then, once addicted, they will be standing in bookstores shaking like an addict begging for the next fix, and willing to pay.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13152540665352170999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465814199245472416.post-50894590232475156812009-08-20T12:40:06.786-04:002009-08-20T12:40:06.786-04:00Hey lovely Laura,
Free is a tough one -- I'm ...Hey lovely Laura,<br /><br />Free is a tough one -- I'm not wild about it given the already long unpaid hours that writing demands. I agree that the market does sort stuff out and it's interesting to watch. I don't think books will ever go away though -- you can take a book anywhere and it's little and cheap compared to a computer and disposable (or at least not terrible if you lose it which cannot be said of a laptop). I'll check out your story! Can't wait to see Surreal South!Michelle's Spellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15769666862403600253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465814199245472416.post-68739314258990632642009-08-20T11:20:07.273-04:002009-08-20T11:20:07.273-04:00I agree with you completely in regards to free. Bu...I agree with you completely in regards to free. But I was a bookseller, and as a book junkie, I really don't like reading "free" books on my computer. I belong to some mailing lists that send out e-serials for members only and most of the time, even though I really want to, I don't read them. I end up putting them off until I can buy the physical book. <br /><br />I'm not sure how many readers out there are still like me, though. I think a good chunk right now, but it may be that a new generation of readers who don't care about format won't have the issues I do. <br /><br />I also get free promo books, and as a reader who really wants an outlet to share with other readers the fabulous books I read, I feel (and have ever since I started getting arcs as a bookseller) that it's my responsibility to read it and get the word out about it. That's why mine is free. <br /><br />I think you're right that things will balance out. I know a lot of my opinions come from the jobs that I've had so others may not feel the same way I do, but we'll see how it all comes out in the end. I would prefer to still have bound books available for me to spend my hard-earned bucks on. I've had "Becky's Book Money" since I was a kid, but back then it was a plastic jar with pink letters that my parents put babysitting money in!Becky LeJeunehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01030931605009567165noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465814199245472416.post-36478942656845797562009-08-20T11:18:46.918-04:002009-08-20T11:18:46.918-04:00Another point on AnswerGirl's comment is that ...Another point on AnswerGirl's comment is that at the library, the promo book, or the gift from a friend -- and I give away a LOT of books to friends and fans -- is that it's one, unreproduceable copy. The book is tangible and can be passed on from one person to another. No two people can possess it at one time.<br /><br />Piracy takes one tangible item and reproduces it multiple times--everyone some downloads it, they make a digital copy on their computer (even html is "cached" on your computer.) More than two, ten, one million people can possess a reproduction. It's stealing from the publisher and stealing from the author. It's wrong and illegal. People don't understand or they don't care.Allison Brennanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05598446973999304028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465814199245472416.post-48702476213257475352009-08-20T06:49:45.359-04:002009-08-20T06:49:45.359-04:00This is the big issue for everyone involved in the...This is the big issue for everyone involved in the production of artistic content. <br /><br />My problem with "free" is that I genuinely don't think people value what they don't pay for. It also sets up the expectation that these things <i>should</i> be free, or else priced at a level that doesn't allow anyone to make a living wage.<br /><br />"Free" on the Internet is a different and more dangerous kind of "free" than "free" at the library or as a loan from a friend. In the case of both the library and the friend, <i>someone</i> paid for the original book. On the Internet, that's not always true.Ellen Clair Lambhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14944288413332520719noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465814199245472416.post-72077555301385628472009-08-20T06:45:19.499-04:002009-08-20T06:45:19.499-04:00Excellent post! You gave me some serious food for...Excellent post! You gave me some serious food for thought. I never realized what effect "free" could have on our society. Althought I enjoy free items as much as the next guy - I'm a huge advocate of public libraries - I think I agree with @inshin - "people enjoy something more if they have actually paid for it."<br /><br />Now, this may be hypocritical, but I'm off to read your story.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15334812243182354729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1465814199245472416.post-60819036692542243172009-08-20T02:52:46.464-04:002009-08-20T02:52:46.464-04:00It's hard to say what part of your post I don&...It's hard to say what part of your post I don't agree with, actually there isn't anything. I have always had an issue with 'free'. <br /><br />In my business I have a constant battle with the notion of always giving things away free as I can see the minute it is done it devalues it immediately. Of course there may be the odd time, as you are today, when that choice is made, but I have no doubt whatsoever that people enjoy something more if they have actually paid for it, no matter how little.<br /><br />We need to value the creative mind.@inshinnoreply@blogger.com