 |
| Free eBooks what's your opinion? Good idea/Bad idea? |
Free eBooks!.
Right...
As author of five free ebooks, (which I do for a reason which I will explain later here), I feel so much in the minority. Why do you ask? Well as an author I feel so much down the scale you would not believe. I figured that such a thing is frowned up from the community. I never felt on a par with anyone else who has books that cost a sum to purchase. In fact I will go as far as saying that, I feel like I am out of' the club!'
Yes you heard right. That's how I feel. I know this will largely change when I start to charge for my books but until then its the rocky road of freebies I tread.
I feel at times guilty for giving my work away for free, but I am happy to do so presently. I feel, at time, I have to fight my way through the mass of material out there to get even a squeal from someone about one of my books. Yes, I find it a struggle. I feel alone in this community at the best of times. I write hoping someone somewhere will read what I have written and enjoy it. That is such a thrill for me!
Ok granted I am not the best writer in the world. I do not have a plethora of awards or a single award even. I am not academically taught in wordology/creative writing etc. I learn from being observant, listening, reading etc. I am learning as I go along. For me giving my work away is a way for me to reach readers and authors, to build a base, a platform if you will, to start from and to continually work on it.
Though it is a struggle at the best of times, just to be heard, to be amongst those that have books on Amazon/Kindle etc. They garner more respect and afforded more things that they can do because of just not giving their book away completely free, for whatever length of time. Let me just state this for the record, I am not jealous nor am I looking for a pity party, I am only concerned that free ebooks are not looked at the same way as books you can purchase, and that said authors of those books, whether it is one or many free books they give away, that they deserve to be respected every bit as much and afforded same or similar opportunities as those who get paid for their work, At the end of the day we all in the same slog and slave over our typewriters, note pad and pen, or laptop etc...we all try to carve out some niche in this literary world and want to be remembered by at least some people at the end of the day.
Ok one part you might think about is quality etc. Well I have read some cracking books that are free. I have no doubt that amongst the myriad of books out there that there will be some which sorely need tending too. But may I also add that you will find flaws almost everywhere. People will like, people will dislike, no matter how good or bad you are as a writer. You have to find your own audience, your own, shall we say, group of fans!
In saying all that and in conclusion, I am thankful that I do love what I do and enjoy every minute of it and hope to at some stage, have my books in hard copies and for purchase. I love how this is all progress, how we learn and change etc. Just remember we are one community and one spirit all aiming for that same ideal.
Have fun with your work and never give up even when you are faced with the odds. Keep on.
Right time for me to be outta here. Next post soon including news of goodies, reviews etc coming soon to this little blog :)
