It’s nobody’s fault I gave my books away for free.
I think a lot of authors who got sucked in to the freebie phenom are feeling like Ronny Cammareri these days. I know I am. I’m leaving Space Junque free at Amazon and iTunes as a lead-in to the Apocalyptos, but nothing else will be free again.
If a story doesn’t give someone enough pleasure for the price of a venti quad no-foam latte in exchange, then that’s the way it is. But I’m not giving them away any longer. As Zoe Winters says, I’m no one’s entertainment slave.
Russell Blake explains things very well .
I’ve recently come to this conclusion as well. My Kindle is full of free titles and it’s a dangerous trend. Is our writing not worth the price of a cup of coffee? The only way to stop it is to educate both writer and reader. I don’t know if it will continue, but I have more pride in my work than that.
In my case, the trend is literally killing the book. My sales have diminished so significantly that I have to give more time to my day job. I’m on the verge of losing my health insurance for lack of $ to pay the premium!
Moriah Jovan’s very good recent blog post started me off on this, and Russell Blake’s fed the fire.
There will always be people willing to give their books away. I don’t think that will stop. I just think that people who put a certain level of time and resources into the books won’t be so willing. I’m sure this is just the beginning of authors saying, ah, no.
You can’t eat smiles. You should be paid.
True, MaryAlice. As wonderful as smiles are, they don’t pay the bills.
Good for you! Your stories are more than worth the price.