Question: Should I Offer My Book for Free?

A reader writes:

For background: I’m an author with some decent short story credits, I edit a fiction magazine, I speak regularly at local conferences, I have several more short stories in constant circulation, and I’m shopping an urban fantasy novel to agents. I generally write speculative fiction.

I’ve been thinking recently about offering one of my unpublished novels on my website for free. The novel is a fantasy which has been to several agents, gotten requests, but eventually rejected with kind words, not right for today’s market, etc. This would be for promotional purposes only–another way to build my web presence.

Several authors have done this with great success: Doctorow, Scalzi, Konrath, to name a few.

My question: is this is the right thing to do at this stage in my career to continue building my name or is my time better spent elsewhere? I have built up (and subsequently lost due to my own lack of interest) a sizable audience on my personal blog, as well as edit a free online fiction magazine, so I have some idea on how to promote fiction online, though more tips are always appreciated!

I had another reader approach me recently with a similar question, so I’m going to try to answer both of you in one mighty post.

Favorite agent-with-a-blog Nathan Bransford wrote a great post back in February about “freevaneglists,” writers like Chris Anderson and Cory Doctorow who champion free content as a business model. (Kudos and credit to Nathan, by the way, on the coinage.)

My take on the free people is that what makes it work isn’t the free book. It’s them. It’s the attention getting. It’s the personal empire building. It’s the hustle.

(I also have to wonder if there is confluence of territory and approach. Would they be as successful if they campaigned against Digital Rights Management (DRM) and wrote about South American religious art?)

This is not a knock on the freevangelists. I admire them and their work. But if you’re going to lace up your future boots and follow in their silvery, Utopian footsteps, then I hope you keep the following in mind:

Free doesn’t mean cheap

Do you want your baby to appear to the world as just another file? Of course you don’t! If you want to get something out of your free-ness, then you’ll need cover art, a proper website, widgets, badges, etc. And it all has to look amazing.

Even the “Long Tail” starts with an occasion

The most poorly published traditional book still has a collective energy behind it. That’s why you’ll want a proper launch date, a release party, a social media campaign, reader contests, dance marathons, etc. (If you’ve already launched, take your book down, give it a rest, and relaunch it in three to six months.)

Get organized

Consider gathering five other authors in your genre and having all of you release your free e-books on the same day. Give yourselves a name. Write a manifesto. Something so your book isn’t so all on its lonesome.

Be prepared to fight for your book every day

This is true for a traditionally published book, but goes triple for a self-published giveaway. All the energy behind your freebie is going to come from you. You, you, you. Go, go, go. Bzz, bzz, bzz.

If you’re reading this and feeling like you’re going to barf, then this model probably isn’t for you.

If you’re reading this and are licking your chops in anticipation of the royal beatdown you’re going to put on the world, then I encourage you to proceed.

Final thought:

Traditional publishing frustrates me for many reasons, but I still buy all my books new and in book form. These new, for-sale, paper books are what I’m always going to want to read and write, and I will do so even if Amazon surgically attaches a free Kindle to my skull.

But like the survivalist who stocks up on bullets and spring water, I’m preparing myself for a future where the model is free and/or digital and/or self-publishing. I will go where reality goes, even if it breaks my heart.