(“Sell-through” refers to the percentage of copies shipped which
are actually sold, as opposed to being returned to the publisher.)
As of today, according to Baen Books—a year and a half after being
available for free online to anyone who wants it, no restrictions
and no questions asked—Mother of Demons has sold about
18,500 copies and now has a sell-through of 65%.
I would like someone to explain to me how almost doubling the sales
and improving the sell-through by 11% has caused me, as an author,
any harm?
Via RobotWisdom,
Free
the Books!
Good, solid evidance that making a book (or perhaps, by extention, a
song perhaps? hint hint) available freely, in electronic
format, does not hurt sales and may actually increase
sales. It still is easier to read a hard copy-dead tree version of a book
in the bathroom (aka “reading room”) and not everyone likes reading for
extended periods of time on the computer (me? I'm used to it).
You have my permission to link freely to any entry here. Go
ahead, I won't bite. I promise.
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