Last week, FWR’s own Lee Thomas examined the economics of giving away e-books for free, pointing out:
Free buys word of mouth, which may create the buzz needed to sustain a book long enough to find its audience. […] Many authors and publishing houses now regularly post a story from a new collection or a free first chapter as a way to entice while still protecting both profit and the value of the art.
Author Jim Hanas is taking this model a step further by giving away copies of his e-book until Labor Day—directly. The One Story blog reports:
In anticipation of the fall release of his newest short story collection, Why They Cried (e-book, Joyland and ECW Press), he’s giving away FREE copies of his first e-book, Single, until Labor Day. Single contains two stories that will appear in Why They Cried, including “The Cryerer”.
The e-book is available for free download in a variety of formats at Hanas’s website. And if you don’t hold with this newfangled downloading business, Hanas adds that you can email or call him: “I’m not kidding. I will help you.”
