Josh Smith Online

Tobias Buckell, sci-fi author and blogger has a great post up about free ebooks. Lately many of the main publishers have been scrambling to launch some version of a free ebook program. In my opinion some have done it better than others. From the examples Tobias listed, Tor has done a great job in that the free ebook is available as a pdf, html or mobi file to ensure portability and compatibility. The Harper Collins program however relies only using your web browser and constant connectivity. I am all for free ebooks even in a less useful online only format, simply because it is a low risk way for me to find out more about an author.

Tobias writes:

These are not ‘information wants to be free’ people, but entrepreneurs interested in gaining a wider reach for their fiction. They’re disparate in politics, technology outlooks, and so on. They’re not part of some e-conspiracy, but a range of working writers in today’s field.

Whole publishing companies are starting to experiment. Baen is well known for giving away the first novel or couple novels of a series (bet you can’t read just one), you can check out their free library. All indications from Eric Flint’s comments are that these drive sales up throughout the backlist.

Tobias also includes a great roundup of currently free ebooks and announces that Crystal Rain will be one of Tor’s upcoming free ebooks in the coming weeks.

Tags: Baen | books | Crystal Rain | ebook | Eric Flint | Harper Collins | tobias uckell