FREE e-books?

Have authors gone mad?

     I’ve noticed in trend in peoples reading habits lately; mainly my own. I have a lot of books and when I say a lot of books, I mean a lot of books. I’ve been collecting books ever since I was a kid. My book shelves are over-flowing with them. I have no more room for physical books. Two years ago I got a Kindle and it's been a godsend. But, the collecting didn’t stop there. I then started repurchasing a lot of the books I already had, but haven’t read, so I can read them on my Kindle. I continued collecting books everyday, mainly FREE ones. They just kept appearing on my news feed on Facebook & Twitter. "5 FREE e-books here, 10 FREE there." If I was the slightest bit interested in the title and it was free, it was mine, all mine, to read when? Over 2 years I have gathered thousands and thousands of e-books, more than I can possibly read in my lifetime. 

     What I found was this; even though I still collect all the free books I can get my hands on, I tend to only read the books that I pay money for. I’m not sure why that is? All that I can come up with is value. The old “cliche” “you get what you pay for” maybe embedded in the back of my mind. Even though I know it's not true. I'm sure in the sea of FREE books there are some good ones floating around out there. But, still, if the author doesn’t value his own work, how can he expect me too? 

     Being an author myself I see another side of the FREE ebook trend thats happening. I feel it depreciates not only the book that’s FREE, but all books in general. I ask myself, how in the world is this good for the industry? And, frankly and ashamedly I can’t see that its helping in any way. If authors don’t respect themselves or their work enough to put a respectable price tag on it, what kind of message is that spreading to our readers? That books have no value? Why should anyone buy another book when there is an overwhelming abundance of FREE ones readily available with just a click of a mouse? It’s gotten out of hand. 

“I'd rather have sales from people who want to read my words than have thousands of downloads from people who don't” ~ Kat Yares, author

     I Couldn't agree with you more Kat. I want my books to be read, not just stored away in a sea of lost ebooks on some computer or Kindle somewhere. Until I see a value in giving 3+ years of hard work away for free, I will continue to ask a small price for my labor of love. I hope the reader will get enough entertainment and/or knowledge out of it to say that it was money well spent. If not, my apologies in advance, we know we can't please everyone. Just be grateful that it didn’t cost you the price of a bad movie and/or popcorn, and thank you for giving it a chance and an open mind.

Happy reading.

Dan