A while back, I wrote that I give away some of my books because I want you to read them. Since then, many have picked up my books, both through online retailers and here, through my Reader’s Club. A great deal of these folks have gone on to enjoy my other titles. Before I go on to pontificate any further, to them, a big thank you!

On related news, I’ve come across many comments from other authors who on principle refuse to set their book price to $0.00. In their minds this “devalues” and “cheapens” their work, and that of others as well.

Before I go on to examine this position, I’ll address the piracy thing, which often gets thrown into the discussion. Whether or not piracy earns you more readers, I think we need to set it aside for a separate discussion. Conflating piracy with free voluntary, strategic offerings is like talking about murder and giving birth and pretending they’re the same thing.

Piracy is evil. It’s theft. There. Ready to move on.

Let’s deal with what really matters, namely, what we can control. If an author elects to share some of his work free of charge, does that devalue his work in particular and cheapen books in general? In reply we should note that “free” isn’t the same as not getting anything in return. In my case, I give books away for two specific purposes:

• I offer perma-free titles with the intent (one that works, BTW) to generate reader interest in my series so that they buy subsequent books.
• Free ebooks on my site are available only to those who join Reader’s Club (a.k.a., my mail list).

In both instances I don’t get money. I get something else in return, namely an established relationship with a reader, by my accounting, worth far more to me than $4.99.

Now, I appreciate the strong sense many have—the principle—that after slaving for months and years to create something of value they shouldn’t give it away for free. I feel the urge to believe likewise. But there, too, a logical flaw arises from conflation, namely the assumption that free equals valueless. Or that a free giveaway cheapens the work.

Oxygen is free. It is not valueless. One does not cheapen one’s work by giving it away any more than a land owner cheapens the value of his land when he donates it to a conservancy.

In fact, one could argue just as vigorously that putting a price tag on something of considerable or transcendent value (such as a work of art) in fact cheapens it. This argument, too, would place emotional attachment above logical and practical considerations.

Often, detractors of free books also claim that readers who read free books won’t be committed. Heck, they might not even read the thing, because, you know, it cost them nothing. And if they do read the free book, they surely won’t want to pay for the next one. They’ve gotten used to free stuff. They’ll never want to pay for it. Is that the kind of reader I want?

In response to this I often note first: nice story, compelling hand-waving, but where’s the data or evidence to support it? Second observation: if the reader that picked up my book for free would not pay for it, what did I really lose by giving it to him for free? I would have never gotten $4.99 from him. Oh, the next guy would have paid for it, you say? Then wouldn’t he pay for one of my other books? The argument self-defeats, in short.

It also draws us somewhere else, the alternative. Obscurity. What if neither the guy who wants it for free nor the guy willing to pay for it would have known anything about your book when fully priced? What if the $0.00 sticker gets it (and you!) noticed? How much is that worth?

In short, neither practically, nor on the merits of often-touted principle, do I find arguments against “free” compelling. That said, I respect what others chose to do in this regard as best suits them and their preferences (the more accurate word we should use in place of principle). We all have to sleep at ease with our own decisions. Hopefully we’ll make them strategically and logically, as fits best within our particular situation, and without casting disparagements about devaluing and cheapening.