Just give it away!
Naked Conversations, a leading blog on blogging 
point to an article on Forbes magazine where they interview Cory Doctorow, a sci-fi author who has the audacity to give away all of his books for free! no kidding! He offers each and every book for free download from his website….and has seen revenues soar!
I’ve been giving away my books ever since my first novel came out, and boy has it ever made me a bunch of money.
(How he has managed to convince the large publishing houses to play along with him on this one is beyond my finite mind I tell you). However read on….In his own words:
2. A tiny minority of downloaders treat the free e-book as a substitute for the printed book–those are the lost sales.
3. But a much larger minority treat the e-book as an enticement to buy the printed book. They’re gained sales. As long as gained sales outnumber lost sales, I’m ahead of the game. After all, distributing nearly a million copies of my book has cost me nothing.
4. What is certain is that every writer who’s tried giving away e-books to sell books has come away satisfied and ready to do it some more.
I have often discussed the apparent tension that exists in many Christian ministry circles between “freely you have received, freely give“, and today’s pressing commercial realities of having to make a profit (or else no one is going to be producing anything free or no) and produce materials that are excellent in quality. For me it is puzzling, an enigma, an issue that I have thought about before, and have revved my brain quite often over.
One friend in particular once made a rather witty contribution to this conversation by stating that the water of life was free, and freely given, but the plummbing to get it you was not free! In any case many ministries have expressed concern over the amount of commercialisation, or merchandising of the gospel and of Christian materials.
Another friend clearly vents his frustration over what he (and most of us) see as a serious manipulation of believers’ consciences (in some quarters) in order to up the offering in christian conferences etc. Although dealing with offerings and tithes, his post deals with how certain ministries address commercial realities, or at least their need for funding.
Could Cory’s strategy be a wise solution to the enigma? This is certainly something worth exploring in depth. Remind me again….. the large Christian publishing houses…..who are they in business for again?
Technorati Tags: Writing, commercialisation, Gospel
