My debut romance novel, The Art of Love is free today and tomorrow (May 20 and 21) on Kindle. A number of people have asked me the million-dollar question, “How can you make money if you’re giving your book away for free?”
The answer sounds crazy, but if you use the pond analogy, it makes sense. I started out by giving my friends copies of the books to read. I told them, “Don’t worry – if you like it, tell me; if you don’t, don’t worry about it.” Well, they told me. They let me know they enjoyed it thoroughly and some of them said they couldn’t put it down. Even my brother read it and said he was “really surprised it was so good.” (hmmm). Several of them recommended it to their friends; a few got their book clubs involved.
My hope is that lots of readers who love romance will download The Art of Love because it sounds intriguing and the price is right (!). They’ll enjoy the book and pass the recommendation on to their friends. I hope many of them write reviews, which alert readers who land on my book page, that my “product” is worth purchasing. And when my next book, Sinner’s Grove, comes out in September, readers will remember they liked the first one and purchase the second one. Slowly but surely, in theory at least, that’s how a new author like me builds readership.
So I hope to give away lots of e-books in the next few days. Happy reading, on me!
