We’ve all seen ebook prices going up, down, and sideways over the last year.
There are multiple schools of thought as to how ebook pricing should work, and nobody seems to have a clear answer that works in all circumstances.
One school of thought insists that prices for all things digital are coming down, so ebooks should be getting progressively cheaper.
There’s another school of thought maintaining that higher prices are a signalling device that shows customers the value in the product.
I’m suggesting a third option.
Introducing the FreeBook Model
The FreeBook model is simple:
- An author releases an ebook.
- You download the ebook, at no cost.
- You read the ebook.
- After you get the value, you determine its worth and make a donation.
This benefits the author, as the book can be downloaded, e-mailed, and spread. Instead of being locked up behind a sales page, an ebook could actually “go viral”.
Given that one of the many reasons for writing an ebook is exposure to a wider audience, this is a Good Thing.
This model also benefits the reader, as they can see the value in the book before they shell out their money. And if they’re one of the few that legitimately can’t afford a few bucks for a donation, it gives them access to information that would otherwise be locked away from them.
The Value Of An Idea
Most nonfiction books have one idea (or at most a small handful of ideas) at their core. The rest of the book is the sales pitch, case studies, and rationale behind that idea.
Ideas have value. Most ideas are worth a few bucks; life-changing ideas are worth hundreds, or even thousands or millions of dollars.
And what may be an almost worthless idea to one person may be incredibly valuable to somebody else.
With FreeBook, you get to evaluate the ideas in the book before you shell out your money. You can figure out what the ideas are, apply them to your life, and then realize their value – and donate accordingly.
Generosity Is Central To FreeBook
The flip side of this is that there’s no mechanism for forcing readers to pay – so the author is forced to rely on the generosity of the readers.
I believe that people are, on some level, typically both reasonably honest and reasonably generous. This model will put that assumption to the test.
This doesn’t have to be the $25 to $50 that you’d pay for a book in a bookstore – even $5 is a useful contribution, and most of us can afford that with relative ease.
I’m hoping that a small number of readers will find substantially more than $5 in value, and donate accordingly – but that’s completely up to them.
The amount isn’t nearly as important to the model as the act of donating itself.
The Testing Starts July 11th
I’d love to be able to release all of my future ebooks under this model, but as yet it’s untested.
On July 11th, “Harmonizing Hobbies” was released – and its success is in your hands. I know my ebook has value – the question is, does it have value for you?
Read it, digest it, share it, think about it, ask me questions about it, and if you love it and find value in it, toss a donation my way – let’s make this first launch a success!
