Free books? FREE BOOKS??? This is music to my ears! A new marketing trend has recently appeared in the world of publishing and it has many writers and publishers scrambling to either jump on board or to issue condemning statements. Some writers/publishers have begun offering kindle (amazon.com) versions of specific titles for free as a way to attract new readers. The belief is that if someone reads one of these books and enjoys it, they will be more likely to buy a book from that author in the future. You can read more about this trend, and the reactions to it, in a NY Times article, “With Kindle, the Best Sellers Don’t Need to Sell.” I have mixed feeling on whether this is good or bad for publishing and for writers, but as a reader — I am ecstatic. Free is a VERY good price. The Kindle device is available at Amazon for $259.00, but you can also download free “kindle reader” software to run on your PC or Phone. Free software is expected soon for Macs and Blackberries. You can get almost any classic book, such as Austen, Dickens, Wilde, Tolstoy, etc, absolutely free. But, in reality, you can do that at garage sales, too. The thrill is finding brand new releases, including Christian titles, offered free for download. I picked up Christian suspense writer Brandilyn Collin’s titles Exposure and Dark Pursuit for free last week. This deal appears to have expired, but several other authors are now offering free titles to draw in new readers. Cape Refuge and Southern Storm by author Terri Blackstock are two that I downloaded. Also, popular Christian author Beverly Lewis’ book The Shunning is available free for instant download. I also found the books Hide in Plain Sight by Marta Perry and Summer of the Midnight Sky by Tracie Peterson. Now, I haven’t read any of these titles yet, but I have recommeded others by authors Collins, Peterson, and Lewis in the past. Just click on their names to read the “Friday Book Pick” posts.
I imagine that in weeks and months to come, we will see these offers expire and many other books come available. These “freebies” are zooming to the top of the kindle “best-seller” list for obvious reasons. I suppose you can’t buy that type of publicity — but perhaps you can get it for free!
K–does this mean the books can be downloaded onto a phone, like an iPhone?
I don’t have an iPhone, so I can’t speak from experience. But when I downloaded the free kindle reader for my PC I saw that there was also a free reader for iPhones. Just go to Amazon, look for the link for the kindle and scroll to the bottom. There you should see where to click for the free downloads for different electronics. Let me know how it works — I’m curious myself.
I just looked back at Amazon and it says that you can get the free kindle reader for the iPhone or the ipod touch at the iPhone app store.