neodoering
Minstrel
A few years ago a friend convinced me to give away one of my novels for free on Smashwords. I did, and it has been downloaded nearly 1,000 times since then. Encouraged, I gave away an abridged version of another novel, and a short novel, and a collection of short stories. All these works are fantasies. Together these books have been downloaded nearly 3,000 times.
I have waited patiently for years for readers of these freebies to look up my name and find my commercial works, and they haven't done it. Sales are flat. Plenty of readers want the freebies, and some have asked me to produce sequels to the freebies I put out there, but they aren't willing to buy.
Has anyone else tried giving away free novels and short stories? Have you figured out how to get readers to go from freebies to buying your commercial books? What am I doing wrong?
As far as promotions, I have a FB writer's page, a professional website, and some kind words on some reviewer's sites. And I have the Smashwords freebies, and the professional bio on that site. All this isn't doing it. I'd love to hear your strategies. I mean, hell, entire free novels? How much more do readers expect me to give away?
I have waited patiently for years for readers of these freebies to look up my name and find my commercial works, and they haven't done it. Sales are flat. Plenty of readers want the freebies, and some have asked me to produce sequels to the freebies I put out there, but they aren't willing to buy.
Has anyone else tried giving away free novels and short stories? Have you figured out how to get readers to go from freebies to buying your commercial books? What am I doing wrong?
As far as promotions, I have a FB writer's page, a professional website, and some kind words on some reviewer's sites. And I have the Smashwords freebies, and the professional bio on that site. All this isn't doing it. I'd love to hear your strategies. I mean, hell, entire free novels? How much more do readers expect me to give away?