"free" entries

Expectation of Fair Pricing, Not Free

At Dear Author, a post stating that not all content should be expected to be free; rather it must be provided, free or not, in a realistic understanding of consumer needs and expectations, which might mean changing the way you do business. What content providers must realize is that a changing business model wherein revenues are no longer captured in…

The Realities of Big Web Traffic and Advertising

Major news sites that rely on advertising as their primary revenue stream need to log hundreds of millions of page views per month to attract significant attention from advertisers, according to a new report from Lauren Rich Fine, research director of ContentNext. From Advertising Age: "Based on our research, the conversation [with advertisers] gets interesting at 200 million page views…

Change Always Leaves Someone Behind

Seth Godin discusses the realities of digital change and free distribution in an interview with HarperStudio's The 26th Story: … the market and the internet don't care if you make money. That's important to say. You have no right to make money from every development in media, and the humility that comes from approaching the market that way matters. It's…

Calling Out Risk-Averse Publishers

Bloomsbury Academic is testing the theory that increased awareness from free distribution boosts book sales. The recently-launched imprint is releasing all of its titles online under a Creative Commons license while also selling print-on-demand editions. Discussing the rationale with the Chronicle of Higher Education, Bloomsbury's Frances Pinter cites the unnecessary chasm between envelope-pushers and conservative publishers: "I'm tired of the…

Taking the Leap into All-POD

James Bridle has launched Bookkake, a print-on-demand (POD) publisher focusing on transgressive literature. From booktwo.org: … Bookkake is not in the fortune-building or the fortune-breaking business. Print-on-demand and direct sales mean that we cut out much of the warehousing, distribution, and discounting costs that are currently causing so much trouble in the trade. Order a book from the Bookkake website…

Author Paulo Coelho Illustrates the Upside of Openness

Budding authors may not be able to duplicate the success of Paulo Coelho, but Coelho's willingness to experiment across mediums is certainly worth studying. From Jeff Jarvis' Guardian column: Coelho is the thoroughly modern author. But he still believes in print. For him, this isn't a matter of print v digital. It's a question of what comes when you add…

Report: Radiohead Experiment Yields Indirect Success

A new research report says Radiohead’s In Rainbows experiment diverted a degree of traffic — and value — toward the band’s site.

Tor.com Woos Sci-Fi Fans with Free Ebooks

Taking a page from the Baen playbook, Tor.com, a division of Macmillan, is giving away 24 science fiction ebook titles through July 27. The ebooks are available in PDF, HTML and Mobi formats. (Via News.com) Cory Doctorow: "Science Fiction is the Only Literature People Care Enough About to Steal on the Internet." Free Ebooks with Embedded Ads Via Scribd-Lulu…

News Roundup: New Kindles Rumored, Free Ebooks with Embedded Google Ads, Web Publicity and Giveaways Boost Author's Profile

Rumor: Two New Kindles Coming This Fall Citing an inside source, CrunchGear says Amazon will release two new Kindles in time for the holiday season: The first is an updated version with the same sized screen, a smaller form factor, and an improved interface … The second new model, which is shaped like an 8 1/2 x 11-inch piece of…

Web Publicity + Free = A Fighting Chance

Sci-fi author Scott Sigler uses podcasts, giveaways and grassroots Web marketing to build interest in his work. We've covered Sigler in the past, but his recent interview with The Independent illustrates the value lesser-known writers can derive from Web-based brand building and free distribution: Sigler's thinking — and this is the revolutionary bit — is that it's worth making…