FREE!
FREE for a Limited Time Only!
Buy one, get one FREE!
What is it about that word? Why does it quicken the pulse, bring a gleam to the eye?
It does have a ring to it – FREE! Just seeing it on the page conjures images of – well, stuff. FREE stuff. Yours for the asking.
Seems pretty straight forward, doesn’t it? Someone’s giving something away for free, so you say, what the heck? I’ll bite.
What do I have to lose?
Well, most times, nothing. But here’s the rub, bub. There’s no free lunch. Anyone giving anything away for free is looking for a return. It just might not be a short-term monetary one.
And this is not a bad thing – an exchange of a free item for something of value later.
Scam or Legit?
While FREE can be enticing, some freebie offerings can leave a bad taste in a person’s mouth. Some offers are just a pain in the neck. A few are too good to be true. And others can be outright scams.
You’ve seen some of these. Those hard-sell sales pages with the used-car-salesman feel, with all the bells and whistles, pages and pages of text in a kaleidoscope of colors, hundreds of testimonials, etc., etc, ad nauseum. Sure, you might score something for free. But you have to fight your way through squeeze pages demanding you sign up for this or that, pop-up ads or dialog boxes that lock you on the suspect site and won’t let you escape, and rabid attempts to up-sell you.
Why do marketers go this route? Well, because it’s been proven effective. It’s easy to let yourself be sold.
Don’t get me wrong, there are some legitimate offers out there, all preceded by an offer for a freebie. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with what these marketers are doing (unless it’s a scam). It’s just the way it’s perceived. But it can be hard to pick out the good apples from the rotten bunch. Buyer (or freebie taker) beware, and remember – you have ultimate control (see below).
Life’s too short to put up with some of the stuff you have to deal with on-line.
Author Freebies
Most of the time, however, the person giving away the free thing is 100% on the up-and-up. And most likely, she has a good reason for giving you something for free.
She could be looking to establish a relationship with you. Or promoting her expertise. Or looking to create a fan base. None of these are bad, if what is being given away for free is truly valuable.
Let’s use new authors as examples. New authors sometimes give away their work for free. They’re swimming upstream amidst a glut of spawning, mostly bigger, fish (known authors), all vying for a diminishing food source (readers). So giving away samples or, in some cases, entire works, can help an unknown writer reel in readers. Kind of a bait and hook thang, but one with a win-win outlook. The writer wins by getting his stories before readers whom he hopes (prays) become avid fans. The readers win because they get free stuff – stories, in this case. Or maybe non-fiction.
Whatever. The writer makes new fans, to whom he can possibly sell future work. The reader enjoys great stories, or gets pointed answers to his questions, or learns step-by-step how to do something.
Or he better. Because free stuff should be the writer’s best stuff, or there’s no purpose in it. If he doesn’t deliver his best, he’s just shooting himself in the foot. If the FREE stuff ain’t worth having, how does an author expect his reader to buy stuff from him in the future?
What else does the writer get out of the equation?
- Feedback – if she’s open to it (and why not – this is the fan base speaking!). Feedback helps the author’s next story be better than the previous one.
- An ongoing relationship based on trust. Offering free samples, tips, or entire books with truly valuable information or entertainment value shows potential readers (and future purchasers) that the author is taking a giant step to develop a respectful relationship, a give-and-take beneficial to both. Give away a book for free, with an attitude of honesty and openness, and an author creates an opportunity to sell the next one to an ever-growing fan base via..
- A mailing list. When you sign up for something free, you’ll usually be asked for your email address, enabling the writer to get in touch with you later. He may want to sell you something, but he’ll also probably send you more free stuff!
- Word of mouth. The marketer’s favorite. Folks reading an author’s freebies and enjoying them will enthusiastically spread the word. They’ll tell their friends. They’ll write glowing reviews. And, hopefully, be open to shelling out cash to maintain that wonderful high reader’s get from good storytelling.
- Accountability. Author’s using free stuff to create a fan base are accountable to those folks. Fans are hungry people. They’re looking for their reading fix. If they like what they read in the freebies, they’ll avidly await an author’s next work, so he better be ready to deliver.
How about the loyal reader? What do you receive from the transaction?
- More fodder for your favorite electronic reading device . I know, there are a lot of free ebooks out there, and it’s hard to separate the wheat from the chafe. But once you uncover that sweet-tasting grain, you’ll be hungry for more. New writers are counting on it.
- The joy of discovery. You can say that you were on the cusp of a new author’s burgeoning career.
- Something for (basically) nothing. Always good – and you maintain control. You can always delete that free ebook or story if it ain’t any good. You can always opt out of an author’s email campaign. ‘Nough said.
- A relationship of equals. The electronic age has created a wonderful opportunity for readers to build relationships with their favorite authors. Most authors have websites, are on Facebook and Tweet regularly. And it’s been my experience that even name authors will write you back if you drop them a line.
So there it is. Authors give away free stuff, readers receive free stuff, for the betterment of all. There’s no risk in taking an author up on his offer of FREE. And it could be the start of a great relationship.
Now load up your shopping cart with FREE story stuff (starting with “Equinox – Six Declinations”), find a shady nook, sprawl out on the grass, and enjoy a good read.
