Should eBooks be FREE?

Discussion in Books, eBooks & Audio Books started by Zaturo • Aug 29, 2012.

?

Free the books?

Poll closed Sep 5, 2012.
  1. Yes, of course!

    33.3%
  2. No way!

    66.7%
  1. Shine_Spirit

    Shine_SpiritActive Member

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    even though I find this interesting concept of free eBooks interesting, where is the (financially speaking) recognition of the writers' work? Something on this account doesn't close properly, right? :p
     
  2. FolkArtist

    FolkArtistActive Member

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    No, they should not be free but with that thought-you do not want to be anonymous as a writer either-so the best way to beat that, is maybe to be generous and give some of your ebooks away for awhile. I have heard writers that have done this and they ended up selling a lot of e-books, when they gave many away. I would say that this is kind of a good marketing strategy to have-when you are getting started in the writing game.
     
  3. Jamille

    JamilleActive Member

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    Unless the author has permitted an e-book to be issued for free, I think it's only fair that they should be bought at a price like any other commodities. It's a free market where the author can fix the price but it's up to the readers to decide if it's worth buying. Even old books require efforts to be digitized and published into e-book or pdf format so it's not entirely right to demand that they should be published for free when someone compiles, translates, and publishes old reading materials, books, or fairy tales into a modern format. If you want to read old books or textbooks in e-book format for free, you can search Project Gutenberg's library of more than 54,000 e-books.
     
  4. Kieranlewix

    KieranlewixMember

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    I definitely do not think ebooks should be free. As a writer, I must share my take on this which is that as much as the cost of making an ebook is less than actually publishing one, it is substantial nonetheless. It's great that we can sell ebooks on the internet now rather than investing in publishing. That only makes work easier but not less. It is logical to reduce the price of an ebook. Heck, I think the usual price should be cut by half when it comes to shifting to an ebook. Effort should be rewarded though.
     
  5. overcast

    overcastActive Member

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    It takes a lot of effort for anyone to make use of the ebooks. And that effort needs to get paid. That's how many people need to recover their money. I think for this reason alone people should understand the efforts behind the ebooks. And that should be more than enough to get you idea why and what should ebook needs to be paid. I personally pay for them if the ebooks are good.
     
  6. larryl332

    larryl332Active Member

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    Well if they were all free than it might be tough to get talented writers on board, but maybe the market would adapt and it would look something like previews. I am not really sure but I doubt this will ever happen.
     
  7. NinetyEighty1

    NinetyEighty1Active Member

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    I honestly think that not all ebooks should be free. As many stated, it is not fair to the writer, they put a lot of hard work in their books for the most part and deserve some sort of compensation. If price becomes an issue then just try to search for the book on Amazon, most of the ebooks I've seen on their aren't too pricey.