Baen Free Library

[TheAuldGrump]

Well, the, ummm, lively discussion about Drive Thru and the DRM, and my recent purchase of Windrider's Oath got me to thinking about the Baen Free Library.

The idea behind the free library of course is that having read at least part of the book on your computer you will run out and by a genuine printed version. Or failing that reading the first book of a series for free will lead you to purchase the later books.

In several recent Baen hardcovers they have inclused CDs with all the current contents of their free library, and more besides. (In the case of Windrider's Oath it even includes Windrider's Oath...) They encourage you to make copies and give them to your friends. (Give not sell, that is their only requirement.)

My question is: Does this practice actually lead to people purchasing Baen Books?

In my case the answer is yes. I have bought four books that I otherwise would not have bothered with because of the Library. I have also downloaded copies of books that I already own, because it ws what I wanted to read and my copy had either been loaned out, or I was away from home. Heck, part of the reason I bought Winrider's Oath is the CD! (And I read the first book of the series in their free library...)

The Auld Grump

 

[Hypersmurf]

My question is: Does this practice actually lead to people purchasing Baen Books?

That's sort of the point

Eric Flint has written rather a lot on the topic

I haven't read that many books from the Free Library, mostly because I own all of the ones from my favourite authors already But I do have a lot of respect for Jim Baen's taste!

By the way - how's Windrider's Oath? I've been waiting for it for a long time... but I prefer print to e-books, so I have to wait a bit longer until it shows up in stores here...

-Hyp.

 

[Hand of Evil]

It did for me - some books I never picked up because the 'back covers' did not really make them sound interesting or did not know was out, by using the free library I read some and thought the story was good enough to follow up on either by the story or at least the author.

 

[talinthas]

it totally did. i think its a brilliant idea, and exposes me to authors i wouldnt have normally bothered with, like john ringo.

 

[kingamy]

I think that this line of thinking is far more applicable to books (especially in a genre dominated by multi-book series rather than individual books) than it is to the music industry.

Getting the first book in a series free is far more likely to get me to fork over my money for future books than getting the first song free is likely to get me to buy a CD.

Mike Haakstad
Grande Prairie, AB, Canada

 

[Umbran]

My question is: Does this practice actually lead to people purchasing Baen Books?

The Baen people seem pretty bright and savvy. They've been doing this for a couple of years now, and you can be darned sure that they've been watching sales numbers closely. If they saw it hurting sales, they'd drop it.

The secret behind this is simple - to date, and for the forseeable future, for the overwhelming majority of readers, printed books are superior to their electronic counterparts for purposes of pleasure reading. While a person can read the thing in electronic format, most folk would prefer to have a printed book.

Unfortunately, this doesn't work so well for RPG material, because it is used more as a reference than as pleasure reading.

 

[pensiv]

It works. While you're researching the practice of releasing free eBooks and their relation to print sales, check out Cory Doctorow's Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom and Eastern Standard Tribe. Both are great books that I read as eBooks and then bought print copies of as gifts to others.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

The Baen people seem pretty bright and savvy. They've been doing this for a couple of years now, and you can be darned sure that they've been watching sales numbers closely. If they saw it hurting sales, they'd drop it.

The secret behind this is simple - to date, and for the forseeable future, for the overwhelming majority of readers, printed books are superior to their electronic counterparts for purposes of pleasure reading. While a person can read the thing in electronic format, most folk would prefer to have a printed book.

Unfortunately, this doesn't work so well for RPG material, because it is used more as a reference than as pleasure reading.

RPG books also tend to be better formatted for printing out. 8 1/2 x 11 inches, lower page count, larger text in general. So it makes it unfortunately easy to print out. And given that they have a higher price per page than a typical novel... (This is caused by small print runs, not a whole lot that an RPG publisher can do about it...) An awful lot of gamers are stingy bastiches. (So am I, but if I don't intend to buy it I don't steal it either...) So an horrendous number of pirated PDfs show up on the net.

And while I like Wind Rider's Oath it was not quite as good in my arrogant opinion as the first two. The odds just seemed too stacked in the heroes' favor. And new powers, and

Spoiler

a paladin's mount who is himself a paladin, shades of Scarred Lands!

I had much the same problem with the Honor Harrington series, after a while the hyper-competent hero just becomes dull. I like my heroes flawed, and will take a Cazaril or Vorkosigan over Bazhell or Harrington any day. (Yes, I like Bujold...)

I am glad that the Library is working for them, I have found it a pleasure over the years. And Baen continues to be the most internet savvy of the publishers. A lot of companies will print a chapter or too, but the evil minds at Baen will put up half the book as a sample, just to make sure you're hooked good and proper! (In the case of Komar they had the entire book up as a sample for a single day.) The description on the back of Wind Rider's Oath in regards to the CD was also very funny... 'The publisher did not provide this out of the goodness of his heart, if he even has a heart...'

The Auld Grump, waitling for the UPS man, or someone like him...

 

[Hypersmurf]

I had much the same problem with the Honor Harrington series, after a while the hyper-competent hero just becomes dull. I like my heroes flawed, and will take a Cazaril or Vorkosigan over Bazhell or Harrington any day. (Yes, I like Bujold...)

Absolutely. I was trying to explain something to someone the other day, and I ended up contrasting Honor and Miles as well.

I love the Harrington stories... but Honor just isn't as interesting a character to me as Miles is.

A lot of companies will print a chapter or too, but the evil minds at Baen will put up half the book as a sample, just to make sure you're hooked good and proper! (In the case of Komar they had the entire book up as a sample for a single day.)

Heh. For me, the cruellest thing they did was put up to chapter 9 of A Civil Campaign... and then stop.

Chapter 9 ranks as my favourite chapter of any book ever written. And she left us hanging at that point, until the hardback was released...

I remember it vividly, actually. I was browsing the shelves at Borders, and I saw it sitting there, finally. I remember gasping, and snatching it off the shelf, and clutching it to my chest, and dancing, and cackling. I'm not absolutely certain if the "Mine mine mine mine!" was in my head, or aloud, though

-Hyp.

 

[Hypersmurf]

And while I like Wind Rider's Oath it was not quite as good in my arrogant opinion as the first two.

Well, you're too late... Since I was ordering Blake's 7 Season 1 from Amazon UK last night, I ended up adding it to my order

(Along with two Flints and two Stirlings...)

-Hyp.