Making Free or not to Free
Wow, this post could become political!
Hold on though I'm not talking politics here though I certainly could be. I am actually talking book promotion. The need to promote is screaming at me. This dilemma is tugging in two different directions.
Some well known advisors say "give your books away," and others say "don't you dare".
Here are the logistics.
I thought by moving my focus from my art studio to my computer desk I would discover a less expensive way of using my creative energy. In a sense, the creation part of writing is certainly less costly. Canvas, brushes, easels, and not to mention oil paint (some which could run well over $34 a tube) are certainly (over an extended amount of time) more expensive than a computer and software. The amount of space I consume with unwanted and unsold paintings increases yearly, and if I were to show them to the public, the cost of space at an event is over the top not to mention travel, parking, the labor of hauling, and the risk of destroying a painting or two in the process are phenomenal. It's somewhat amazing how many people will ask an artist to give their work away when it is so hard to realize the return of all that work (not to mention the long hours of studying to learn the craft).
So when I began novel writing I thought I was going cheaper. My idea was that more people will buy a $15 book, or a $5 e-book, than they will a $1500 painting.
Bear in mind I am not writing for the money. I love to story tell. My first thoughts were of my grandsons who had way too few books to enjoy. In my eyes I see boy children lacking in reading material. Ian's Realm was created specifically for them. You can imagine how excited it made me when the book first came out and friends were buying it for their grandsons, and coming back with reports like "He's not a reader but he couldn't put your book down!" That is fulfillment and I am thankful for it!
This is where I am with giveaways now. I have a total of six books for young adults published. Sadly, none of them have reached a wide audience. I've had people tell me it's the covers, or it's the blurbs, but even if I change those things (which I'm doing little by little), I'm still not reaching a wide audience like I'd like to. So I took some advice and am now running a 'free' campaign. I'm giving away the first 9 chapters of Ian's Realm (the trilogy), and the complete book Diary of a Conjurer.
Why?
Well because I want to know that more boys' eyes light up and discover the thrill of reading.
I gave the books to our local juvenile detention center, where boys are locked up and bored and need to find something to do. Feedback tells me that the Saga is well read in that little jail house. I'm glad, because Ian has many issues in the story that boys in our society face. He puts his dad on a pedestal, and when his father shows his human failings, Ian is crushed. He struggles with issues of integrity, weakness, inability to communicate, and not believing in himself, and he has to overcome those issues. By the third book, though still struggling, he triumphs, something those young teenagers will also have to do in their own lives.
I look back on my childhood and remember novels that made a difference in my life; books that shaped me; stories that inspired me to break through the walls of insecurities that I built. I honestly believe Ian's Realm Saga has done this for the few young readers it has reached. I hope this little giveaway I'm doing will span that vast horizon out there so more young people will share in Ian's adventures.
In any case, you're welcome to download them.