I came across this and thought some of you e-book folk could use the info.
me personally ..I still prefer paper.. http://articles.bookbub.com/private/91746541508/tumblr_n8phlefwHa1sfgkju?source=obtbbb11bWhy Are Publishers Giving Away Bestselling Books for Free?
July 14th, 2014
Last year, Doubleday Publishing decided to give away Dan Brown’s bestselling novel, The Da Vinci Code, for free for one week. The ebook freebie ran on the 10-year anniversary of The Da Vinci Code, and a few weeks before the release of Brown’s new book, Inferno.
Why did Doubleday give away a national bestselling ebook that usually retails for $9.99? The promotion was very deliberate, with the goal of hooking new readers on Brown’s thrillers and drumming up interest for Inferno. In fact, the ebook included the prologue and first chapter of Inferno.
"The move is part celebration and part marketing experiment," reported The New York Times at the time. “Doubleday is betting that any loss of sales of Da Vinci, which has outlived its golden goose days, will be offset by the fire it will light under the new book.”
Ebook Flash Sales
In fact, publishers and authors are finding more and more reasons to discount ebooks. In the case of Dan Brown, it was to promote a new release. Others have used flash sales to build a new author’s following or get readers hooked on a series.
“It makes it almost irresistible,” Liz Perl, Simon & Schuster’s senior vice president explained to the The New York Times. “We’re lowering the bar for you to sample somebody new.”
However, millions of readers are not aware of these giveaways. Luckily for Dan Brown fans, our daily deal email here at BookBub alerted nearly 1 million readers of The Da Vinci Code freebie.
The Real Cost of Ebooks
For readers, these freebies are a welcome change from the surprisingly high price of ebooks — which can sometimes cost as much as 30% more than hardcover books. Why are ebooks actually so expensive? It turns out that many of publishers’ most significant costs apply to both print books and ebooks. Ebooks also introduce new expenses such as formatting books to work properly on tablets and ereaders.
Given these prices and the rising popularity of ebooks, giveaways like The Da Vinci Code can be extremely beneficial to readers. But most people don’t know when they run or how to find them. Savvy readers, however, are using a few strategies to find these deals:
Checking bestseller lists — several ebook retailers, such as Amazon’s Kindle Store, maintain bestseller lists where you can view the top-downloaded free ebooks.
Joining online communities — message boards, forums, and communities like Reddit can also be sources of free ebooks. Members share links when they find good deals.
Signing up for email alert services — these services notify readers of free and discounted bestselling ebooks in their favorite genres during the limited time they’re available. Alert services are free and usually just require a valid email address.
Groupon for Books
With close to 3 million readers already using BookBub’s email alert service, it’s clear that this type of promotional concept is one that resonates with both publishers and readers alike.
"It’s the Groupon of books," Dominique Raccah, the publisher of Sourcebooks, said of services like BookBub in The New York Times. “For the consumer, it’s new, it’s interesting. It’s a deal and there isn’t much risk. And it works.”
To check out today’s ebook deals on BookBub, click here:
http://landers.bookbub.com/covers/?source=obtbbb11b