Free Copy of Black Diamonds - Kindle Version

You can obtain a free e-book version of Black Diamonds on Amazon.com on March 10th, 11th, 12th, 31st and April 1st.  All other times it will revert to its normal price of $2.99 and more for the hard copy printed version.  Click here to access your free copy of Black Diamonds.

If you log on to the web and Google "why give books away free" you will find all kinds of responses on both sides of the issue.  For me the long and short of it is I want to get my first novel in front of as many people as possible.  If I can get them interested in Black Diamonds which is the first book in my Colors of Alaska trilogy then I can probably get them to purchase subsequent books in the series at the $2.99 price I plan to maintain for all of my e-books.  I'm planning to complete Blue Ice, the second book in the trilogy by late July or early August.

And it logically follows that if they like my series books they will also look at standalone books I write such as Appalachian Gold that is currently underway.  I hope to have that out by late April or early May.

Some authors have chosen to keep all first books in a series free.  Others, like I am doing initially, make it available for 5 days as part of the Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) program.  Some never give a book away free.  I'm learning as I go so I'll see what the response is and then make a decision about how to proceed afterward.

It is difficult for a brand new author to get established and develop a following.  Before e-books s/he had to rely on the intensive (and expensive) promotional campaigns of the publishing houses.  Not many aspiring authors made it through the screening process to actually become published, let alone promoted.

Today it is relatively easy for a new author to get a book published, assuming they have managed to actually get it written.  But publishing the book, either as an e-book or a print-on-demand hard copy, isn't sufficient to generate enough sales to produce much income.  The current trend is to use social media (Facebook, blogs, websites, e-newsletters, etc.) to increase awareness and drive traffic.  That is what I am trying and I must confess it requires as much or more time to effectively do this as it does to actually write the book.

I would be very much interested in where you stand on the issue of giving books away free.  If you had just completed your first book how would you get people to read it?

Thanks in advance for any sharing you may do on this.