In my Notes from the author at the end of Conflux: The Lost Girls, I explain part of my logic for why I offer most of my works 100% free in perpetuity:
In realizing early on that [writing Conflux: The Lost Girls] and writing in general for me simply are labors of love, I decided to release all my writing totally free, rather than worry about agents and publishers and trying to squeeze money out of would-be fans. I don’t fault authors that want to get paid for or live off their writing, but I’ve found some of their attitudes toward publishing, fan fiction, etc to be distasteful. And coming from the generation of file-sharing, freeware, and pay-what-you-want, a generation that actively (and I think rightly) shuns digital rights management and other gatekeeping of infinitely reproducible products, and having been the beneficiary of so many helpful and genius products freely given, I think it’s only right to do the same with my humble works of fiction. I will make every effort to make it all as accessible as humanly possible.
I trust my readers to take care of me if they see fit, but even if I don’t make a dime, I’m glad to know you’re enjoying something I put my heart into and put out for the whole world to enjoy. I only ask that if you did enjoy this book, share it with someone you think will love it too! There’s more to come soon, for Kade and Care, and many other stories sure to take your breath away. In the meantime, read and write and share what you like! Stay safe out there.
In short, technology has made it easier to disseminate as many copies of your ebook as your readers can read, and the web and cross-promotion from other authors online has made self-publishing a more viable option than ever before. It’s certainly a very different way to go about it, but it’s the way I went with, and I hope people enjoy being able to read and share my works without so much as paying a penny if they don’t want.
So many talented people are living well or receiving substantial financial patronage through generous supporters on the web, either with one-time or ongoing donations. If my readers feel they want to do that, obviously I’ll be thrilled, but if they don’t, no problem!
It’s not that the value of a book is just in the paper it’s made from- of course it’s the information and countless days of work put in as well. But if you can share something you like and think other people will like, that sounds like a good way to go!
So that’s why my books and stuff are free. Because they can be, and because I’m more concerned with the art and connecting with readers than trying to get money. I think a lot of authors miss that, but it’s the only way some of them can afford to put out their good content, so I don’t blame them.
I’ll be putting my books and other content on virtually every platform I can to disseminate it as much as possible. It costs a bit on Kindle for ebook or paperback (mostly for printing costs) but that might change, I just want it to show up well on Amazon. But you can download the ebook and manually put it on your Kindle easily, as well as read it on Google Docs, Microsoft Office, .pdf format, etc. An audiobook is even in the works and that will be free too!
Stay tuned and share with your friends if you think they’ll like it.
-Jordan Wakefield