I signed up for Smashwords' End of Year sale, going on for the rest of December. They let authors choose their discount they want to offer. I chose to make all my books free.

My husband thinks this is crazy, and I get that. I work for months to write, edit, set up, and publish a book, and then I give it away. It does sound a little odd.

But here's the thing. Independent authors have very little power in the book market. When I was traditionally published, they had full-time people who saw that every library in the US saw my book offered for sale. They arranged for my books to be reviewed at prestigious sites. They arranged for blurbs from fellow authors (in exchange for blurbs from me. That's how it's done). In other words, there was a big machine behind every book I published back then. People heard about it. People read the books and wrote about them. Booksellers got notified: "Hey, Peg Herring has a new book coming out!"

Independent writers get none of that. They work for every mention of their name or book title, and often the result is pretty lame. Some blogger promises to read the book but never does. Facebook offers to advertise for you--if you're willing to spend lots of money. You spend hours looking for ways to get the word out, but it feels like you're screaming into the void.

Years back, when I used to go to book conferences, attendees would be handed a shopping bag full of books at check-in. That was publishers, making sure their authors' newest entries were seen, taken home, and passed around. They GAVE AWAY BOOKS! What I am doing right now with Smashwords is similar. I'm taking the chance that if you read one book that you get for free, you'll do one of two things (maybe both): You'll look for more of my books and buy them, OR you'll tell other people about me (hopefully good things).

It's crazy to do all that work and then give it away, maybe. But I'd keep writing even if I made no money at all, so I guess I was crazy to start with!

To visit the Smashwords 2025 End of Year Sale and find your next favorite book: http://smashwords.com/sale 

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