eBooks: Free vs Self-Destructing | what’ll drive sales?

Seriously, which do you think will sell more books: making libraries re-purchase each e-book after 26 reads, or giving away full copies of book 1 in the series?  I know which I think will be successful.

Harper Collins wants to kill library e-books. I signed the petition -take a look and you will probably add your name too.

HarperCollins …. announced in March 2011 it will sell e-books to libraries that will last only 26 reads, forcing cash-strapped libraries to purchase popular titles again and again.  via teleread.com

That’s at  http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-harpercollins-limited-checkouts-on-ebooks-is-wrong-for-libraries .

Now, the happy news – Baen has for FREE –  dozens of full-length science fiction and fantasy novels in most/all formats. Just go to their Free Online Library.

This is not a short-time gimmick – it’s been available for years now.  And, amazingly, Baen is not out of business because of it.

Go! Read! Try someone new, or start up a famous series that you never visited. There are dozens of authors both famous and aspiring.

Baen Books is making available — for free — a number of its titles in electronic format. We’re calling it the Baen Free Library. Anyone who wishes can read these titles online — no conditions, no strings attached…. Or, if you prefer, you can download the books in one of several formats. Again, with no conditions or strings attached.    Why are we doing this? [because it's a good idea and will likely improve sales]…  via Introduction – Baen Books.