Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Pay-What-You-Want E-book Now Available

As reported by The Bookseller back in February, Faber just launched a "pay what you want" e-book (in PDF format) six weeks ahead of the print-book publication. The book is Ben Wilson's What Price Liberty?, a non-fiction book exploring "four centuries of civil liberty; how it was constructed, and has been re-thought and re-fought in response to new circumstances."

Silvia Novak, Faber marketing executive, comments:

Essentially this is an experiment, and price is one variable that we're really interested in observing. We also think we'll learn a lot about the thirst for books in digital form. ... We're wondering whether a reader's perspective will change from the initial rush of getting something for free - or close to - to an actual enjoyment of a piece of work, and whether that would translate into wanting to pay more for that experience.

1 comment:

rjnagle said...

Another thing. smashwords.com offers a pay what you want option too . (They look to become a major distributor of ebooks these days).

And of course, I distribute my own fiction online for free, with the option for readers to give tips. So far, though, have received nothing..except for occasional praise.