NPR this morning discussed the fake memoir and the online previews of books. The acclaimed but fake memoir of Margaret B. Jones aka Peggy Seltzer came under attack by writers who actually did live the gang life. Needless to say, the writers feel disrespected by Seltzer’s attempt to profit off of their lives. [...]

More and more artists, be they writers or musicians, are giving away their product for free in digital form, in hopes of driving physical sales. (Look at the related articles on the right to see more examples) Nine Inch Nails is the latest to jump on this bandwagon.
Their newest album ‘Ghosts I-IV’ and [...]

This special guest review is from author Sherry Thomas. You’ll want to read the entire thing down to the end because Sherry and I are sponsoring a pay it forward Bettie Sharpe giveaway. You see, Bettie Sharpe gave away a fantastic retelling of the Cinderella story. Only we got it in drips [...]

Image Source: H.G.
What has Rin, a preschool teacher in Japan, done that thousands of authors, both in print and aspiring, haven’t? Sold 400,000 copies of a hardcover book that contains a story she gave away for free.
Rin (a pseudonym) writes books via her cellular phone. Her audience is primarily the [...]

With a cover that is good enough for New York, Bettie Sharpe offers up a free novella told in serial form at the website of author, Dionne Galace. The contents live up to the cover and then some. I know that there are editors that read this blog. Please don’t trample each [...]

Rupert Murdoch consummated a deal to buy Dow Jones & Co for $5.6 billion and now is urging the board to make the online Journal free. The Wall Street Journal currently charges $99 and is the only major news site that has an online fee now that the New York Times has eliminated the [...]

Avant-Guide travel books are now available in digital format at Wowio.com for free. These PDF digital versions are exactly the same as their $20 print siblings available in local bookstores.
Avant-Guide is hoping to increase their market share and increase brand awareness by giving away the books for free. Avant-Guide [...]

Melanie Lynn Hauser, author of Confessions of Super Mom andSuper Mom Saves the World, has put her first book, an unpublished work, online. It’s available for free and can give readers a taste of what Hauser’s writing is like. Which, of course, is the whole point of free fiction. If I [...]

That is the theory proposed by Howard V. Hendrix, current vice president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. Hendrix believes that offering up full length novels for free will dilute the value of a book for the short term gain of promotion.
My concern is that, in the long term, as [...]