{"id":680,"date":"2009-01-31T10:34:51","date_gmt":"2009-01-31T15:34:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ebookrumors.com\/?p=680"},"modified":"2009-01-31T10:36:57","modified_gmt":"2009-01-31T15:36:57","slug":"baen-free-library","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ebookrumors.com\/?p=680","title":{"rendered":"Baen Free Library"},"content":{"rendered":"

The people in charge at Baen Publishing<\/a> know what they’re doing, yah<\/em>? And they know their audience.\u00c2\u00a0You can already hear the pocket protectors rustling… Just kidding. I saw some of my favorite authors there too: Larry Niven<\/a>, Fred Saberhagen<\/a>, etc. My point is, could there be a more receptive group of readers for free eBooks than scifi and fantasy fans?<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The Baen Library<\/p><\/div>\n

Baen Free Library<\/a> is offering free eBooks to everybody with a internet connection. They’ve got a call out to their authors to upload any of the\u00c2\u00a0work they’ve\u00c2\u00a0published with Baen. You’ll see the list is growing. It’s an excellent\u00c2\u00a0use of\u00c2\u00a0the technology to increase product, author\u00c2\u00a0and title awareness, <\/em>oh and sales.<\/p>\n

That’s my whittled down version of the mandate. The whole thing’s right here<\/a>. The author, Eric Flint<\/a>, likens online piracy to getting access to\u00c2\u00a0free books through libraries and friends. I agree… but that isn’t suggesting we blindly accept\u00c2\u00a0the high prices that promote<\/em> piracy.<\/p>\n

The books they offer aren’t necessarily new, but they’re an engaging list of titles and authors. They’re offering them free, but you’re welcome to pay for them with a $4.00 donation. I’d say that’s a wasted step. Are they free or aren’t they? (Though\u00c2\u00a0it’s ironic that they slap a fairly\u00c2\u00a0reasonable<\/em> price on something that they’re giving away<\/em>…)<\/p>\n

I’ve discovered\u00c2\u00a0by digging around their site that they’re offering that $4.00<\/strong> price for a lot of their older titles, so cudos<\/em> from eBook Rumors. That’s the way we have to proceed, eBook fans. When developing a market, one cannot presume to know what price point that market will bear.<\/p>\n