Mystery Lovers! discussion

Was lucky enough to have Bay City Times serialize my debut mystery-legal thriller, "Improved Lies" It's currently running every Saturday for 17 weeks at http://blog.mlive.com/baycitytimes_ex.... Includes podcast of excerpts read by author.

I wonder if giving a free sample is a good idea. Would you be more or less likely to buy book if you were getting gist of plot for free?

Brian

I've listened to several free podcast novels and have purchased them all as soon as the print version became available. From listening to the authors talk about their experiences on their podcasts I'm not alone in having done that. So I think giving things away is a great idea to build a fan-base who'll pay for your product. Obviously not everyone will pay but hopefully you'll get more than you would have by simply being another print book on the shelf by an author no one has heard of

Hi Brian, and congratulations on your novel.

The issue of giving away writing is a big one and likely to get even bigger. I hope it works out for you.

I've been publishing flash fiction on line at various sites - often using some of the same characters from my novels - as free samples. The stories are short, less than a thousand words, and self-contained.

Whatever works. We have to try everything, right?