No the books aren't free

Being an author can be a funny and stressful thing. Your friends all know you write. Your coworkers all know you write. You would think that they would buy your books and leave reviews. Does it happen? Chances are probably not. What is the most common thing I hear, would you give me a book? Let me break it down. While I do give away a bunch of books, encouraging the receiver to please do a review, I don't give them away just because some asks. If I did that all the time, I would never make any money and honestly, I don't make that much to begin with even during a great year. That 99 cent book I have seen readers complain about with the comment 'why doesn't he/she just make the book free' nets me a whole 17 cents. Yes 17 cents. You read it right. Anything under $2.99 on amazon is only a 35% royalty, which means an author makes 35 cents, and then the government screws us on it, because it is a 'royalty' and they take half. So the next time you think about asking an author to just give you the book for free, please consider they are not making a fortune off it at 17 cents a book and that honestly, doesn't even begin to cover the time it took to write it, the money paid for a cover if they don't do graphic design work, the money they paid an editor, and the time it takes to promote it. To break even, honestly, a thousand books has to be sold to cover the cost on one book, and that is EXTREMELY conservative. So buy the book, review it, and show a little love.

#ebooks #99centebooks #indie #author #selfpublished