A big ole' welcome to all of the lucky folks who found a new ereader under their trees this year. When you charged up that device and logged on to download your first ebook, a magical thing happened to you - you threw off your shackles. Did you feel 'em fall away?
I bet you didn't even know that up to the point of that first ebook download you'd been a prisoner for your entire life. You'd been chained to the taste, the choices and the whims of big publishing. You only thought you were deciding what you wanted to read. In reality, you were picking only from the crop of what the NY castle dwellers decided was "acceptable." But no longer.
Your ereader bought your freedom. Now the world that the publishing royals fought and held away from you for so long is yours. You just fired the gatekeepers. There are no more literary agents or publishing companies between you and what you read. You're now the gatekeeper and there is a bunch of fine indie writing you can enjoy that was never open to you before.
But not all of the big companies fought the erevolution as hard as the NY royals. And some of those companies are flourishing in the e-age and they should be rewarded by customer loyalty. On our shores, the big e-winner is Harlequin. Overseas, it appears to be a company that (to me, which means little in the scheme of things) looks a lot like Harlequin - Mills & Boon. I know that Harlequin's opening its doors so early to the e-changes was likely a natural growth for the company. Harlequin didn't require gatekeepers to the same extent as the NY royals. Harlequin already took unagented submissions for a bunch of its lines. Harlequin adapted before the e-age arrived and made further changes and now it's one of the reader's and writer's best friends.
Now that you've got that new ereader, you've likely also acquired a new hobby - filling it with free, or low cost ebooks. Hopefully, most of those are romance ebooks - that's what I write, of course. After you've gone to your favorite etailer and bought the entire catalogue of Quacking Alone Romances authored by yours truly, Mary Anne Graham, you'll be looking to add some other books to your device.
I recommend that you check out these sites:
1. Harlequin: Harlequin offers 16 free romance ebooks. Yes, free. If you're a romantic at heart there's no reason on earth not to pick up these freebies. Also, check out Harlequin's ebook store. There, on Fridays, you can buy 2 ebooks and get a 3rd free. Each week the company select a different ebooks. If you're a bargain hunter like me, this is a good site to get comfy with.
2. Mills & Boon, Everyone's Reading: There are 10 freebies here, one from each of the romance companies' lines. These are great reads and a great way to meet a romance publisher that's probably new to you. If you like the free ebooks, be sure to go back and buy a few as well.
3. Smashwords: SW is an indie ebook distributor, but there are also on its direct site ebooks in every genre, including lots of romances, that are absolutely free and are not distributed anywhere else. Some amazing folks have work up at SW. You should go to the site and try a few of the free ebooks. If you like 'em, remember to go back and buy a few as well.
4. All Romance: There are over 220 free reads at the site. So you can go crazy and download like mad. There's a special caution here though - the romances are of all types and traverse all heat levels. So, yes, there are men on men, women on women, bondage, threesomes, etc. However, there are also some milder varieties of romance. More choice always benefits the reader. Clearly, Allromance believes that you should be your own gatekeeper. For that, I reward the site with loyalty. Sign up for a wildfire subscription - it's free. They'll email you about special promos and some of them are things like the 12 days of Christmas where each day a different publisher offered a free romance ebook.
5. Your ereader's home store: Don't forget to check back every week, at least, with your ereader's home store. Each week different publishers will offer a new group of free ebooks. For example, this week at The Sony Ereader Store I picked up 5 great free romances from Sourcebooks.
So, you've got the keys to the Kingdom of Choice. Get out there and download all the freebies. Just don't forget that some ebooks are worth paying for and that most of the indie romances don't have those high, $9 and over price tags. Typically, you can pick up an indie ebook for between 99¢ and $5.99, with the latter being a high price point for an indie.
Whether you downloaded an ebook for free or on the cheap, don't forget to pay it back. How do you pay it back? If you enjoy a read, be sure to tweet it, mention it on your blog, link to it on Facebook and tell all your friends. Also, don't forget to pay it back by going back to the site and rating the books. Your opinion matters and a good review will be worth a lot to the author. I know that all reviews matter to me and there's nothing I adore more than a review from a reader who enjoyed one of my books.
You're free now so go forth and decide for yourself. I hope you'll decide that the cheap price for my ebooks ($2.99 to $3.99 everywhere) is well worth paying. And I hope you'll read the ebooks, enjoy them and return to give me a great review.
Happy downloading!!!
This is a FABULOUS post!!! And you are so *dead on* regarding those shackles-lol! Thanks for posting this-you took the words right out of my heart! Many big hugs!!!