I recently realized that I haven’t paid it forward in a while now. I will do so with a series of posts running throughout April, dedicated to some of the wonderful people I’ve met along a way. Some are author friends. Others offer services I’ve used and enjoyed. I hope you enjoy this upcoming series of posts.

I start with my author friend Charles E. Yallowitz and his latest news: he just made Beginning of a Hero, the first book in his famous Legends of Windemere series free. As I’ve read it and loved it, I celebrated the news and asked him for a guest post explaining his top 7 reasons for doing so, in his own, inimitable way.

Take it, Charles!

Top 7 List of Reasons to Go Free

Hero Cover FinalThank you, Nicholas, for helping to spread the word that Legends of Windemere: Beginning of a Hero is now free. This is the first book of my epic fantasy series, which is filled with plenty of action and humor.

Now, several people have asked me why I’m doing this, especially since the book has been around since 2013. My reason is to create a loss leader to create a risk-free opener that will help the rest of the series. Yet, there are other reasons besides this. Here are the top 7 that I assure you are 100%, totally, swear on my left toe true to some extent.

  1. The #free hashtag looks so pretty on Twitter. Who needs royalties when you can draw people in with one of the most beautiful words in history? Yes, I’m Jewish. Why do you ask?

  2. You’re addicted to Top 100 lists and the free ones are said to be easier to get onto. Sure, you’ve been there a few times with a new release or during a limited free sale. This is different, though. We’re talking permanent, which means you can become the King of the Mountain. Just can’t afford a crown that doesn’t say Burger King on it.

  3. People keep asking for free copies of your book. Amazon hates it when you give away free copies of your book. Now everyone is happy and you can go back to your email without fear of breaking someone’s heart.

  4. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

  5. Everyone else is doing it and most of them are successful. There are plenty of sites that only promote free books too and you have so many friends joining those. Now, you hate to admit to being on a bandwagon. Though your feet are tired and you could use the ride. Music isn’t half bad either.

  6. Your spouse saw your Amazon sales page and isn’t happy with your low numbers. A free book with a lot of downloads still counts as high numbers, which will help you the next time you forget to log out on the family computer. Just make sure you don’t make the same mistake with your royalty account.

  7. So much easier to market it for birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, and whatever gift-giving events you can think of. It might not be the most romantic gesture and cause a few fights. Still, what are the chances of the receiver checking the price? It isn’t like most of those who get free books write reviews. Oh, I think I made myself cry on that one.

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