Yes, You DO Have To Register To Buy My Book
OR...is my eBook worth 99 cents?
First, I want to thank all of the more than 350 people who have downloaded Walking Down The Avenue to date. I have gotten some feedback from a handful of folks who did not want to register at Smashwords in order to "buy" a free copy of the book using a 100% off coupon they received in a shareholder mail. I do understand that having to register with yet another site is something of a pain in the neck. Most of us already belong to so many different sites. There is an alternative. Walking Down The Avenue v 1.0 is also available from iWriteReadRate. For the low, low price of only 99 cents. Adam Charles (e)AdamCharles the founder of iWriteReadRate assures me that you need only provide your name and e-mail address for their site records before being whisked off to PayPal to purchase the book.
Folks who do not read very much, or who are totally committed to all things Amazon may not think about it that much, but sites like Smashwords and iWriteReadRate are critical infrastructure for the growing independent publishing movement. Having independent sites that make it possible for good writers to publish books simply by uploading a word processor file and without ever spending a penny publish a real eBook complete with ISBN that is offered for sale at Amazon and several other major retailers is a huge game changer. Having an independent site that will allow independent authors to network and collaborate may play a huge role in furthering the success of independent authors cum publishers.
The evolution of sites like Smashwords and iWriteReadRate are turning publishing on it's head and bringing us a huge new wave of unique and worthy voices who are harnessing the power of new automated publishing web sites and bringing books (like mine) which have the potential to be game changers. It is important not only for writers, but also for readers who care about having a wide range of works available to actively support Smashwords and iWriteReadRate that provide the infrastructure for the indie publishing revolution. To tell you the truth, if you're not willing to give me your name and e-mail address as well as your dollar, I don't want you to buy my book.
(If you are one of those folks who does buy everything from Amazon, be assured the Smashwords version will be for sale on Amazon within a month or two :)