Tomorrow is the last day to download free or discounted e-books for Read an E-Book Week.
You can find all my books on my Smashwords page.
I’ve been intrigued by the number of times different books have been downloaded as of early Friday morning. The books I’m giving away are listed below in order of popularity so far this week:
- Trapped by Love: A Novelette—a short romance that is always free
- Fern’s Fancies—contemporary romance
- Dream or Destiny—romantic mystery
- Stroke of Luck—contemporary romance
- The Secrets of Fantastic Houseplants—plant care guide
- Preserving Memories: How to Write a Family History—how-to guide
- Finding the Information You Need: Research Tips for Your Family, Business, or Personal Pursuits—how-to guide and resource
Among the fiction titles, with one exception, the shorter titles are downloaded more often than longer titles. In fact, the last time I checked, Trapped by Love has been downloaded 456 times, and the other six titles have been downloaded a total of 456 times. The exception is Stroke of Luck, which is shorter than Dream or Destiny but has been downloaded fewer times.
The same pattern holds true in the nonfiction. Coincidence? I wonder. It would be logical to assume that people would choose how-to guides on the basis of topics of interest. Houseplants probably have more general appeal than writing family histories, but I was surprised that the research how-to was at the bottom of the list. It includes nearly 100 links to helpful sites, three case studies of different types of research, and lots of tips on finding information from other people, in the library, and online.
If you have any insights on whether shorter books are, in fact, more popular in general or if this pattern is mere chance, please share your thoughts in comments.
If you haven’t downloaded your free or discounted books yet, be sure to do it by the end of the day on Saturday. You can find free books at Smashwords and Read an E-book Week as well as individual author and publisher Web sites.
I hope you download my free e-books this week. If you enjoy them, consider leaving a review (or at least at rating) on Smashwords or a community such as Goodreads.
If you don’t like them, post a review anyway. You might write something like this: “This book was worth every penny I paid for it.” Every free book is worth at least what you paid for it, and mine are no exception. 🙂