From the “No Duh” Department, this just in: allowing prospective buyers to read sample chapters of a book online increases the chances of sales.
“We know that allowing readers to preview book chapters before buying has a positive impact on both print and eBook sales,” said Russell P. Reeder, President and CEO of LibreDigital, Inc. “In the case of one well-known book publisher, one in three people who browsed decided to purchase the book online. As a result, leading publishers are increasing their use of online previews when planning promotional campaigns for both new and existing book titles.”
No news yet whether the people conducting this research have discovered that the chances of the sun rising increase toward dawn, or that inhaling small amounts of oxygen over the course of a lifetime will kill you, but it’s good that such obvious bits of information are slowly filtering down to the brains of publishers.
Extrapolating – got a game you’ve made? A film you’ve created? A comic you’ve done? Take note.
Yes, so true, so true. Just like games… I will very rarely buy a game without being able to try it first. I also find myself using the “preview book” option a lot now.
True dat. And I get annoyed when the “Preview Book” link is not enabled. I figure, “What… are you trying NOT to sell the book or something!?”
Quoth Og: “What… are you trying NOT to sell the book or something!?”
That’s it exactly, so Baen Books (www.baen.com) have been doing this (and more) for the last ten years! See the free samples with each new book, and read the Prime Palaver articles by Eric Flint in the Free Library section for why they continue to do it.
Are you saying that demos of games get people to play them?
Teasers and trailers for films get people to watch them?
I’m not sure I believe it. Probably just some PR / propaganda hype to get people to release parts of their copyrighted material for free.