I have downloaded the Kindle software for the PC and last evening downloaded some old classics onto my PC. The Free beta software from Amazon works great and I can see a benefit in using on a PC as well as a Kindle. So when I read an article at the NY Times about how some possible best sellers are being given away for the Kindle for free, I took a closer look to see the why of giving away these books.

But before you get all excited, these freebies are for authors who are relatively unknown. By giving away their books for free, it brings to the authors name recognition. People must like what they are seeing because some of the Kindle books are the #1 or #2 Kindle downloads.

The article also states that:

The digital giveaways come as publishers are panicking about price pressure on e-books in general. Amazon and other online retailers have set $9.99 as the putative e-book price for new releases and best sellers, and publishers worry that such pricing ultimately creates expectations among consumers that new books are no longer worth, say, $25 (the average list price of a new hardcover), or even $13 (a standard list price for trade paperbacks).

Some publishers have tried to take control of pricing by delaying the publication of certain e-books for several months after the books are made available in hardcover.

Executives at some houses said that given such actions, offering free content amounts to industry hypocrisy.

So it appears that some publishers are trying what the newspapers tried and failed at. Maybe this time it could work for the book publishers.

What do you think? Are the publishers doomed to failt giving away books?

Comments welcome.

Source.