Why Creative Writers should offer Some of their work for Free
By AntonyCreativity, ThinkingNo CommentsI have come to believe that creative writers should offer some of their work for free. Note there the word some. I also strongly believe that creatives should be compensated fairly for their works.
Here’s why I’ve come to believe this:
- It builds good will with readers.
- An opportunity to advertise your paid works in the free work.
- Show readers your writing style and if they like it, they might buy some of your pay for work.
- Helps you reach new audiences.
- Word of mouth often travels faster than paid advertising, so you might make more paid sales in the long term.
- You may get more reviews of your works.
- It is a way of giving back to the literacy community.
How to Do It
- Offer a free first chapter of books. Mine are here: Z-Virus Powers, Ways The Human Body Can Go Wrong, My Royal Navy Friend, The Alcohol Therapy Workbook, SpellCast – Folk Magic for the 21st Century and Mental Health Wisdom – Developing Understanding & Empathy.
- Giveaways / Competitions.
- Offering sales or very cheap copies. Don’t offer sales too often as they can have opposite effect of driving sales.
- For cheap copies I tend to do ebooks and offer them on Google Play Store.
- Donating to Libraries. Don’t just think of local libraries either. An ebook can be sent to Libraries via email. Think also of other places that have libraries such as colleges and universities.
- Donate to Book Cycles. I’ll admit I’ve only done this once, to my local book cycle and can’t said that it has had any impact on sales of my paid works. But it felt good to support a local voluntary organisation.
- Offer and do free or low-cost talks and presentations whenever you get the opportunity. Remember to take copies of your paid works, payment methods (both cash for change and card payment facilities) and promotional materials for anyone who wants to buy or is interested in your paid works. This could be to writing or reading groups, clubs or practically any other type of group relevant to your creative works that you can think of.
My creative works on Amazon:
Write soon,
Antony
Sunday 9 March 2025
One of the things I wanted to do in 2025 is to keep a diary. To record my memories, moods and triggers. I decided an App might be better than one of the hundred notebooks that I have. So I decided to try the app Daybook. I have to say, I am really rather impressed. Here are some screenshots:
Daybook has got an endless list of features, making it suitable for anyone. But here are the ones that I use and like:
- Daily notification reminders, for which you choose the time.
- Post Tags.
- Attaching photos to posts.
- Use both on the App on my phone and web browser.
- Mood Check-In.
- Security features: Pin lock, password and biometrics used to secure your data.
- Calendar to see how often I’m making entries.
- Data graphs to track my progress with mood, etc.
I love this app. I have been using it for a few months and more often or not I complete a daily diary and mood check-in. It has so much potential and so many different uses for different users.
To balance this here are the annoying or frustrating aspects of the App:
- It would be great if I could write my To Do Lists on there and tick items off as I complete them. Instead I continue to use the Notes app to do this.
- Tags not allowing capital letters and Android App defaultly wanting to put the first character in caps. Means you have to press the first letter twice, very annoying. I have been in touch with the developer about this and they assure me that the next version of the app will be fixed, but they did not give a timescale for this.
- No ability to attach short videos to your posts.
- No ability to add links into posts. Or save webpages.
- The price is expensive at £3.49 per month for a premium subscription. This means I probably will switch to a cheaper app in the long term.
- No mention of if diary entries are encrypted, I hope to goodness that they are.
Write soon,
Antony
Monday 3 March 2025
I’m still in shock.
After 6 months of using the Medtronic insulin pump and it having a massive positive impact on my health via its SmartGuard feature, it has broken. The pistol/motor stopped working.
I want to start this post by saying thank you to Medtronic who have been amazing at organising an immediate replacement. They answered my call in the early hours of Sunday morning and got a new pump out to me within 48 hours.
The Medtronic MiniMed insulin pump flashed an Error 37 and at one point an Error 38. Both of these according to Google are motor errors.
I had to switch back to multiple daily injections, but my blood sugars were instantly less well controlled. Giving me several incidents of hyperglycemia in the 48 hours and a lot less time in range. I didn’t realise how reliant I had become on the pump at keeping my blood sugars in normal range. I can only hope that this short period doesn’t affect my Hba1C test results going forward as this could impact on my ability to have surgery to fix the hole in the roof of my mouth.
It has made me super thankful for my pump and the alarms when things go wrong or might be going wrong. I’m hoping this pump doesn’t do the same thing in six months. I will keep you updated.
Do you have a Medtronic MiniMed pump? Ever had any problems with it? Where did you go for help and support around it? Let me know in the comments below.
Write soon,
Antony
Tuesday 25 February 2025
About
Antony Simpson - Author, Blogger, Nurse & Witch.
Author of eight books.
Categories
Amazon
Antony Simpson is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk.