CASTING YOUR BREAD.

The market for ebooks has exploded and a mass of buyers rush daily through the crush of sellers, deafened by the hawkers’ cries: half-price, today only, excerpts available here, read my reviews, buy one get one free. I’m expecting to see sets of free steak knives or bonus four-chapter-podcast-ring-tones any day now.

There is a quieter way for readers to find an author whose work they enjoy, and they can steer miles clear of the corporate giants who seem to hog most of the limelight. Oddly enough, it is one of the first avenues independent authors once used to attract an audience and it’s still there and it’s still just as effective.

Of course I’m referring to the free ebook directories.

Once upon a time, when I still engaged in the ‘discussion’ of ebooks versus real books and whether or not a book was real if it didn’t have pages, one of the loudest arguments in favour of B&M bookstores with print books on shelves was, ‘I love to browse’. The ebook directories offer you the chance, dear reader, to browse to your heart’s content. And for authors, unlike certain corporate giants, there is no exclusivity with the free ebook directories. You work is there for readers to discover, to read, to pass on to friends. They are, very much, the libraries of our digital universe. And your work can be displayed in various formats to audiences drawn from every continent and most demographics, without cost to you.

Sadly, because some corporate giants have offered a vague whiff of parfum de chance, many authors have decided to opt for exclusivity, banking on a single big market bringing them [and a billion ectypes] wealth and success. And good luck to them, I say. Roll those dice; someone has to win. But there are many free directories, non-exclusive, and each with its own audience. I thought I’d show you around some of my favourites.   Read more.
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