e-book. Free or charge?

[Tito Tims Videos]

I have a blog/forum and YouTube channel. I have always planned on keeping all my content free, but will gladly accept donations. Would an e-book be free?

I have decided to take some of my blog posts, edit (expand) them, and add new information to write an e-book on how to retire overseas. A lot of expat channels sell e-books (other genres have books as well). I will also embed some vids in the e-book, so it is kind of YT related, I guess.

So... I am trying to decide if I should give the book away on a free download, or charge a few bucks for it. I have heard people, usually salesmen, say that anything given for free is seen as worthless. There may some truth to that, but generally it seems to be an excuse to charge people (I have nothing against money ha ha). I only have the first couple chapters finished, but the outline makes it look like it will be bigger than I had intended. So far about 12 chapters, and each chapter is broken into sub-topics (could easily be 100 pages, probably more). It will be quite a bit of work to put this together, but it is my hobby, so no worries, and no deadlines.

My first thought was to give it away free, and ask for donations. That would fit the theme of my channel & blog. I have tried to keep my approach as a no BS way of helping people. Vids are free, there is no membership area on my blog - the chat forum is free, seems like the book should also be free. But... it will be a lot of work on my part... I am a bit conflicted...

What are your thoughts? Free/donations? Small fee?

 

[KatyAdelson]

If you already have a lot of free content that the e-book is based on, then I'd try to sell the book for a reasonable price... Free is great, but if you are putting that much work into it then I think you should be compensated for it. You could always split out a section of the book and give that portion away for free as a way to build buzz. I've learned people take things more seriously when they invest in something. Plus, it's important for you to learn who your "biggest fans" are -- the people who will purchase your products and directly support you and your goals.

 

[Tito Tims Videos]

I am leaning very heavily on charging for the book. A free sample (a chapter or summary) would be a good idea. I do have a free chat forum and am on the channel Facebook page a lot. I answer any questions for free, and will continue to do that. Downloading the book will be optional.

I know guys that charge for facetime, as part of their business. I do not fault them for that, it is just not what I want to do. But the book is turning into a LOT of work ha ha.

 

[Crown]

You could make the ebook free and then monetize it with affiliate offers within the ebook. The advantage would be that you'll get a lot downloads and therefore a lot of clicks on your affiliate links. Try to find affiliate offers to digital products and services (paid ebooks, training, software, subscriptions) because they usually pay higher commissions than physical goods. Just as an example. Maybe in your free ebook, you could recommend that retirees start a blog about their international retirement as a way of them earning a bit of extra money or just for fun and as a way to keep in touch with family back home. To start a blog, they need a host. You could recommend a host via an affiliate link. Example - The host "Siteground" pays minimum 50 USD in commission for every new customer you refer. ( https://www.siteground.com/kb/affiliate_program_earnings/ )

You also get to build an email list. - Make the ebook a free gift for signing up to your email list and only deliver the ebook AFTER they have opted in. There is software that can automate that process. You can now engage with them via an email newsletter and promote more affiliate offers to them. Getting their email address is valuable. On average, each email address is worth $1 per month.

Good luck.