Answers.Body: <p>The answer is closely tied to the author's purpose. Amazon can provide significant exposure. From the question's comments, the purpose may be to track the number of readers.</p>
  
  <p>If the real purpose is simply to track the number of readers, Google Analytics or other tracking systems can give you that information with free software. There are other options (meaning other public websites) available which track downloads for you.</p>
  
  <p>On the other hand, tracking your own downloads on a relatively unknown web site as compared to tracking a LOT of downloads on amazon... if you want more exposure, go to the established venues such as amazon.</p>
  
  <p>Wherever you place the book, do work within that site's paradigm or ecosystem. There are ways to get better exposure on Amazon, for example, with lots of books and online tutorials available. If you're going through another venue, find out how to best work within that venue.</p>
  
  <p>Consider multiple venues, multiple e-book file formats, and so on. This becomes an exercise in online marketing or search engine optimization. If tracking is the important consideration, research the various download-tracking options. Once you understand the tracking options available, that may help direct your decision as to how to go about distributing the book or books.</p>
  
  <p>If you have a specific book, niche, or genre in mind, do some searches for free e-books in that genre. That may help you understand the expectations of the book's potential audience. If they're already out there looking for similar books, that fact may guide you in where and how to make it available.</p>
  
  <p>Another way to look at your question is, "How many readers do I gain by putting it on Amazon?" If the book is free, the author is surely under no obligation to publish it EXCLUSIVELY on Amazon. Use amazon in addition to the other options.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2013-12-26T17:10:30.390Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2013-12-26T17:10:30.390Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Edward Barnard
Body: <p>If an author wants to release a free ebook, how many readers (10%, 75%, ...) is he/she likely to lose by choosing to release only on Amazon and not as a more accessible pdf, html, etc. format and putting in on his/her own website? Let's assume the author will do one or the other but not both.</p>
  
  <p>I guess it is also possible that there will be a net increase of readership due to the additional exposure (although with the number of books on Amazon I'm not sure how much exposure there would actually be).</p>
  
  <p>In the end, I am interested to see any research that has been done in this area.</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2013-12-30T01:36:41.750Z
Comments.Text: @John I can't speak for aman207, but I don't trust Amazon because of their past misbehavior with regards to ebooks. Long before the Kindle, they had an online ebook service that was discontinued and everyone who paid money for books lost their money. And then there was the incident with *1984*. Let's also not forget their predatory pricing and marketing strategies.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Donald.McLean
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2013-12-23T05:18:08.523Z
Comments.Text: I can't speak for everyone, but for me personally I have never downloaded a book from amazon and I never will. I just don't trust them.
Comments.UserDisplayName: aman207
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2013-12-23T09:15:44.073Z
Comments.Text: Could you explain why somebody would want to distribute exclusively via Amazon? I guess the loss of readers will be huge, because you can only reach Kindle users. A lot of people I know do prefer epub readers over Kindles, because they can read libraries with those. I do however not have any data about this.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Tim
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2013-12-23T11:22:42.737Z
Comments.Text: This looks like a bad worded question about what percentage of the market share Amazon has on the ebook market.
Comments.UserDisplayName: James Jenkins
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2013-12-23T12:39:54.193Z
Comments.Text: @aman207 I know this is not a discussion board, and I'll remove this after but could you be more specific as to what you do not trust about Amazon? I live in a developing country and being able to get 'popular' books without physical delivery has made Amazon great for me (book stores are not an option where I am).
Comments.UserDisplayName: John
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2013-12-23T12:43:58.817Z
Comments.Text: @Tim One blooming author I know is considering it for being able to verify how many readers (or downloaders) he has. If he puts something on a website which is freely sharable, he is afraid he will never now how many readers he has. I don't know if he's planning on using DRM but I would assume he is otherwise he would never know how many 'sharers' he has.
Comments.UserDisplayName: John
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2013-12-23T12:48:12.957Z
Comments.Text: @JamesJenkins While your question is related, your question would not answer the question "How many people would install Kindle software to read a free ebook they want to read which is unavailable elsewhere?" Put in the inverse, who would refuse to do so (it seem aman207 is one).
Comments.UserDisplayName: John
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2013-12-23T13:25:00.143Z
Comments.Text: @John you don't shop where you can't access the product.  How do you imagine readers will find a book that is only available on Amazon, if they are not shopping there?  Excluding family and friends, I imagine that the number is so small as be pointless to consider.
Comments.UserDisplayName: James Jenkins
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2013-12-23T13:35:41.403Z
Comments.Text: @JamesJenkins Let's say you publish a book using kdp and you set the price for free then when you meet people who say "Wow! I'd love you read your book." You respond "Get it at Amazon. I'll email you a link."
Comments.UserDisplayName: John
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2013-12-26T19:53:00.873Z
Comments.Text: I don't believe you can specifically set a book on Amazon to 'free' (other than a few days for a promotion).  You have to have Amazon price match your book down to free by posting it as free in other markets.
Comments.UserDisplayName: GrandmasterB
Tags: <amazon><publishing>
Title: Will selling on Amazon significantly limit readership of free ebook?
UserDisplayName: John
ThreadText: # Will selling on Amazon significantly limit readership of free ebook?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2013-12-23)
  
  If an author wants to release a free ebook, how many readers (10%, 75%, ...) is he/she likely to lose by choosing to release only on Amazon and not as a more accessible pdf, html, etc. format and putting in on his/her own website? Let's assume the author will do one or the other but not both.
  
  I guess it is also possible that there will be a net increase of readership due to the additional exposure (although with the number of books on Amazon I'm not sure how much exposure there would actually be).
  
  In the end, I am interested to see any research that has been done in this area.
  
  **Tags:** amazon, publishing
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_2**: I can't speak for everyone, but for me personally I have never downloaded a book from amazon and I never will. I just don't trust them.  
  > **username_3**: Could you explain why somebody would want to distribute exclusively via Amazon? I guess the loss of readers will be huge, because you can only reach Kindle users. A lot of people I know do prefer epub readers over Kindles, because they can read libraries with those. I do however not have any data about this.  
  > **username_4**: This looks like a bad worded question about what percentage of the market share Amazon has on the ebook market.  
  > **username_0**: @username_2 I know this is not a discussion board, and I'll remove this after but could you be more specific as to what you do not trust about Amazon? I live in a developing country and being able to get 'popular' books without physical delivery has made Amazon great for me (book stores are not an option where I am).  
  > **username_0**: @username_3 One blooming author I know is considering it for being able to verify how many readers (or downloaders) he has. If he puts something on a website which is freely sharable, he is afraid he will never now how many readers he has. I don't know if he's planning on using DRM but I would assume he is otherwise he would never know how many 'sharers' he has.  
  > **username_0**: @username_4 While your question is related, your question would not answer the question "How many people would install Kindle software to read a free ebook they want to read which is unavailable elsewhere?" Put in the inverse, who would refuse to do so (it seem username_2 is one).  
  > **username_4**: @username_0 you don't shop where you can't access the product.  How do you imagine readers will find a book that is only available on Amazon, if they are not shopping there?  Excluding family and friends, I imagine that the number is so small as be pointless to consider.  
  > **username_0**: @username_4 Let's say you publish a book using kdp and you set the price for free then when you meet people who say "Wow! I'd love you read your book." You respond "Get it at Amazon. I'll email you a link."  
  > **username_5**: I don't believe you can specifically set a book on Amazon to 'free' (other than a few days for a promotion).  You have to have Amazon price match your book down to free by posting it as free in other markets.  
  > **username_1**: @username_0 I can't speak for username_2, but I don't trust Amazon because of their past misbehavior with regards to ebooks. Long before the Kindle, they had an online ebook service that was discontinued and everyone who paid money for books lost their money. And then there was the incident with *1984*. Let's also not forget their predatory pricing and marketing strategies.  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_6 on 2013-12-26. Score: 3 | Accepted answer
  
  The answer is closely tied to the author's purpose. Amazon can provide significant exposure. From the question's comments, the purpose may be to track the number of readers.
  
  If the real purpose is simply to track the number of readers, Google Analytics or other tracking systems can give you that information with free software. There are other options (meaning other public websites) available which track downloads for you.
  
  On the other hand, tracking your own downloads on a relatively unknown web site as compared to tracking a LOT of downloads on amazon... if you want more exposure, go to the established venues such as amazon.
  
  Wherever you place the book, do work within that site's paradigm or ecosystem. There are ways to get better exposure on Amazon, for example, with lots of books and online tutorials available. If you're going through another venue, find out how to best work within that venue.
  
  Consider multiple venues, multiple e-book file formats, and so on. This becomes an exercise in online marketing or search engine optimization. If tracking is the important consideration, research the various download-tracking options. Once you understand the tracking options available, that may help direct your decision as to how to go about distributing the book or books.
  
  If you have a specific book, niche, or genre in mind, do some searches for free e-books in that genre. That may help you understand the expectations of the book's potential audience. If they're already out there looking for similar books, that fact may guide you in where and how to make it available.
  
  Another way to look at your question is, "How many readers do I gain by putting it on Amazon?" If the book is free, the author is surely under no obligation to publish it EXCLUSIVELY on Amazon. Use amazon in addition to the other options.
  
  
  ---
  
  