How to be an Author: FREE SAMPLES

One of the main reasons parents can get their kids to go willingly with them on a weekend shopping trip to Costco is free samples. Throughout the store a number of vendors are strategically placed to scoop chips, slice cheeses and meats and spread creamy toppings on crackers for customers to taste as they cruise the aisles. Kids love stuffing their little bellies with as many of the free delicacies as they can get to before it’s time to check out.

This kind of marketing was not invented by Costco. It’s been used to sell all kinds of products for more than a century. Free samples are not new in the literary world either. During the twentieth century it was common to see an author place the first few chapters of her book in The New Yorker, Saturday Evening Post or The Atlantic.

Some authors, such as J.D. Salinger, wrote short story after short story in these magazines. His publisher later collected them into a single book. People who bought the magazines for a quarter were already hooked when they were offered the opportunity to buy a collection of nine stories for a dollar and a half.

Thursday, my Beta copies of Reputation arrived. I immediately delivered them to my young Beta readers. During the time I awaited the hard copies of my work to arrive, I found a photo of a friend posted on Facebook with his newest grandchild lying on his chest. His granddaughter’s name is Paisley, which happens to be the name of the main character in Reputation. The coincidence made me decide to give my friend a free copy. (I told my wife there was a reason I’d ordered an extra copy.)

Now it’s your turn to have a free sample. As promised in How to be an Author: ON WITH THE SHOW, THIS IS IT! an excerpt is now posted on this website. If you go to BOOKS on the homepage the excerpt of my last book, Assimilation will appear. By running your cursor over the words, “excerpt from Assimilation,” the words “excerpt from Reputation” will appear. Move your cursor over these words and your free sample will appear.

What you do then is up to you. But if you enjoy the three chapters, I’d appreciate you telling me about it in the comments section. If one of the agents I contact reads your comments, I will send you a free copy of the book when it is published.