Today we have author Rachel Carrington here to celebrate her latest release, Waking Up Immortal (only $0.99 at Amazon!!).

__________

Thanks so much to The Book Binge for allowing me to highjack their blog today. Since I just had a new book release, Waking Up Immortal, it’s only natural that I’d want to talk about it, right? Well, that’s not what I’m going to talk about today. Instead, I wanted to discuss free reads and why they’re so important to authors and readers.

Most of us have favorite authors, auto-buy authors, and those we will read when we run out of anything else to read. We trust what kind of book we’ll be getting once we make that purchase. But what we forget is that at one time, that author was new to us. We took a chance, and once upon a time, the only way we could take a chance was to buy the book. Today, that isn’t the case.

Technology is a wonderful thing for authors and readers. Not only can you read sample chapters and excerpts, you have a shot at winning a copy by entering a giveaway. In addition, more authors and publishers are making the first book in a series free, hoping that story will hook you and make you want to purchase the rest of the series.

I freely admit I’m a picky reader, and I do have my favorite authors, but the chance to discover a new author has made me a fan of free reads. I’ve read so many and, as a result, have become a fan of new authors like Sarra Cannon and Angel Lawson. Now they are on my auto-buy list. And they both made their first book free.

Every author takes a risk when he/she makes their book available for free, but they’re doing so to introduce their work to readers. And that opens up a wealth of opportunities for you. With so many free reads available nowadays, it’s the perfect opportunity to find your next star author, especially since our auto-buy authors can’t put out a book a month no matter how much we’d like them to.

____________

Rachel is giving away one free download of Waking Up Immortal. Please leave a comment for your chance to win. Contest ends 11/7/12 @ 11:59pm. Please note: You must include a valid email address with your comment to be eligible.

This book is available from Rachel Carrington. You can buy it here in e-format.