In publishing, where the problem has always been with books not selling, the hip, new trend appears to be not selling books. More and more authors are making their work available for free (sometimes with the expectation of a tip or donation), with the idea that, as with music, spreading the word(s) as widely as possible can only help build a writer’s profile. Paradoxically, it can even help sell books – Coach House Books used to post almost all of their new books, in their entirety, on their web site, with the assumption that few people would read an entire book online, but they might just read enough to order the ink-and-paper version. (More here.)
The latest to open the cage on her own work is Toronto author Sheila Heti, who has placed her entire first book, The Middle Stories, on her website, along with info on how to buy the real thing. (She’s even willing to walk to the post office to mail it.)
Given how short The Middle Stories is, it may work just as well on the screen as on the page. And we have to say, Heti’s clean, easily navigable scans of the book are a lot more readable than that Kindle thing.
