infinities: now free on Amazon UK too… and more lessons from ebook pricing experiments

It’s taken a while, but now Amazon UK has caught up with the US and dropped the price of our infinities anthology to zero.This is yet more good news for us, as the purpose of the book is to draw new readers in to explore the work of our authors and friends.

When the price dropped in the US this book raced up the freebie charts and has lodged itself firmly in the top ten anthologies; within an hour infinities hit the number two spot in Amazon’s UK anthology chart. We’ve had a similar experience with Iain Rowan’s Derringer-winning short story One Step Closer, which has been the UK’s top free short story for more than a week now.

So our experience so far is that freebies shift copies. Not so much of a surprise, but nice to see that the ones we’ve released have competed extremely well with all the other free stuff that’s knocking around.

What will be really interesting is seeing whether these freebies are just hoarded – downloaded because they’re free, but not necessarily read. Or if they’re read, but the kind of people who download freebies aren’t inclined to actually buy the other books we have to offer.

Or, as we hope, the freebies will introduce our authors to new readers who will then go on and buy more from that author.

It’s hard to prove cause and effect, of course, but we’ll be doing what we can over coming weeks to see if there’s a freebie effect or not!

infinities: number one at Amazon

After a couple of days at number two, finally our infinities anthology has taken the top spot in Amazon’s free anthology chart! So far the book is still free only on the US site, but I hope it will reach the UK site before too long.

Downloads:
…download now for free from Amazon US

infinities: now free on Amazon and racing up the charts

A sales spike this morning drew my attention to the fact that Amazon have now dropped the price of our infinities anthology to zero, matching the price level already established elsewhere. This is great news for us, as the purpose of the book is to draw new readers in to explore the work of our authors and friends.

Within a few hours over 150 copies had shifted, taking the book to number 3 in the anthologies chart.

So far the price drop is only on the US site, but I hope it will reach the UK site before too long.

So what’s it all about? Here’s an earlier post about the book:

short stories, novel extracts and a complete novelette from infinity plus and friends:

Eric Brown, John Grant, Anna Tambour, Keith Brooke, Garry Kilworth, Iain Rowan, Kaitlin Queen, Linda Nagata, Scott Nicholson, Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Steven Savile
(edited by Keith Brooke)

100,000 words of short fiction and novel extracts from a range of top genre authors.

Back in 1997 the original infinity plus website started out on the principle that we’d all benefit if a bunch of authors got together and put stories online for free: readers would get a chance to discover new writers, and those writers might share readers around and sell a few more books; and in the meantime, we’d build an online showcase crammed with excellent reading.

Now an ebook imprint, infinity plus is still going strong. With our first infinities anthology we’re returning to those launching principles: here’s a bunch of genre authors getting together in an anthology that is free to download, giving readers the chance to sample and discover before — we hope — going on to buy our books.

infinities is an anthology; it’s a sampler; it’s a catalogue for works published by infinity plus and our friends in the writing world. And it’s free. We hope you enjoy it.

Downloads:
…download now for free from Amazon US

Blogging infinities

Contributors to our free infinities anthology/sampler have been blogging about it – mostly to say it exists, but hey, it exists, and it has a fantastic line-up, and did I mention that it’s free?

• Iain Rowan: More News From Nowhere: Infinities and beyond
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch: Recent Free Nonfiction, An Interview, and Great Fiction Sampler
• Linda Nagata: Ebook Samples From Infinity Plus–Sample Sunday
• John Grant: Infinity Plus is desperate to give you a FREEEEE book!

These aren’t all the contributors, of course, but just the ones who blog. Other contributors are Eric Brown, Anna Tambour, Keith Brooke, Garry Kilworth, Kaitlin Queen, Scott Nicholson and Steven Savile.

Downloads:
…download now for FREE from infinity plus
alternatively:
…amazon.com (Kindle format, $0.99) [sorry: Amazon won't let us set the price to zero]
…amazon.co.uk (Kindle format, £0.86)
…Smashwords (various formats, including epub, mobi, Sony and PDF, FREE)

new: infinities, by infinity plus and friends

short stories, novel extracts and a complete novelette from infinity plus and friends:

Eric Brown, John Grant, Anna Tambour, Keith Brooke, Garry Kilworth, Iain Rowan, Kaitlin Queen, Linda Nagata, Scott Nicholson, Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Steven Savile
(edited by Keith Brooke)

100,000 words of short fiction and novel extracts from a range of top genre authors.

Back in 1997 the original infinity plus website started out on the principle that we’d all benefit if a bunch of authors got together and put stories online for free: readers would get a chance to discover new writers, and those writers might share readers around and sell a few more books; and in the meantime, we’d build an online showcase crammed with excellent reading.

Now an ebook imprint, infinity plus is still going strong. With our first infinities anthology we’re returning to those launching principles: here’s a bunch of genre authors getting together in an anthology that is free to download, giving readers the chance to sample and discover before — we hope — going on to buy our books.

infinities is an anthology; it’s a sampler; it’s a catalogue for works published by infinity plus and our friends in the writing world. And it’s free. We hope you enjoy it.

Note: due to the way book distribution works, infinities may not be absolutely free everywhere, but the price will be set as low as that distributor allows. It’s free here, though!

Downloads:
…download now for free from infinity plus: Kindle | epub

Guest blog, Scott Nicholson: LIQUID FEAR: A Mystery Thriller

Liquid Fear has an interesting story. I was just at the end of a string of six supernatural novels and my agent at the time said, “Why don’t you write a thriller?”

Yes, that’s the kind of advice you get. Not “What message is burning in your soul?” or “What scares you the most?” It’s “Make it more like Stephen King so I can make some money!”

So I cobbled up this four-page outline for the idea. I never outline, and therefore it was a bit confusing. How could I know what happened until I actually lived the story?

But I did it, the agent took it to an editor who was a fan of my work, and she came back with “It’s too confusing.”

I’d written a few chapters but went on to other things. When I started self-publishing, I decided to tackle it “Scotty style,” meaning I didn’t care what the outline said, I wanted to see what happened. So I typed it in a total state of panic. After the first draft, I was a little depressed, though glad to have finished. After the second draft, I wasn’t that happy, either, but by the third time though, I liked it.

There were times when I’d go out to pick up my daughter and the “real world” felt strange while the story world felt real and normal. That, to me, is a sign of a good project. Sales and reviews and all that stuff are fun, but it’s that magical feeling that’s worth the pursuit.

Liquid Fear—10 years after a tragic experiment in fear response, the subjects realize the research never ended…

When Roland Doyle wakes up with a dead woman in his motel room, the only clue is a mysterious vial of pills bearing the label “Take one every 4 hrs or else.”

Ten years before, six people were involved in a secret pharmaceutical trial that left one of them murdered and five unable to remember what happened. Now the experiment is continuing, as Dr. Sebastian Briggs wants to finish his research into fear response and post-traumatic stress disorder. He’s backed by a major drug company and an ambitious U.S. Senator, but he also has a personal stake in the outcome.

Only by taking the mysterious pills can the survivors stave off the creeping phobias, carnal impulses, and madness that threaten to consume them. But the pills have an unexpected side effect—the survivors start remembering the terrible acts they perpetrated a decade ago. They are lured back to the Monkey House, the remote facility where the original trials took place, and Briggs has prepared it for their arrival.

Now they are trapped, they each have only one pill left, and cracks are forming in their civilized veneer.

After the pills are gone, there’s only one option. “Or else.”

Read about it at Haunted Computer or view it at Amazon US, Amazon UK, BN.com, or Smashwords.