A couple of days ago I posted the latest Free and Cheap Kindle (and Nook) Mystery Books entry. When I make up these lists, I always go to the author’s page on the Cozy Mystery site, and then, with the use of Notepad, I go through each of the author’s mysteries. Each time I go through this process, I wonder why publishers/authors don’t do what Leslie mentioned in her comment:
“… If I were a cozy mystery author (or publisher) I would make the first one of a series FREE or very affordable with the idea that I could “hook” new readers to the series. I have found several series that way and now have to keep a personal list by author so I keep up with the latest editions of my favorites and avoid reading out of sequence…”
Going over the latest of these entry, I can see that either Deb Baker (aka Hannah Reed) or her publisher has done just that. Both of the first books in both of her mystery series (Gertie Johnson Murder Mystery Series and Dolls to Die For Mystery Series) are FREE. Another author (or her publisher) who has done this is L.L. Bartlett (aka Lorraine Bartlett & Lorna Barrett). The first mystery in her Jeff Resnick Mystery Series is FREE.
Leslie O’Kane (aka Leslie Cane) is another mystery author who offered the first in her Molly Masters Mystery Series FREE. And although not FREE, Kerry Greenwood (or her publisher) greatly reduced the price of the first mystery in her Phryne Fisher Mystery Series. When was the last time you paid only 99¢ for a mystery novel by a best-selling author?
What a great way for an author to introduce potential future fans to his/her mysteries! These Kindles (and Nooks) make it so easy for this >>> since there are no shipping and handling hassles involved.
Having said all this, I’d like to know if you all take advantage of the FREE first mysteries or not. What I mean is, when you see a Kindle/Nook mystery novel is FREE, are you more apt to try an author who you may not have thought about trying?
(P.S. I am!)
reginav says
Danna, Sometimes yes and other times no. Sorry to be so indefinite but I like to review the contents of the book before buying it. Too often I have invested in a book only to find it a waste of time and money. I will read review and then if I want it, I will buy it.That is how I began to read Greenwood’s Phryne series. Your readers liked it and I gave it a try. It is working out.
LaVerne says
I definitely take advantage of free books on Nook or Kindle. (I have both programs on my laptop.) I live on a fixed income and get most of my books from the library but this allows me to try new books at my own pace and it does not tie up a library book while I read the book. It would be nice if all authors would reduce the cost of books on Nook or Kindle. I read 20-25 books a month and it would get really expensive if I had to buy all these books and the library is facing real financial problems and they are having more and more trouble affording new books.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
LaVerne, isn’t it great that Amazon and B & N have these phenomenal sales? I think I was able to “buy” three of an author’s five books by simply clicking. I sort of remember each time I posted something about the author, another one of her mysteries was given out for FREE. (Mary Monica Pulver was the author.) This was back when BB would post all of the great deals in comment form – almost daily!
Tracy Weber says
My word, Laverne. 25 books a month! You are my hero! Every author’s dream!
Lee Ann says
YES I do. Great way for me to try a new to me author when I can’t get the book from the library.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
You make a really good point, Lee Ann, about being able to get the first Free (or reduced price) Kindle (or Nook) when a library might not have it. And then, if it turns out you really like the author, you can always recommend that your library stock his/her books (or Kindles/Nooks).
Sheila says
Free to $2.99 is a nice way to introduce a reader to a new author. Yes I have taken advantage of the free offers.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Sheila, I’m sort of surprised when the authors/publishers offer a FREE mystery that comes later in the series. I wonder if they think it’s a good strategy, and that we will buy the previous books so that we can start at the beginning of the series…
Sheila says
Danna, In that case I then read the write-up about the books. You can usually get a grasp if you would like the book(s) or not.
Deahna says
I’m with Regina, sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. When they are on my wishlist, I generally do because I put them there for a reason. When not, I read the reviews first, sometimes both on Amazon and Goodreads and if they are mediocre I don’t bother unless it really interests me.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Deahna, I read the reviews also, but the reviews that most interest me are usually the negative ones. I read the negative reviews to find out if a particular thing I don’t like has bothered someone else. (That has actually stopped me a few times.)
Deahna says
Danna, that’s actually the way I go through reviews. A 3-star book can still find its way on my kindle if there are no negative reviews I can relate to like complaining that there were no recipes to go with a food mystery – I really couldn’t care less. On the other hand a 4-star book won’t if the negative reviews say something about typos, the need for editing or simply a bad or clumsy writing style – which I can’t stand.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Deahna, that’s exactly how I read my reviews! (Have you ever seen it when someone gives a book 1 star because it took too long to get their copy of the book? I hate it when people write off-topic, bad reviews like that. Seems they should simply contact the book seller and not hurt the author’s book ratings.)
Deahna says
I’ve even seen 1-star reviews complaining that the ebook wasn’t free because it should be when they had only recently bought the paperback! Thankfully, that attitude is the exception rather than the rule.
Libby Dodd says
Oh yes. And the 1,000+ books on my kindle are a testament to it!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Yikes, Libby, that’s a lot of reading!
nb says
I have not hit the 1000 but I am over 900.
Donna says
Just curious. How many people use the “look inside” feature before purchasing a book? I use it for every book that looks interesting. If the book doesn’t capture my attention within the first few pages, I don’t buy it. So far, I haven’t been disappointed in any of my purchases.
To answer your question: as I reader, I love those bargains! But as a writer, well, I have to make a living, so freebies are not an option. I do donate my books to libraries because they really need all the help they can get right now. And people tell me they’ve discovered my books that way and then buy their own copies, so it helps all concerned. Other writers tell me that they wait until they are “established” and then they can afford to give the first book away, and that usually brings them new readers.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Donna, I always assumed the publisher “took the hit” when giving a Kindle / Nook mystery for free. I thought it was their way of publicizing the books. What you say about “established” authors certainly makes sense.
Tracy Weber says
Authors are paid a percentage (pretty small) of the book’s selling price. So when a book is placed for free, the author and publisher share the income loss. But if it gets new, loyal readers, it may well pay off!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thanks for answering my question, Tracy. And good luck with your Downward Dog Mysteries!
Deahna says
In the beginning I always used the “look inside” feature including downloading a free chapter or so. But after a few misses where the beginning was fab and I was quite ready to throw the book away after 50 pages I gave up on that.
Julia says
I use the ‘look’ feature, and I also download samples for e-books; unfortunately this doesn’t always tell you much about the book itself – just the author’s grasp of sentence structure and grammar. In my early days with my Kindle I once downloaded a sample of a book, and based on that sample I bought the book. Big mistake. What I took for a folksy, charming way of introducing the characters continued through the entire book (and from what I’ve seen looking at subsequent paperbacks in the series at B&N, in every book). The book in its entirety was a long, meandering reminiscense of a fictional town and its fictional inhabitants in a time and way of life long gone…which would have been fine if I hadn’t bought the book looking for a mystery. You can’t judge a book by its cover or, not infrequently, by its first 30 pages.
Joan says
Yes, I take advantage of the free books. Sometimes I am sorry that I even started to read them and delete the book after only a few pages. Sometimes the book is mediocre and I read it. But, sometimes, once in a while, the book is an absolute gem and I look for others by the same author.
Occasionally, Amazon has specials like their current 20 books for $2 (each). When they do those specials, you can get some established authors like Deborah Macgillivray.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Joan, it sounds like your method is quite a bit like my “50 page rule” >>> I just won’t waste my time if I’m not enjoying the book. There are just too many out there!
Angela says
The only way I will download a new to me author is if it’s free or under $2.99. Free will draw me in even quicker, especially if the series is one I’m not really interested in, the free makes me give it a try despite my lack of interest (what the heck, it’s free right!) I will only spend money on an un-tested author if it sounds really interesting and has garnered many great reviews from multiple sources. Otherwise it stays on my “I’d like to try” list until I can get it on my book swap site or the library.
And thank you so much Danna for compiling the Kindle deals list for us. I find it so tedious to try and find these deals on the Amazon site. I wish they had cozy mysteries as a search genre! I usually find that I stumble onto many other deals once I start looking at the ones you have listed for us and the process is less painful, lol!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Angela, I find that I work the same way. I’ll find one book/author and that (if I’m lucky!) will lead me to another book/author.
Carol W says
As a cozy reader, it makes great sense to me. I recently read the last book of a mystery series (not cozy) and it was the only one that I read. I got that free but now that I know what happened to all the main characters I am not likely to go back and read the other twelve (unless they are free). I have read the beginning books of a series for free before and now I buy myself one a year of each of them.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Carol W, if I were to get the FREE 13th mystery of a series, it would definitely be put at the bottom of my Kindle queue. Since I am a stickler for the correct chronological order in my reading, I think I’d probably wait until I could get at least the first book in the series for FREE.
Kath says
I have found many great new authors that I wouldn’t have tried because the first book was free, and then gone on to buy the whole series etc. On the other side of that, the new super high prices of ebooks by many authors has made me stop reading series of authors I enjoy.
I do have a question, you said Both of Deb Baker’s series had the first book free, I can’t find the first book in dolls to Die For Mystery Series for kindle/nook at all.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Kath, that should be Dolled Up for Murder on the Kindle and Dolled Up for Murder on the Nook. (It’s on the latest – September 4, 2013 Free and Cheap Kindle / Nook Mysteries list.)
Kath says
Thank you, I did the search 5 different ways, including the authors page under kindle and couldnt find it this morning!! Maybe I just needed more coffee! 🙂
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Either that, Kath, or you’re becoming like me!
Judy E. says
I always take advantage of free books on my nook. I’ve discovered authors I would never have known and their wonderful books. I think it’s a great idea and I always follow through on the rest of the series no matter the cost if I like it. But I will say,if I am buying a book not offered as free, I use the sample feature on my nook for that particular book and if it doesn’t grab me by the end of the sample, I delete and don’t buy. By the way Sara Rosett, one of my favorites Authors has her first book On The Run series free on the nook.
Jackie J. Griffey says
Since I have more than one series to experiment with, I’m thinking of trying this ‘free or very low price’ temptation (that’s what it is, to an avid reader like me LOL. ) I’m considering my ‘insurance series’ since I’ve been looking at the Mystery/romance market and these have an abundance of both and with humor. Right now I’m finishing up another in the Maggie and Joe cozy mystery series but when I finish I’ll take a closer look at the ‘price’ experiment. Thanks for another great idea – this is such an interesting and helpful blog!
Best of luck and good reading to all of us,
Jackie Griffey
Deb says
I love the opportunity to get a mystery free, first book of the series or not! That said, I always take advantage of the free sample which you can download to kindle or NOOK. I have a few prejudices, especially that I won’t read a book written in the present tense, so I get to see if that knocks it out right away, and then I get to read a few pages just like I do in the library before downloading the freebie.
Carol W., I wouldn’t have thought of getting the last book free and already knowing how things came out before reading the rest! That’s something to watch out for.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Deb, until you mentioned not liking present tense mysteries, I will probably start noticing it.
Cyn says
Hi!
I’m new to this site and am enjoying it very much.
I wish more series started with a discounted price because when I’m hooked I’ll pay anything to keep reading a good series! Right now I’m reading Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series and I just hit “Buy” on my Kindle because it’s so engrossing. (It’s my personal splurge)
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Welcome to the site, Cyn! That’s the one draw-back I am finding with my Kindle: It is too effortless for me to indulge myself when it comes to my “favorite authors.”
Linda says
Free books are a great way to “find” a new author. Other than a little of your time, you have nothing to lose. This is how I found Sara Rosett’s On the Run series. The first book was free, and after finishing, I quickly downloaded books two and three. Free books are ‘hit or miss’ but certainly worth taking a chance. You’ll definitely find a gem or two.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Linda, thanks for telling us about Sara Rosett‘s On the Run Mystery Series. I only new about her Ellie Avery Mystery Series. (I just added the On the Run mysteries to her page.)
Sharon says
If it’s a Cozy Mystery and it’s free, I will grab it right up! I won a Cozy Mystery on a blog and I’ve been hooked ever since. I can’t get enough of these books. This Saturday night The Hallmark Chanel will air a movie based on a Cozy Mystery, “A Garage Sale Mystery.” I’m so glad the word is getting out about these little treasures. Readers don’t know what they are missing. Like many mystery lovers, I was totally clueless about these books. I think the authors are definitely helping to promote book sales by offering the first in a new series for free or nearly free, and I for one will be taking advantage of theses offers and continue to feed my addiction by buying more books in the series to come! I love your blog and appreciate all that you do to keep this once clueless reader in the know where Cozy Mysteries are concerned!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Sharon, thanks for telling us about the Hallmark Channel’s Garage Sale Mystery. I just looked it up, and see that the movie is based on Suzy Weinert’s Garage Sale Stalker. Hallmark Channel says it is premiering this Saturday night at 8:00 (Central).
Thanks (again) for telling us. I’m going to go set up my DVR device right now.
Annette says
I also buy the free to 99 cents books. Definitely an easy way to get hooked on a new to me author. On kindle/amazon I also use the “sample this book” it usually gives 1-4 chapters sometimes and it really saves making purchases I later regret.
my DVR is set for the garage sale mystery.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thanks for the tip, Annette!
Mel says
OK, I know it’s not “cosy” per-se, but I love the “Castle” TV show.
Anyone have an opinion on the “books”??
I know it’s a money making tie in, but are they worth buying?
Thanks everyone!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Mel, I wrote the following entry about Castle in January of 2010. It got quite a few comments.
Heat Wave by Richard Castle … or is it?!
Mel says
Thanks Danna!
It seems like a good read no matter who is writing them.
Hate to waste $$$$, just like everyone else….
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Mel, I know what you mean about wasting money. Recently I’ve bought two Kindle mysteries that didn’t pass my “50 page rule.”
reginav says
I have to stop buying books for my Nook. It is so easy to sit at my computer and order them. Now if my favorite authors have new books published, I will buy them for the Nook rather than wait for the library to receive a copy. Unfortunately some of the biographies I would like to buy are too expensive for me and that is when I use the library. I have a backlog of books for the future. Another advantage of my Nook is the ability to download early books of a series once I have read the first book. I too read the preview pages that BN provides to see if it will interest me. Also this column has been a big help in opening new vistas.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Regina, I used to buy Kindle books every time I posted a Recommendations list. Also, when I post a group new authors on the site, invariably one of them (at least!) will entice me. I’m trying to curb myself. My husband keeps one book on his Kindle, and when he’s finished with it, he then buys another one to replace it. Apparently I have more of a “hoarding” type of mentality than he does. I like to have a bunch of books at my disposal, so I can pick and choose which one I will read next.
Thiago M says
I got the first of Granny Apples at $,99. And because of that, I want to read (and probably will) the others.
🙂
Danna - cozy mystery list says
So, Thiago M, that’s a case where the author benefited from offering the first in her series at a reduced amount.
Moonlight says
Two of my favorite series that I read last year started out as a free download of the first in a series. I read L.L. Bartlett’s Jeff Resnick series and Sandra Parshall’s Rachael Goddard series. I prefer to read a series in order. If that first one holds my interest all the way through, chances are, I will buy at least the next couple in the series.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Moonlight, I see that the first L.L. Bartlett’s Jeff Resnick is FREE this year, also. Sounds like Bartlett knows what she is doing! (I just checked and see Parshall’s first Rachael Goddard is not FREE, but doggone close at 99 cents.)
PamB says
I REALLY need a Kindle now after reading all the comments.
Emma says
I have a sort of opposite problem. I have bought and read a certain series from its very beginning. Now I can’t read the next one because it is only in e-form.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Emma, I wonder if the author of that series was dropped by his/her publisher. E-form makes it nice for those types of instances.
Tracy D says
wow, I found a couple of free books and authors I haven’t heard of before! thanks!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Tracy D, I hope you enjoy the authors. Aren’t these FREE Kindle/Nook mysteries great!
Julia says
I have tried a number of authors I wouldn’t normally have known about because I have seen their books on a list of free or cheap e-books, but that’s not to say I download every free mystery I come across. I also don’t necessarily buy any subsequent books from that author, although if the first one impressed me I might. I have found myself buying e-book versions of paperbacks I already own, though, if the first one or two in the series are offered for free or inexpensively (that’s how I ended up with so many Patricia Wentworth’s and Charlotte MacLeod’s on my Kindle). The free book reminds me of the author, and how much I enjoyed his or her work. Having been reminded, I take a tour of all the other books the author has to offer, and while they might not be as attractively priced I usually buy at least some of them because I want a more durable copy, just like my free one.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Julia, when I first got my Kindle, I tended to get as many FREE mystery books that I found out about. After reading a lot of them, and a lot of them not passing my 50 page rule, I stopped being so indiscriminate. I now find myself reading the reviews.
I, too, have “replaced” some of my favorite “real books” with Kindle copies. I have all of E.F. Benson’s Lucia books on my Kindle, as well as some of my favorite mystery author’s books (Camille Minichino/Margaret Grace/Ada Madison, Charlotte MacLeod/Alisa Craig, Hazel Holt, ETC.). I have become too spoiled with my Kindle. I love that I can control the font, so I have ended up donating/giving away a lot of my “real books” which I know I will prefer reading in the size font I want.