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away for free which would show what I'm capable of writing and therefore (hopefully) encourage people to look into my other books. I figure that if people give my books a try, they'll be hooked and read the other ones.
That made me want to offer something new. Something that showed off the very best of my abilities. Why offer an inferior product as your free sample? If it wasn't good enough to get published on its own, then wouldn't that lead people to think of my books as inferior?
That leads us to Warbreaker. This is not an old work. In fact, this is my newest work. It has been purchased by Tor (who gave me permission to try this experiment) and will be published in hardcover in 2009, with a paperback release to follow the next year.
I like to have a lot of contact with my fans, and as I contemplated releasing a new book (rather than an old one) on my website, I had a chance to do something rarely seen. I could release drafts of the book as I wrote them, allowing my readers to catch a glimpse of the writing process. They could see the evolution of the book, maybe even offer feedback on early drafts, allowing them to have a much closer connection to me as a writer and this book in specific. By doing this, I could make Warbreaker a project which would engage my already existing readers as well as people who'd never tried my books before.
I decided to go ahead and give this a try. That was back in June of 2006.
My Worries
Releasing the book this way is a gamble for two reasons.
First off, there's the perennial fear that I think all artist get when they give away their art for free. A part of me worries that by giving this book away, it will end up selling dreadfully when it's actually released. Poor sales like that on one book (even a 10% drop) could set a bad tempo for future books.
I don't think this is likely. I, personally, feel very differently about art and the public than certain record executives appear to feel. I think