We all know that the age of the e-book has arrived.  Once writers have decided to forgo the traditional publishing route, they then waiver back and forth as to what value they should assign to their e-books.  By value, we mean price.

$9.99? $7.99? $4.99? $2.99? $0.99?

What about for free?

This question raises another controversy in the digital world, although nowhere near as potent as DRM (Digital Rights Management).

Using Twitter as a form of blog research, we found that multiple sources become wary when an author gives away his or her e-book.  Others stated that they associate free with sub-par writing and they are no longer interested in reading the material.

Some suggested that a temporary sale of an e-book, offering a promotion, or giving away e-book certificates to a limited quantity of winners as a more appealing offer.

On the contrary, we received other responses that indicated once they read a few free e-books, they immediately jumped online to purchase the prequels and sequels from the authors.

We decided to ask Digital Content Center client and author Jillian Dodd what she thinks about giving away free e-books.  Jillian self-published her book, That Boy, earlier this year, and she plans to release the sequel, That Wedding, in early 2012.

“I worked hard on my book and I plan to make a living via self-publishing.  I am big on value, and I personally don’t even look at free e-books.  I figure that if an author doesn’t think their book is worth paying for, why should I?” ~ Jillian Dodd

Jillian does, however, believe in giveaways.  Recently, she completed her first blog tour with That Boy, and she awarded each of the hosting blogs a free copy of her e-book for their reviews and time.  She also allowed each host to offer discount codes to their readers.

Throughout the year, Jillian has offered special prices and other promotional events.  Additionally, she plans to offer That Boy at a discount once she publishes That Wedding to incentivize readers to buy both books together.

And has she been successful? Yes!

What do you think?  Do you read free e-books or do you run the other direction?  Writers, have you given away your e-books and seen success?  We’d love to hear from you in the comment section below.