GUEST POST: Winning the Writing War by Guest Author Jason Halstead (@booksbyjason)

There’s strategies and there’s tactics. My strategy is simple: ditch the day job and become a full time writer. That’s my mission statement. To make it happen I need tactics. Tactics don’t win a war, they win battles. Win enough battles and the war is won. My latest tactic: free books.

Wait a minute! How the hell can I give books away if I want to make money at writing books? It sounds like a paradox – or maybe something even worse, like when your girlfriend or wife asks you if her pants still look good on her, then demands honesty. Yeah, for all you guys out there, you know what I’m talking about. Now hide that smirk before your significant other sees it and asks what you’re up to.

So how am I going to pull this rabbit out of my hat? Well it’s simple. I have confidence in my books. I sell over a hundred books a month so it’s not just that I think my books are good, I’ve been convinced by others that my books are good too. Now my plan is to give away a few of them. These are full length novels, not samples, and I plan on changing them up every month or so.

It’s not just a random book I’m offering either. It’s books that are at the beginning of a series. I think there’s an official name for this sort of thing, but I’m not sure what it is. The important thing to me is that I’m giving away a free book and not trying to trick anybody or attach any hidden strings to the offer. All a person needs to do is go to my website and sign up for my newsletter. From that point on I’ll email them a link and instructions on how to obtain the book. No purchase required and no other information necessary. I don’t make a penny off of this, in fact it’s probably costing my money to do so.

But let’s back up a bit. I may not be making anything off of this but I have every confidence that people will like what they read. Maybe not everyone or maybe not even 90% of them. But if 10% like it enough to want more, well the books I’ll be offering will have sequels waiting for them. In some cases there are multiple sequels available. That’s where it comes back around because that’s where I start to make money on this. If 100 people download my book and 10 of them like it enough to buy the sequel, then odds are good I just made some money. Oh sure, $20 isn’t much but I’m hoping 10 people is only the beginning.

Will it work? I don’t know. It seems like a great idea, but I wouldn’t try it if it didn’t. Then, later, I often view it with hindsight and amend my statement to, “It seemed like a good idea at the time…” You can be sure I’ll share the success (or lack of) as it unfolds! Until then, feel free to hop on over to my website, sign up for my newsletter, then I’ll share it with you as soon as I get word of it. http://www.booksbyjason.com/newsletter.aspx

To learn more about Jason Halstead, visit his website to learn about him, his books, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.