In my mindset, a product or service has a fair-value point. You know, it costs so much to make and distribute, even before factoring in a profit. If you’re selling it at a lower price, why don’t you keep it there all the time? Maybe my outlook reflects the one-price for all practice of Quakers who objected to the upper class who expected to get a discount over the poorer masses.

Beyond that, the concept of bargaining or haggling found in many cultures absolutely repulsed me. I still feel like poor artisans and farmers in those countries are getting cheated or at least cheating themselves.

Either way, I rarely buy much and usually shy away from the more expensive range of items. Quite simply, I’m just not a shopper.

In my two years working as a field representative for a newspaper syndicate, I did finally come to appreciate the need to have something special to motivate a potential buyer. We couldn’t offer “specials,” and in most markets, we no longer had competing newspapers vying for our latest product. It was frustrating. There was nothing to make an editor jump onto our latest comic strip or columnist or game feature, no matter how excellent these were.

In the book publishing industry, free advance reading editions and review copies were sent out in the hopes of creating a buzz, but for digital books, that is a more challenging effort. Giving somebody a coupon to order online just ain’t the same as handing them a paper book.

So just what can an indy author do to get reviews or, better yet, a word-of-mouth buzz?

Welcome to Smashword.com’s big July-long ebook sale, where writers opt to present titles at sharp discount or even free.

Remember, this year I have two recent works available for free and two other new works at half-price.

Check them out at my Jnana Hodson author page! And then look at many of the fine offerings by others, too.