This question pops often in forums… Here are the answers often posted…
- Because they don’t know any better
- To maximize downloads because they don’t care about money
- Advisers telling newbies giveaways are the best career decision
- People think the author is begging for sales
- Because the books are worthless
- I never price any of my books for free
FACT: None of these answers are helpful and some are out right lies by omission. Take the last on the list. The author who never prices books for free–can’t! Nope. That author is under contract and has NO control over the price of his/her books. I checked. And all are sucking mud to China in stats…perhaps selling one or two a year.
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Well, most of us do. We indie authors are up against it. One lament I hear every single time I visit a forum or a Facebook group is: “I can’t afford _______.” Just fill in the blank. Some of us lie to ourselves because we don’t want to afford those services. And gosh, it sounds just fine to plead poverty. Gives the image of the struggling author living in a cold-water garret suffering for his craft. Some consider publishing a book an adventure. “Hey, if I make a little money on the side, great. If not, I’m in the groove. I’m a published author.” Chatting that up on a first date, or with the carpool mommies, or at cocktail parties has more cachet than saying, “I work at Walmart.” 
