A certain bookseller
doesn’t like to offer
free books.
They make it
d*mn difficult
for publishers/Indie writers
to list their books
for free.
The publisher has
to first list the book for free
on another bookseller’s site
and then request a price match
for ALL regions.
Getting that price match
takes about a month.
Then the publisher
has to monitor the prices
in ALL regions
because the bookseller
will randomly revert
prices to paid
in some equally random regions.
It is a pain in the a$$
and many publishers
have given up on this.
In my niche,
free first in series
is THE most effective tactic
to sell the books
in the rest
of the series.
It is worth the time and effort
for me to do this.
Adding friction to a process
prevents people/entities
from casually taking an action
you would prefer
they not take.
But it allows people/entities
that have a legitimate reason,
who are exceptions,
to take that action.
Consider adding friction
to guide
the majority of people/entities
toward the path
you prefer them to take.