Celebrate Buy Nothing Day, win free books

Every year it’s the same old grind. The day before Thanksgiving, I start getting holiday emails from authors trying to ramp up their sales campaigns for Black Friday and the Christmas gift-giving frenzy.

On the one hand, I can sympathize. Hey, I’m an indie author, and I know that the holiday season is when lots of people buy books for friends and family. I also love getting books for Christmas. It’s win-win, right?

Not really. Because on the other hand, I really REALLY hate it when authors try to frame their marketing push as “being thankful to their readers” by offering chintzy discounts on their books.

See, it’s not that I don’t like discounts, or even that I think these authors should stop trying to market their books for the holidays. What I really don’t like is the way the conversation perverts the perfectly beautiful concept of thanksgiving and gratefulness, taking it to a place of disingenuity.

Is offering your readers a 10 or 15% discount really expressing your gratitude? Or is it just another way of taking advantage of all of this holiday hubbub, buying into the whole Shop ‘Til You Drop mentality that the commercial Christmas season has always been about?

Let’s be honest. I feel it’s the latter for most folks, and that just isn’t my style. As a consumer, I have never participated in Black Friday, and certainly would never encourage people to trample one another for deals. Especially just one damn day after we’ve all supposedly expressed our Sincerest Gratitude. The holiday season, whether you believe in the “reason for the season” or not, is meant to be about giving thanks, sharing your life with family and friends, and enjoying a bit of time to relax and reflect on another year gone by.

So here’s the deal:

I’d love for you to buy one – or several – of my books. But I’d love it even more if you didn’t buy them on Black Friday, or at any time during the first official holiday shopping weekend. In fact, to encourage you not to buy my books, I am holding a contest where you can win FREE books by NOT BUYING ANYTHING. Crazy, right?

Instead of buying my books this weekend, I would much prefer to know that you are spending quality time this weekend with friends, family and assorted loved ones and expressing real, honest gratitude towards all of the people who have made your life worth living. Because that is far more important than whether or not I make a sale today, or any day.

So yes, dear reader, I am truly grateful to you! I am happy that I have supportive readers like you, who are interested in what I have to say, and I want to honestly express my gratitude to you today. Therefore, I fully endorse your decision to buy absolutely nothing from my store this weekend, and to rest easy knowing that there are no coupons to clip, no discounts to grab before it’s too late, and no pushy marketing schemes afoot here.

As a gift to you, please enjoy a free copy of my book, The Portable Laura Roberts, no strings attached. It’s always free, even when the holidays are long gone, and my only hope is that you enjoy reading it. If you do, consider sharing it with a friend and spreading the love.

And, if you’d like to win more free books…

Do you support Buy Nothing Day? Share what you’ll be doing this weekend instead of shopping to win more awesome Buttontapper Press books! Comments shared through December 2 will entitle you to receive one free ebook of your choice. Include your preferred book’s title with your comment. (Comments must include a valid email address for delivery. Limit one ebook per person. Must be 18+ to win erotica ebooks.)