Kindle and Free Books

I suspect that if eBook readers like Kindle take off many authors will give away eCopies of their works.

We know from attempts by websites to charge for content that vastly more people will read content if the price is zero than if it is only a few cents. Authors, therefore, will likely greatly increase their readership numbers if they give away their books. Of course, unless you are willing to lose money on each book, you can't freely distribute physical books. But once you have written a book, it costs you nothing to give away eCopies.

Many authors, I suspect, would rather have 50,000 people read their book but receive no royalties than have, say, 5,000 readers while getting $3,000 in royalties. This especially applies to professors because we have alternative sources of income and greatly care about our intellectual influence. So if eBook readers take off expect many professor written books to be given away.