Download your copy of the Denver Cereal and Celia’s Puppies.

The Denver Cereal (.pdf) Letter – 1.4MB
The Denver Cereal (.pdf) A4 – 1.1 MB
The Denver Cereal (.txt) – .41 MB

Over 5,200 copies downloaded (January, 2009)

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Celia’s Puppies (.pdf) Letter – 2.2 MB
Celia’s Puppies (.pdf) A4 – 2.3 MB
Celia’s Puppies (.txt) – .55 MB

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We will add versions as we acquire them.

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Why is it free?

Three reasons:

1.  First and foremost, fiction is written to be read. It’s not written to make millions of dollars (although that would be nice). It’s not written to be corporatized, monetized, franchised, or any other ‘ized’.

Fiction is an intimate communication between an author and a reader. The reading takes place in one’s home, in their bathtub, tucked into bed, quiet moments at your desk or even on precious few breaks in the day. Books are passed from person to person.

With the drama and fretting about licensure, the relationship between authors and readers has been disrupted, perverted in some ways. People feel guilty for giving their friends books or selling a used book.

Books are meant to be shared in the same way that fiction is meant to be read.

2.  Obscurity is a writer’s biggest nemesis. (This point is best said by Tim O’Reilly and repeated over and over again by Cory Doctorow).  The very  best thing you could do for Claudia and Denver Cereal is to download the e-Book and pass it around to your friends.

3.  When books were first published, they were copied by hand on parchment. When Joyce self published the Dubliners, it was set, on character at a time, on a printing press.  Mark Twain edited his novel with a fountain tip pen. People talked about authors having one or two good books in them.

But let’s face it.

None of these barriers exist anymore. Books are written and edited on computers. It’s possible to print on demand and have the book in a week.  Mark Twain would have cheered out loud at this possibility.

But how will you make a living?

It is possible that Claudia is missing out on revenue from the eBook. However, it’s our experience that people who like print books, like print books. They will purchase one if they want a book.

The truth is that making a living has more to do with managing costs than adding income.

What do we want in return?

Read the book. Write a review at Amazon or Goodreads. Talk to your friends about it. Pass it along to your family members. Call your local library and request The Denver Cereal for their collection. Request The Denver Cereal at your local bookstore.

If you’d like a copy of the book, feel free to buy one for yourself or forty of your close personal friends.

edited 11/27/09