It is one of the ironies of living in a highly populated, competitive world that many writers get paid for hack or drudge technical writing while the finest distillations of their courtship with words must (and should) be given away. This is the most reasonable method of making sure that one’s stories/poems/novellas/novels are enjoyed by a small segment of the appropriate market.
A reasonable writer must find a means of earning money that has little to do with literary output. After that, the writer must come to terms with the narrowness of his market, for to do otherwise is to write what one does not want to write when pursuing the muse.
If, by happy chance, the writer’s natural market is the vampire market, then she will not have to give away more than a hundred books or 
so, assuming the writer has friends and admired colleagues and is a nice person. The rest of the books will be printed up and sold in the mass market. Even if these books do not outlast the writer’s lifetime, which has happened to more books than you or I can count, the books will have readers, which is the main goal behind most writers’ efforts.
Giving books away can be fun. I give them to friends who I think will be interested in the subject matter and who will eventually find the time to read them. My own books are the most thoughtful, polished gift I can give to these dear people. The gift is something I have spent years putting together and revising and months working on with respect to artwork and format. The end result is as much a distilled product of my regard for that friend as a knit sweater might be, perhaps more so. When I depart this world, my friend will have something that is truly the essence of me.
I also give books to colleagues who are dedicated readers, people who I feel may laugh at or relish, in my stories, what I tried to place within reach, like fresh baked cookies left on the kitchen counter. By giving copies away to people I respect, I first of all hope to receive encouragement to do more of what I love, and secondly, I hope that if my writing is good enough, those readers will tell others. If these others borrow the books to read, wonderful. If they buy, that is even better, but not absolutely necessary, for I have taken care of the need for money by having a job, leaving myself free to pursue my passion without financial pressure, which can kill imagination anyway.
Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!
Grassroots Writers Guild's Blog 
After writing this piece, I have noted that many of the books I gave away to friends were never read. It seems as if a reader is more likely to read a book that has been paid for.
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Very interesting opinions in both of the above comments.
I would have to side with both of you…it is nice to give special people a copy of your book, but sometimes it seems that everyone that knows you expects a free copy if they’ve heard someone else was given one.
I totally agree with Matthew in regards to support the not-so-famous authors.
Long before I had even began writing my first novel I would often pick up books that were either self-published, or from a less known author, usually at their book signing….I can imagine that especially for a first-time author, having someone ask them questions and then buy their book has gotta feel good!!
……that will be me soon….LOL
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What I really find fascinating about this post is wondering what the men and women that I admire as writers would have done had they lived in our strange and artistically impossible times. I wonder if James Joyce would have felt the same about Ulysses? I doubt it. I suspect he would have rather tossed the manuscript in the fire rather than not be paid for his efforts. Hemmingway? Edith Wharton? Virginia Wolfe, Fitzgerald? What would they have done if someone suggested that they might as well give their books away as they were the equivalent of warm cozy knit sweater. Although I love your analogy, Julia we all deserve so much more. Unfortunately, times have changed so dramatically that I suspect we will never get more. But maybe … maybe there is a solution. We need a revolution!
Ruminate on this: I call a plumber to my house to fix a leaky pipe. He/She fixes it and when ready to be paid, I just stand there and say: “Thanks. This is some wonderful work you have done here. I really enjoy it and it will mean a great deal to me in the years to come.” Well, the plumber might either phone the cops, or give me a sound thrashing, or certainly sue me to get his money. Gratitude is not equivalent to cash, even in the most idyllic hippy commune.
So how did an artist’s work become so valueless that it has become ‘craft’ and not something important like art? Maybe that is the problem? Maybe art isn’t important anymore? I personally don’t think so, and I think there are many people who think the same way as me. So what’s going on? Is it the download me for free age that is causing this? Is it the fact that hardly anyone has any sort of expendable income? Is it the price of books? (I suspect that has a great deal to do with these things and some others. I know the price of books in Canada is outrageous, and often stops me from buying them.)
Enter the age of the E-reader. It’s time to PAY UP! I suggest that everyone who enjoys reading go out once a month and buy a book that is not on the best seller list, that is self-published on amazon or smashwords, or wherever, and support artists. Let’s make this a new movement. Most of these books are a couple bucks. Even I can afford that. And who knows: Maybe you will come across something brilliant. Surely, it is worth 3 bucks to find out. And if you don’t have an e-reader gadget, you can read them on your laptop or desktop.
In the world of publishing, if the market dictates what is to be published (and it does and no one should blame the publishing houses for this — they don’t exist to lose money — and I personally have nothing against popular fiction; in fact, I love some of it), and you are sick of books about teenage vampires, and sappy memoirs, then PAY UP. Let’s get this underground economy rolling already. All the technology is in place. Let’s take advantage of it. As readers, decide for yourself what you want to read. Don’t let best seller lists and book awards make the decision for you.
There is no way this kind and talented woman should be allowed to give her book away. If she ever tries to give you a copy of her book, say “No. I insist on paying you for it.”
Basically, what I am saying is: IF you love books, and you love art: PAY FOR IT. Don’t let your poor artist friend give away years of hard work and intellectual sweat. (As I shamefully did.) BUY A COPY. That is the only hope we have left. People need to buy books.
(Full disclosure: Julia is my best friend that I have never met, and she GAVE me a copy of her book — which I accepted without argument and did not pay her for.)
Sigh. So, I guess until I pay Julia some money, I am a hypocrite and have some atoning to do.
I am going to amazon.com this weekend and buying an ebook. Maybe it will be your’s.
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