If you’d like a copy of Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow, all you have to do is download it. Free.

And here’s why.

There are a couple of ways people might respond to such an offer. They might figure that since the book is free, it’s not very good. If they think that, they should read the recommendations and think again.

They might think that by giving away free ebooks, Doctorow is hurting authors who have worked hard to publish and who are trying to sell their work. Or maybe they’ll say he’s hurting the printers.

They might be offended by Doctorow’s unorthodox way of doing things.

I think Mr. Doctorow is a pretty smart fellow. The times, they are a changing. The Internet blows the doors off the old ways of doing business. These are exciting times. We can lament the loss of the old, or we can jump on and ride to the future.

I don’t like to see authors lose their rights. I disagree with Doctorow where he seems to think it’s OK for everyone to be copying and mixing. At the same time, I think he’s right when he says we can’t protect our rights, and I think we are going to have to change the way we do business.

Everything is free now. There is so much free stuff on the Internet–it’s mind boggling. Case in point: I spent a thousand dollars on doctors’ visits last year and and took a few thousand dollars worth of medication they prescribed, but didn’t get better. I went on the Internet and spent a day reading what others who suffered with my symptoms had to say, I quit the medications, and within three weeks I was completely cured of an ailment I’d had for over a year. So the free access to information on the Internet is not only going to affect authors and publishers, it’s going to affect doctors and builders and auto mechanics and landscapers. You want to build or repair something? You’ll find instructions on the Internet for almost anything you can think of.

So here comes Doctrow, offering his book free.

How does he make money? Well, he’s hoping you’ll want the hard copy. If you want to buy Little Brother you can do that.

He’s done OK. He’s on the NYT bestseller list–how much more OK can it get?

I think it’s a brilliant idea. Give a lot away–no strings attached–and trust that if they like you, the next time they’re in the market for what you’re selling, they’ll buy from you.

I take my car to the Toyota dealer in Marietta, GA, and they’ve been so good to me that I decided the next time I buy a car, I’m buying from them. I love the folks in the service department–why would I buy from someone else?

Anyway, go check out Doctorow. He’s nothing, if not thought provoking.