While there's almost no chance all of those 971 downloaded files have been read, I am still thrilled with the results so far. People have emailed to say they like the book, someone added it to LibraryThing and to the new Italian LibraryThing, and nearly every day I get another Google alert with another comment on the book.

They've been nearly all positive, and I haven't yet had anything negative that was particularly hurtful.

Will I do it again?
My true goal is to be published by a "traditional" publisher. I am not yet ready to go full-scale into self-publishing. But I would seriously consider releasing other books for free. If I do, I will put more effort into promoting the book; this time around, I really just wanted to see if it was worthwhile.

It was more work than I expected, but the book has also gone further than I ever expected it to (I have at least one reader in Italy!). I'm pleased with how the experiment has gone and happy with the electronic versions I was able to create. Feel free to download the book yourself at http://www.heatherwardell.com if you'd like to see how it came out.

Heather Wardell received her first Palm handheld in 1997 (from a boss who couldn't get the hang of Graffiti) and has never looked back. She worked in banking as a systems analyst for four years, and then moved into elementary education, teaching computers at a private elementary school for four years. Heather is now a full-time women's fiction writer, and her first novel, "Life, Love, and a Polar Bear Tattoo" is available for free download through her Web site at http://www.heatherwardell.com.