Wow - this is something other book publishers, authors and comic book companies and creators really, really need to take a long, hard look at. Neil Gaiman convinced his publisher to release “American Gods” online for free, in it’s entirety, and the end result has been a massive boost in the novel’s sales figures.

It’s worth drawing people’s attention to the fact that the free online reading copy of American Gods is now in its last six days online (it ends 31 March 08). I learned this from an email from Harper Collins, which also told me the latest batch of statistics.
For American Gods:

68,000 unique visitors to the book pages of American Gods

3,000,000 book pages viewed in aggregate

And that the weekly book sales of American Gods have apparently gone up by 300%, rather than tumbling into the abyss. (Which is — the rise, not the tumble — what I thought would happen. Or at least, what I devoutly hoped would happen.)

The book is up at This URL, if you’re interested, or want to pass it along to a friend.

Comics, Books