Astraea Press, most widely known for its romance paperbacks has started a Facebook book club that not only encourages fans to purchase its books but where it will also give away free books. The club will be a forum for fans to discuss books published by Astraea and to engage with their authors.

Astraea may be onto something. This could prove a good way to attract buyers for its quick-read and low-priced digital books. 

According to their website, "Astraea was formed in 2010 when Stephanie Taylor saw the need for a non-erotic e-publisher that offers wholesome reads but still maintains the quality of mainstream romance. The first titles for Astraea were launched in February 2011." 

New York Daily News talked to Opal Campbell, review coordinator with the publisher, and she said the following about the motivation behind their decision, "While some may think it's just exposure it's not like that with the Astraea authors. They truly delight in the chance to connect with readers. They are very excited about the author chat at the end of every month for example. Enthusiasm for readers and the written word is a shared and bright energy that fuels Astraea Press." 

But who are we kidding? More independent publishers will likely get on Facebook, if they haven't already, to drive profit. A book club on a social media platform with millions of users is one way of doing this and luring them to the page with the offer of a free book is smart. If they advertise the offer on Facebook, even smarter.

On June 30th, the publisher will host a chat with the author S.G. Rogers on Facebook, but of course. Currently, Astraea has 852 likes of its Facebook page. It will be interesting to see how many clicks they will get now that they're giving out free books.