Among the free eBooks are Edward Patterson's many gay-themed novels--but also books donated by over 500 indie authors. The book categories for free eBooks are Adventure, Anthology, Children's Books, Drama, Gay/Lesbian, General, Historical, Humor, Literary, Military Books, Mystery, Non Fiction, Poetry, Romance, Sci Fi/Fantasy, Suspense/Thriller, Urban Fantasy, Western, and Young Adult.
Operation eBook drop began when Ed offered to email a soldier all 13 of his ebooks, for free. The soldier gratefully accepted. Following the chance encounter with the soldier, Ed, himself an Army veteran, queried other indie authors, asking if they too would be willing to offer their ebooks for free to troops deployed overseas.
Collaborating with Mark Coker of Smashwords, Ed and some of the authors started using Smashwords as the platform for distributing the ebooks to soldiers. Using the Smashwords Coupon Generator feature, authors are emailing 100%-off coupons to the soldiers.
To celebrate the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," I've made the eBook version of my novel Unmentionables, a gay themed novel set during the Civil War, available for free to service members around the world. Service members, please see the listing for Unmentionables at Operation eBook Drop.
