barbara freethy. nope, i've never heard of her. have you? she is an oft-published and award-winning author, with novels from pocket, n.a.l., and harper-collins, 30 of them all told, constituting a hefty backlist... but no, sorry, the name doesn't ring a bell with me. however, according to the sacramento bee, which quotes a vice-president from barnes&noble digital, ms. freethy has sold a lot of e-books of her backlist.
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/10/25/4005206/author-barbara-freethy-sells-over.h... over a million e-books. of her backlist. just in 2011. (which, according to my calendar, is only 10/12 over.) her e-books are priced at $3-$6, which means freethy is taking home $2-$4 on each one. times one million. thank you, michael, for setting writers like freethy free... -bowerbird