How to Win at Kindle Countdown Deals
Happy Friday to my followers.
This week I decided I was going to cash in on Black Friday and run a Kindle Countdown Deal on my book, Before the Legend this weekend. Considering it was a fairly last minute decision I had to scramble the week before to find a list of sites that would promote my book while not spending anything in the process (besides time). I’ve done free runs before but never a Kindle Countdown deal so this is still new territory for me.
For those not familiar with Amazon promotions, authors enrolled in KDP Select have several different options to promote their book. One way is through a Kindle Countdown deal which is what I’ll be focusing for most of this post. The main difference between a free run and a Kindle countdown deal is that the latter is simply discounting your book from its normal sale price by a significant margin. Your promotional period can range from 1-5 days. You can split your promotional period into separate days (i.e.. Monday & Wednesday) or have it run consecutive days (i.e. Monday-Wednesday). If you want you can set the price points at a certain time and date between the start and end of your promotion.
In my example, I decided to set my eBook to $.99 from Friday 11/29 6am PST-12/1 12am PST. Then starting on 12/2 (Cyber Monday) the price will jump to $1.99 before the book resumes its normal price of $2.99. Note the time of your promotion is set in Pacific Standard Time regardless of your time zone so keep that in mind when you’re spreading the word to others.
Once you select your promotion dates and pricing info you will not be able to add another promotion until the selected promotion period ends. If you realize you made a mistake you can still go back and make changes to the initial promotion you created or cancel it altogether. Note you cannot make any changes within 24 hours of your promotion’s start date.
Getting the word out
To maximize the success of your promotion whether it be a free run or a Kindle Countdown deal, you want to get the word out to many people and channels as possible. There’s many different ways to get the word out.
Social Media
Get the word out to your network of followers whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Goodreads.
In Facebook you can generate some buzz around your promotion by creating an event if you have a Facebook page. You can then invite your friends to the virtual event. Don’t forget to post pertinent information such as the price, promotion dates, and link(s) where your book can be found.
Twitter: This is another social media platform that could be helpful in getting the word out granted you have a lot of followers. I tried using trending yet relevant hashtags in my promotional tweet. If you can have other engaged followers that can share your tweet that could prove helpful in getting your book out there.
Promotion Sites
Another important arsenal in getting the word out on your Kindle promotion are book promotion sites. There are hundreds of sites that will promote your books. When choosing a site you will want to note each site’s policies, prices, and acceptable genres. You will also want to note how far-reaching their promotional efforts go. What are some of the ways they promote their books to readers (i.e. newsletter, Facebook, Twitter, etc.)? How large is their readership? The larger their readership the more exposure you can get from being featured which can help boost sales. Those are just some of the questions you will want to ask yourself. If you’re on a budget like myself and looking for sites that will promote your discounted book for free you can check out this extensive list of sites with some offering free submissions.
Important: while some sites allow you to submit your book for free they cannot guarantee your book will be granted a slot due to the number of requests they get. For additional book promo services to promote your discounted book check out this page.
Other ways to get the word out is by word of mouth. As I noted in an earlier post, never underestimate the power of self-promotion. After all it’s free. Other platforms you can advertise is through your blog, author site, or through an email newsletter. These are just some of the ways you can spread the word without breaking the bank. And if you have loyal followers, chances are they will help spread the word whether it’s by sharing your post or tweeting your book to your network. I’ll admit there’s a lot of work that goes into planning a promotion and I’m taking risks along the way. Will all this pay off at the end? It’s too early to tell whether this will be successful or a flop. But with your support anything is possible.
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