Getting Back to Sales

The other day I went into my KDP profile and decided to set up my first promotion of the year for my novel, A Kiss of Glass. I decided to utilize the 5 Day Free Ebook Promo and it started some time on Tuesday.

I’ve done this promotion once before, back in September 2023, and it was the first time I sold over 100 copies in a single day. In fact, for the entire month of September, I made over 400 total sales and my novel reached the top 5 slot in two different Amazon categories (Fairy Tales and LGBTQ+ Fantasy, if I recall correctly). It was an absolutely amazing week and it set me on cloud nine. In fact, it encouraged me so much that I actually started working on my sequel novel in earnest, when I had previously been struggling and dragging my feet.

I sold almost 500 total copies of my debut novel in the first 6 months it was released, and my original goal was that, by the time the sequel novel came out (which would be exactly one year later), I would have sold at least 1,000 copies of my debut. Now, I think I’m going to go beyond that marker.

My novel is on Kindle as well as Kindle Unlimited. Enrollment in KU lasts 90 days and at that point, authors can either opt in to have their books automatically renewed in KU, or they can opt into what’s called “wide distribution.” That simply means that if a book is not enrolled in Kindle Unlimited, the ebook can be distributed on multiple platforms: Nook, IngramSpark, Draft2Digital, etc. If a book is enrolled in KU, the ebook is only allowed to be distributed through Kindle. Again, this lasts for 90 days at a time so that authors can experiment with which option works best for them.

So far, Kindle Unlimited has been responsible for my book being read through in its entirety at least twice every month since its publication, so I have always kept it enrolled in Kindle Unlimited. The 5 Day Free Ebook Promotion and their Countdown Deal Promotion can only be utilized once every 90 day period. I utilized it in September 2023, forgot about it, and then just this Tuesday decided to utilize it again. Once this 90 day period is over, I can set up another free ebook deal in the last half of March, and then again in the last half June.

So far in the two days this promotion has been active, I’ve sold almost 300 copies of my book. I’ve I didn’t sell another single copy this week, and if I only sold 200 copies in each of the next two promotions I run, I would still reach beyond my goal of 1,000 sales by June 30, 2o24 by almost 100 extra books. And sure, you might be saying, “But they’re free so you’re not making any money.” Yeah, I don’t care about the money right now. I am still a relatively unknown author. I care more about getting my book into reader’s hands than I do about making royalties.

I’ve said this before in other posts, but a one time sale can get me anywhere from $2.00 (ebook royalties) and $15.00 (direct sale royalties), and while that can definitely add up to being a nice amount of cash, it will ultimately mean nothing if my book gets shelved and never read. If they don’t read my debut, they won’t buy my sequel. So I would rather sacrifice financial compensation by offering my book for free every 90 days and ensure it’s getting into the hands of potential readers, than take the one-time royalty payment and never see those readers again. Because the more people who have a copy of my book, the more likely it will, eventually, be read.

Another great thing this does is boost my novel up into the bestseller category. Last time, I made it to the top 3 in Fairy Tales, which was really awesome and I definitely freaked out.

This time, my novel reached the #1 slot for LGBTQ+ Fantasy.

#1!! My book is a #1 bestseller!

That is definitely going on the cover of my sequel novel.

The higher my book is boosted, the more it’s suggested to other readers. All the different ways the algorithm can be used in your own favor, but it takes time and persistence to understand the specifics of how to use them. And I wish I had paid more attention to when Stuff Your Kindle Day was because I missed that shit. Oh well. Notes for next year.

My sequel novel, A Shift of Crimson, is with my beta readers and my sensitivity reader. Once I get their feedback, I will move on to the third draft. Until then, I will continue to keep working on book one of my Olympic Fates Saga.

I hope you’re all having a great start to your new year! I know I am.