How I Explained the Number (of KDP free downloads)

In my last two posts, I discussed a change in my perspective, how MMA and friends helped get me back on track. I didn’t mention the other thing going on because I didn’t want to jinx it.

One of our favorite games.

We were driving home from my chiropractor on Wednesday when my four-year-old daughter asked what I was so happy about. Brightside had just passed my first Amazon KDP promo attempt and there was still one more free day left. I told her, “A lot of people have downloaded Daddy’s book.”

“Like Mommy’s Kindle? Swampy and Cut the Rope?”

“Just like that, but they don’t have to pay for it.”

We talked a little bit about it being free and how that could be a good thing. I almost compared Brightside placing as the #1 sci-fi and #2 thriller free eBook to hitting a giant jackpot at Chuckie Cheese and getting all the tickets you could carry. I didn’t though because those tickets have some tangible value and can be traded in, even if it is just for a cheap piece of plastic that’s bound to break. Instead, I said it was like the library. We get twenty books a visit and discover new authors all the time, buying their books from Amazon if we really like them. “There are a lot of books out there,” I said. “This gives people a chance to see if they like what I write.”

“So how many people tried it?”

I didn’t bother telling her a good percentage of those people may never get around to opening the book, and of those that did, there’d be some who might not like Brightside if they hadn’t bothered checking out the first page. But even if that figure was cut down to a quarter, I’d still be thrilled. The number was higher than many first-time authors would see on a print run. “It’s being downloaded once every thirty seconds. We’re at seven thousand.”

Livvie’s pretty good with numbers, especially drawing them backwards, and is doing a great job with math concepts. Magnitude, however, is a tricky one. She knows a hundred is more than ten, but only in theory. What does a hundred look like? What about a thousand, is that more than a gazillion? A kazillion? A bazillion? Yeah, she’s into rhyming too.

We had a fun conversation trying to picture that many people. She’d just finished her musical performance of Oliver at the community theater that held 400 people. Imagining a full theater twenty times gave her a better a sense of the number.

Free for Amazon Prime members to borrow

I helped her out of the car, trying not to let my hopes get too high. The free downloads would help with visibility, word of mouth, and sales, but that wasn’t what was important right then. I believe as writers, most of us are searching for people that can dig our stories, relate to the same type of feelings, let us know we aren’t alone. Maybe a couple of the people who read Brightside will be affected in a positive manner, perhaps it will make a few of their days a little better. That alone is pretty cool and I’ll take it.

Always a cheese ball when it comes to my daughter, I got down on my knee and asked her if she knew the best part about the whole thing. “Every one of those people will get to see the dedication. They’ll read just how much you and Mommy mean to me, how just the thought of you makes me so happy.”

Livvie tried to hold back a grin, but couldn’t. She loves finding her name in print and having it in Brightside just makes it that much better.

Besides the people that have gone out of their way to write reviews and tell friends about Brightside, I’d like to thank the sites that helped with the KDP free days. I hadn’t been aware of them as I never read electronically, but these sites are great and were instrumental with Brightside reaching close to 17,000 downloads in five days.

I found this awesome article which led to the following list of all the blogs that helped promote Brightside.

http://ereadernewstoday.com/ent-free-book-submissions/


http://www.pixelofink.com/


http://www.freebooksy.com/


http://digitalbooktoday.com/


http://authormarketingclub.com/members/submit-your-book/


http://www.daily-free-ebooks.com/


http://www.fkbooksandtips.com/for-authors/






http://blog.booksontheknob.org/


http://www.theereadercafe.com/


http://thefrugalereader.com/


http://www.kindleboards.com/free-book-promo/index.php#form


http://authormarketingclub.com/members/submit-your-book/


http://bargainebookhunter.com/contact-us/


https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFEyLTFUSHREd05KaVItaDdUUkVVNGc6MA#gid=0


http://freekindlefiction.blogspot.com/p/tell-us-about-free-books.html


http://indiebookoftheday.com/authors/free-on-kindle-listing/


http://www.freebookdude.com/p/list-your-free-book.html


http://awesomegang.com/submit-your-book/


http://bookgoodies.com/contact-us/authors-tell-us-about-your-book/


http://kindlebookpromos.luckycinda.com/?page_id=283


appnewser@mediabistro.com


http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php/topic,97167.2550.html





http://snickslist.com/books/place-ad/


http://www.thekindlebookreview.net/  (I paid $5 to be featured on here)