Pomodoro Penguin – Children’s Book Launch KDP Select Style

 

Pomodoro Penguin Makes a Friend is Free on Amazon today (3/14)

What an amazing week this has been.  When I finally finished Pomodoro Penguin Makes a Friend late last week, I had an idea that people might like my little red penguin, but I really had no idea what I was getting myself into once I hit publish.

It took about seven hours for Amazon to make this little book go live on the site from the time I hit submit (it takes only about 10 minutes to actually upload the thing to the website).  Of course, that is seven hours of refreshing browsers, checking email, and wondering when it will actually show up.

It reminds me of discovering my CD on iTunes.  The CD was different though.  I did a Kickstarter project, so I had “pre-sold” over 200 copies of the recording.   This was different.  I could write something, post it, and it could never sell.

Thankfully, my sister and my mother both bought copies within the first couple hours, so I didn’t have to wait too long to get my first sale.

Still, now that I have a book, how on earth am I supposed to promote this thing?

This is where using the KDP Select program has its advantages.   Using Kindle Direct Publishing Select, Pomodoro Penguin is exclusive to Kindle, but I get to use up to 5 free promo days every 3 months.  That means, I get to give the book away for free.

Now, while some people may say that I am nuts for “giving away” more than 1200 (as I write this) copies of my little children’s book, on Amazon, it is about exposure.

Hard to believe that I am ranked between Louisa May Alcott and James Patterson.

In less than 48 hours, I moved to #220 on all of Amazon for free ebooks and #17 in all of children’s ebooks.  That’s right, my little penguin was ranked at one point between a new book from James Patterson and Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women.  I will take that kind of exposure eight days a week.

Will it translate into “sales?”  Who knows?  One thing is for sure.   I need to get cracking on the second book… because now there are more than 1200 people who are waiting to know who this geography giraffe is that I tease at the end of book one.

Well, back to promoting the book.  It is free for another 13 hours.   Hope the great reviews and downloads keep coming in.  This sure has been a fun couple of days!