Why Free Book Giveaways No Longer Work
Going free is no longer a viable marketing ploy, full stop. Times have changed. Two years ago, it worked, it jumpstarted "word of mouth" and book sales took off on Amazon.
No more. Readers suffer from "free fatigue".
Too much is too much. The evidence free giveaways no longer work is piling in.
That's the gist of a recent discussion between authors on Linked In. I mentioned my own recent experience with a 5-day free giveaway on KDP Select for Part One of my new sci-fi serial novel FOREVER YOUNG.
How did it go? I blogged about it before: it got lots of free downloads but much less than when I went free 2 years ago with another book. More to the point: the resulting bump in sales was small and short-lived. Even Part Two of the same book barely budged. Hard to say why, considering I have a pretty strong presence on Internet, with this blog (for a writer it has an exceptionally high Alexa ranking), a good following on Twitter, on Google+, Pinterest, Goodreads etc etc
Is there a problem with my book? I don't think so (shy grin). My book cover is (I believe) good. The writing is (I believe) excellent (another grin). It got good reviews as soon as it was published. Yesterday I even got one enthusiatic fan who wrote an email to me saying this:
"Really got to know what happens next in the Forever Young series. Thoroughly enjoyed the first two. Left 5-star reviews for each on Goodreads. Both volumes moved at a breathtaking pace. Your characters were so vivid I felt like I could take their pulses. Your narrative flows so smooth it's like dipping each bite of pancake in warm maple syrup before popping it in your mouth. Terrific accomplishment, my friend. Can't wait for the third volume."
I love that: a narrative so smooth it's like dipping each bite of pancake in warm maple syrup, the best compliment I ever got!
Now when a book can elicit this kind of response from someone who's never met me, look, that book must have something going for it! Yet the free downloads got the book exactly nowhere.
The problem is not the book: it's reader fatigue. Too many books going free...So yes, I'm totally against free. Possibly 99 cents is the "new free"...
Speaking as an economist (which I happen to be - a Columbia U. graduate), "free" in economic parlance is a sign that something is worth...nothing! That's the logic of it and that's also the danger. I believe we authors should be very careful about how we play around with free books. They make us look...cheap!
To read the full discussion on Linked In, click here
Please let me have your opinion!
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Jo Ann V. wrote: "I couldn't agree with you more! My book is already in print but will be coming out in eBook (as well as print) in a few more weeks... but not FREE!Maybe, with your background, you could help the..."
Jo Ann, wow, that's a big question to answer! But if you roam around some of the better book & publishing blogs like Konrath's "Newbie Guide" (or whatever his title is, can't remember) or Gaughran's "Let's Go Digital" you can pick up a lot of info.
My take is that it's still early days for a set scale of prices to have installed itself. There's no direct relationship between the 3 book formats yet (hardcover, paperback and ebook)though I'm sure you're right, something will eventually coalesce. Just to take your example and why it can't be answered: the $20 you mention is for a "printed book", but what does that mean exactly? A hardcover non fiction or fiction, by a best selling author or a newbie? Same question has to repeated if it refers to a paperback. Traditional publishers tend to publish first the 2 printed versions before moving on to ebooks a year later. Not so self-published authors who do the reverse and start with an ebook. Price range for ebooks of fiction of "normal" length (60,000 words to 90,000 words) do best, it seems (according to Konrath) if priced in the $3.99 range.
Free books of course don't give results and 99 cents is definitely the "new free" - no need to go to the trouble to establish a book as "perma free", which isn't easy to do because Amazon does not allow it. It will only go with perma-free if you've got your book permanently free on another site (say Smashwords that allows it) and alert Amazon, then they will "match the price" because that is their policy!
Claude wrote: "Jo Ann V. wrote: "I couldn't agree with you more! My book is already in print but will be coming out in eBook (as well as print) in a few more weeks... but not FREE!Maybe, with your background, ..."
Thank you, Claude, for your follow-up response. I will definitely do some reading re: Konrath and Gaughran. Your observations really make sense.
The message I'm hearing regarding the "Free" and "99-cent Free" book is: it was an excellent marketing ploy a couple of years ago and worked to the advantage of some authors, however, now that the market is saturated, readers are becoming more selective in their choice of reading material and may be turning away from "free" reads with a poor opinion of Indie authors because the market's been flooded by hastily-crafted product.
We all have such a wonderful opportunity to win the respect of the publishing industry and the loyalty of readers as we work together to blaze a new trail for authors. But we need to be prepared to, as my mother would say, '...put our best foot forward!'
Thank you for bringing this thread to the fore. I hope many others step forward to offer their insight.
Jo Ann
Maybe, with your background, you could help the rest of us understand the actual value of our product? Not what the bookstore or Amazon says we should charge but what the value of the book actually is and what a fair percentage of profit should be for the author.
Personally, I don't know what the correlation between the print copy and the e-book copy should be? For example if the print copy is set at $20... would the e-book be valued at $5 and still be competitive???
Is there some kind of industry standard Indie authors follow?
Jo Ann Glim
Begotten with Love: Every Family Has Its Story