Is an Amazon Countdown Sale the new FREE?

Indie authors act as the creative and marketing departments of our own small businesses. Therefore, it’s important to explore new ideas and determine their value to our income. Don’t be afraid to try new things. When Amazon introduced their new Countdown Sale for KDP Select, I had already tried 99 cent sales, so I got excited that Amazon would make it easier and more profitable.

When I first started marketing my books, the big buzz was FREE days. After books were free, they stayed high on the lists for at least a week, providing good backup sales to those free promotions. Nice. Then Amazon changed the deal. Free sales no longer counted towards sales for the lists after promotions ended. In fact offering a book for free caused that book to plummet to the very bottom of the lists. Not so nice.

Is a Countdown Sale the new FREE? Yes, if you work the sale with an organized plan.

To make the most of your Countdown Sale, you must advertise during the sale. Plan ahead, join Tweet groups and Facebook groups to maximize your exposure, and PAY for an advertisement on a popular website or blog.

What? Pay for an ad? Yes. I’ve had great response from a $25 one-day regular book posting on Kindle Books and Tips http://www.fkbooksandtips.com/for-aut.... To qualify, the book must have at least 8 good reviews including 4 verified Amazon purchases. Apply 30 days in advance to secure an ad and pay through Pay Pal.

To qualify for a Kindle Countdown Sale:
• Your book has been enrolled in KDP Select for 30 days or more
• The regular list price for your book has not been changed for 30 days or more
• The minimum discount for your book is $1.00 US (£1.00 Amazon.co.uk)
• The maximum duration of the Kindle Countdown Deals is 7 days
• The minimum time increment is 1 hour
• The maximum number of price increments is 5
• The latest end time for your Kindle Countdown Deals is 14 days before your KDP Select period ends. (Go to your Bookshelf and click on Info under the KDP Select column to confirm the KDP dates on any book.)

How to schedule a Countdown Deal (step by step):
1. Go to your Bookshelf, select the book title you want to schedule, click on Manage Benefits under the KDP Select column.
2. A new page will appear. Under the Create a Book Promotion section you’ll see a box. If the box says Free Book Promotion, click the small arrow on the right side of the box and change to Kindle Countdown Deals. Then click the line that says “Create a new Countdown Deal for this book.
3. A new page will appear. Choose the marketplace (either Amazon.com or Amazon.uk) in the box shown.
4. Set the date. Click the small calendar and highlight the date you want the promo to start.
5. Set the start time. Click the small arrow in the next box and move to the time you want the promo to start. (I suggest 12:00 am.)
6. Set the end date. Click the small calendar and highlighted dates will appear. (If you don’t see a full week highlighted, your KDP program might be expiring soon and you will be limited to the dates shown. You can always change your beginning date if you want 7 days.) Choose the last date available.
7. Set the end time. Click the small arrow in the next box and move down to the latest time available PST. (I suggest 11:00 pm.)
8. Set the price. The first box shows increments. (Unless you have a high starting list price you should probably leave this at 1.) The next box probably shows 99 cents. I recommend this price. The end price will automatically be set at your original list price.
9. Click Continue and the proposed schedule will show below. Check to make sure the dates and times are correct. The duration should be 167 hours. If you need to fix anything go back and fix it.
10. Click Add Promotion and you will see a line added to your list of promotions for this book. There is are edit and delete options to the side if you need to change the event at any time before it starts.
11. Repeat the entire process to schedule the UK marketplace if you want to run sales in both markets at the same time. (I recommend both markets to maximize your ad dollars.) The times will be in GMT and prices in pounds.

Schedule your book on sale for seven days to maximize your efforts, and be sure to drop the price to 99 cents to generate the most sales. If your list price is $2.99 or more, you still receive 70% of the sales price royalties. Amazon adds an alert box to the book’s page telling buyers the end date of the sale, creating motivation to buy.

The results? Your book moves higher on Amazon’s lists during the sale and stays for a while after the sale. If you have published other books, your full-priced books should get a bump in sales from the same promotion. Rotate your Countdown Sales schedule so you only offer one book on sale each month and boost sales on your other books along the way. The more books you have available for buyers, the better your results.

Currently Countdown Sales are available only in the Amazon US and UK markets and each market must be scheduled separately. The UK list price must be at least £1.93 to schedule a countdown sale, so make that price change more than 30 days ahead of the sale. (If your book is $2.99 in the US market and you click the box to match prices, the resulting UK price is too low.)

Before you run a sale get at least 8 good reviews on the book you offer on sale. When you're ready, apply for advertising ahead of time, and schedule the sale dates to match your ad ahead of time. Look at the schedule after you set it to be sure it’s right. If you make a mistake you can change dates and times easily. I always start the sale at least one day before a paid ad is scheduled to make sure the book goes on sale before the paid ad runs.

Amazon just introduced a way to look at your promotions as they are running, so you can tell how well you are doing daily. Open your KDP Select page, Click on Promotions, and click on the book/dates you want to view. Promotion stats will be available for a year, so review results after you’ve completed several events to compare your success. I've used these sales for several months and my royalties have grown. I’m always prepared to adjust my strategy for new ideas.