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Using FREE eBooks as "bait"
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Doesn't sound like a bad idea. Although I would say maybe go with 10-15 rather then 20-30 and choose ones you think will really catch people. I'm a fellow poet myself and I've never considered such a thought. I would say it could work, it gives people a sample and if they really like your work they'll check it out. If you go with the idea, I'd be interested in knowing how it goes for you.
Hey Justin, thanks for the feedback. I was afraid that too few poems wouldn't make the eBook "worthwhile", though I suppose if it doesn't cost anything then that may not be an issue.
I gather the point of that, though, is to prevent from revealing too much and "spoiling" the content value of the fuller works, which is a wise factor to consider.
With "free" I don't think size matters, although it should seem self-contained (not half of a poem or a story) or it frustrates readers. Writers have differing degrees of success with freebies, but I've always had fairly good luck with them and I think almost any exposure is a positive.
Oh, I definitely agree with you. I would never release half or parts of poems or prose, that would definitely be annoying. I just meant certain poems from the book, in their individual entirety. And I would like it to be self-contained, and perhaps themed. I write a variety of different poems, so it might seem more functional to combine some of the romantic poems into one small book, or the gothic poems, etc.
Thanks for the feedback.
This has been done by others with short stories, so yes, absolutely you could. Just have realistic expectations. Poetry is not likely to ever be moved in massive numbers. One question--do you try to get any of your poetry published in magazines? (Literary, etc.) Because that right there is free advertising. It gets your name out there to people who like to read poetry.
Brandon wrote: "Like many self-published and indie authors, I have some difficulty moving lots of product and am still experimenting with ways to not only just sell books, but spread the word about my work in gene..."Did the free e-books add any value to your marketing? Did you eventually sell more of your books? Did it ramp up your reviews? I've been thinking about doing this but haven't pulled the trigger. Great discussion topic?
Andrew J. Frischerz
Author of PACIFIC BEACH
andrewjfrischerz.com
You're right, Judy, poetry is usually not a big seller. Still, I thought staying high on these free download lists would help maintain visibility and keep my name in the light, so to speak.I have submitted to a few magazines, but got rejected because my poetry was (their words) not their style. I agree with them, actually, and it has been hard to find a magazine that publishes the kind of stuff I write. I'm not discouraged, I just feel that those magazines follow the trends and modern poetry is in a state far removed from my personal style.
The kind of poetry I write is not very "in" right now, because I like to create typically elegant and sophisticated images, and critics seem to think that poetry has to be poignant, ugly or brutally honest in order to be authentic and "real". I can't help it, I like beautiful things, larger than life and better than reality things.
Andrew, I can't honestly say that the free promotions led directly to more sales. However, when a free book gets 20 or 30 downloads in more than one country, I have a hard time believing that that has no value or ripple effect at all.... Well, at least I feel it would if done for longer periods of time. That's why I want to create an eBook that is permanently free and see how many downloads it accumulates. I do get feedback, likes and attention from offering free stuff, it's just that the effort is so little at the current time it is not realistic for me to expect too much out of it just yet. I do see the promise in offering free eBook promotions, but I obviously need to keep trying harder and take it to the next level.
In any case, the bigger the buzz I create and the longer I can sustain it, I am confident that it will do more good than harm.
Can you list a book as permanently free on amazon? I thought they had done away with permafree.
Good point, Lena. Maybe they did... I didn't consider that.
I'm not positive, since my books are not free. But I think I remember seeing a thread trying to figure out how to game the system to make your book free. I know you can list it on smashwords for free, and post pretty lengthy pieces on wattpad. In my experience with free promos on Amazon, my books go up pretty high in the rankings the first couple days (maybe 3) and then drop off once new free books are added. Since there are so many books free for a limited time, I think those will get most of the downloads, and yours would end up way down on the free list, anyway. Or that's my theory on how it works. The newest freebies get the attention every day.
My upcoming book is a book of poetry. Your right Brandon, poetry doesn't sell like hotcakes or stand out but there is an audience and even some willing to take a chance if you can sway them correctly. I would definitely say posting a couple poems to a page or blog could work just as efficiently as posting them to Amazon if not easier. I posted a poem from each chapter on my page and here on GR when I released my first book. Again, it's an easier way to sample your work to others, just a thought. Though the Amazon idea is good the idea of sampling is for sure a good idea.
You're right, Lena, I just now created my so-called sampler eBook and went through the process of creating and publishing it through KDP. They did not allow me to list it for free... the price had to be between 99 cents and 200 dollars. I, of course, listed the eBook for 99 cents, as low as I could... it only has 15 complete pieces of prose in it. I included my website address on the very back page, in hopes that if this eBook spreads at all then it will help spread the word about my other works and everything.
I will update this thread again after a while, and let you know how things go. I enrolled in KDP select so I can still do the free promotions whenever possible. It should take up to 12 hours for the book to go live.
Thanks for everyone's input! Like I said, I will let you guys know if I have any degree of success with this idea.
I like when there are free samples of the writing. A short story or a selection of smaller works (like poetry) gives me a chance to see if it will be capable of sustaining my attention to finish. Poetry that isn't just the same thing over and over is nice too so that the reader gets the idea they won't get basically the same poem on every page. Short stories with flow and characters developed fully enough for the piece lead me to believe that if there is a collection of short stories or a longer novella/novel that I will see a quality of work I will enjoy enough to make it worth buying. I tend to check author blogs/sites to see if there are any free pieces to give me a feel for their style. Then in the case of newer authors especially, I check for upcoming or current blog hops or other forms of ebook give aways to get a sample. I may be an exception, but I put in the effort to get those kinds of reads before I make any serious consideration on purchasing. However, I don't look on facebook or twitter for those kinds of things. I don't like either site enough to tolerate them long enough to search.
Interesting and insightful input, Danielle. Thanks for that. :)I post a lot of sample poems and prose on my website, but I figured having higher visibility on Amazon might help drive traffic to my other works and my website to begin with. Otherwise, I am relying solely on key word search and, like you said, facebook and twitter links to draw attention to my samples.
Danielle, may I ask... where DO you tend to look for freebies and samples of poetry or other writing? Do you browse the discount lists and daily deals on Amazon?
I have used the Amazon search, but I also get emails from pixel of ink, book bub, and the ereader cafe. Outside of that, I pretty much tend to find something here that seems like it would be good, check author profile here (and Amazon when necessary) to look for site/blog links, and then hit my google search to find out more. Amazon's look inside is okay for a taste of style and voice for a specific piece, but I prefer more complete samples. I feel like a complete piece gives me a better idea of the writing so that I know plot threads don't fray off and vanish or endings don't suddenly get glossed over with a "happy ever after". I have gotten a few nice samples from these group threads as well where they mentioned their Amazon free runs.
As to 'how do you get permafree on Amazon': I have two permafree short stories on Amazon, iTunes, and Kobo, as 'loss-leaders' for my Amsterdam Assassin Series.To get something to go permafree on Amazon, publish it at 0.00 on Kobo and iTunes, publish your book for 99 cents on Amazon and go to the book page. Under the Product Details, you find:
Would you like to give feedback on images or tell us about a lower price?
Click that link and provide the URL to the free book on iTunes/Kobo and the list price (0.00 USD). It helps if people other than the writer report the lower price. If you're a member of KindleBoards, they have a thread where you can post your book and report other people's books, while they report your books.
That's how I got Locked Room: A Katla KillFile and Microchip Murder: A Katla KillFile permafree on Amazon.
(If this message was helpful to you, I'd appreciate it if you show your support by downloading my free books)
Martyn wrote: "If you're a member of KindleBoards, they have a thread where you can post your book and report other people's books, while they report your books."Martyn gives great advice here, and I wanted to add that there is a group here on Goodreads called "Taming Amazon" that has some useful tips for marketing on Amazon. Their members will also help report your book so that it can become permafree.
@ Martyn & Thomas - thank you both for the good advice.@ Martyn - Katla KillFiles downloaded. :-)
Martyn, you clever son of a gun!! Just kidding... but seriously, that is a great tip, thanks!I will be clicking and downloading your free books now.
Thanks to Thomas for your tip, and everyone else for weighing in, as well. You are all a big help.
Brandon wrote: "Martyn, you clever son of a gun!!"I wish I could take full credit, but I found this out through Kindleboards myself. I'm not as clever at marketing and promotion as I am at writing suspense fiction.
Nevertheless, it was a big help and a great contribution to the thread.I just now downloaded the two free books you mentioned, and shared my "purchase" on Twitter. Looks interesting... I am into those kinds of themes in movies and books. Conspiracies galore.
I successfully uploaded my short "teaser" eBook and it is now live on Amazon. I was not able, however, to make it completely free... like Lena said, Amazon did away that option for the public. I am going to look into the methods recommended by Martyn and Thomas to see if I can eventually make the book "perma-free". In the meantime, I've already set up a FREE promotion through the KDP Select program.
From Saturday, April 12th to Wednesday, April 16th, my short digital volume of prose entitled "15 Unrequited Odes" will be FREE to download for the Kindle. After that, the book's price reverts back to 99 cents, until I can take further action.
Thanks for everyone's helpful input and support. Here is the link if you want to check out the book and the promotion which starts tomorrow. I will let you guys know if I have any luck with this.
15 Unrequited Odes: Prose by Brandon Gene Petit
http://www.amazon.com/15-Unrequited-O...
Goodreads Authors/Readers
Books mentioned in this topic
Locked Room: A Katla KillFile (other topics)Microchip Murder: A Katla KillFile (other topics)
I've done free promotions for the kindle versions of two of my books on a few occasions, and the downloads were usually so many that my book appeared on a "Top 100 downloaded free" or whatever list on Amazon (temporarily, of course, given the temporal nature of the promotion).
I was wondering, could I maybe take some seleced 20-30 or so poems from my various books, and combine them into a free eBook in hopes that will act as "bait", a sort of sampler of my work that could help gain visibility for my authorship and (hopefully) drive traffic towards my fuller, more complete works?
What do you guys think of this idea? Is using a free or 99 cent eBook as "bait" for larger bodies of work a wise move? Would people even bother buying the complete books if they knew it would contain at least a very small number of "repeats"?
If I did this, I would take (for example) maybe all of the romantic or erotic poems and combine them in a theme collection, or maybe just the poems and not the prose, so that the eBook(s) would be compiled and themed and there would still be plenty of new material to be acquired from buying the larger works.
Please, any feedback - good or bad - welcome.