How to Promote YOUR book on Amazon discussion
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What happened to the boost you would get in Amazon rankings from Kindle free days?
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From what I understand, on your free days, you are ranked in the "free category". So you'll be ranked based on the number of downloads. Therefore when you're no longer free, you are moved to a regular category.
Yes, and thanks for your response, Tamara. But, I was referring to when the Amazon algorithm would take into account the books you gave away on a free day and then factor them into your ranking when your book would no longer be free. A book typically ranked at 500K could have 1000 copies be given away on a free day, and then on the very next day that same book would hit the paid store rankings at 50K. A 450K spot jump all because of the 1000 copies having been given away free. It turns out this no longer happens because two months ago Amazon changed how their algorithm calculates rankings. They made the change do to fraud in reviews and people selling inferior items. Unfortunately, the change affects all of Amazon including books/ebooks. Now you have to have consistent sales each day over a 30 day period in order for a sudden spike on a Kindle free day to be able to move your book in the ranks. This new way of doing things makes it awfully difficult for Indie authors such as myself to make any sales without spending a fortune on advertisement.
MarkYep, I've noticed this too. I've just begun promoting my books for the first time in 8 months, so I thought I'd give myself a head start and do a few free days for one of the stories.
Moved up to 4th in the free rankings, but returned to my original position when it finished.
So, either Amazon have removed the boost, or theirs a glitch?
Peter HarperA character-driven thriller that sets out to answer questions relating to current affairs.
On hearing the news her adopted father has suffered a second heart attack, Shani Bălcescu dashes from St Aquinas College in Oxford to be at his bedside in Prague. Her father asks her forgiveness, but Shani takes his words to be little more than the ramblings of a dying man. Until the following day, when she discovers the name Tuma Dangbo, a former Séroulése president gunned down in a devastating coup in the West African state thirty-six years ago.
French journalist, Nicolas Dubois, helps Shani make sense of her ancestry, before introducing her to the leader of the Séroulése rebels at a safe house in London. Just as Shani starts to trust and have feelings for the journalist, he sends her a bizarre text and breaks contact. Nicolas’s disappearance threatens to derail her already fragile state of mind, and with an attempted coup in Séroulé virtually underway, ‘friend or foe’ takes on a new meaning for Shani as she questions whether she is being manipulated by the rebels, and that the present despotic regime is about to be replaced by another, only with much greater and far-reaching repercussions.
No question that whatever boost you get from free is temporary and over quickly. Last time I did this, couple of weeks ago, I had nearly 100 downloads which immediately moved me to top spot in Yemen Travel category. Within a few days, however, I was back to my accustomed spot in the in the double digits (Yemen Travel is a very small niche category). This temporary blip does seems to have no effect on my sales.
Roger wrote: "MarkYep, I've noticed this too. I've just begun promoting my books for the first time in 8 months, so I thought I'd give myself a head start and do a few free days for one of the stories.
Yeah, Roger, it seems Amazon removed the boost you'd get. It happened when they changed their algorithm to help prevent fraudulent reviews. So if you don't have an advertisement budget to help keep up in the rankings, your book is finished. The big guys at the top are going to get the whole pie now, it's even more of a rigid game for the little guy.
Just wondering if anyone else has noticed this? But, I've noticed that after I use one of my free Kindle days on Amazon to give away free copies of my ebook, I no longer see a boost in the Amazon rankings as a result.
In the past, I would have a free day and would give away anywhere between 100-2500 copies of my ebook. This would have an effect of moving my book which was usually in the 600K ranking range, all the way up into the <100K ranking range which would lead to greater exposure and ultimately sales. I no longer see that happening, though. Now, I have a free day and give away between 100 - 2000 books and the next day when my book is no longer free I immediately return to my original area of the rankings pre-giveaway day. I see absolutely no boost for my book in the rankings as a result of giving away hundreds of free copies.
Does this happen to you? Has anyone else noticed this lately?
thanks.