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How to make your book permanently free on Amazon
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Sylvie wrote: "I agree, J.D., it's not always about making money, but it's not about losing it either (presumably). What I haven't yet understood is how giving books away free gets you more sales."The only thing that will get me more sales (meaning more acceleration in number of sales) is if more people know about my book. The best way to spread the word is to give it to people. The only thing I'm losing is "potential" sales and even that is questionable since so many people grab free books BECAUSE they're free.
Just to put some numbers to it.Between January 2014-March 2014 I sold a total of 27 books with only 1 borrow. This only applies to books 2 and 3 of my first series. I am not figuring in sales of other books.
Between January 2015-March 2015 I sold a total of 23 books but had 36 borrows. Again I am only looking at books 2 and 3 of my first series, the only difference being that the first book in that series had been made permanently free.
By keeping books 2 and 3 in KDP select but offering the first book free I've seen a dramatic increase in borrows, because people who like free books like free books, and for them borrows are free. However Amazon pays me for those borrows, approximately $1.50/borrow.
That's an extra 35 books "sold" by making the first book free. And that's only for a 3 month period, a very small slice of the pie.
Or to put it into even better perspective. Between January and September 2014 I sold a total of 47 copies of book 2. In October 2014 Book 1 became permanently free and in that month alone I sold 38 copies of book 2. In one month I sold nearly as much as I had sold in the previous 9 month period because the first book in the series had been made free.
Plus since October I have had 2371 free downloads of book 1. That's 2371 potential sales for book 2. It may take months or even years to see the revenue because people don't always read free books right away. But that's 2,000 copies of my book sitting on someone's kindle. 2,000 chances that they'll decide to read it, love it and buy the next book in the series and then the third. It doesn't cost me a thing and it's worth the potential in my opinion. Book 1 was published in 2009, to even continue to see interest in a book that's 6 years old is a win in my book. At least for a relatively unknown author it is.
If I may suggest a bit of a shortcut... Instead of waiting weeks or months for Amazon to price-match, you as an author can also contact Amazon support directly using the contact form in your KDP author page (through the Help menu):https://kdp.amazon.com/contact-us
Select the "Pricing" option, provide them the ASIN of the book you want matched, and the links of "big" retailers that list your book for free. I've found that Nook and iBooks links do the trick in less than 48 hours unless the update happens over the weekend.
As the OP suggests, I use Smashwords to get my free listings elsewhere.
Eduardo Suastegui
Story-telling that captures the heart
Incidentally, you can do this for price "discounts" too. Say your Amazon price is $3.99 but you set Smashwords pricing to $2.99, then Amazon matches *and* your listing will show a $1.00 discount.Eduardo Suastegui
Story-telling that captures the heart
Grab this books for your children they'll surely love themBaby animals are cuddly and adorable. This pictures book consists of beautiful color photographs of 10 different baby animals. Each one starts with the question of what the baby of an animal is called, to engage toddlers so they can learn a little about animals. And hopefully fall helplessly in love with them.http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Animals-Ad...
Everyone loves animals. So do we. That's why we want to share this love with kids. "The Small Mice of Homesville" is a read aloud story for young children, or an easy-reader for beginning readers.
http://www.amazon.com/Small-Mice-Home...
In this picture book, beautiful color photographs of animals from all over the world are combined with the alphabet. One animal for each letter of the alphabet. Toddlers learn the alphabet in a fun way when they recognize the animals. And hopefully fall helplessly in love with them.http://www.amazon.com/Animal-Kingdom-...
How is it that the same comments are appearing in so many (I've counted ten so far) discussions under Goodreads Readers/Authors discussions? It feels like someone is getting away with pure self-promotion and cluttering up my emails Inbox in the process. Aren't there rules about self-promotion?
I don't know about rules, but you can always go to the offender's page and go all the way to the bottom and block them. then you won't see any of their content anymore. Posts in forums will be hidden but there will be a link to see it if you're sure you want to...
Hey, I just joined the group. Can't wait to talk to you guys! I'm also trying to get the first book in my series at permafree, with my second book coming out soon. Thanks for making this thread.
Here's the amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Jaded-SilentWhi...
And here's iBooks that is set as free:https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id10...
And B&N:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/jaded...
Now, to click on you guy's links and help you out as well. :)
Hailey wrote: "Hey, I just joined the group. Can't wait to talk to you guys! I'm also trying to get the first book in my series at permafree, with my second book coming out soon. Thanks for making this thread.
..."
I just reported these links for you, but do note that I've been hearing from other authors that Amazon is cracking down on their price match policy for Indie authors. It may take some persistence and maybe even some contact with KDP (i.e. you might try emailing the support staff.)
Best wishes!
I recently went through the process of sending out my free book link to a bunch of websites for promotion, and lo and behold Amazon stopped price matching my book on Nov 1! My book has been price matched free since I started this thread, and now suddenly the price on the book I'm trying to promote has reverted back to 99 cents. Grrrr. I have contacted KDP and I'm waiting for a response, hopefully they'll make the adjustment again. It was one of the websites that had agreed to list my book -- Top 100 Free Kindle Downloads -- that alerted me to the price change. When I submitted all my info last month my book was still free. I'm hoping Amazon is willing to re-match the price so that all of my effort submitting my links to free websites was not in vain! Moral of the story, even if they've price matched you, check your links, that may have changed!
Hailey wrote: "Hey, I just joined the group. Can't wait to talk to you guys! I'm also trying to get the first book in my series at permafree, with my second book coming out soon. Thanks for making this thread.
..."
I submitted your links, Hailey. Good luck!
Michael wrote: "I just reported these links for you, but do note that I've been hearing from other authors that Amazon is cracking down on their price match policy..."Thank you for the information, if I don't see any change I might have to see about contacting them, as you said. But thanks for submitting the links!
Tracey wrote: "I submitted your links, Hailey. Good luck!"
Thanks, Tracey!
Personally I never bothered reporting a lower price elsewhere through the book page. I simply emailed, included the links to show it was free on iTunes, B&N and Kobo and Amazon price matched to free the next day. It's much easier and quicker to go direct :)
A.W. wrote: Personally I never bothered reporting a lower price elsewhere through the book page. I simply emailed, included the links to show it was free on iTunes, B&N..."Really? Well, I might have to try that sooner then. Thanks for the tips. :D
A.W. wrote: "Personally I never bothered reporting a lower price elsewhere through the book page. I simply emailed, included the links to show it was free on iTunes, B&N and Kobo and Amazon price matched to fre..."I agree, more recently this has been the better approach! There was a time when this did not work, but it does now :)
On another thread, one author mentioned that his recent email request to price-match to $0.00 was rejected by Amazon. I wonder if the wording matters. When I requested my first novel be set to free, I mentioned that I wanted to gain exposure as a new novelist, and that doing so would hopefully increases sales on subsequent titles in the series. (Of course, that reason only works once, so I'm not sure what I'll say next time.) ;->
In the past I was rejected, or actually ignored, in my requests to Amazon to price match, which is how I found this other method. The idea is that Amazon will see that enough people care about your work to be willing to price match it. More recently I contacted Amazon this week about my price matched free book reverting back to 99 cents. I did receive a very prompt reply, which was nice. They did agree to price match my book again, but their email did contain this wording:
"From time to time, we may match prices elsewhere online, including free promotions. However, we retain discretion over our retail prices."
So as someone else mentioned earlier, they are becoming more selective in their price matching. If contacting them as the author does not work, then perhaps having readers request the lower price through the book page will. Both options are certainly worth a try!
With regard to getting Amazon to price match, here are some points to keep in mind:Firstly it depends where you have the book for free. Amazon are much quicker to price match if, for example, you have it free on iTunes. If you are only free on Smashwords they probably won't bother.
Secondly, original price is factored in. They are much slower to price match a 99 cent book than a novel priced $2.99 or above. And on that, having a higher original price increases your chances of a free Bookbub run (which some people don't realise). Bookbub prefer $2.99 or higher discounted to free, rather than 99 cents discounted to free (not such a bargain for their subscribers).
Thirdly, it also helps if the book is selling consistently. When I set my first in series to permafree, it had been in the top 20 of its category for over 2 years and was a consistent seller. I emailed the free links, pointed out that Amazon customers were being overcharged as it was free elsewhere and they price matched within 24 hours.
Hope that helps :)
No need to ask folks to "report" your free book for price-matching. It takes too long. Use the Contact link on your author KDP dashboard to let them know directly. They price-match within 48 hours, in my experience.
Sylvie wrote: "I agree, J.D., it's not always about making money, but it's not about losing it either (presumably). What I haven't yet understood is how giving books away free gets you more sales."The free book is a hook to get readers interested in your work and pick up other books you have for sale. You make money on the remainder of the books. You might think you lose money on the freebie, but think how much money you lose if no one ever discovers you. A freebie is one way to connect with readers (not the only one). It works best for series: you make the first in series (or a prequel thereof) free, and charge for the rest.
Just put it up for 99 cents. You know what? If someone isn't interested in your book or series, giving it to them for free won't make any difference. If they are interested, they'll pay a buck for it, for crying out loud. What you definitely do not need are readers always looking for a handout, because they will *never* pay for a book. And, in my experience, most people don't bother reading a freebie, either. It just sits in their library. I did a giveaway last month, 5 days for free. 1,800 downloads. That resulted in 2 new reviews, so I'd estimate 20 people read the book. Where did the rest of those free copies go? Into the customers' slush piles. That was a waste of time.
No, all this discussion about HOW to convince Amazon to list your book for free is a huge waste of time. 99 cents or take it off the market. Better yet, price it at 2.99. You don't need or want the freeloaders. That old wive's tale about getting your work out there? It's as meaningless as giving a romance novel to a 5-year old. IMHO, of course.
Hey guys! Just wanted to tell you guys thanks for the help and advice! I contacted Amazon last night, and by morning they had it set to free. I don't know how long they'll keep it that way, but that's where it's at right now!
Thanks for your help.
Hailey wrote: "Hey guys! Just wanted to tell you guys thanks for the help and advice! I contacted Amazon last night, and by morning they had it set to free. I don't know how long they'll keep it that way, but t..."
Good luck with your next book Hailey!
Jonathan wrote: "Just put it up for 99 cents. You know what? If someone isn't interested in your book or series, giving it to them for free won't make any difference. If they are interested, they'll pay a buck for ..."Jonathan, while your experience might be valid, authors might have different reasons for making their work free. For me, writing is a hobby, and I have no intentions of making it a profession. However, I still wanted all of my friends and family to be able to read it without asking them for money to do so.
While your experience (and mine too, for that matter) may be that pricing a book at $0.00 doesn't actually give you any more readers, I have read some authors on these forums claim that setting the first book of a series free was exactly what they needed to do to kick start their series.
Well said Jonathan. I'm curious though, you said listing a book as permanently free doesn't get you readers but helps authors get into a series, which makes sense.My question is if an author doesn't have a series, should they still consider getting a book as permanently free on Amazon and what would be their reason for wanting to do so? Based off your basis of the fact that they are not trying to get more readers. I think perhaps if a reader sees a free book by an author maybe they are more inclined to by other works by them?
I'll give you my sure-fire method. I've dealt with this a lot in the past.-upload book to amazon for 99 cents
-upload to smashwords for free
-make sure your book gets accepted into smashword's premium catalog
-wait a week
-find your book listed at B&N, kobo, apple, or elsewhere for free due to smashwords
-contact amazon
-request price change and provide links for comparison proof
It's worked every time.
Jonathan wrote: "What you definitely do not need are readers always looking for a handout, because they will *never* pay for a book. And, in my experience, most people don't bother reading a freebie, either. "Personally I disagree, but YMMV. Readers will go on to purchase subsequent books IF you wrote an engaging story that draws them in and meets their genre expectations. Permafree has resulted in an enormous increase in income for me. Sell through to subsequent novels in the series jumped considerably. In one month alone I saw an additional 100 reviews that directly resulted from setting book 1 to permafree. Some of those readers didn't like it, but some of those loved it, signed up, and became followers.
It is harder to grab readers attention now with a free book, due to just about everyone using the same tactic. You need to give readers a reason to pick up your book and start reading, whatever the price. Which is why you need to ensure your basics are working: cover and blurb.
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Fall Together (other topics)Fundamental Error: A Katla KillFile (other topics)
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Eduardo Suastegui (other topics)Eduardo Suastegui (other topics)
A little over a month ago, I dropped the first book of my Telepathic Clans series to free and Amazon price matched it. So far I've given away a few thousand books. Sales of the rest of the series increased, not spectacularly, but I'm selling about 10% of the free book totals for the 2nd-4th books in the series. So for each 1000 free books, I'm selling 100 books for cash. The free book was published 3 years ago, the last book in the series was published Nov. 2014.
None of my books is in Select. I've seen the same kind of sales bump on my other platforms as well, especially on Smashwords and Apple.