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Any authors in the KDP Select Program?
message 1051:
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A.L.
(new)
Feb 01, 2013 11:22AM
Thanks. I will look into them both.
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I don't think smashwords cares if erotica or not; readers using their site can set an adult filter off or on. At least that's all I see publicly (not an author so have never published anything with them).[if any authors are using the smashwords site, it is an acceptable data source for goodreads like most publisher sites and unlike amazon, Barnes and Noble and other bookseller sites. Just in case you ask for help in librarian group for things like adding or updating bookcovers, links to smashwords are welcome.]
My select sign up runs out in about 4 weeks so I might have a look into options. Thanks for the info
After several KDP Select free promos I have made this observation:The book always gets the majority of downloads on the first day. I have done two and three day promos.
Now I am thinking it might be advantageous to do only one day promos.
What has been YOUR experience?
I am a new author with a book that was just added to Amazon Prime. I also have Prime personally. I was disappointed to find that choosing a book is cumbersome on a Kindle. You have to just scroll through titles that you've never heard of. They should have a special Amazon location where you can used the usual features. Or maybe I'm missing something. I know I'm not likely to use Prime again for free books when I can't get better information. Perhaps if a group of us approached Amazon, they might provide it. Also, Prime didn't have a YA category. What's with that. I'd appreciate any feedback. Thanks.
June wrote: "After several KDP Select free promos I have made this observation:The book always gets the majority of downloads on the first day. I have done two and three day promos.
Now I am thinking it might ..."
Mine was free for 3 days and the downloads were fairly steady for all 3 days. I saw only a small bump in sales for a couple of days after I pulled the plug. Got no reviews. I may do like you said and hold future ones to a day each.
Well how would you buy a book on Kindle normally? There are a lot of titles, agreed but surely it is the same as just buying a new book. What are the "usual features?" I don't have prime so I am curious.Surely you can search by YA normally and then just see if the book you want is in prime?
You can do a search, but there are limited titles. But your question just gave me a solution. Thank you. I just realized that if you have prime and you are doing regular searches on Amazon, it says if the book is in prime. I was going at it the wrong way. thanks!
KDP Select in general, and the "free" days in particular, have absolutely been the main drivers in selling my books. I wrote a post here: http://www.rosalindjames.com/just-thi...about what I did and why I think it worked. (Latest giveaway: 92,300 downloads.) Caveat: I've only been at this about five months, but this tool has worked well for me so far. I'd certainly do it again. Hope this is helpful to somebody else. It's the Wild West out there right now in the publishing world--you just have to try stuff and see what works and what doesn't.
Wow! I don't know whether to adore you or hate you, Rosalind. Not really. I envy you. I had many hundreds of free downloads but it gained me no real bump in sales. Maybe a couple higher than average on the following 2-3 days. No reviewsI'm not sure if I will ever do it again.
Wow! I don't know whether to adore you or hate you, Rosalind. LOL, Steven. I wish I could tell you EXACTLY why it worked for me . . . I speculate in my blog post, but believe me, I was as surprised as anyone. (And yes, it worked better before Amazon changed the algorithm--my first free period was just under the wire. But it still worked even after that. It may be genre too. I do think Romance does the best.)
Rosalind, great post. I loved the marketing 101 in that post. As I'm sure you know, that doesn't come naturally for most of us writers. I haven't really done much of a marketing campaign yet but I'm putting one together in preparation for my next title. I think it'll be easier to promote when I have more than one title out there. To answer the original question on this thread, I haven't used KDP Select but I'm seriously considering it.
Rick, I think you've missed the point of the free promos. If there's a chance to spread the word about my book so that eventually, 10 millions people around the world end up buying it, then I'm happy for people to 'snag' the freebie and hand it to someone they think will like it! I haven't got a publisher with a vast advertising budget to spread the word, so this seems like a reasonable approach.Stop thinking about the missed revenue and start treating the freebies as an investment. Encourage as many sites and people you know to spread the word so that they can get a free copy! Even if 100,000 people get my book New Fire for free on the 17th of February, there will still be millions of potential buyers out there.
Philip wrote: "Rick, I think you've missed the point of the free promos. If there's a chance to spread the word about my book so that eventually, 10 millions people around the world end up buying it, then I'm hap..."lol, lol, lol :-D. I liked they way you slid in a plug for your freeday. First smile of the day! Thanks.
Darn! There was I thinking that I'd got away with that super subtle reference!
Even if 100,000 people get my book New Fire for free on the 17th of February, there will still be millions of potential buyers out there.Exactly, Philip. "Millions of potential buyers" is it exactly. I've sold over 10,000 copies of my first book in the past month--AFTER 92,000 people downloaded it. People always say, "Wow, think if all those people had paid!" Yeah, but they wouldn't have paid! 92,000 people might pay NOW, now that they know about it (I can dream), but not when they didn't know it existed. The world is a mighty big place, with a whole lot of people in it. You aren't diluting your market. You're FINDING your market.
OK! So what everyone is saying is spread your book about to as many people as possible. Almost like "build it and they will come". I have over three hundred readers that have the book on their "to read" list - would it be against goodreads policy to send each of them a book? I'll be attending a conference of the Western Front Association in June and according to what you're saying, I should give away books so that they will spread the word.
Frederick, if you're talking about giving away printed books that you paid for, that is much bigger sacrifice than eBook freebies that cost the author nothing.I'm not saying don't do it. Just try and target the books to people who will read it.
Good luck!
92,000 downloads? That's 42,000 higher than I've ever heard of before - and that was back in the day when downloads were much more voluminous!How did you do it? I spent weeks preparing for a free promo (I think I know what I'm doing) and got only a few thousand downloads. Back when KDP Select worked (for more people at least) I got about 17,000 downloads and perhaps could've doubled that if I knew what I was doing back then....
but 92k+ - that's a huge result! I've never heard of such a number. How was it possible???
I've never heard of such a number. How was it possible??? Like I said in my blog post, http://www.rosalindjames.com/just-thi..., I'm still not sure, but I listed my guesses there if it helps. All the giveaways worked (max before: 28,000 over 5 days); the 92,000 one was a "tipping point" kind of thing, I think.
As far as giving books away to people who have the book on their TBR list: I wouldn't. Lots of people have my books on there who DID get the book free. You can't make them read. Waste of money. They're already aware of your book, and that's Step 1. I also wouldn't give away physical books, other than the 1 or 2 copies on Goodreads. I've heard of people having good luck contacting Amazon "top reviewers" in their genre and asking them if they'd like a free copy (ebook) in exchange for a review. I also do blog tours. That gets you both reviews and (some) visibility.
Yes, I read the blog - interesting you mentioned cook books because it was a cook book that made the 50,000 downloads I mentioned.
Yeah . . . but there was another romance book on there at same time mine was, not part of a series, ranked right with mine, and she's doing super well with her book since the promotion, probably better than me. I think having a good # of reviews up before you do the giveaway is key. Also, forgot to mention this, but I had just put out my books in paperback when the promotion went up. I suspect that added credibility. Just thoughts . . . I didn't tell many of the "free book sites" beforehand--maybe two or three. Wasn't that.
I'm in the KDP Select program and just had my first free promotion, which went for two days -- Feb 5,6. I'm very happy with the results as I'm seeing a nice sales surge in the days after. I'm wondering how long this surge will last -- does anyone have a good feel for that? Here is the data on what I've experienced.Sales prior to Promo -- avg 70 units per week, 10 units per day
Downloads During Promo -- 17.240
Paid sales 1st 24 hours after promo -- 130 units
Paid sales 2nd 24 hours after promo -- 70 units
So I got a nice surge but I dont' know what the hang time is likely to be, and I'm looking into what I can do, if anything, to keep the fires burning. I clearly got enough of a boost to make the promo worthwhile, but I'm wondering whether it's like to drop all the way back down to where it was before, and if so, how fast? .... Or is it likely to stabilize at a higher level than it was.
The other question I'm wondering about is ... what happens in subsequent promotions? Is the first one always the best, sort of the free premiere, and future ones are second run?
My book title is John Carter and the Gods of Hollywood.
Wow! What's your genre? My 2 day free run got lots of downloads but the buying 'surge' was not near as big. It lasted maybe 2 to 4 days. Got no reviews.
My genre is nonfiction/movies/history and criticsm if you drill all the way down to the subcategory. Basically nonfiction/arts and entertainment if you stay closer to the top. I've only gotten two new reviews so far but maybe that takes a little more time.. . . I noticed that most of the big promoters of free books (PIxel of Ink, Digtal Book Today, etc), don't do a lot of promotion with nonfiction, so I was a little surprised at how many downloads we got. It got all the way up to #10 on the Top 100 Free Kindle list. Then on the first paid day, it got up to number 936 on the paid list ..... today (day 2 paid) it's at 1,045 or so and starting the long slow (hopefully) slide back down.
Sounds great! To answer your question as far as I can based on my own limited experience: My "free" periods seemed to build on each other. Second time was a bit disappointing (for Book 1), but 3rd promo for Book 2 was great, and 4th promo, Book 1 again, was huge. And yes, sales dropped after the surge after the free days, but not as far. Each promo bumped things a little higher, it seemed. I could tell I was getting some exposure out there. I did invest some of the profits from first time around in blog tours, a couple ads. (Maybe $300 total, over a few months.) And I've had my best results with the full 5-day promo. Gives the book time to climb. Hope that's helpful for next time around! Congratulations!
Rosalind thanks....I had a question about the 5 day promo. My experience was that it did 11,000 on day 1, and 6,000 on day 2. It seemed that the announcements from Pixel of Ink, etc, gave it a big jolt on day 1 but day two fell back. It did seem to be gaining a "second wind" on the second half of day 2 . . . but it wasn't clear if this would continue to build.....So ... my question is -- within your 5 day promotion, how did the downloads flow from day 1 to day 5. Was my experience different than yours in terms of day 1 and day 2?
And did you do any special marketing efforts during the run to optimize the performance in days 3,4,5?
Rosalind wrote: "Sounds great! To answer your question as far as I can based on my own limited experience: My "free" periods seemed to build on each other. Second time was a bit disappointing (for Book 1), but 3rd ..."Rosalind, my apologies -- I mean to reply to you, but entered a new comment instead. Newbie mistake. Won't happen again. To make sure you see, I'm re-entering it here with apologies for the double post.
My question was -- what was the pattern on your 5 day promo....i.e. did it grow or diminish or fluctuate? I got 11,000 day 1, and 6,000 day two. On day two, it seemed to be regaining momentum in the second half of the day so it might have continued to grow in subsequent days...or maybe not. I'm curious how yours went.
To me it seemed like Day 1 got a big jolt from the listings in Pixel of Ink, Digital Book Today, etc . . . . then on day 2 it slowed a bit, then started picking up again. It left me unclear about whether a five day run would just see it diminish in later days, or gather steam. (The reaction to the book has been good .... 4.8 rtg average on 38 reviews, so I don't think there's negativity on that front causing it to lose steam from day 1 to day 2, but who knows, maybe?)
These figures lead me to believe that Amazon has changed the algorithms lately, perhaps seeing the lack of sales from mid-to-late 2012 free promos.I ran my last promo in November (and also ran the paperback as a giveaway on GoodReads at the same time). I contacted somewhere between 30-40 sites prior to the free days, and posted to the standard places during the promotion. I also had about 30 reviews on the book prior to the promo(averaging 4 stars on the .com site - more on the UK site; so the sites that required 4.0 min would have also run it).
The only caveat on this is that my works are not in the mainstream, but can sell quite well (middle-grade, young adult, humour).
I shall have to test it again ;)
Rosalind wrote: "I've never heard of such a number. How was it possible??? Like I said in my blog post, http://www.rosalindjames.com/just-thi..., I'm still not sure, but I listed my guesses there if it..."
Rosalind,
I read your blog post. It's very informative. Thanks for sharing.
I also went to your Amazon book pages. How did you get the excerpts from your books on the pages? I think it's a great idea!
Author Central > Books > [choose the book] > add html into Inside Flap (?) field. Done!
5-day promo period--pretty steady. Best day typically Saturday. Weekends better for me than weekdays. But it took 2 days to climb up to #1.
D.M. Andrews (GoodReads Author) wrote: "Author Central > Books > [choose the book] > add html into Inside Flap (?) field. Done!"Thank you!
Maybe I just need to write romance - coz I sure can't cook ;)
Yeah, there's the rub. If I really wanted to make money, I'd write BDSM romance, but sadly (well, for me, happily), that's not how I roll. We have to write what we want to write--at least that's the only way it works for me. And no question, you'll sell more if there's a big market of people who like to read what you like to write! OTOH, you don't get much respect if you write romance. :)
The numbers I've read here are staggering. My January 2 day free promo brought me 9,000 downloads and 10 new reviews but less than 100 sales. It made the top 10 in free books (I think even # 1 briefly) and the overall rating numbers remained good for awhile. However, I don't know how to keep the momentum going and I am now back to 65,000.The genre is memoir which I think is a tough one.
But that's terrific, June! And like I said, my promos kinda built on each other. The third one was really good: 28,000 over 5 days (but it had all 5 days to build), but it wasn't till the fourth one that I really hit. And in between, my sales rank went back down too, defnitely. It's tougher with one book. How long ago did you publish it? It does take awhile to get the word of mouth, I think. Each time my sales really dropped, I did another promo, and I got that lift again.
Rosalind wrote: "But that's terrific, June! And like I said, my promos kinda built on each other. The third one was really good: 28,000 over 5 days (but it had all 5 days to build), but it wasn't till the fourth on..."I published 7 months ago Rosalind. There is a sequel ready to go as soon as I have it edited.
I took a look at your blog but I could not see a spot to sign up to follow you and receive notification whenever you post??? I only follow three blogs but I wanted to add yours.
Rosalind wrote: "But that's terrific, June! And like I said, my promos kinda built on each other. The third one was really good: 28,000 over 5 days (but it had all 5 days to build), but it wasn't till the fourth on..."PS. Rosalind, I don't read romance but after reading your blurb I want to read your book BECAUSE it is set in New Zealand and you made it sound so great. I've visited there once and the thought of living there for part of each year has tempted me - the weather has made me hesitate.
June wrote:I could not see a spot to sign up to follow you and receive notification whenever you post??Thanks, June! You can use the RSS thing to follow me (don't ask me how it works--not that good on the tech stuff). And thanks re my books. Can't promise you'd like them, but the first one's only 99 cents, so maybe when you want a break from the tough stuff. A number of people who don't read romance have said they enjoyed them (even some men, SHOCK). I try not to write anything too ridiculous. :)
Just ran two freebies, one for two days and the other finishes today. For the first 38 hours one book was outselling the other 300 - 200, give or take a few books. In the final 10 hours, the best seller jumped to over 3,700 while the chaser is still less than 800 with five hours to go. What caused the breakaway I do not know. Each is in its own niche environment and my fingers are crossed the reports on the chaser are running slow. Of course the paid sales jumped today for the book that went back into retail status. I believe the Amazon program is solid because the percentage of sales lost to exclusivity is covered with the lending program. JMHO
My debut novel has gotten more results than my debut children's book on KDP Select.
I have a little more info on mine. I ran the first free promo on 6,7 Feb and got a little over 17,000 downloads. Prior to the promo I was selling about 10 books a day. On the first day after the promo (Friday 8 Feb), I sold 124. On the Saturday, it went down to 68. On Sunday, 58. And on Monday, 28. Today, Tuesday it's sold 20 and it's only 8:30 am so it seems like Tuesday will be better than Monday. I'm very interested to see if it falls all the way back to where it was before the promotion, or if it levels off at a "new normal" that's a little higher than where we started. All in all, though, I'm pretty happy with the outcome so far.
Those are good results, Michael, and not too different from my own back in March with a middle-grade fantasy book. I actually had about a 1000 less given away, but it looks as if your sales are slightly less than I had and maybe dropping faster (not by much though).Can we mention genres on here because it makes comparisons more meaningful?
D.M. Andrews (GoodReads Author) wrote: "Those are good results, Michael, and not too different from my own back in March with a middle-grade fantasy book. I actually had about a 1000 less given away, but it looks as if your sales are sli..."Sure mine is a non-fiction book about the Disney movie "John Carter" -- an attempt to figure out why it tanked so badly when it is based on such a beloved sci-fi classic that has inspired everyone, etc. . . . .
Is the general opinion that promos work best when the free days run consecutively?Single days a month apart did not work very well for me.
When I was researching it beforehand, the "consensus" seemed to be to do 2 day promotions, or maybe a 3 and a 2, with the promotions running on Wed/Th or Tue/Wed/Th. However since doing it, I've seen others who did all five days in one promotion and seemed to have a good result--in at least one case an excellent result.
You don't hear much about people doing a single day promotion with good result but I wonder about that. I had 11,000 downloads at the end of the first day and a lot of momentum, and I wonder how much I gained from the second day when I had 6,000 downloads. On the second day, it started out more slowly, but then picked up at the end . . . . I dont' know what would have happened on a third day. Would it have diminished or grown? Hard to say.
. .
Philip wrote: "Is the general opinion that promos work best when the free days run consecutively?Single days a month apart did not work very well for me."
Speaking for me at least, I have played around a bit with the free days. My Best results have come like this.
At the beginning of the Three month period I run a 2 day promo usually on a Fri-Sat or Sat-Sun consecutively. In the middle I do a single day Promo. and towards the end of the three month period I do another 2 day promo. This generates the best sales for me.
When I would do single day promos I would usually get lost in the numbers and get very few giveaways or sales.
My experience with running more than 2 or 3 day promos is that on days 4 and 5 your numbers drop dramatically.
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