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Any authors in the KDP Select Program?
I might just run a short campaign and tell no one about it - just to see what happens!
J.B. wrote: How did you get that many downloads? I did a free promo last year but had only about 900 downloads although I promoted it here, on Facebook and Twitter."Well, the first thing was to be patient and get at least 20 reviews so that the sites who promote the free books will pick it up. (I had 32 reviews by the time the promotion started, with a good average.)
Then a week before the promo I registered with the big sites that trackfree kindle books -- Pixel of Ink, eBook Reader Today, and Digital Book Today, plus a dozen or so others which I found just by googling. All in all I registered at 20 or more sites I advance.
Then on the day I tweeted, using twuffer.com so I could schedule the tweets in advance and do it strategically every few hours 24/7, using all the right hashtags like #free, #freeeBook, #kindle, #freekindle.
What I should have also done, and didn't do, is but some of those hashtags in as tags on my book listing as there are people who just google "free ebook" and if you fix your tags (and remember to unfix them after the promo) this can help.
Yesterday I did a google blog search and googled the title of my book and found about 50 places where either these sites I mentioned, or others who monitor the sites, picked up the information that m book was free and either listed it or blogged about it ......a couple were pretty large sites, Boing Boing in particular appears to have helped by blogging about my book.
Ok, thanks a lot! That really helps. So, I guess next time I will first wait untiI I have more reviews and will try to improve my twitter actions...sigh, still a lot to learn.
Michael - Amazing stuff and thanks for sharing your strategies. I'm also with KDP Select and a few weeks ago, I'd read some complaints about it. But - the way I see it, I barely even received a glance from the "outside world" before discovering kdp select program. I'm totally thinking of re-enrolling because I'll know better how to plan my promo days.
The reason that I was considering NOT re-enrolling in kdp select was because I read that people with Nook and Apple customers weren't able to download kindle books. But I'm wondering if there's a Kindle app for Nook users?? I'm not sure. Still, I will re-enroll just this one time because it helps to get your name out there.
Paulette wrote: "The reason that I was considering NOT re-enrolling in kdp select was because I read that people with Nook and Apple customers weren't able to download kindle books. But I'm wondering if there's a K..."I know that a lot of Nook users hack their Nooks to use it as a tablet and then download the Kindle app that way but I don't know if there is a native kindle app they can get for nook.
On the other side I am taking a one 6 month roll out to see how that works. I leave my books in KDP for 6 months then put them up else where afterwards. It will be interesting to see if my sales improve.
That's information that I wasn't aware of. Good to know.
OK, I ran a free promo yesterday (Thursday) and didn't post to any sites about it either during or before the campaign (mentioned it once on my twitter and FB account, and on a close forum here at GoodReads).Results?
621 given away (mainly US and UK). It was picked up by 5 freebie sites. I received one review (a very nice one, btw) as a result - I know because the reviewer said they'd got it free (fast reader!).
The book is a middle-grade fantasy with 45 reviews (now 46) on the .com site and a 4.2 star average on the .com site, with 17 reviews on the UK site and 4.5 star average on the UK site. It exists also as a paperback.
This confirms my point: a year ago I got 16,000 downloads with little advertising over a 2-day period - and with the same book (which had far less reviews then). Yet I didn't even get into the thousands with a 1-day promo let alone to 8000...
Now, at least, I know what sort of numbers come from doing nothing under the new algorithms and current market ;) Hopefully this information will be of some small help to others!
Michael, thanks for the great info. I'll keep that in mind. D.M., it is a bit discouraging that the old strategies just aren't as effective any more, and there doesn't seem to be new strategies to replace them...
No, Donna, but some people still do have success - and by that mean more than a few hundred or a few thousand downloads - such as our 92,000 lady above! ;)It'd be interesting to know how high the success has been outside of the mainstream thriller/romance genres.
I'll try another test later in the month, or early next month, this time with full (though cost-free) marketing.
D.M. Andrews (GoodReads Author) wrote: "No, Donna, but some people still do have success - and by that mean more than a few hundred or a few thousand downloads - such as our 92,000 lady above! ;)It'd be interesting to know how high the..."
I write historical fiction and take note of the free days of other HF writers. Most seem to get something between 400 to 900. Best stats for authors with multible books published - less for those with one book out. And, I've seen a few better known HF writers with much more than 1K.
In my experience you have to get more than 10,000 downloads to get any meaningful increase in sales, and 15-20k is better. More than that and you'll have good sales.In fact, as borrows and sales will be absent while you promote, you will lose rankings if you have low downloads during the promo days...
I lost about 30,000 places in rank on the 1-day promo mentioned above.
I just had something happen with Amazon and I wonder if others have noticed this, and whether it's part of the KDP Select program -- or just something Amazon does generally.So . . . I've been, of course, watching the number of reviews and ratings of my book. It was at 36 reviews with 4.8 rating prior to my Free Promo on 6,7 Feb. Throughout Feb, after the free promo, the number of reviews grew (and the ratings fell a bit, as I had been warned they would) to 60 with rating of 4.6 by Feb 28, so that's a rate of 1 or 2 a day. Then between the night of Feb 28, and the morning of March 1, it jumped from 62 to 78, literally overnight, and now, on March 4, stands at 81.
I couldn't for the life of me figure out what caused such a big overnight jump. But then today I got an email, addressed to me as a buyer of the book (not the author) with subject line: "What Did You Think Of" and then the name of the book. So I guess these are going out to all the buyers and that's what triggered the mini-flood of reviews.
I think this is a helpful thing, no? Even if it triggers some lower ratings, I'm pretty sure I'd rather be 4.4 with 100 reviews then 4.8 with 10 reviews.
To finish where I started -- does anyone know if sending out this kind of email soliciting reviews from buyers is something that Amazon does with all books? Or is it the KDP Select program in action?
Michael wrote: "I just had something happen with Amazon and I wonder if others have noticed this, and whether it's part of the KDP Select program -- or just something Amazon does generally.So . . . I've been, of..."
People have told me they've got those emails for my books from the start. So it's either all books, Amazon looking for more people (who actually BOUGHT the book, not "sock puppets"--I'm guessing it's a credibility deal) to review, or it's a "Select" deal. I'm guessing all books.
And yeah, sad but true, ratings tend to fall with more reviews after a promo. Couple of reasons, maybe: people reading out of their genre or their usual "type" of book within the genre, because it was free; and people thinking less of it just BECAUSE it was free. And with these "please review" prompting letters, you get more "meh" reviews, in my experience. Because otherwise, you get more the "loved it" or "hated it" reviews, not so many 3- and 4-stars.
I haven't had any for my book, but I have had a few for books I have purchased.
I haven't seen one for my books, but I remember hearing a friend of mine got one ages ago. It'd be great if they sent them out a bit more often.
I'm trying out a new 3-day campaign for my book, The Serpent in the GlassAfter day 1 I have just a little shy of 11,000 downloads. I spent a lot of pre-promo time submitting to sites, etc. and spent probably around $200-250 on advertising. I've also been promoting it via social media now that it's live.
I'm hoping for a minimum of 20,000 downloads in the 3 days. I'll report back here - and maybe blog about it - later.
My chief interest (other than getting more visibility) was to see how Select performs now compared to 2012 (both before and after the reported algorithm changes in April last year).
My initial thoughts are that it is not as good as pre-April 2012 (I had 16,000 natural downloads in 2 days without any advertising or even notification to sites that would list it freely) BUT that it is better than post April 2012, so maybe a large number of downloads can still be garnered these days. However, how that affects after-promo sales is yet to be seen.
The highest rank to date is #10, so I'm on the first page of Amazon now and being picked up by sites that tweet/post about top 100 and top 10 books. Check the current rank at:
http://www.amazon.com/Serpent-Glass-T...
Thoughts?
My thought is that , like my initial impression, this program is helpful for ESTABLISHED authors. for new authors, I don't think it really helps.My most recent free giveway I only gave away 68 books, even though it ranked #16 in its category. related to no sales.
Now, btw, I'm THRILLED because some of those might mean reviews later on, but my numbers as a new author are nowhere near the numbers the rest of you are reporting.
I think that's ok, but I think it means NEW authors should think twice about the select program. especially as I was charged 19 cents a book for every download.
John, right on target. As a new author with one book and a second one out very soon, I have given away exactly 32 books, all to friends, family and strategically selected people who can help me sell more. My sales are pretty darned good for a newbie but I spend time giving away books to people who give me money in return. 20,000 free downloads are 20,000 books you'll never get paid for unless you have three or four other books that people get introduced to. The thing to remember is all of this takes time. Be patient.
William and John, y'all make me feel so much better. I was beginning to feel like I missed the bus. My first shot at the free downloads resulted in 144 takers over two days. I climbed to to #36 in HF and #1 in Biographical Fiction and then rapidly fell back down the rankings afterward. I did get a couple of nice reviews out of it. Guess I'd better get busy with more books. Good thing I like to write. Thanks for the information.
Writing more books is always the best form of marketing.But I think preparation can result in a lot of downloads even for new authors. You need to start prepping sites up to a month before the promotion runs and, these days, spend at least $100-150 on various services/ads. Having a few reviews, I'm sure, does help.
Thanks, D.M. for the info.I plan to use it in my next promo. By then my docudrama "The Trial of Phillis Wheatley," will be out.Did you allocate the budget you presented - what specifically were the sites?
With my first book promo I got 1147 downloads and 600 the next day - pretty poor compared with some.
I hope to capitalize next month with two books - one historical fiction and one a docudrama.
Thanks again for your very informative post.
Wow those are good numbers D.M.I think it helped you already had good reviews and paid out for some advertising.
Hopefully it will boost sales for you.
Hopefully - it's still in limbo land at the moment, that mysterious place ebooks go after the promotion ends and before the paid rank kicks back in....
Hehe yes. I am always worried about refunds then, people thinking it is free when it isn't.
Yes, had that before!Sales ranking has kicked in at 157,000 (it was around 30,000 before the campaign). I believe this is normal. It should climb up a lot in the next day or two.
still not one actual sale from the March 17 free giveaway of 63 ebooks.In fact, since utilizing two freebie events, one giving away 118 books, and 63 books, I've had only one sale, and I believe that was someone who just heard about my book from another source (twitter). I did have many more sales BEFORE running a free day, but how many of those were friends and family? I dunno.
Hmmm... I really just wonder about this whole process. I can't say for sure KDP select helped me anymore than not having free days would have. It's so hard to tell, really, when you have beginning numbers as low as mine, exactly what all the fuss about free days is all about. In the end, it might have actually robbed a handful of sales away from me, for all I know.
Luckily, I wasn't planning on making a living at this. Bloody good thing! lol.
I did a free give away a couple weeks ago and gave away over 750 books - haven't had one actual sale since. Perhaps it takes time for the seeds to grow, but how long?
Frederick wrote: "I did a free give away a couple weeks ago and gave away over 750 books - haven't had one actual sale since. Perhaps it takes time for the seeds to grow, but how long?"I think what I'm beginning to suspect, is that the paradigm of free days helping you is changing. Since so many authors are doing it, instead of generating word of mouth, it's becoming expected so no one feels the impulse to create word of mouth for the product.
But, I have no way to prove or disprove that, its just something I suspect.
I am enrolled in KDP Select until Mid-May and have had very little luck with it. Even on free days. I've had 3 separate free days which were all advertised and I think I've given away about 300 free e-books total. I am glad to get my book out there to build the word. I wrote it to be read and I'd hoped for better free amount of downloads.Another problem is the book isn't coming up in Amazon searches either (unless you search my name or the book's name)because those searches go according to ranking. A newbie will be at the bottom for the most part.
I have one review, a 4-star review on Amazon. I don't know the person who wrote the review, so I doubt it was from someone I know, and that goods. But nothing since.
I don't like the exclusivity to KDP and I think I've lost sales through other vendors. I wish it wasn't a 90 day exclusive and I probably won't enroll again until I am more established. I have had no sales, no matter what the e-book's price, and no borrows, & no more reviews.
Maybe later, after people have time to read the book and spread the good (or bad) word or give a review, it might help generate a few sales. But I think with it not being available to non-Kindle owners can actually hurt in some instances.
I am starting blog interviews and will be doing a blog tour. I am hoping to introduce Someday Always Comes to more readers that way.
I appreciate everyone sharing info about their experiences with KDP select. I'm curious about the genre of each book. Maybe some genres are more successful than others?
Kevin wrote: "I appreciate everyone sharing info about their experiences with KDP select. I'm curious about the genre of each book. Maybe some genres are more successful than others?"That's a good question. I think it's possible genre has something to do with it. My book is a cross-genre anthology, while it's well received by those who read it, it's equally possible others are thrown off just by what it is.
I also think, as I mentioned, that KDP select probably makes more sense to use once you're already established.
It might be a combination of factors.
Kevin wrote: "I appreciate everyone sharing info about their experiences with KDP select. I'm curious about the genre of each book. Maybe some genres are more successful than others?"My book, Someday Always Comes is Coming of Age/YA, I would consider it women's fiction.
Frederick wrote: "I did a free give away a couple weeks ago and gave away over 750 books - haven't had one actual sale since. Perhaps it takes time for the seeds to grow, but how long?"I was lucky, I saw an upturn for 2 weeks after but now back to normal. I am hoping it helps for book 2 if I ever get a wriggle on and finish the bloody thing. Saying that I was fortunate enough to get my book voted for book of the month for the indie group so hopefully some of the downloads helped there. Personally even if I download a free book I really read it immediately so I can't say whether it helps for reviews.
I haven't had one sale since I used my last free day on March 1.Prior to that I was averaging about one e-book a day.
It's like the faucet was suddenly shut off.
We have some things in common. My book, "The Great Promise" was also in the indie group top ten. You sound British. Check out my book - its about my grandfather's WWI journal when he served in the Royal Field Artillery.
My first book has been out for about 3 months now and sales have stalled, so I'm going to join KDP for the next 3 months and see how things go. I'll set up my free days for some time in April so that I can get the word out. We'll see how it goes. I also have a few short story collections out but they're not big sellers.
if it helps any, and I'm not sure it does, I found promo-ing free books too far ahead of time just became tedious for my twitter followers. Generally, it seems to me, the main time you want to see that a book is free is right now. If its at some point in the future, you're going to forgot or you don't care.
It's coming up to 12 hours since the promo ended. I had a few sales early on (barely making up for 3 lost days), but not many. Ranking is little better at present to what is was before the promo.Hopefully this will improve overnight, if not then a great deal of effort, plus a $200 or so, was wasted.
We'll see ;)
John, the submission sites and tweet services go active when your campaign starts, not before. I'm not sure I've seen many promotions where notification of a book going free is announced (?). You can set up a FB or GR event which notifies beforehand (and then on the day), but that's the nature of "events".
I plan to send requests to places like Pixel of Ink. Such sites require a couple weeks notice. They only announce free ebooks on the actual free days.
Yup, PoI picked up on mine, thankfully.Still no sales coming in here. Strange. How can I get to #7 in the free charts and have no sale surge afterward?
Maybe tomorrow...
D.M. Andrews (GoodReads Author) wrote: "John, the submission sites and tweet services go active when your campaign starts, not before. I'm not sure I've seen many promotions where notification of a book going free is announced (?). You c..."I don't have the money to pay someone else to market my book, so the person who starts the campaign, maintains and decides what to do, is me.
John,Most of the sites you notify allow free submission of the details of your campaign. Depending on demand, they may or may not list or tweet it on the day. You don't need any money (although some guarantee a listing if you give a small donation).
Some of the other services are just $5-$25 in cost, and ads can be as little as $20. Last time I ran one I didn't spend more than $5.
The main requirement with a promotion is putting in the time to prepare for it, and to keep it going once it starts.
John wrote: "D.M. Andrews (GoodReads Author) wrote: "John, the submission sites and tweet services go active when your campaign starts, not before. I'm not sure I've seen many promotions where notification of a..."Indeed. I advertised it here, G+ and facebook, plus JD was kind enough to send the link to one of the sites he knows. I didn't get millions of downloads but I did get more than the first time and a few in Canada and Germany which led to sales after, plus one in Japan. I was happy with the level of downloads, the first day was better than the second and I did see an uptick, which now appears to have run out...
As I am now not in Select that will be my last promo there but I think there was some success. I don't have the money to pay for ads and I think the jury is out as to whether the benefits are there to do so. SO I have been told it helps sales of other titles from the author but I guess that may not been seen instantly.
I think the Select thing works for some and not others...
D.M. Andrews (GoodReads Author) wrote: "Yup, PoI picked up on mine, thankfully.Still no sales coming in here. Strange. How can I get to #7 in the free charts and have no sale surge afterward?
Maybe tomorrow..."
I was ranked #2 in mystery and #3 in sci-fi on my free promotional day, but it didn't affect the forthcoming sales as well as not giving me any reviews. I wish I hadn't enrolled in KDP Select at all (: and I most certainly won't give away my book for free - this activity only adds to the to-be-read shelves or results in the book disappearance in people's infinite online space where they rarely look if ever...
There really doesn't seem to be a hard and fast rule for this. Personally I read books I download for free as well as ones I buy but often not for months later. It is true that people like shiny and free and a lot of the books are not read but if one is and does generate a later sale from telling friends or whatever. I suppose in many ways it people expect an immediate return but if the return does happen several months later it simply isn't noticed. KDP Select works for some but not all.
My sales are picking up (in a very modest way) and am now in the 7000s in Amazon's ranking. It's hard to tell the real impact until a week or more has passed, though I think the beginning of that impact acted faster for me during my big promotion in March last year. A few days after that promotion (16,000 downloads) I was getting sales in the region of 175 per day. Exposure DOES help!My book's been professionally edited since then, too ;)
Anyway, for those who want to know what I did to get a lot of downloads, I've put it all into a Word document. Find out more on my blog at http://www.writers-and-publishers.com...
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How did you get that many downloads? I did a free promo last year but had only about 900 downloads although I promoted it here, om Facebook and Twitter. I sent the info to sites such as POI, but they didnt pick it up.