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Any authors in the KDP Select Program?
I would expect hot times for vacations might be good time to run promotions/freebies for travelers snagging vacation reads. I'm very guilty of downloading while free and not getting around to reading until months later. If I like a few chapters in, as a courtesy to authors offering free I do look for more in series or more of their books and will buy. While reading, I do post reading status and comments on goodreads. Not likely to waste my time reviewing in detail something so horrible I could not finish or that made me want my reading time back. I post and review all over the place if I discovered a treasure by an indie or a free offer—but always months after I download.
(One "discovery" later went traditional publisher, Random House, who oddly completely ruined the books. Never can tell. I think the big issue was that first two books were self-published then when RH contracted for 3 and 4 they blurbed all over that there was no need to buy first two and apparently forced author to recycle more than half the plot and dialogue from first books into the later RH books. Awful. Then they or author decided protagonist needed to get amnesia, sent back in time to start repeating storyline again with the supposedly interesting twist of would they make same choices, love same suitor, etc.)
lol@Omar - and thanks!Thanks, Debbie, for posting about indie treasures - they are out there!
I just enrolled my book, Dry Bay, The House of the Frog, in the program. Amazon only has exclusive rights for only 3 months, right? After it is taken out, if you choose to do so, you can do what you want with your book.
Yes but you need to untick the box or it will automatically renew.
If you live in the UK, you can't download Kindle books? I just found this out.
Of course you can, why ever not. You just need to use Amazon.co.uk
Does anyone know how Amazon promotes the free promotional kindle books? I just enrolled my book and I am getting more hits on it than ever before. I don't know if it is because it is free or does Amazon do something different to get people to download the books. If it is Amazon, then why don't they promote the book when it is not free. To me it would make more sense because we both benefit from it, both the writer and Amazon. If people are just downloading because it is free, then that is out of Amazon's realm. I guess I am just wondering how it all works.
They don't really, that is up to you to do, same as when it is paid. I think it might appear initially on their page but they don't tend to promote. Why don't they promote when it isn't free? Well it costs you nothing to place your book on KDP and no company is going to let you publish for nothing then spend time advertising for you for no fee.Sadly yes a lot of people do download simply because it is free. People like free. That said some people get a lot of benefit from the promos, it is a good way to get noticed and some people leave reviews (although not immediately and go on to purchase later books and some people see an uptick of sales for a while after.
It works for some but not others.
Good luck and I hope it works for you:)
By the way there are several groups here that let you promote your book especially when it is free. (If you didn't know that already.)
Alexandra,Amazon.com makes 30%-65% on every sale of a Kindle book. It may or may not be worth its while to promote a given book, but it is certainly more worthwhile than to promote the same book for free.
Indeed. All I am saying is Amazon don't. I don't think any of the sites which do not charge a fee to publish promote for you unless you cough up the shinies.
I do get random recommendations from them though so I think they do to some degree although how that is worked out I have no idea.
Just an update - now ranking at #3395 (was around 30-35,000 before campaign), looks to be peaking.
Not bad then:)Lol I checked the little graph on Amazon yesteday in the author central. E-book is Ok, let's not mention the paperback....
Paperbacks are for family, friends and promotional giveaways ;) - oh and for cool photos ;)
This is true:) I like having one to show people. I have one for the cover artist which I haven't given her yet and one for the model which I also haven't given her yet.It can sit there and look pretty:)
D.M. Andrews (GoodReads Author) wrote: "Just an update - now ranking at #3395 (was around 30-35,000 before campaign), looks to be peaking."Wow! Congrats D.M.!
I guess you KDP people will be keeping your shares in this site :)
Dean wrote: "I guess you KDP people will be keeping your shares in this site :)"If KDP did anything to promote MY book, it was invisible to me. Besides offering a free giveaway, which I had to promote myself, I'm at a loss to determine what the advantage was.... so, meh.
You might see some extra sales and such as a result or sales of other books of yours. Some people see a lot of benefits and some don't. It is not always instantaneous.
Alexandra wrote: "You might see some extra sales and such as a result or sales of other books of yours. Some people see a lot of benefits and some don't. It is not always instantaneous."that may be. I'm new to this process so its all invisible to me in some respects.
It seems to work for some and not others. Unfortunately there is no hard and fast rule.
From author and philosophy professor Michael LaBossiere - Why I’ll (Probably) Never Work With a Publisher Again - http://aphilosopher.wordpress.com/201...
Here's the results of my latest KDP Select campaign (see prior blog post for actual download numbers)a week after...http://www.writers-and-publishers.com...
I'm on the KDP Select program. I've tried one free giveaway with lukewarm results. I DO NOT LIKE the market being flooded with thousands of free books. The $79 is supposed to supply you with free updates on bargains as well as the ability to borrow books. So far, the bargains have been less than exciting to me.
Now, I like Amazon. It enabled me to have a best selling book, but I hope the free book bonanza ends soon.
One can only suppose that Amazon know how many free books they make available and would not allow the market to become so saturated as to affect their sales...I think, also, that giving away freebies is by no means new. World Book Night is coming up, and that free giveaway was started by the big traditional publishers. I'm not sure how many they give away, but I think most libraries across the UK are acting as collection points for the volunteers who hand the 25 titles out. They must know the additional exposure will bring in returns eventually or they wouldn't do it.
I'm beginning to think the paradigm of the advantage of offering free books is now broken.Free used to be an unusual thing, but with KDP and other programs, it is the EXPECTED thing. Hell, even I expect it. I think people put off buying books they want, hoping for a free giveaway, and if they're patient they succeed.
l'm beginning to think this process no longer benefits either the author or the booksellers.
IMHO
John wrote: "I'm beginning to think the paradigm of the advantage of offering free books is now broken.Free used to be an unusual thing, but with KDP and other programs, it is the EXPECTED thing. Hell, even I..."
I tend to agree with you...everyone just waits until a book is free rather than even spending .99 for the kindle...I've actually raised my prices for the kindle and I won't do the kindle select, at least for a while...I would rather do the free book giveaway on goodreads since it generates interest in the book...
D.M. Andrews (GoodReads Author) wrote: "Here's the results of my latest KDP Select campaign (see prior blog post for actual download numbers)a week after...http://www.writers-and-publishers.com..."
Interesting data! How many websites did you list your free days on? I'm gearing up for a giveaway next week.
Amazon does promote free books with their list of the top 100 free books.
Hi,I put two books on KDP Select around 3 months ago. I had a free download promo, which resulted in several hundred downloads, and one review for each book. So, while I'm glad that so many people had the opportunity to read my books (for free!), I don't think the promo resulted in any added sales, or even much in the way of helpful reviews. As for Prime members borrowing my books, this has happened two times so far, so I'm not overly impressed with that either. I'm seriously considering not renewing my Select membership when it expires in a couple of months, so that I can make my e-books available on more platforms, because the supposed benefits of exclusive membership may well have prevented me from selling books to readers who aren't tied to Amazon and Kindle. I suppose that other writers may have had better experiences, but reading some of the earlier posts I can see that I'm not alone.
I just read another article about the free download promo which touted the big jump in rankings. When I had my promo, it's true that the book jumped quite a bit and stayed there for awhile (no increase in sales). Oddly enough my other book out jumped the one I was promoting. It's all a mystery. Pat Gragg
Judy,As you can see from my report summary, I contacted over 30 sites before the campaign (all offering consideration for a free listing). Grab the document to see the exact sites (see how you can do that in the link below)
http://www.writers-and-publishers.com...
AS a published author who also puts out occasional ebooks direct, I wouldn't touch the special promotions or give away any books. Not because I'm precious, but, as so many have noted already, while people will always take free books, the reviews etc afterwards are very poor - one guy said 4 reviews in 2000 downloads. People who take books for free are not caring, sharing folks who'll go out of their way to help struggling authors. They want something for free, period. Yes, it is growing to be an expectation, but that doesn't mean authors and publishers have to do it all the time. My own books are earning quite respectable amounts and gaining a lot of reviews. People buying my books are more engaged, I think, because they have chosen to spend their hard-earned money. I know that if I am given something for free, it will affect how I treat and view it. I won't respect it as much as something I have bought for myself. So, for me, the key aspect of all this is the searching ability. When buyers can find what they are looking for and browse more efficiently, we will all benefit. We won't have to give away our products, our hard work, and our income for free any longer. People will take fewer books, but they will pay for them. Yes, some will remain fixed in the "No, I won't pay for it. It ought to be for free" way of thinking. Fine. But they'll miss out. Good writing should be rewarded.
I just released my first book via KDP and Createspace on the 6th. Michael I'm one of those rare exceptions I guess. I actually appreciated the free books I got and gave good reviews (referring to the quality of MY writing on the review here)in return.
I agree with you, Michael, that good writing should be appreciated/rewarded. There is a theory floating around, however, that if you don't have your book(s) in the KDP select program, there is an Amazon algorithm that makes your book a lot less "noticeable". You can always be part of the program without offering your book for free. But Amazon might "push" it a little bit more if you're part of the program. Has anyone else seen any info about this possible consequence of opting out of the program in favor of casting a wider net? I saw it on a post somewhere but, not surprisingly, I can't find any documentation to support this theory. But that doesn't convince me that it's not true...
Elle wrote: "I agree with you, Michael, that good writing should be appreciated/rewarded. There is a theory floating around, however, that if you don't have your book(s) in the KDP select program, there is an A..."I'm no expert. I just know the only time I'm aware that my book was "pushed" was during a free giveaway as it moved up the top 100 free books list. If there were other places KDP pushed my book, I didn't see it. It's possible they did, but I saw no way to verify/track that in my KDP select bookshelf stats.
Further, my first freebie day It appears I was charged 19 cents for every book (148) that was downloaded. My second freebie day (48 books) I was NOT charged anything per download. I have no idea what that means, nor do I know how to find out what that means. I just know that it made my cut of what few books I DID sell evaporate.
However, I have been realizing this folder is "success stories" so I'm not sure I should even be posting this stuff, because I'm unsure if my experience is a success or all that helpful to others.
I have a free short story on Amazon, not in KDP, and it has been on and off one of their genre top 100 lists for the past few months. I take that to mean Amazon isn't actively suppressing non-KDP books since they're really earning nothing on my short story.
I was starting to agree with the "if you're not in KDp then you don't get pushed by Amazon" thing, but I had something very cool happen yesterday that may have made me reconsider. I took my first book out of KDP to be able to drop it to .99 cents, but both my 2nd and 3rd books are still in it. Yesterday both books 1 and 3 jumped into the high 1000's on Amazons over all list and both have remained in the top 2k so far today. This is up from 40k just the day before. I'm not sure how it got there, the only thing I can think of is that Amazon pushed one of the books in some fashion. I don't know if it was book 1 or book 3 though. Either way it helped my non KDP book as well though.
I still can't figure any other way of publishing via KPD on amazon, but I don't like it they have the monopoly over who sell your books. I have mine up at Lulu as an e-book and coming soon at Feed a read as a had copy.http://postdoos.blogspot.ie/2012/10/m...
Congrats Don! It may have nothing to do with being pushed by Amazon, maybe just a boon caused by word of mouth/mouse by pleased readers!
It's that word of mouth that really sells books, and why I don't mind giving away some freebies--once or twice. I'll have to decide if I keep my book in KDP Select after the period ends. Right now it's not set to renew. (Christine, be aware there's a different between KDP and KDP Select. The Select is exclusive to Amazon, but you can still publish via KDP and NOT do the Select program, and then offer your book elsewhere like Smashwords.)
Starting my free promotion today! Wish me luck, guys.
Good luck, Judy. Let us know how it goes.
I have found that I was having steady sales at 1-5 books a week while I was in KDP select. Once I pulled my book out of KDP Select may sales dropped to 1-2 a month. I also noticed a peculiar thing when I would search for my book while in KDP select from a sterile account (not my own PC or Amazon Account) I would be in the top 15 search results. After I pulled it from KDP select I end up two or three pages down in the list now. I can't say that it is because of something Amazon did but it is suspicious.
Good luck with the promotion, Judy I hope it goes well for you. I keep getting this KDP select and they keep putting me back into draft. I have given them 1 last time to put things right.
I pulled mine from KDP select mainly because I wanted to put them up on Smashwords--not that it's done any good...Since I'm about to bring out book 3 of my series maybe I'll try again--interesting what Stephen said...
Nikki wrote: "I pulled mine from KDP select mainly because I wanted to put them up on Smashwords--not that it's done any good...Since I'm about to bring out book 3 of my series maybe I'll try again..."I pulled mine and put it on B&N, and a few others but haven't got sales at all. and I am promoting my books. At least my other books are selling.
Well, eh, the promotion went moderately well. Only about 500 downloads overall, so no great shakes there. However I've got about three or four people who say they'll do reviews, so hopefully that works out. I have two more free days which I'll probably place near the end of the 90 membership and then dis-enroll from Select. I haven't had a single borrow, so it's definitely not worth it to me. Not a lot of copies sold at BN or Smashwords but at least a few.LOL and I got my first 2 star here on Goodreads. No, it's not Tolkien. She seems rather strict in her ratings.
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Wow. Your document is very impressive. In fact, I liked it so much that I've put it into a book format and made it available on Amazon for the low price of $9.99. I will then use the material in the doc to promote the book.
Just kidding. It's obvious you've put a lot of work into this. It also shows that sharing with others can be done in a manner that benefits everyone.
Congratulations, and very nice work!