'Swallow the Moon' - Re-Formatted

[K.A.]

This Saturday, Feb 4th and Feb 11 - 'Swallow the Moon' is free.

http://www.amazon.com/Swallow-Moon-Da...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Swallow-Moon-...

Your tweets and recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.amazon.de/Swallow-the-Moon...

[Patricia]

I tweeted.

How's it going?

[K.A.]

Not as well as the first time - 62 US and 22 UK.

I had 550 in the US the first time.

[Patricia]

Maybe people are weary of freebies.

[K.A.]

All gimicks have a limited shelf life.

[Andre Jute]

This one didn't even get to the shelf. It rotted on the vine. Amazon's Select program, to which these freebies are attached, start just before Christmas. We're hardly into February. If it's a dead duck already...

[Katie]

I don't think it is a dead duck. I still don't know how many copies I gave away with my three free books on 1st Feb (the six week report says 6!), but Mark of the Dragon Queen got to #1 on Children's Fantasy and #113 on the Kindle Free List, lots higher than I got with The Dragon Box at Christmas, and I've sold 35 copies and loaned 7 since, so there's still power in it. But I have no idea why it works sometimes and not others. The last promotion for Mark of the Dragon Queen fizzled.

[Andre Jute]

I hope you're right, Katie. Even when it worked partially for the two tests I did, with Dakota and Andrew's books, both of which Amazon bolloxed by their slack organisation, it clearly was still far more powerful as a promotional tool than freebies on Smashwords or LibraryThing.

[K.A.]

I had 76 d/ls on US and 28 for the UK.

[K.A.]

What happened with "Let's Do Lunch" in December was not average.

I got lucky. This appears to be more average.

[Andre Jute]

That's very disappointing, Kat. I wonder if there was a Christmas effect, or a novelty effect, or both. The implication, that readers are already tired of the all the freebies washing in over the transom, is frightening.

[Patricia]

There are probably ways to control this at Amazon's end. If they put a limit on how many free downloads there can be per title, it would prompt readers to pounce on the freebie lists early to get titles while they're still available. They could also put the emphasis on the lending library instead of the freebies. Let Prime members borrow three or four books a month instead of just one. And cut the number of days in a 90 day period that KDP Select allows an author's titles to be free. Instead of 5 days per title, maybe make it 4 days per month spread across all titles. Make the freebies more rare and reduce the glut that keeps hitting the web every day. Then...offer a discount on books that just went free after the freebie time expires. Email those lists to Kindle owners. Say you have a $2.99 book. Amazon offers it for $1.99 for three days following its free run. I don't know if any of that would work, but I think they need to do something to keep readers from feeling overwhelmed by the number of freebies.

[K.A.]

Andre - I haven't had a single 'borrow' since Christmas. I agree, it appears that 'free' like "$.99" is no longer enough to get eyeballs.

Patricia - interesting ideas...makes sense to me.

I don't see any reason why I should keep my books exclusive if they aren't getting any 'borrows' this is a losing proposition for me.

Too bad I can't withdrawl from the program.

[Patricia]

Amazon has to be seeing the same thing we are and they'll figure out something has to be done to keep authors with them exclusively. I'm not seeing numbers like I did in December, but I am getting sales and borrows. A handful. More than I was getting in sales alone prior to the program.

[K.A.]

Mine have died. MTD - Paperback sales are 3 with ebook sales at 1, borrows are 0.

December was great - too bad it didn't last.

I've got 2 more free days for Swallow the Moon.

I'm glad your having better fortune.

[Katie]

Kat, I had a few quiet days after my free day on 1st Feb, but then sales slowly built up before slowing again. Not the whiz bang reaction to the December freebie, but definitely a reaction. Even Treespeaker, which wasn't free, just sold as many copies overnight as it did in the whole of January, but whether that's a reaction to the free books or something else, I can't work out.

Hang in there. It might still happen.

[Patricia]

I noticed there were about 825 freebies offered today alone. No wonder people are tuning out.

Kat, about my "fortunes": keep in mind that I still haven't made enough this month to buy a cup of coffee.

[K.A.]

Patricia - I'm just wishing you all the best.

Katie - good for you.

I've got another free day coming up on Saturday.

[K.A.]

So far this giveaway is doing okay.

Even "Lunch" got a sale.

[K.A.]

The last Free Days went fairly well.

Two Day Total:
US = 195
UK = 40
DE = 3

Kindle Select appears to be a crap shoot, just like the $.99 and other free stratgies.

We will have to see if it works a 'Launch Pad' for new Indie work.

I have no complaints - because 'Let's Do Lunch' was a spectacular success. However, 90 days is a VERY long time to be exclusive.