# New email involving free books from Amazon (w00t!)



## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

> Dear Publisher,
> 
> We wanted to let you know that we have matched a free promotion on another sales channel for the following ASIN(s):
> 
> ...


So: no earning money on freebies. Check. Actually informing people now if they're doing it? Check. Am I freaking excited? Check-check.


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## jhendereson (Oct 22, 2010)

Half Orc, I'm thinking this will be an advertising bonanza for your other books, right?


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

jhendereson said:


> Half Orc, I'm thinking this will be an advertising bonanza for your other books, right?


Was last time


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## jhendereson (Oct 22, 2010)

I'm sure it'll repeat itself, maybe more so. Break out the champagne, bro!


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

Congrats. It seems like a lot of KB members are riding the free wave right now.


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## ChristopherDavidPetersen (Mar 24, 2011)

Half-Orc said:


> So: no earning money on freebies. Check. Actually informing people now if they're doing it? Check. Am I freaking excited? Check-check.


So I guess the question is, does the money you forfeit, more than make up for the books you'll sell after the give-away ends (pardon my ignorance... I still really new to all of this)?


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## horse_girl (Apr 9, 2010)

Got the same email on two of my titles. I am cautiously excited, if that's possible. I have the first of my YA series free on other sites and sales of the second book in the series have increased, and that one is priced at $2.99. Sales have been super slow lately except for the freebies (one of them being a fantasy novella), so any pick up in the first book of the series is a relief and I don't foresee a huge loss of $$ giving it away, but on the eve of releasing the third book of the series, I see the potential for great sales. The cautious part questions it all being just possibilities.

But I'm glad Amazon has taken this step now and my fingers are crossed it boosts sales.


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## John H. Carroll (Nov 26, 2010)

ChristopherDavidPetersen said:


> So I guess the question is, does the money you forfeit, more than make up for the books you'll sell after the give-away ends (pardon my ignorance... I still really new to all of this)?


giving away free ebooks is the best way to get new readers who will then buy the books you still have for sale. I can comfortably say that 80% of my sales come after people have read my free short stories. I'm hoping that Amazon cuts the price on my short stories to free like they did with David's.


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## R. M. Reed (Nov 11, 2009)

Did they pay after the big free book thing of last year? I never heard.


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

ChristopherDavidPetersen said:


> So I guess the question is, does the money you forfeit, more than make up for the books you'll sell after the give-away ends (pardon my ignorance... I still really new to all of this)?


Without a doubt. The first month WoB was free, I did double the -income- from the previous month, and then even after the free promotion ended, I doubled again my income.

Right now, they're saying they'll discount Weight of Blood (again) and Land of Ash (this one is new). Of all my income, you're talking like 5% here, since they're just 99 cent titles.

Now if it was Dance of Cloaks, I'd be ticked.

OH, and yes, they did pay that last time, Robin. They won't this time, though, so I'm hoping the freebie lasts much, much longer.


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

They're matching iBookstore, not B&N (Land of Ash isn't free there, but is on iBooks). And last time it was...a week, I think?


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## 40977 (Mar 31, 2011)

Awesome news Half-Orc!  Newb question though -- is Smashwords not distributing your free books to Amazon?


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

Tmarchini said:


> Awesome news Half-Orc! Newb question though -- is Smashwords not distributing your free books to Amazon?


Smashwords doesn't distribute to Amazon, not yet anyway. I direct publish on Amazon.


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## Guest (May 10, 2011)

The "free" thing is a bit disturbing, since so many Kindle owners want mostly free stuff. To the extent that we make our books free, we are "betting on the come line" that later paid sales will increase, making up for the losses. 

But we may also be devaluing our product. Why give something away that has value? Won't many readers also be addicted to free books? It doesn't stand proof that they will want more of a given author's books at a fee, any more than they will want more free books by any author. 

If a book is free, I consider that the value of the book. Maybe I'm old school, but I don't give anything away that I can charge a nominal amount for.


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

Mike, I gave away the first book for a week. My income quadrupled. Sales of my later books all went up by significant amounts.

Go to a supermarket sometime and see where people give out free samples of food. Does that mean that food is magically worth nothing? Marketing is marketing, and a free book is just one approach.


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## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

My books are all very different, so don't know if that would work for me.


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## M.S. Verish (Feb 26, 2010)

This will be huge for you. Just like before.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

It's not B&N for me -- I had raised the price of that book back to 99 cents. (I lowered it back to free today, to be fair.  Although it will probably take a while to trickle through.)

The book I'd really like to be free on Amazon IS free right now on B&N, but alas, it didn't make it into the system.  I have assume that they chose the books last week or earlier.  (Although they could have matched Kobo.)

Camille


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

BTW, does anybody have that link to look at your book in the iBookstore online? (The one where you plug in your isbn number.) I won't be home for a long time, and now I'm curious as to which books are free there....

Camille


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## ToniD (May 3, 2011)

Very interesting discussion.  I hadn't even considered this idea (it's been a steep learning curve for me).

So congratulations to all of you who have had success this way.


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## Julie Christensen (Oct 13, 2010)

MikeAngel said:


> The "free" thing is a bit disturbing, since so many Kindle owners want mostly free stuff. To the extent that we make our books free, we are "betting on the come line" that later paid sales will increase, making up for the losses.
> 
> But we may also be devaluing our product.


To me, this is no different from when I lend a paperback that I love to a friend. That friend reads the book for free (and half the time, doesn't remember to return it!). Now people download a book for free on Amazon, which only serves to introduce readers to great writers.


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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

I totally understand the advantages, David.

And I'm sure it works for folks like you, who have multiple titles out.

If it were me, though... I'm about to release my first novel and it'll be my only source of writing income for 2-3 months until I get a second book out.

I'm thinking that if, during the period of time where MOST LIKELY is my ONLY title, Amazon were to make it free, it'd be a bit more stressful.

Once I have the IDEA WAREHOUSE, EMBER PREQUEL, EMBER and MOST LIKELY all published, having them make one of them free wouldn't bug me.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

MikeAngel said:


> The "free" thing is a bit disturbing, since so many Kindle owners want mostly free stuff. To the extent that we make our books free, we are "betting on the come line" that later paid sales will increase, making up for the losses.
> 
> But we may also be devaluing our product. Why give something away that has value? Won't many readers also be addicted to free books? It doesn't stand proof that they will want more of a given author's books at a fee, any more than they will want more free books by any author.
> 
> If a book is free, I consider that the value of the book. Maybe I'm old school, but I don't give anything away that I can charge a nominal amount for.


The truth is readings of MOST paper books are "free." Library, trades, lending. It's a part of the ecosystem of healthy book sales.

While I don't believe in setting an actual price below value (unless you can mark it as 'on sale'), "free" is a very different thing, imho. Free is not about the value of the item. Free is a gift. (And done right it can actually enhance the perceived value of the item.)

Camille


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

modwitch said:


> Camille, I just looked for you - six books listed (I did an author search), none of them are free.


Thanks! That means _The Curse of Scattershale Gulch_ hasn't made it there yet (which is odd -- they usually have things up well before B&N).

Camille


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

CraigInTwinCities said:


> I totally understand the advantages, David.
> 
> And I'm sure it works for folks like you, who have multiple titles out.
> 
> ...


Don't worry, they won't make your book free unless you're giving it away somewhere else. You're fine.

And congrats, David, I'm sure that is going to increase the sales of all your books! w00t!!

Vicki


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## MJWare (Jun 25, 2010)

I'm on board as well, but just with one title. I keep refreshing to see if it's free yet.

With so many titles free, I curious to see what will happen to our ranking. Last time I made it not the top 100, not sure if it will be so easy this time around.

Plus, I wonder how long they will stay free? Last time it was just 5 days.


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## Sybil Nelson (Jun 24, 2010)

Victorine said:


> Don't worry, they won't make your book free unless you're giving it away somewhere else. You're fine.
> 
> And congrats, David, I'm sure that is going to increase the sales of all your books! w00t!!
> 
> Vicki


I'd like to make my book free but I don't know how. I know Smashwords lets you but is that enough? B&N won't let you set it at free.


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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

Victorine said:


> Don't worry, they won't make your book free unless you're giving it away somewhere else. You're fine.
> 
> And congrats, David, I'm sure that is going to increase the sales of all your books! w00t!!
> 
> Vicki


So it sounds like David's book got discounted to free on iBookstore and that's why Amazon is discounting it.

Was this something you initiated, David?

I ask because I know iBookstore is fed through Smashwords, but I don't know if you get into iBookstore direct or via Smashwords.

If it's via Smashwords, I thought Apple wasn't supposed to discount Smashwords titles?


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

I have it set to free at Smashwords, which makes it free at iBookstore. Still my choice.


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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

Half-Orc said:


> I have it set to free at Smashwords, which makes it free at iBookstore. Still my choice.


OK, so long as you initiated it, that sets my mind at ease... No shenanigans on Apple's part.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Sybil Nelson said:


> I'd like to make my book free but I don't know how. I know Smashwords lets you but is that enough? B&N won't let you set it at free.


To make it free at B&N, you have to distribute there through Smashwords. (This could quite possibly be the hold up in the negotiations with Amazon -- Amazon doesn't want to lose that control.)

Camille


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## isaacsweeney (Jan 1, 2011)

Got the same email today that Hard Creek Bridge: a short story will be free at Amazon. I'm stoked since I wanted to give it away originally and was bummed when I found out I couldn't.

I do have a related question. Has anyone tried lowering the price at other stores and not at Amazon so that Amazon will discount it? I'm thinking there might be an "on sale" effect on sales (with that original price crossed out an all)..


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## ChristopherDavidPetersen (Mar 24, 2011)

Hi David, Any idea how long it takes Amazon to implement discounts after you've ran your own discount on Smashwords?


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## Carl246 (Apr 10, 2011)

isaacsweeney said:


> Got the same email today that Hard Creek Bridge: a short story will be free at Amazon. I'm stoked since I wanted to give it away originally and was bummed when I found out I couldn't.
> 
> I do have a related question. Has anyone tried lowering the price at other stores and not at Amazon so that Amazon will discount it? I'm thinking there might be an "on sale" effect on sales (with that original price crossed out an all)..


Funny you should mention this Isaac, I recently raised about twenty-five of my stories on Amazon knowing that they would cut the price to match the others. I happen to think it's a good marketing tool.

Carl


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## Iwritelotsofbooks (Nov 17, 2010)

Congrats David.  Hopefully it will be as good for you the second time around as it was the first.


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

modwitch said:


> Lots of people try to get amazon to price match. It usually doesn't work. This sounds like an intentional "promo" on amazon's part - some of the prices they are matching have been in effect elsewhere for a long time (mine is new, but it sounds like others' weren't).


This. My book's been free elsewhere for months, and now all at once, a bunch of indies are getting these emails. It just comes and goes, nothing guaranteed. Not a clue when it'll happen (it might not for all I know).


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## Carl246 (Apr 10, 2011)

Half-Orc said:


> This. My book's been free elsewhere for months, and now all at once, a bunch of indies are getting these emails. It just comes and goes, nothing guaranteed. Not a clue when it'll happen (it might not for all I know).


You're right there, I thought I was being picked at random when I received the email but obviously they are doing quite a few all at once. I assume it's just for a short period as well?

Carl


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

I will be happy to link each freebie on my FB page (ok.. not ALOT of people, only about 80, but some of them have hundreds... so, potential...) if you guys will list exactly which ones will be free. 

David: Weight of Blood & Land of Ash
Camille: The Bellhound
Carl: Short Erotic Tales & The Crush & Thai Beauties
Isaac Sweeny: Hard Creek Bridge
Deborah Geary: Matchmakers 2.0
Peter: Limricks
Kevis: Gaia Into the Abyss
Lacy & Kevin : There's no place like Homecoming
Shayne: Sentence of Marriage
Any more?


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Yes, Amazon will not price match a free book normally.  

They said something on the KDP communities a while back about how they were going to find a way to give Indies more free book opportunities but they would use some kind of random choice.  They (as usual) were a little wishy washy about the way they phrased it, but I had the feeling they would be making those random choices among books they found free on other sites.

But, as we've noticed, they don't do it often, so don't make books free elsewhere JUST to get Amazon to do it, because odds are Amazon won't.

Camille


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

BTackitt said:


> I will be happy to link each freebie on my FB page (ok.. not ALOT of people, only about 80, but some of them have hundreds... so, potential...) if you guys will list exactly which ones will be free.
> 
> David? Weight of Blood and Land of Ash? What about the rest of you?


The ASIN they gave me was the one for The Bellhound, which is currently in my sig.

Camille


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## Carl246 (Apr 10, 2011)

BTackitt said:


> I will be happy to link each freebie on my FB page (ok.. not ALOT of people, only about 80, but some of them have hundreds... so, potential...) if you guys will list exactly which ones will be free.
> 
> David? Weight of Blood and Land of Ash? What about the rest of you?


Mine will be "Short Erotic Tales" http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003CFBRGG

"The Crush" http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003RWS7R6

"Thai Beauties" http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003LY45F8

Thanks BTackitt

Carl


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## 40977 (Mar 31, 2011)

Hi BTackitt, are you only looking for titles from the Amazon freebie, or free titles available elsewhere?  (Smashwords, etc.)  Thanks!


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

Just the ones that are being price-reduced/matched to free from Amazon. About 1/3 of my friends have Kindles.


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## Emma Midnight (Feb 19, 2011)

How do you make a book free on B&N?


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## Peter Salisbury (Mar 3, 2010)

I don't want to get all your hopes up but I got a KDP price matching email for my limerick book back in December and tomorrow it goes into its twentieth week free in the UK. Today I got a second email giving the same ASIN - I assume this time they mean the same book but on the US site.

I guess my limerick book is not hugely popular but since 30 Dec 2010 it has been downloaded from Amazon UK more than 3,000 times. The five days it was free in the US last October, it downloaded 980 times - not many compared to some of the others.

Like you say, David, you just never know what Amazon will do next. Amazon US and UK look to be operating independently on this one but twenty or more weeks free in the US would be pretty cool, would it not?

Camille, the URL you need is:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/isbn*

put your 13 digit ISBN in place of the *

If you change us for gb or ca in the string, you can get UK and Canadian pages, too.


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## Carl246 (Apr 10, 2011)

Emma Midnight said:


> How do you make a book free on B&N?


By placing it on smashwords for free and allowing them to send it to B&N.

Carl


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

Thanks BTackitt. Those are the two books.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

ok list updated to this point in previous post, just keeping them all together.


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## Carl246 (Apr 10, 2011)

modwitch said:


> Do that and then cross your fingers and make promises to the devil. It definitely doesn't work most of the time.


It worked seven times out of seven for me.

Carl


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## MJWare (Jun 25, 2010)

BTackitt said:


> I will be happy to link each freebie on my FB page (ok.. not ALOT of people, only about 80, but some of them have hundreds... so, potential...) if you guys will list exactly which ones will be free.
> 
> David: Weight of Blood & Land of Ash
> Camille: The Bellhound
> ...


Monster in the mirror-- YA Thriller - http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Mirror-Bonus-Stories-ebook/dp/B003TXS9CQ

If anyone is interested I am planing on posting the freebies on the Amazon boards (once they go free), just add yours here: http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,66296.0.html


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## Emma Midnight (Feb 19, 2011)

Carl246 said:


> It worked seven times out of seven for me.
> 
> Carl


Hmmm. I upload directly to B&N. Well, time to write another $0.99er and use Smashwords to make it free and let Smashwords distribute to B&N.


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## Peter Salisbury (Mar 3, 2010)

BTackitt thank you for putting me on your list, though I don't see it showing up free yet. Let's hope this isn't an Amazon training excercise to see how many hoops we jump through  

MJAWare I have taken up your kind offer and added myself to your thread, too. Thanks!


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## Emma Midnight (Feb 19, 2011)

modwitch said:


> Try iBookstore - that's what they're matching for me. At least hypothetically, since my price still hasn't budged.


I let Smashwords handle iBooks for me. I don't have a Mac. Someday, perhaps, when my grand scheme comes together!

I'm just going to write something new. I'm going for the high quantity approach.


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## Kevis Hendrickson (Feb 28, 2009)

BTackitt said:


> I will be happy to link each freebie on my FB page (ok.. not ALOT of people, only about 80, but some of them have hundreds... so, potential...) if you guys will list exactly which ones will be free.
> 
> David: Weight of Blood & Land of Ash
> Camille: The Bellhound
> ...


I'd like to add my ebook to your free books list. Thanks, B..

http://www.amazon.com/Rogue-Hunter-Gaia-Abyss-ebook/dp/B002ZNJLMS


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

modwitch said:


> Do that and then cross your fingers and make promises to the devil. It definitely doesn't work most of the time.


I've found that if it's been up on B&N through Smashwords for a few weeks, you can usually get the price to change with the next distribution if, you change it by Wednesday, and then it _should_ propagate by Monday or so. If you just got it up there, not all details have trickled through the system, and it takes longer. (Plus things go wrong more often.)

If you don't have it there yet, your best bet is to make it free on Smashwords first, and then opt in to the distribution system. It may take forever to get through the system, but once it gets there, it will be free for sure.

And if you PLAN on these delays, they will not have a delay at all, and you'll get the change too soon.

Camille


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## Iwritelotsofbooks (Nov 17, 2010)

Kevis Hendrickson said:


> I'd like to add my ebook to your free books list. Thanks, B..
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Rogue-Hunter-Gaia-Abyss-ebook/dp/B002ZNJLMS


Thanks B.

Ours will also be free: There's No Place Like Homecoming (A Dorothy Gale Prequel)
http://www.amazon.com/Theres-Place-Like-Homecoming-ebook/dp/B004HYHC56/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1305077317&sr=8-10


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## isaacsweeney (Jan 1, 2011)

BTackitt said:


> Just the ones that are being price-reduced/matched to free from Amazon. About 1/3 of my friends have Kindles.


Thanks!


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## David McAfee (Apr 15, 2010)

Dara England said:


> Congrats. It seems like a lot of KB members are riding the free wave right now.


Not me, and I've had a book listed for free on Smashwords, B&N, and iBookstore for months. For some reason, they keep skipping me. 

Congrats, though, DD. Hope this rockets you to the next level.


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## Gregory Ashe (May 5, 2011)

I'm a big believer (or maybe the word is hoper) in the power of free books as promotional material. It's certainly worked in my life (that is, in getting me to buy an author's other books). I'm glad to see Amazon has added some more people to their free lists, but I'm still hoping that one day they'll let us list for free by our own choice. What a world that would be...


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## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

Me too, for _Sentence of Marriage_! A pleasant surprise for me, as I've only been on Amazon for five minutes (well, a week and a half).


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Gregory Ashe said:


> I'm a big believer (or maybe the word is hoper) in the power of free books as promotional material. It's certainly worked in my life (that is, in getting me to buy an author's other books). I'm glad to see Amazon has added some more people to their free lists, but I'm still hoping that one day they'll let us list for free by our own choice. What a world that would be...


Did anybody see Konrath's blog today? Scott Sigler said:

"If you hear only one thing in this rambling blog, hear this - we give all the stories away for free, and people still buy them. There is something to be said for having the confidence that your storytelling and production chops are just that bad-ass, then letting the customer decide if the content merits their money. We don't hold content hostage."

Free content is totally different than simple under-pricing. It's not about competition or worth or being afraid to price like a pro. It's about being UNafraid and being generous.

Camille


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

ok this is the list I have so far:
David: Weight of Blood & Land of Ash
Camille: The Bellhound
Carl: Short Erotic Tales & The Crush & Thai Beauties
Isaac Sweeny: Hard Creek Bridge
Deborah Geary: Matchmakers 2.0
Peter: Limricks
Kevis: Gaia Into the Abyss
Lacy & Kevin : There's no place like Homecoming
Shayne: Sentence of Marriage
MJA: Monster in the Mirror
Any more?


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## *DrDLN* (dr.s.dhillon) (Jan 19, 2011)

Looks like everyone is riding the free bookaways wave. I have not given away free book. Once something is given free, then it becomes hard to sell that at a price. That's what is keeping me away from giving free books. But looks like I am wrong...Wish you all the best everyone.


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## Carl246 (Apr 10, 2011)

modwitch said:


> ME!! With 10 minutes to spare .
> 
> So, question. I can find the top 100 free books, but how do people browse for them? Where do I show up if I'm not in the top 100 yet? Just also boughts? I've had 11 books "bought" in the last 10 minutes, so clearly people are finding it somehow!


Just showed up too.

http://www.amazon.com/Short-Erotic-Tales-ebook/dp/B003CFBRGG/ref=sr_1_fkmr3_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1305090829&sr=1-3-fkmr3

I haven't got an answer for your question though, I'm not sure there is a list for all free books. I hope I'm wrong though.

Carl


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## horse_girl (Apr 9, 2010)

My two freebies are free now on Amazon now, but the rankings disappeared. Going to bed now, but I hope they reappear in the morning.


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## Iwritelotsofbooks (Nov 17, 2010)

Freedom:
http://www.amazon.com/Theres-Place-Like-Homecoming-ebook/dp/B004HYHC56/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1305091147&sr=8-10

Let the downloading begin.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

horse_girl said:


> My two freebies are free now on Amazon now, but the rankings disappeared. Going to bed now, but I hope they reappear in the morning.


Free books are separated from the rankings, aren't they? Or at least ranked separately.

Camille


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## Kevis Hendrickson (Feb 28, 2009)

I really don't understand how Amazon gets the word out. My book just went free a couple of minutes ago and the downloading frenzy has already begun. If only I had access to the button that controls free books, I'd be in heaven.


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## MJWare (Jun 25, 2010)

My ranking went away, when it went free (like a few minutes ago). Last time, if I recall, that happened too and stayed gone for a couple days before it came back at like 40 or something (I don't recall exactly, but I remember David was 5 ahead of me =-). 
The really cool thing is when they move back over to paid, they take part of their ranking with them. If I remember right, I stayed in the top 100 for a few days and sold lots of copies at 99 cents that way. 
We'll see what happens this time.


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## kyrin (Dec 28, 2009)

There are people who spend their time searching for free books, also the price changes in all the lists where the books appear.

It also helps when your friendly neighborhood writer friends make a blog post or two.


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## Kevis Hendrickson (Feb 28, 2009)

MJAWare said:


> My ranking went away, when it went free (like a few minutes ago). Last time, if I recall, that happened too and stayed gone for a couple days before it came back at like 40 or something (I don't recall exactly, but I remember David was 5 ahead of me =-).
> The really cool thing is when they move back over to paid, they take part of their ranking with them. If I remember right, I stayed in the top 100 for a few days and sold lots of copies at 99 cents that way.
> We'll see what happens this time.


I remember this happening too, MJA. As far as I'm concerned, I'd be a fool to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I'll enjoy the ride while it lasts.


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## Iwritelotsofbooks (Nov 17, 2010)

Apparently 300 of us got emails. This could be where the downloads are coming from:

http://www.ereaderiq.com/free/


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## nomesque (Apr 12, 2010)

DEAD(ish) is free again, too - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003XVYJ2S/

For those wondering how people find the freebies, check out http://www.ereaderiq.com/free 

I posted a link to the Ereader page on the Kindle forum before coming here, so please don't think I was trying to jump the gun on y'all!


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## MJWare (Jun 25, 2010)

45, I only did 15. Great start!

Kevis, I agree. I hope they stays free for a long time.


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## Iwritelotsofbooks (Nov 17, 2010)

MJAWare said:


> 45, I only did 15. Great start!
> 
> Kevis, I agree. I hope they stays free for a long time.


You kidding? I'd be happy if mine stayed Free forever as long as some sales for my other books trickled in because of it.


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## Kevis Hendrickson (Feb 28, 2009)

lacymarankevinmichael said:


> You kidding? I'd be happy if mine stayed Free forever as long as some sales for my other books trickled in because of it.


Now you're talking!


----------



## isaacsweeney (Jan 1, 2011)

For someone who sells a book or two every couple of days, it's cool to see a hundred+ sales in a few hours. Hopefully it will trickle into the other offerings.


----------



## ASparrow (Oct 12, 2009)

Xenolith and Peregrin had sold only 1 copy in the previous 15 days.

Since they became freebies they've "sold" 522.  It feels so weird.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

I did 19 in the first hour or so, and woke up to 275.  (It had sold 2 this month so far.)

You know, the free book pages and such are probably powerful, but Amazon is also recommending us based on user data, too.  And since they're running a special, they may have given us some extra juice in the algorithm for the first hour or so.

Camille


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## Iwritelotsofbooks (Nov 17, 2010)

modwitch said:


> That was an insane number to wake up to. It appears I'm free in the UK as well, anyone else? They're price matching iBookstore for me, which is available in the UK, so I guess that makes sense. Maybe if they're matching B&N you won't see that?


You better get a screenshot ready, you're #95 on the Free bestseller list.

I'm at #331.


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## Carl246 (Apr 10, 2011)

It does seem strange doesn't it, when you go to bed you've sold four copies and when you wake up it's been downloaded 430 times and is already in the free chart. That's what I awoke to find. They are also free over in the UK.

Carl


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

You all do realize that KindleBoarders like free books, too?  And read the threads here even if they don't post?  I know I've been shopping! (Can one be said to have "shopped" when the item was free?    )  Anyway, no doubt in my mind at all that at least part of the bumps is from members and guests here at KindleBoards.

Betsy


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

And another 40 or so in the past 15 minutes! (And I also checked the UK and it must have been made free there too.)

Camille


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## horse_girl (Apr 9, 2010)

Wow! This is insane! I've "sold" almost 1000 copies of STARFIRE ANGELS since it went free, which is almost as much in ten hours as I did in my best month. Today alone is going to blow that month out of the water! I can't help checking sales every few seconds; it's way too addicting. This is the most fun I've had in a long time, especially since May sales were tanking. I needed this boost


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

There's an INSANE number of freebies out today. I keep track checking every day via jungle-search.com and today there are 255 new freebies.


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## John H. Carroll (Nov 26, 2010)

I was looking at the legal part of the Amazon stuff. Apparently they added section iii to the pricing section, which explains what is happening.
https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help?topicId=A29FL26OKE7R7B

"Legal Kindle Direct Publishing Terms and Conditions Pricing Page 
Pricing Page
Last Updated: April 21, 2011

This Pricing Page changed on the date listed above.
See an explanation of the changes at the end of this document.

1. Royalty Options. Subject to the limitations set forth in this Pricing Page, for each Digital Book, you may choose, in accordance with our then-current procedures, either the 35% Royalty Option or the 70% Royalty Option, each described below.

a. 35% Royalty Option.

i. The Royalty for the Digital Book will be 35% of the applicable List Price for the Digital Book.

ii. If you select the 35% Royalty Option for your Digital Book, you must set and adjust from time-to-time as necessary the Digital Book's List Price so that the List Price, plus 15% (the statutory Luxembourg VAT rate) for sales to EU customers, is no higher than any of the following:

• the list price (i.e., the suggested or recommended retail price) for any digital or physical edition of the Digital Book in any sales channel; or
• if you sell a digital or physical edition of the Digital Book directly to end users, the price at which you sell that edition to end users.

iii. From time to time your Digital Book may be made available through other sales channels as part of a free promotion. It is important that Digital Books made available through the Program have promotions that are on par with free promotions of the same book in another sales channel. Therefore, if your Digital Book is available through another sales channel for free, we may also make it available for free. If we match a free promotion of your Digital Book somewhere else, your royalty during that promotion will be zero."


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

ok.. 
US Freebies can be found using http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?node=154606011&p_15=-domain&p_36=0-0&redirect=true
UK : http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search?node=341689031&p_15=-domain&p_36=0-0&redirect=true


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

I'm feeling blessed.

Free in the US and anarchy free in the UK


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## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

BTackitt said:


> ok..
> US Freebies can be found using http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?node=154606011&p_15=-domain&p_36=0-0&redirect=true
> UK : http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search?node=341689031&p_15=-domain&p_36=0-0&redirect=true


Thanks, BT!


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## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

Good Lord, I wake to find the book at #87!


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## Will Write for Gruel (Oct 16, 2010)

daringnovelist said:


> Yes, Amazon will not price match a free book normally.
> 
> They said something on the KDP communities a while back about how they were going to find a way to give Indies more free book opportunities but they would use some kind of random choice. They (as usual) were a little wishy washy about the way they phrased it, but I had the feeling they would be making those random choices among books they found free on other sites.
> 
> ...


It would be nice if Amazon gave us a "coupon" that we could use to set a book to free for a short period, say five days or a week. If they gave us one coupon every year for every title, we could run a sale once a year. As far as I'm concerned, Amazon could even charge us for the download cost as long as any charge was reasonably capped.


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## Iwritelotsofbooks (Nov 17, 2010)

Woo hoo.  #150 in Free books. Wow, if my lunch break wasn't ending, I'd keep refreshing the screen all day.


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## kyrin (Dec 28, 2009)

modwitch said:


> Just - wow. This is insane. In a good way - nutso downloads, and in a bad way - absolutely dead novel sales. It will be fascinating to see where it all ends up.


When I had my book listed for free last year, I got a nice uptick in sales (after the book was no longer listed for free) and a lot of reviews. I think ten to twelve of my eighteen reviews were posted during that time period.

The more copies of your book out there being read, the more likely it is that you'll get a review. In the long run, this is a win - win proposition in terms of long term marketing and promotion.

On an off topic note, I wonder how much publishers pay to have their titles listed for free.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

well, I skipped most of the flashfiction & shorts.. got all the KB author ones that I didn't already have (which was like 6) and ended up with 59 new books on my Kindle.. I have a final tomorrow, and then on Saturday I'm off to San Francisco for 3 weeks, so I should make some serious headway reading.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Mine's at #102 overall in the free section of the kindle store. I'm nervously hoping I get to see what happens in the top 100.


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

Land of Ash just hit #20 in the freebie store. Hoohah, first page!


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

modwitch said:


> Matchmakers 2.0 may have topped out - it was #15 last hour, #16 now. Over 5K downloads.


Outstanding! I've had a little more than 1,500 so far.


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## horse_girl (Apr 9, 2010)

Half-Orc said:


> Land of Ash just hit #20 in the freebie store. Hoohah, first page!


Congrats! I'm hanging at #30 yet.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

modwitch said:


> I think MM benefited from the category - it's been on the front page of the romance bestseller list most of the day, and I assume that page gets a LOT of eyeballs. The flip side is I suspect I'll drop like a stone once free is over and contemporary romance is still a hugely crowded, competitive category.
> 
> I can't even fathom that many new readers...


Yeah, the numbers don't make any sense to my mind.

I slipped to #106 this hour, but it looks like the next hour (or the hour after that) should be when I get my biggest jump. Nervous!


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## A. S. Warwick (Jan 14, 2011)

I got one of these free offers going as well - matched price with a freebie over on Smashwords. Just the thing I needed to hopefully help drive some interest.

In my case the offering in question is 'The Pit & The Merchant's Legacy', two fantasy short stories/novelettes bundled together, and the first of two collections revolving around the same character. (I'm working on a few more, with the end aim being 10 stories all up).

Its at #390 on the US store and #409 on the UK store which is rather mind blowing really.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

modwitch said:


> Yeah, there might be a post dinner rush. That's often when I see a spike. Hope my novel gets one, too - this has cost a LOT of sales there so far...


I think there's a two-hour delay, and my best hour was from 2 - 3 pm (Pacific), while my novella was at #97 out of kindle ebooks. So those extra numbers should show up next hour. That'll probably be my best chance to crack the overall top 100.


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## Iwritelotsofbooks (Nov 17, 2010)

I'm so happy for all you.  I just wish I could break into the Top 100 at some point today.


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## TLH (Jan 20, 2011)

Geesh, you guys kick arse.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

modwitch said:


> ETA: Holy shneikies. Top 10. And I see you there at 97, Moses!


w00tness!


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## Kippoe (Jan 17, 2010)

My book made it onto the Free list also WOOT


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Kippoe said:


> My book made it onto the Free list also WOOT


Awesome, senor possum.

I hit #87 overall this hour and the jump next hour should be very good (because I had a good hour from 4-5 pm Pacific when I hit the top 100).


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## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

Into the top 50! #46.


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## Kippoe (Jan 17, 2010)

Congrats to you both


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

To celebrate the free promotion and honor the ebook gods, I'm giving away a free Kindle, Nook, or $100 gift card, as well as a $100 donation to one winner's charity of his or her choice.

If you'd be like to share this link through FB or Twitter (or blog, etc.), I'd be your best friend. This also gives you entries to the giveaway if you comment about it on the blog.

http://bit.ly/kOUmUO


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## Gthater (Mar 27, 2009)

My fantasy novel, The Gateway, has been listed for free today also. So far I've gotten about 1,200 sales for the day. Hopefully, they'll keep it listed for free forever this time!

http://www.amazon.com/GATEWAY-Harbinger-Doom-ebook/dp/B0017H1LCQ


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

And I hit 1000 in US downloads about a half-hour ago.  So now on to see what I do in the next 2.5 hours -- which will be the full day.  (The UK seems to have gone nighty-night at 111 sales.)

Camille


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## Carl246 (Apr 10, 2011)

modwitch said:


> That's awesome, Camille.
> 
> For those of you who have other books, what's happening for their sales today? For me, the other novella is having a rocking day (3x normal sales). My novel got hit hard, I'll be lucky at this rate if it hits 60% of normal, although the impact seemed to be strongest this morning, so hopefully it will be better tomorrow.
> 
> ...


Two of the four released for free are pretty close to one another. "Short Erotic Tales" is at #71 and "The Mailman's Tale" is closing in on the #100 spot. Pretty good for the first day.

Carl


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## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

Well done, everyone!

#36! I have to go out soon, and I'm putting it off.  I'm seeing a ranking improvement for the rest of my series, too.


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## Carl246 (Apr 10, 2011)

Shayne Parkinson said:


> Well done, everyone!
> 
> #36! I have to go out soon, and I'm putting it off.  I'm seeing a ranking improvement for the rest of my series, too.


I'm seeing sales for my other books now as well.

Congrats by the way Shayne, if anyone deserves it, you do.

Carl


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## Lisa Scott (Apr 4, 2011)

congrats everyone!  this has been very educational to watch and read.


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## Elijah Joon (Mar 11, 2011)

Wow, I'm way late in the game on how to make your books free for Kindle.  Can anyone give a late arriver the Cliff's Notes version how to do it?

Thanks in advance!


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## A. S. Warwick (Jan 14, 2011)

If you have a book for free elsewhere there is a small chance that Amazon may match the price and make it free there as well.  It is out of our hands as to if it happens.

I've hit the 500 downloads so far - but it hasn't generated any extra sales yet alas.


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## horse_girl (Apr 9, 2010)

modwitch said:


> I think I have actually hit the point of hypnotic haze with my sales numbers. I'm beginning to get some sense of the vast number of people who are on amazon every day shopping for books .


Same here. I've been holding steady around #24 for a few hours now and have finally hit the same point of "hypnotic haze" watching those numbers. The excitement wears off a bit. Tomorrow I should be better able to focus on writing again. Today was a blur of watching my books climb the rankings.

Congratulations, everyone!


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## Elijah Joon (Mar 11, 2011)

A.S. Warwick said:


> If you have a book for free elsewhere there is a small chance that Amazon may match the price and make it free there as well. It is out of our hands as to if it happens.
> 
> I've hit the 500 downloads so far - but it hasn't generated any extra sales yet alas.


Thanks for the reply, A.S. May I ask how you made your book for free on another site for Amazon to match it? Was it through Smashwords? Is there a way to still make it free if you're only on Kindle? (B&N doesn't let you go below 99 cents)


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## Carl246 (Apr 10, 2011)

Elijah Joon said:


> Thanks for the reply, A.S. May I ask how you made your book for free on another site for Amazon to match it? Was it through Smashwords? Is there a way to still make it free if you're only on Kindle? (B&N doesn't let you go below 99 cents)


Hi Elijah, yes it was through Smashwords and no unfortunately there is no way to get your book free on Amazon alone, unless you happen to be with a publishing house who would negotiate something for you.

Carl


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## Imogen Rose (Mar 22, 2010)

Congrats, everyone!!


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## miss_fletcher (Oct 25, 2010)

Woken up this morning and read all the posts. How exciting! Everyone is so happy, Amazon really should do this more often.

I got a lot of downloads last night from US on Demon Girl after this free promotion, and I was at number 29 at some point. The Kindle US readership is huge ... way huge. Much more than UK, obviously, but you don't realize the difference until you see it with your own eyes. But I broke the UK Top 100 (Paid) last night so I was celebrating that instead of watching the US numbers churn, but it was awesome to wake up to, lol.

I wish everyone luck with the up selling, and the reviews to follow.


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## Iwritelotsofbooks (Nov 17, 2010)

Looks like I'm not going to break the Top 100, but I'm ecstatic about 1200 downloads in one day.  I wonder how long this will last.


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## Tamara Rose Blodgett (Apr 1, 2011)

That is righteous~! Nice...


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## nomesque (Apr 12, 2010)

Ditto on the no Top 100. Ah well, can't be greedy, DEAD(ish) got to #13 last time it was free! 

Sales of other books have increased... not as much as last time, though.  But the new book in the DEAD(ish) series is getting a nice launch thanks to the publicity.


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## Iwritelotsofbooks (Nov 17, 2010)

nomesque said:


> Ditto on the no Top 100. Ah well, can't be greedy, DEAD(ish) got to #13 last time it was free!
> 
> Sales of other books have increased... not as much as last time, though.  But the new book in the DEAD(ish) series is getting a nice launch thanks to the publicity.


How long did the Freebie blitz go on last time?


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

lacymarankevinmichael said:


> How long did the Freebie blitz go on last time?


About 5 days or so.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

The pace of free downloads has slowed down a lot today, probably because so many people grabbed them yesterday. I ended up with about 3,000 downloads yesterday after spending the second half of the day in the top 100. Today my book is still in the top 100, but with considerably fewer downloads compared to yesterday.


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## ASparrow (Oct 12, 2009)

MosesSiregarIII said:


> The pace of free downloads has slowed down a lot today, probably because so many people grabbed them yesterday. I ended up with about 3,000 downloads yesterday after spending the second half of the day in the top 100. Today my book is still in the top 100, but with considerably fewer downloads compared to yesterday.


That's strange. I'm right behind you on the fantasy chart yet you've had >1,500 more downloads than me. There must be a huge step between positions.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

ASparrow said:


> That's strange. I'm right behind you on the fantasy chart yet you've had >1,500 more downloads than me. There must be a huge step between positions.


Yep, I got about twice as many downloads per hour once my novella hit the top 100.


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## *DrDLN* (dr.s.dhillon) (Jan 19, 2011)

This appears to be a good thread. But I am not able to follow.  Is it about amazon not letting you give away free or something else?

I am still not convinced about lowering the price to 99cents or giving them free. I did with one book to test smashwords coupon program. It didn't seem to make difference. Unless people know about your work, nothing works.


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## ascepticalmedium (Mar 18, 2011)

I have heard others I know say the same happened to them. Once they were promoted that way, their sales rose enormously into the thousands. I wish they'd promote one of mine that way then!
Good luck and let us know what happens afterwards won't you?


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## Will Write for Gruel (Oct 16, 2010)

*DrDln* (dr.s.dhillon) said:


> This appears to be a good thread. But I am not able to follow. Is it about amazon not letting you give away free or something else?
> 
> I am still not convinced about lowering the price to 99cents or giving them free. I did with one book to test smashwords coupon program. It didn't seem to make difference. Unless people know about your work, nothing works.


Amazon has selected some books and is offering them for free. Only Amazon can set that price. We otherwise have to price at $0.99 or higher.


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## ascepticalmedium (Mar 18, 2011)

Has anyone any idea how Amazon selects them? Is it to do with sales already seen to be good or is it maybe to do with the time they've been on here?


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Amazon said they would do it randomly (in a vaguely worded post on the KDP communities in February), but as others have noted, there may be some criteria we don't know about before the "randomly" part sets in.

I have not had ANY other sales since this started, but this month started off really really slow anyway.  I would expect that for a lot of people, any sales from this promotion will trickle in very slowly later on. (Imagine that somebody grabbed 250 books -- how long will it take to read through them?  Especially if your book was one of those "I'm not sure I'll like this, but what the heck, it's free..." sales.)

Camille


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## Will Write for Gruel (Oct 16, 2010)

I grabbed 15-20 books. I probably won't read all of them. I still have free ones I've grabbed previously I never got around to.


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## Elijah Joon (Mar 11, 2011)

Carl246 said:


> Hi Elijah, yes it was through Smashwords and no unfortunately there is no way to get your book free on Amazon alone, unless you happen to be with a publishing house who would negotiate something for you.
> 
> Carl


Thank you for your reply, Carl. Cheers, and I hope you've been able to take advantage of the Freebie Blitz while it was hot.


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## A. S. Warwick (Jan 14, 2011)

You lot are getting a lot more downloads than me - I've only just passed the 700 mark and aren't anywhere near the top 100.

Still any downloads are welcome and can hopefully help out in the future once people get around to reading it.


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## sbaum4853 (May 3, 2010)

Got 2,000 downloads yesterday. On pace for less than half of that today. Whatever! Great fun to get the work out there.


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## nomesque (Apr 12, 2010)

Sales of the other books in the DEAD(ish) series improved overnight, and a lovely person (who picked DEAD(ish) up as a freebie) left 4-star reviews for the whole series. Goal achieved.

Now off to wheeze into my porridge. WHY did Amazon have to do this the week I'm sick?


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## Carl246 (Apr 10, 2011)

Elijah Joon said:


> Thank you for your reply, Carl. Cheers, and I hope you've been able to take advantage of the Freebie Blitz while it was hot.


Yeah I'm doing pretty good. They've downloaded 6,600 and I'm number 32 in the erotic free book chart.

Carl


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## Anna Elliott (Apr 24, 2011)

Congratulations, everyone!  I got the e-mail, too, about my novella Dawn of Avalon, and was absolutely astonished to have 7,000 downloads in the first day.  Wow.  I was already giving it away for free on my webpage and elsewhere, but at the 99 cent price on Amazon I was only selling 1-2 copies a day.


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## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

Over 7,000 downloads yesterday! And I've sneaked into the top 20 - #19. #2 in free historical fiction. I'm really having to resist the urge to overuse exclamation marks!


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## nomesque (Apr 12, 2010)

Shayne Parkinson said:


> Over 7,000 downloads yesterday! And I've sneaked into the top 20 - #19. #2 in free historical fiction. I'm really having to resist the urge to overuse exclamation marks!


Go on, live a little!!!


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## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

Oh, well, if the cool kids are doing it!

Number 18!!!


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## nomesque (Apr 12, 2010)

Shayne Parkinson said:


> Oh, well, if the cool kids are doing it!
> 
> Number 18!!!


 How's it doing in the UK?


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## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

nomesque said:


> How's it doing in the UK?


Rather quieter there, though it was doing fairly well even before the price-matching. Currently c. 150.


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## MJWare (Jun 25, 2010)

I've been in the low 100's all day. I'm finally at 101. I think if I hit the top 100, I'll get a big boost. Come one, just a little more...almost there =-)


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## isaacsweeney (Jan 1, 2011)

The highest I noticed was #218 for Hard Creek Bridge. That's 1200 downloads (in the US -- about 100 in the UK). AND I've gotten at least one other sale from it (so far).

I was in the to 10 all day for contemporary fiction (or some category like that).

Kudos to everyone!


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Well, I've slowed down significantly.  I think I had 1200 yesterday and about 400 and some today.  

And... Amazon in its infinite wisdom decided "oh, well okay, you can have that other book free too" -- the book I REALLY wanted to make free.  But they made it free two days later when all the customers had gorged on free books and are no longer in the mood to go searching for more.  

This is depressing (but I'd rather have it belatedly free than not free at all.)

Camille


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## MJWare (Jun 25, 2010)

modwitch said:


> Go, MJ... Go, MJ.... Go, MJ... We'll see if that helps.


Thanks, I'm still at 101, I just checked, I have to beat out _Amazon Daily_ to make it into the top 100, so I don't think my chances are good, at least for tonight.

However, I saw you were 1 away from the top 10! Wow, we should be rooting for you! I did get into the top 100 last time, but the top 10, or even #11 Wow! That's incredible!


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## MJWare (Jun 25, 2010)

daringnovelist said:


> Well, I've slowed down significantly. I think I had 1200 yesterday and about 400 and some today.
> 
> And... Amazon in its infinite wisdom decided "oh, well okay, you can have that other book free too" -- the book I REALLY wanted to make free. But they made it free two days later when all the customers had gorged on free books and are no longer in the mood to go searching for more.
> 
> ...


Yeah, but unless you have several other titles out, having 2 free might not be a good thing. I'm rushing to get another collection finished up, we'll see if I get it done in time.

By the way, all these sales have resulted in 2 sales of my other books, one of which was returned; that's my first return in a good 6 weeks =-)


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## Iwritelotsofbooks (Nov 17, 2010)

God I hope this keeps up for more than just 5 days.  Even though I haven't gotten 7000 downloads like a lot of you, it's still been a great boost that months of promoting couldn't provide.


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## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

That's great, Debora! Yes, 15K new readers sounds pretty good.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

MJAWare said:


> Yeah, but unless you have several other titles out, having 2 free might not be a good thing. I'm rushing to get another collection finished up, we'll see if I get it done in time.
> 
> By the way, all these sales have resulted in 2 sales of my other books, one of which was returned; that's my first return in a good 6 weeks =-)


Actually I have a bunch of other titles, but the first freebie is not related to any of them (and I had just moved it back to 99 cents, and made the second free -- both had propagated through the system and everything).

The SECOND book is directly related to two others, and in my main genre.

Frankly, if they were to make all of my books free, I probably wouldn't mind, because I don't plan them to be my last books. If someone were to download all of my books, and actually read them, by the time they're done, they'll be a fan. (And odds are I'll have a lot more out there by the time they get done anyway.)

Camille


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

modwitch said:


> I've been ranging for #10-12 since about 7pm yesterday. #11 rocks because you get into the top 10 "books" on the kindle store's home page. I'm about to hit 14.5K downloads in the 48 hours since this started. Totally feeling like Monopoly money. Still hurting sales of my novel, which sucks, but there's no way almost 15K new readers isn't a good thing, long term.


Ya think?  

I've been in the top 100 all day, but I've started slipping into the 90s. Hopefully I can stay in there a little while longer, but if not, 4,000 extra downloads is pretty darn amazing for 48 hours.


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## MJWare (Jun 25, 2010)

modwitch said:


> I've been ranging for #10-12 since about 7pm yesterday. #11 rocks because you get into the top 10 "books" on the kindle store's home page. I'm about to hit 14.5K downloads in the 48 hours since this started. Totally feeling like Monopoly money. Still hurting sales of my novel, which sucks, but there's no way almost 15K new readers isn't a good thing, long term.


Wow, that's great! I think it helps long term. Last time, I got a good boost for about 2 months, slowly disappearing after about 4. I think, it's what you do with that boost that counts! I didn't do much and so I didn't capitalize on it. This time, I hope to have two novels and 1 or 2 collections of shorts out in the next 2-3 months; hopefully that will help!

Also, for comparison, I'm at a little over 2,600 downloads to get to #101. So, you can see the difference in sales (or downloads) between the top 100 and the top 10.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Debora, yours is the #1 in my "Also Bought" list.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

modwitch said:


> And LOL @ Moses. I figure it must be a good thing, but I've lost over $100 in novel sales in the past 48 hours, so I have to keep repeating it a lot. "15K new readers is a good thing, 15K new readers is a good thing..."


$100 or 15,000 new readers?

Hm ...

Not much of a contest for me LOL


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## Iwritelotsofbooks (Nov 17, 2010)

I'll trade with you Debora.


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## MJWare (Jun 25, 2010)

modwitch said:


> It's pulled me off the front page of the contemporary fantasy bestseller list, and I'd planned on giving notice on my day job on Monday. It's not the short term that concerns me at all - it's when/if will my novel sales return to normal. Logic says they should, and then they should enjoy a nice lift from all these new readers - but logic won't feed my kids, so it's probably making me disproportionately nervous .
> 
> And LOL at being #1 in your also boughts. Strange bedfellows . Very cool, but strange.


Oh, wow. Now I do feel sorry for you. Anytime you can just write full time, I see that as the fulfillment of a dream. But, I really do think it will pay off in the long run. Some of those new readers might not get around to reading for months, so it's a sacrifice now, for gain latter.

BUT, I *really* hope you can quite your day job soon. Anytime I see an indie who's able to do that it inspires me to work harder at my own writing!

BTW: I made it to #98!


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

MJAWare said:


> BTW: I made it to #98!


Excellent! I'm barely hanging on at #93. I hope I can stay there for another day.


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## MJWare (Jun 25, 2010)

MosesSiregarIII said:


> Excellent! I'm barely hanging on at #93. I hope I can stay there for another day.


I always slip at night too. I made it to 96, now back to 97. I just need to stay off the forums, stop worrying about how many books I'm giving away, and get back to finishing up my current WIP =-)


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## nomesque (Apr 12, 2010)

MJAWare said:


> I always slip at night too. I made it to 96, now back to 97. I just need to stay off the forums, stop worrying about how many books I'm giving away, and get back to finishing up my current WIP =-)


Crazy talk


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

Downloads have slowed down tremendously now. It should hit a steady rate soon, and then hang there until Amazon pulls it...whenever that will be.


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## Carl246 (Apr 10, 2011)

Shayne Parkinson said:


> Oh, well, if the cool kids are doing it!
> 
> Number 18!!!


Ok Shayne, I'm 1 behind you, now step aside. lol

Carl


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## isaacsweeney (Jan 1, 2011)

I'm having a boost in UK sales today. #194 and climbing.


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## horse_girl (Apr 9, 2010)

Congrats to all my fellow indies gaining new readers in this bonanza of freebies on Amazon. I feel very fortunate to be chosen, even more so to have both my free books in the top 100. I have noticed things slowing down a lot after the first day, but May was slow to start anyway and the first day of a big sale like that seems to always be the biggest (same thing happened with smashwords during their read an ebook week), so I'm not surprised by the slow down.

This has been a great blessing when I most needed it, so I am grateful for what I've gained from "selling" so many free Kindle books--better sales on my other books and more readers overall, more than I ever imagined. I wish it would last for two weeks, which would give my books even more readers and likely provide the opportunity of other indies to move up in ranking from being discovered by readers.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

isaacsweeney said:


> I'm having a boost in UK sales today. #194 and climbing.


I've had a UK boost today, too. Yesterday I only woke up to 24 new UK downloads (overnight). Today it was 54.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Add to my last post, though, that even though my UK downloads have increased today, my ranking is actually worse. Maybe a UK site or two ran a big announcement of the freebies, or amazon.co.uk just gets a lot more action on Fridays (versus Thursdays).


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## Carl246 (Apr 10, 2011)

MosesSiregarIII said:


> I've had a UK boost today, too. Yesterday I only woke up to 24 new UK downloads (overnight). Today it was 54.


I'm wondering if the weekend will make a difference?

Carl


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## Rayo Azul (Mar 1, 2011)

Sorry, been slow to join in as I needed fortification after the tremendous amount of downloads over the first couple of days. I am seeing the rate steady in the US today, but increase significantly in the UK (Almost doubled in the last 12 hours, and my book, A Guiding Light, has reached a new high as number 14 in SF Free books and under 170 in total).

Something has kicked it off again today, but I'm not complaining


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## Guest (May 13, 2011)

I can't believe I missed this.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

modwitch said:


> Do you have a book free elsewhere, Jason? (on B&N or iBookstore, SW doesn't seem to count). I'm curious whether "most" of us with a book free got picked up, or just a few.


And given that they added my other freebie two days late (a book which might have just hit one of the Smashwords premium partners)... I wonder if they are just matching all freebies.

Camille


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## Guest (May 13, 2011)

modwitch said:


> Do you have a book free elsewhere, Jason? (on B&N or iBookstore, SW doesn't seem to count). I'm curious whether "most" of us with a book free got picked up, or just a few.


Yeah, free in ibookstore for months. No dice.


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## ASparrow (Oct 12, 2009)

So what happens after the pricing comes back?  I went from literally 0-1 sales per book per month to 2,500 per book during this freebie. Will it fall back to zero, I wonder?

This may sound strange, but I sure hope my sales zero out again. For personal reasons, I can't allow myself receive any income from these books. I only set them at $0.99 because that was the minimum allowed by Kindle. If sales are spurred by this promotion, I might actually pull both my books from Amazon again. 

But at least I'll have achieved my goal. Thanks, Amazon!


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## isaacsweeney (Jan 1, 2011)

ASparrow said:


> So what happens after the pricing comes back? I went from literally 0-1 sales per book per month to 2,500 per book during this freebie. Will it fall back to zero, I wonder?
> 
> This may sound strange, but I sure hope my sales zero out again. For personal reasons, I can't allow myself receive any income from these books. I only set them at $0.99 because that was the minimum allowed by Kindle. If sales are spurred by this promotion, I might actually pull both my books from Amazon again.
> 
> But at least I'll have achieved my goal. Thanks, Amazon!


You're right. That does sound strange.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

ASparrow said:


> So what happens after the pricing comes back? I went from literally 0-1 sales per book per month to 2,500 per book during this freebie. Will it fall back to zero, I wonder?
> 
> This may sound strange, but I sure hope my sales zero out again. For personal reasons, I can't allow myself receive any income from these books. I only set them at $0.99 because that was the minimum allowed by Kindle. If sales are spurred by this promotion, I might actually pull both my books from Amazon again.
> 
> But at least I'll have achieved my goal. Thanks, Amazon!


I expect it will help in two ways:

We will appear in the "also boughts" of other books, which will give us all more exposure (but that exposure is only on other books which were free, and isn't well targeted, just better than none).

The other way partly depends on what else we have for sale. Those who downloaded a ton of books will work their way slowly through them, and we may get additional sales, "likes" and reviews over time. While word of mouth will likely help that book itself, your other books (and future books) will benefit more directly.

In both cases, this will take time.

Camille


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## *DrDLN* (dr.s.dhillon) (Jan 19, 2011)

Asher MacDonald said:


> Amazon has selected some books and is offering them for free. Only Amazon can set that price. We otherwise have to price at $0.99 or higher.


Thanks Asher. I got it now.

I wonder if giving away free makes that much difference then why not offer free at smashwords. There is no problem there. They allow coupons too. May be all the veteran authors on this thread are already doing it? I need to find more time to learn all this.


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## ASparrow (Oct 12, 2009)

*DrDln* (dr.s.dhillon) said:


> Thanks Asher. I got it now.
> 
> I wonder if giving away free makes that much difference then why not offer free at smashwords. There is no problem there. They allow coupons too. May be all the veteran authors on this thread are already doing it? I need to find more time to learn all this.


Smashwords gets a tiny fraction of the reader traffic that Amazon gets. Think squirt gun versus fire hose. It took me nine months to collect 2,500 downloads at Smashwords. At Amazon, it only took 2 days.


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## ASparrow (Oct 12, 2009)

Another thing that makes me wonder, considering my non-existent sales at Amazon prior to this freebie exercise:  might I have achieved the same result had I replaced the text of novels with the random musings of chimpanzees? In other words, is there any selection going on, or am I really just more chum in the water, benefiting from my proximity to the caviar?


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

modwitch said:


> I discovered one thing this morning - if you go to the books browsing (not ebooks), you can see our freebies mixed into the list with paid books. So Moses is #12 in epic fantasy books. That seems like it would be awesome as soon as the book goes back to paid. Doesn't work that way on the ebooks side (those browsing ranks seem to change REALLY slowly).


Ooh. Nifty.

I was at #99 last hour and #100 this hour. I'm barely hanging on! If anyone out there hasn't downloaded my novella yet, you can do it and maybe help me stay in the top 100


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## Iwritelotsofbooks (Nov 17, 2010)

foreverjuly said:


> Yeah, free in ibookstore for months. No dice.


That sucks Jason. Did you report yourself to Amazon?


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

I don't think I ever reported mine to Amazon. They just picked it up.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Okay, so even though I've had much fewer downloads on Scattershale because it was up later... but I have now started having a trickle of sales on the most related book. (Not enough to say for sure it is related, but it still seems like a good sign.)



ASparrow said:


> Another thing that makes me wonder, considering my non-existent sales at Amazon prior to this freebie exercise: might I have achieved the same result had I replaced the text of novels with the random musings of chimpanzees?


You might have achieved the same results up front, but the after effects will be different, depending on whether the current contents are better or worse than the musings of chimps.

Camille


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## MJWare (Jun 25, 2010)

MosesSiregarIII said:


> Ooh. Nifty.
> 
> I was at #99 last hour and #100 this hour. I'm barely hanging on! If anyone out there hasn't downloaded my novella yet, you can do it and maybe help me stay in the top 100


I already got my copy (it'd been on my "too read" list since it came out). I've just started it, but it's well-written and I'm enjoying it. Download it if you haven't already. I think, if it starts falling, then the only reason I can think of, is it's hitting some sort of saturation point. Like where it's reached most of the people who are actively looking for freebies.

It would be interesting to see if all our sales drop off after, say for example, around 10k downloads?

I'm still hanging in their at #90--for now, but I have started to see a trickle of sales.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Thanks, MJA! It's a little extra work, but you could also ask Amazon to push the new version to you. There are a couple new chapters (in the new version, #2 and #4).

I haven't been downloading freebies, but I just picked yours up and I will definitely read it. Short stories FTW.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Over the last three hours, I've been #99, #100, and then #99 again. It's tight!


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## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

My other free item, which is a short story, got added in the second wave. It's at around #300,  while the first is hanging in there at #19-21. Numbers on the other novels continue to improve.


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## William Campbell (Feb 11, 2010)

David McAfee said:


> Not me, and I've had a book listed for free on Smashwords, B&N, and iBookstore for months. For some reason, they keep skipping me.





foreverjuly said:


> Yeah, free in ibookstore for months. No dice.


Same here, and I even reported myself. Same as last time. I have one book free in iBooks since last November.

I have a hunch. Tell me, David and Jason (and anyone else who has free books elsewhere and wasn't picked up on this freebie) -- where do you publish your print copies? Not CreateSpace, by any chance?

My print copies are through Lightning Source. I am wondering if Amazon is restricting this to authors who have print editions through CreateSpace (since they own it, and perhaps they feel it will aid print sales as well? ? ?).

I could be wrong of course. It just crossed my mind while wondering "why not us?"


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## JMelzer (Mar 21, 2010)

Man, this is pretty awesome. My little short story, Snowmen, was made free and it's been hovering around #150 with over 3,000 downloads between the US and UK. 

When I got the email from Amazon, I rushed to put a three chapter preview of my new novella, Hull's Landing, on the end of it before it was made free, and they got the new version there within hours. Now sales of not only Hull's Landing, but everything, have received a nice bump.

So I took a short story that was hardly selling at all on Amazon (maybe 3 or 4 a month), and managed to turn it into a profit. 

Yay free!


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## A. S. Warwick (Jan 14, 2011)

I'm still 45 short of 1000 downloads total - a bit slower than the rest of you.

Has anyone had sales for the German site yet? Mine still has that beige bar, even with the free offer.


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## MJWare (Jun 25, 2010)

MosesSiregarIII said:


> Thanks, MJA! It's a little extra work, but you could also ask Amazon to push the new version to you. There are a couple new chapters (in the new version, #2 and #4).
> 
> I haven't been downloading freebies, but I just picked yours up and I will definitely read it. Short stories FTW.


My "to read" waiting list is about 6 months, because I only read one adult book at a time. So, it should probably be called my 'to buy someday" list. So, I just downloaded yours yesterday (or the day it became free). I think I have the newest version, but I didn't really buy it--although it was the first freebie I downloaded =-)

Speaking of which, how do you get Amazon to push you the newest version? Just delete it off your Kindle and then re-download it from the Kindle management page?

BTW: I've made a total of 4 paid sales today on Amazon, but I'm normally one or two a day. So my 'sales increase' is relative, still it's a good jump for me!


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## MJWare (Jun 25, 2010)

A.S. Warwick said:


> I'm still 45 short of 1000 downloads total - a bit slower than the rest of you.
> 
> Has anyone had sales for the German site yet? Mine still has that beige bar, even with the free offer.


I'm not free in DE (not sure why), so I expect to have a brown bar all month. If you want, I can add your book to my Amazon free ebook thread. It's a few days old now, but it did really helped kick-start my sales.


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## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

William Campbell said:


> ... I am wondering if Amazon is restricting this to authors who have print editions through CreateSpace (since they own it, and perhaps they feel it will aid print sales as well? ? ?).
> 
> I could be wrong of course. It just crossed my mind while wondering "why not us?"


That doesn't apply to me, William. I don't have anything through CreateSpace.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

MJAWare said:


> My "to read" waiting list is about 6 months, because I only read one adult book at a time. So, it should probably be called my 'to buy someday" list. So, I just downloaded yours yesterday (or the day it became free). I think I have the newest version, but I didn't really buy it--although it was the first freebie I downloaded =-)
> 
> Speaking of which, how do you get Amazon to push you the newest version? Just delete it off your Kindle and then re-download it from the Kindle management page?
> 
> BTW: I've made a total of 4 paid sales today on Amazon, but I'm normally one or two a day. So my 'sales increase' is relative, still it's a good jump for me!


Ah, well yesterday would work 

I think you have to contact Amazon and ask them to send you the latest version. I know that works, anyway. Maybe there's another way, too.

Btw, I'm at #99 again. I'm barely hanging on LOL.


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## Guest (May 13, 2011)

William Campbell said:


> Same here, and I even reported myself. Same as last time. I have one book free in iBooks since last November.
> 
> I have a hunch. Tell me, David and Jason (and anyone else who has free books elsewhere and wasn't picked up on this freebie) -- where do you publish your print copies? Not CreateSpace, by any chance?
> 
> ...


My print copy is through Createspace.


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## William Campbell (Feb 11, 2010)

Shayne Parkinson said:


> That doesn't apply to me, William. I don't have anything through CreateSpace.


Cool. But do you have print editions through Lightning Source?

I would not have begun to think there's a connection, only it reminded me of the BookLocker vs. Amazon affair...



foreverjuly said:


> My print copy is through Createspace.


That confirms it: I'm simply being delusional (wouldn't be the first time). No conspiracy theory this time.


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## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

William Campbell said:


> Cool. But do you have print editions through Lightning Source?


No, I don't. Looks like it's still mysterious.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

My free book has the Eye of the Tiger. #99 again LOL!


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## MJWare (Jun 25, 2010)

modwitch said:


> My book went free on iBookstore about a four days before the free offer started (I go direct, not through SW). I didn't report myself, and I don't have a print edition. So, mysterious, still .


I have another free ebook (Hide'n Go Coffin), that's free everywhere except Amazon and B&N. I reported it months ago, but it hasn't gone free yet.
A couple more sells for me today too; weekends are normally slow for me, so if I sell more than one over the weekend it will be an improvement.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

modwitch said:


> My book went free on iBookstore about a four days before the free offer started (I go direct, not through SW). I didn't report myself, and I don't have a print edition. So, mysterious, still .


Huh. You can upload a book for free to iBooks without Smashwords?


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## JMelzer (Mar 21, 2010)

MosesSiregarIII said:


> Huh. You can upload a book for free to iBooks without Smashwords?


Only if you have a Mac, I think...


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## Carl246 (Apr 10, 2011)

Well, I don't know about anyone else but I'm seeing increased sales. I've reached number 1 in the top 100 erotic section and number 20 in the all books section. I've had a couple of bad reviews from people who normally read best sellers (which are not my target audience) because they don't normally read smut and think that telling a story like that is unprofessional. lol

I've always thought that some readers don't even bother to look past the top 100, whether that's true or not I have noticed whenever a book of mine is doing well it usually receives the wrong kind of attention when it gets too high up.

Carl


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## JMelzer (Mar 21, 2010)

modwitch said:


> Yup. Like JM says, you need a Mac, but you get total control over pricing. I can set free pricing, start and end dates, and vary it by region (so I could do free only on the UK, for example).


That's pretty cool. I just took the time to finally check it out and I filled out one of their applications. Here's hoping it gets approved


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## Daniel Pyle (Aug 13, 2010)

modwitch said:


> Price changes take several days to show up, as far as I can tell&#8230;


I haven't changed prices much, but mine always seem to go through almost immediately. Within an hour or two for sure.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

modwitch said:


> Mine seemed to show up, but I saw no sales for 4-5 days (and then got 130 or so in one day), so I assumed there was some kind of lag in it showing up on the free lists, or something like that. I've only tried it once, though, so maybe it was just a fluke.
> 
> For other freebie riders, how has volume been today? Mine looks like it will have dropped about 20% from yesterday, maybe a little more.


I had about 3,000 the first day, 1,500 on day two, and maybe 1,000 today if I'm lucky (probably more like 900 today).


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## horse_girl (Apr 9, 2010)

MosesSiregarIII said:


> I had about 3,000 the first day, 1,500 on day two, and maybe 1,000 today if I'm lucky (probably more like 900 today).


I've seen a similar decrease in numbers. From the first day to the second, I saw a decrease of about a third and from day to to three, it was about half. It's still a LOT of books and I'm thrilled, but I wish it would last longer than the five days of the last promo period of indie freebies.

Oh, and while my books aren't free on the DE site, I did sell one of my bestselling Starfire Angels book and it went right to ranking #1200 (by the time I saw it), so they can't be selling too many ebooks on that site yet.


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## nomesque (Apr 12, 2010)

modwitch said:


> For other freebie riders, how has volume been today? Mine looks like it will have dropped about 20% from yesterday, maybe a little more.


About the same as Moses on Amazon US, but half the numbers.  Amazon UK - pretty steady, I think, although downloads are only just starting for today (it's what, 7am there?). I'm wondering if my numbers there might finish up beating my US numbers.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Friday was my best day in the UK.

In the UK, I had exactly 100 on the first day, exactly 51 on the second day, around 120 on day three, and already 60 today. This is great for me, considering how dismal my UK sales have been.


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## Rayo Azul (Mar 1, 2011)

modwitch said:


> I'm with you, Moses - my UK sales have been fairly non-existent, so hopefully this will give them a bit of a kickstart.
> 
> Lots of folks reading their freebies this weekend, I think - I'm starting to see reviews trickle in from people who picked up the free download, and an unusual level of email list sign-ups.


UK sales started more slowly but picked up and seem to be maintaining their pace better. Sales on other books are picking up too.

Where do you see email list sign-ups?


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

modwitch said:


> I have a new releases email list sign-up on my site, and I invite readers to sign up at the end of my books. I normally see 3-4 on a weekend day, and I got 11 yesterday. Traffic to my site has gone through the roof, relatively speaking (it doubled from normal starting Wed, and then doubled again yesterday). I also provide my email addy at the end of the books, and I have a nice bit of fan mail this morning as well.
> 
> All that would suggest people are reading, even though there were so many freebies out there.


I hadn't thought to check my site, but I've had my best traffic ever over the last four days. I had a day with over 1,000 visitors, something I've never had before. I'm sure most of that is due to my giveaway, though.

The freebies continue to slow. In very rough terms, it's been about 50% less each day.


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## MJWare (Jun 25, 2010)

I seem to be right on target with all of you. (almost) 5k downloads in the US, 500 Uk. I've dropped out of the top 100 as well =-(

I haven't checked my site, but I do have a signup list. If you don't have one of these I highly recommend it. I only have 20-30 people signed up, but they are all readers who really enjoy my work. When I publish a new ebook, I send them a free download link. Most download it and a few leave reviews. It's a great way to say, thanks for being a fan, plus I get something out of it in return. Anyway, I've had a few signups for that (I normally only get 3-4 a month).

I think, you guys are right. People will get to reading these in the future. I know last time, I had a few reviews come in months later.


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## Rayo Azul (Mar 1, 2011)

How is everyone doing with this promo?

Sales have now declined significantly after the initial rush in the US, but still seem reasonably steady in the UK.

What's everyone else seeing?


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## ASparrow (Oct 12, 2009)

Rayo Azul said:


> How is everyone doing with this promo?
> 
> Sales have now declined significantly after the initial rush in the US, but still seem reasonably steady in the UK.
> 
> What's everyone else seeing?


Same here. There was a lag at first in the UK, but it's still going at a decent clip. Different patterns, though. I have about 3,500 downloads equally of each of my two books in the USA, but a two to one ratio in the UK (1,200 of my first book and 600 of my second). I'm not sure why that would happen.

I also received my first UK review since the freebie started and it's not good (two stars). The reader apparently expected a completely different kind of story from my blurb and accused me of false advertising. Oh well.


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## nomesque (Apr 12, 2010)

Rayo Azul said:


> How is everyone doing with this promo?
> 
> Sales have now declined significantly after the initial rush in the US, but still seem reasonably steady in the UK.
> 
> What's everyone else seeing?


About that! UK downloads have almost hit the same number as the US store, for me.


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## Rayo Azul (Mar 1, 2011)

Here's an interesting question - how many of us have taken advantage of this promo to download each other's work?

I certainly have


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

6,000 downloads in the US and 500 in the UK for me. I've been running a promotional giveaway and spreading the word, though. Lots of people have helped, something I'm really grateful for.


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## MJWare (Jun 25, 2010)

MosesSiregarIII said:


> 6,000 downloads in the US and 500 in the UK for me. I've been running a promotional giveaway and spreading the word, though. Lots of people have helped, something I'm really grateful for.


I'm close to these numbers 5,300 US over 600 UK. Downloads have slowed down, but remain steady. Last night another book went free: www.amzn.com/B0045JLQAK

The sales of my other books have more than doubled, but my numbers were low to start with. Also yesterday, I've added an 80% preview of my newest novelette to both books and have already sold a few. So, giving people most of a books seems to get some interested enough to buy it for 99¢.

In the front I put a one line ad for my omnibus @ $1.79, that seemed to help sales as well. It's keeps readers from downloading my other 99¢ short collections and just get the ominbus for $1.79, which because it's priced matched, I get 70% on.

I was careful not to make it look cluttered with promotional stuff. There's one line in the beginning, and a couple lines right before the about the author.

So, my sales aren't stellar, but the free give-aways seem to be working.


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## Lynn Mixon (Jan 2, 2011)

modwitch said:


> Yup. Like JM says, you need a Mac, but you get total control over pricing. I can set free pricing, start and end dates, and vary it by region (so I could do free only on the UK, for example).


Can you do it via other Apple products, like an iPad? Seems like there would be an app for that.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

MJAWare said:


> I'm close to these numbers 5,300 US over 600 UK. Downloads have slowed down, but remain steady. Last night another book went free: www.amzn.com/B0045JLQAK


1-clicked! Haha.

It's neat that Amazon is doing more. Maybe they'll be doing this a lot more often.


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## William Campbell (Feb 11, 2010)

Terry Mixon said:


> Can you do it via other Apple products, like an iPad? Seems like there would be an app for that.


I do not believe so. Furthermore, the other requirement for iTunes Producer is system 10.6. That means you must have a newer Intel Mac. Old PowerPC Macs like G4s and G5s won't go past 10.4. Another example of Apple making us upgrade hardware. In with the new, out with the old...


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

modwitch said:


> Dropping in the ranks today, anyone else?


A little, especially in the UK.


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## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

My free one's slowly slipping (#67 last time I looked), but the others in the series are rising steadily, which I'm very pleased about.


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## Iwritelotsofbooks (Nov 17, 2010)

Down to#398 overall, but #10 in Humor.  By the way Debora, you're #3 on the humor list.


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## nomesque (Apr 12, 2010)

modwitch said:


> Dropping in the ranks today, anyone else?


Oooh yeah. Down to #273 in the US. Still hanging by its fingernails to the top 20 in the UK, though.


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## *DrDLN* (dr.s.dhillon) (Jan 19, 2011)

nomesque said:


> Oooh yeah. Down to #273 in the US. Still hanging by its fingernails to the top 20 in the UK, though.


I see lot of you are selling on Amazon UK. Do you promote on UK kindle Users forum. I am just curious.

I assume free books help going up in ranking. May try thru smashwords...


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

There were 16 new freebies today. a couple were KB authors, but only a couple..


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## nomesque (Apr 12, 2010)

*DrDln* (dr.s.dhillon) said:


> I see lot of you are selling on Amazon UK. Do you promote on UK kindle Users forum. I am just curious.


In a fairly limited way, yes... I've made 2 promotional posts on the UK Kindle forum in the last week, 1 in a freebies thread, 1 in a 'Short stories and Quick Reads' thread, both mentioning the freebie and the fact that it's the first of three novelettes.



*DrDln* (dr.s.dhillon) said:


> I assume free books help going up in ranking. May try thru smashwords...


People seem to have most success with fiction when the freebie is part of a series. I'm not sure what effect the freebie being non-fiction might have. An interesting experiment, though!


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

I'm dropping a bit, still with a nice steady trickle of downloads, though. 4000+ US sales, and just under 1000 UK sales.

I can't say it boosted my other sales. My sales were very slow before it started, and came to a complete stop while it was going -- though _Have Gun, Will Play_ has started up a trickle of sales again.

I wonder if they'll end the sale all at once, or if the books which were added late will get an extra day at the end.

Camille


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## MJWare (Jun 25, 2010)

BTackitt said:


> There were 16 new freebies today. a couple were KB authors, but only a couple..


Interesting thing is this book is only available on Amazon, not sure why it went free (it wasn't the one I was hoping would go free). It's one of the same stories that's included in _Monster in the Mirror_ (my other free ebook) and so I never promoted it, I sold maybe one a week--if that.

I have a free ebook called, "Steven, Space Stowaway" out, but on Amazon the title is different, "Steven, Space Stowaway and Rolling Leprechauns for Change". The cover was almost the same, but the text was different. So, I'm really not sure why it's free (but I'm not complaining)!

As soon as I got the message from Amazon I downloaded it and the formatting was a little wonky (it was the second book I ever uploaded). I couldn't even find the original file. I stayed up late to rebuild it and added that 8 chapter preview of my novelette, just to make sure I didn't garner any bad reviews based on formatting (and probably a couple typos). Also, it didn't take 24 hours to go free, it was free by the time I uploaded a new version, about 3 hours later.

It hasn't made it into the top 100 (it got to about 124), but I'm going to do a push tomorrow and see if I can't get it up there. _Monster in the Mirror_ has slowly fallen, it's in the 200's now. But, I'd be thrilled if it just keep going at, say, 100 downloads a day.


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## MJWare (Jun 25, 2010)

daringnovelist said:


> I'm dropping a bit, still with a nice steady trickle of downloads, though. 4000+ US sales, and just under 1000 UK sales.
> I can't say it boosted my other sales. My sales were very slow before it started, and came to a complete stop while it was going -- though _Have Gun, Will Play_ has started up a trickle of sales again.
> I wonder if they'll end the sale all at once, or if the books which were added late will get an extra day at the end.
> Camille


Maybe it's wishful thinking, but I have a feeling they might leave them for free. I've always argued the cost of free downloads is small, as most kindles are either wifi only, or are normally in range of a wifi network.

Also, look at _Soul Identity_. It's been free for months (I'm almost sure he went free right after the terms changed). That's because Dennis got in before they even had DTP. A lot of our books were already free once, so I see no reason why they can't continue that way?

Yes, a little bit of wishful thinking, but I really think Amazon might be reacting to all the free ebooks over at B&N and Apple.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

MJAWare said:


> Maybe it's wishful thinking, but I have a feeling they might leave them for free. I've always argued the cost of free downloads is small, as most kindles are either wifi only, or are normally in range of a wifi network.
> 
> Also, look at _Soul Identity_. It's been free for months (I'm almost sure he went free right after the terms changed). That's because Dennis got in before they even had DTP. A lot of our books were already free once, so I see no reason why they can't continue that way?
> 
> Yes, a little bit of wishful thinking, but I really think Amazon might be reacting to all the free ebooks over at B&N and Apple.


We'll see. The Bellhound was already back to 99 cents when they made it free (but just that day for some of the partners). If htey are matching, it should eventually trickle back to 99 cents. (Or if you're right that they might just leave it there, those who want out should be able to manually change it once the price rises elsewhere.)

Camille


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## isaacsweeney (Jan 1, 2011)

MJAWare said:


> Maybe it's wishful thinking, but I have a feeling they might leave them for free. I've always argued the cost of free downloads is small, as most kindles are either wifi only, or are normally in range of a wifi network.
> 
> Also, look at _Soul Identity_. It's been free for months (I'm almost sure he went free right after the terms changed). That's because Dennis got in before they even had DTP. A lot of our books were already free once, so I see no reason why they can't continue that way?
> 
> Yes, a little bit of wishful thinking, but I really think Amazon might be reacting to all the free ebooks over at B&N and Apple.


Mine's always free everywhere else. Why would they raise the price back up?


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## Jon Olson (Dec 10, 2010)

Half-Orc said:


> They're matching iBookstore, not B&N (Land of Ash isn't free there, but is on iBooks). And last time it was...a week, I think?


So, were you giving them away on iBookstore, or was that the site's idea?


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

Jon Olson said:


> So, were you giving them away on iBookstore, or was that the site's idea?


I chose the free price on Smashwords and chose it to be sent to the iBookstore from there at that price.


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## Rayo Azul (Mar 1, 2011)

Half-Orc said:


> I chose the free price on Smashwords and chose it to be sent to the iBookstore from there at that price.


That would make sense, as that's what I did too. However, I have a short story which has always been free on SW and iB, which missed out on this promo.


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## MJWare (Jun 25, 2010)

MJAWare said:


> Just got this 2-star review, "This eBook offers two rather forgettable short stories, and literally took me four minutes to read them both. I am glad they were free, and wish I could have those four minutes back as the writing is weak, and the space story is not very realistic. Save your time."
> -At least he didn't see any typos or formatting issues, probably saved me from a 1 star review.
> The funny thing is, right before I saw his review, I got a google alert from him posting a link to my ebook on his blog. So, I went and left him a nice thank you message. Then, I click on the link and see this--that will ruin your day! Still, I guess it's better to be nice (though if I realized, I probably wouldn't have posted a thank you).
> Oh well, I'll still try to make it into the top 100, but doubt it will happen now.


You are not going to believe this, the guy saw my thank you post, realized they were MG stories, and *changed his ranking to 4 stars*. Wow, that's a nice thing to do!!! He would have been justified in leaving it as it; especially since the cover doesn't really look MG.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

I may contact them about my freebies, or I may not.  This has stopped my other sales dead, (though I hope more trickle in later as people read the books).  I would be curious to see whether there is a residual effect of sales on the books which were offered as free -- in particular Bellhound, which does not have any tie in books.

Also, I'm curious as to what happens as the "also boughts" trickle back to their normal prices.  If your book has a bunch of free books as the "also boughts," does that create a negative impression on your reader?  (And if you raise the price on your book, and it appears in a selection of "also boughts" on another book, will it look good in comparison to the others which are still free?)

This, of course, is exactly the sort of thing we shouldn't be obsessing over, but it is an interesting thought....

And the other question is: is this not a one time deal then?  Is Amazon going to match free prices from now on?  (Maybe I should test it by making another book free for a while....  This it the good thing about having a lot of "little" books.)

Camille


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## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

Thanks for sharing that, Debora! It does sound as though they'll keep books free indefinitely if they're free elsewhere.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

We should definitely keep each other apprised.

Here's another thing I wonder: in the past Amazon did the free thing in a limited way and promoted it.  This time, they seem to have simply changed policies -- that is, just made stuff free and did nothing themselves to announce it, just left it to the authors and those who happen to search for freebies.  

Well, at the beginning of this round, nobody had any reason to suspect that it wasn't another short time one-shot, so we got a big bounce.  I wonder if people will get that level of bounce in the future at all.  (Also, if there is a bit of a "gold rush" to get free titles out there, will we all see really awful sales for our books generally as customers keep looking for freebies?  If so, I expect that will correct itself eventually, but we could have a terrible summer while it shakes out.)

Camille


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## nomesque (Apr 12, 2010)

modwitch said:


> Me: contacted kdp support and asked how long books would be free.
> Response: as long as it's free elsewhere (sounds like good news for many of you!)
> (*snip*)
> Sounds like those of you who want to stay free might get quite the ride, however!


Ahhh, that's interesting! I'm happy to keep mine free, I think. It won't get as much publicity or downloads as in the last week, but it should still be worth the loss of income (about $17/month). Sales of the other two books in the series have been good enough to make me optimistic. I only had one of those available last month, but sales of that title are triple those of all last month in the US, 5 times those of all last month in the UK.

I do think that the perceived value of freebies might diminish a little if there are a large number of indie titles available permanently. That could lead to less excitement about new freebies and less interest in freebie-reporting sites. It'll be interesting to see what happens.


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## nomesque (Apr 12, 2010)

modwitch said:


> A lot of freebies long term might also have an interesting effect on the $0.99 price point...


Mmm... true. That'll be another interesting aspect of this to watch.

Ya know, in one sense, free IS my 99c. My most popular series (the first of which is my freebie) is made up of novelettes - around 10k words each. Word-count-wise, 99c is actually on the expensive end of the indie market (equivalent to selling a 50k-word novel for $5). So making the first of the series more enticing price-wise really requires - free download.


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## Will Write for Gruel (Oct 16, 2010)

modwitch said:


> Yup. Although I was emailing with somebody in customer support, so it's possible that was just the standard answer, and didn't apply specifically to this group that went free all at once. Who knows.
> 
> A lot of freebies long term might also have an interesting effect on the $0.99 price point...


I'd imagine anyone with a series out with the first at $0.99 would make it free if sales slowed. You're not giving up a lot if your sales volume is relative low. Even at 100 sales a month, that's still only 35 dollars, or the cost of a day's banner ad on these boards.


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## MJWare (Jun 25, 2010)

A huge number of downloads is nice. Being able to say, hey, this title's been downloaded over 25,000 times sounds great. However, I'm more interested in findings readers. That's a little harder for me, as my readers are teens or adults who read upper-MG. So, I think, in the long run having a couple free ebooks will help out. It's helped my sales so far.

My results may not be typical, especially for authors who are already selling a fair number of books. I'l continue to share my results here, and hope to read about others' too.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

nomesque said:


> Ya know, in one sense, free IS my 99c. My most popular series (the first of which is my freebie) is made up of novelettes - around 10k words each. Word-count-wise, 99c is actually on the expensive end of the indie market (equivalent to selling a 50k-word novel for $5). So making the first of the series more enticing price-wise really requires - free download.


That's how I feel.

Free is an obvious "special." Even a gift. People may or may not value it or care about it... but they don't mistake "free" for a standard price. They know it's a special. 99 cents is more of a mixed message about value. They have to consider -- is it something that is regularly _worth_ 99 cents? Or is it just on sale, and worth more normally?

Unless they get major complaints from vendors, I expect Amazon to be patient with any revenue losses. They tend to eat such losses in order to expand market share. A wave of freebies will definitely make Kindles even more attractive.

Camille


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Wow, Debora, thanks for bringing the incredible news. I'm pinching myself because I've always wanted this one to be free.


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## aaronpolson (Apr 4, 2010)

Noob here:

Won't this just drive a number of authors to go free at Smashwords (and elsewhere) in hope of making a free list in the future? 

If so, what long term effect will this have--author's have already raced each other for the bottom...


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

aaronpolson said:


> Noob here:
> 
> Won't this just drive a number of authors to go free at Smashwords (and elsewhere) in hope of making a free list in the future?


Yes.



> If so, what long term effect will this have--author's have already raced each other for the bottom...


The Bad: Overall sales will suffer because people will read more free books and fewer paid books.

The Good: For any given author, this has the potential to be a huge boon. It puts a lot more power and control in the hands of authors who will use free books to generate interest in their other works.

The Verdict: Awesome victory for indies. Each of us will have a greater shot to earn a significant following. Some will do worse and some will do better, but each of us will have more powerful options.


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## aaronpolson (Apr 4, 2010)

modwitch said:


> Depends who amazon picks up, Aaron. I think most of us who got matched were doing it somewhere other than smashwords, though.


I figured as much, but with Smashwords expanded distro, "free" books do trickle into the system, right? At least I know I have two free books on Barnes & Noble via expanded distribution. I'm just curious to see how this all plays out in the end.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

modwitch said:


> Maybe just an anomaly that will correct in an hour, maybe it's only in the UK - but, it may be that amazon watched one too many trad pubs make a book free, ride it to the top 100, and then make a pile of money on the way down? So you can make a book free, but free sales won't count when you switch back to paid?


My guess is that the free books won't transfer to paid ranking -- but the also-boughts will, and that will help you gain sales anyway.

Camille


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## nomesque (Apr 12, 2010)

aaronpolson said:


> Won't this just drive a number of authors to go free at Smashwords (and elsewhere) in hope of making a free list in the future?


Yes, I'm sure a number of authors will follow suit. It's a marketing strategy, of course. But like many marketing strategies, it'll have different results for different people... except that the people who did it first will probably benefit more than the late-adopters.



aaronpolson said:


> If so, what long term effect will this have--author's have already raced each other for the bottom...


The important point to remember is that authors all have different goals and strategies for reaching those goals - and readers all have different goals for the sort of reading material they want, and different strategies for obtaining it.

If an author is primarily seeking a reader base, they'll now have better access to the people who own Kindles and _love_ freebies. However, the only effect more indie freebies will have on the low-volume high-quality high-price crowd is possible annoyance that their recommendations are getting skewed. The authors most likely to lose sales are those who *rely primarily* on a low price point (99c - $3) to sell their books.

As always, though - anyone who bases their business on one single strategy, especially one that relies on the market not changing, is more likely to run into problems. *shrug*


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

aaronpolson said:


> Won't this just drive a number of authors to go free at Smashwords (and elsewhere) in hope of making a free list in the future?


Drive them? Those that will do it are already there, mostly.

It might drive some who had avoided Smashwords to now start using them, though, specifically for the free books feature.

Camille


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## MJWare (Jun 25, 2010)

modwitch said:


> So, I have a sales rank in the UK now, and it's veeerrrry interesting - 141,000. Yeah. That's most definitely not reflecting the 2,300 free downloads in the last week.
> 
> Maybe just an anomaly that will correct in an hour, maybe it's only in the UK - but, it may be that amazon watched one too many trad pubs make a book free, ride it to the top 100, and then make a pile of money on the way down? So you can make a book free, but free sales won't count when you switch back to paid?
> 
> If so, it's a very recent algo change - I watched a book peel off of free into the top 100 just a few days ago.


Interesting, let us know how this plays out. Last time I fell off the free list I fell onto the top 100 of the paid list. Made quite a few sales that way.

BTW: Am I the only one who had a free ebook returned? One out of almost 9k isn't bad, but it was a free book, why bother returning it, just delete it.


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## Ryne Billings (May 15, 2011)

MJAWare said:


> Interesting, let us know how this plays out. Last time I fell off the free list I fell onto the top 100 of the paid list. Made quite a few sales that way.
> 
> BTW: Am I the only one who had a free ebook returned? One out of almost 9k isn't bad, but it was a free book, why bother returning it, just delete it.


They... returned a free book?


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## Iwritelotsofbooks (Nov 17, 2010)

I'd love for our book to stay free forever.  It's been free at B&N for months and has consistently ranked well despite other free books out there.  Besides, my book was designed to be free as a bridge to my other work.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

30+ new freebies tonight.. the only KB authors I recognized were David McAfee & Scott Nicholson.


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## aaronpolson (Apr 4, 2010)

Seems like too many moving parts for Amazon to watch properly.


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## John H. Carroll (Nov 26, 2010)

3 of my 5 short stories have been price matched and are now free!  I'm hoping that the other two will go free soon too.   Both of my demented children stories were included.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

Yep. 7 new ones this afternoon, John Carroll's are in the batch.. BTW John, I snagged the demented children ones.. for my teens.. trust me, they are demented.


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## John H. Carroll (Nov 26, 2010)

BTackitt said:


> Yep. 7 new ones this afternoon, John Carroll's are in the batch.. BTW John, I snagged the demented children ones.. for my teens.. trust me, they are demented.


Sweet! They should get a kick out of them. My kids did and they're definitely demented. *grin*


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Here's a mini-factoid:

I have given away four or five times as many books in the U.S. as U.K.  So far, no reviews in the U.S. (although I did get a "like" or two, I think).  In the U.K. I have a nice new review on each book.

Camille


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

modwitch said:


> I don't think the UK had the same kind of freebie insanity, definitely not the first day. If readers picked books simply genre browsing in the UK, then likely they picked up less, and will get to reading them more quickly. I got a couple of UK reviews as well, and that's very nice for a book that was looking very naked.


Given the population size difference (and the fact that Kindle is still new over there) I would say that they were grabbing up freebies at around the same rate or better. However, I'm sure you're right that the general attitude of freebies customers is different.

BTW, I think I'm holding steady or even improving on the rate of downloads over the past few days. (The U.K. downloads may even be beating the U.S. at the moment. I didn't record it, so I can't be sure.)

Camille


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## Iwritelotsofbooks (Nov 17, 2010)

We've fallen to #586 in Free books.  We didn't even realize there were 585 other free books left at this point.


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## nomesque (Apr 12, 2010)

daringnovelist said:


> Here's a mini-factoid:
> 
> I have given away four or five times as many books in the U.S. as U.K. So far, no reviews in the U.S. (although I did get a "like" or two, I think). In the U.K. I have a nice new review on each book.


Interesting!

So far DEAD(ish) has:

- 4200 downloads in the US, 4500-odd downloads in the UK
- 3 new reviews in the US (1 copied over from the UK site), 7 new reviews in the UK

UK is far more consistent in daily downloads... started slowly but they're the tortoise to the US's hare, for me. 

I suspect my numbers are skewed toward the UK a bit, because DEAD(ish) has been free in the US store before, and many of the American freebie-lovers already had it.


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## John H. Carroll (Nov 26, 2010)

This is fun!  "Emo Bunny" has been downloaded 2145 times, "Zachary Zombie" 1390 times, and "Test Pilot" 1159 times since they went free yesterday around noon.

Even better, Emo is ranked 73 in the Kindle free store, Zachary is 110 and Test Pilot is ranked 127. 

Most importantly,  I've had 3 sales of my first book today, where I only had 1 in May before that. 

It's also garnered me more attention on Goodreads too, which I consider a bonus.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Just FYI, after a complete shut out for nearly a week on my non-free books, I seem to have a sudden trickle on Have Gun, Will Play -- the book most related to Scattershale -- and I even sold one in the U.K.

I've given away 6227 copies of my freebies now (including US and UK -- not including what was given away from Smashwords and partners outside of this).

Camille


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

modwitch said:


> Interesting. I had a sudden uptick in UK sales today, but on the book that was free. UK sales are an utter mystery to me. I hope you see more cross-over to your other books, Camille. I know they don't connect together terrifically well at the moment, but I think there are at least some pretty flexible readers out there.


Here's what I see happening (this is just from studies and personal experience of how people become aware of midlist writers):

When you read a book, or a short story even, you may not remember the author a year from now when the next book is out. But the more you come across, the more you remember. And the more imperative it becomes to seek things out. They did a little survey on Crimespace asking how many books does it take before a reader starts "following" a series -- and the standard answer was seven. (Not the average answer, but rather most people answered seven.) Many won't even start a series until seven books, others simply feel it takes that many to get the series into their mental system. So, given that:

I've got a number of Mick and Casey novelettes, and more collections of short stories, as well as another novel follow up for each. I will definitely rotate the novelettes and short story collections as freebies on Smashwords and friends, and I would hope to get Amazon to offer them too.

Somebody reads a book of mine (or just downloads a book of mine) and they may not consciously remember me or look for me. But in the next free promo, they may see something else, and it looks a little familiar and they download it, and then when they read it, they've got that much more to remember. And I've got more novels up. The opportunity for hitting that magic "seven books and they're committed" grows with time. Giveaways help, but that can also take time.

Camille


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

You're doing a great job on branding, and so that really helps.  And I agree that connecting them to the series is a great way to go.

I've been thinking again about how I discovered so many of my favorite writers and series.  It was the library for me.  Free, easy, and I could load up for summer reading.  Which is a lot like Amazon's freebies too.  The main thing is that we can pick up momentum with time.

In the meantime, my shoulder is still bugging me, but I finally was able to type more today, and I figured out what has been killing Chapter 12 on the W.I.P. for so very long.  THE turning point it needs to make it more than a mere transition.  Now my shoulder hurts again, but I am happy.

Camille


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## marshacanham (Jul 30, 2010)

MJAWare said:


> BTW: Am I the only one who had a free ebook returned? One out of almost 9k isn't bad, but it was a free book, why bother returning it, just delete it.


LOL nope, you're not the only one. I've had a book free on Amazon since Thursday and out of 27K downloads, 14 people returned it. I also have to ask...why? Why not just delete them?

As to the strategy behind the free books...it's like samples they give out in a grocery store when you're shopping. You taste it, you like it, you buy more. Last month, purely by accident my book Swept Away was suddenly free on Amazon. There was a coupon giveaway over at SW for BacklistEbooks group, which I am a member of, and someone at Amazon got wind of it and reduced the price on SA. In a 24hr period, 38K copies were downloaded free and I had ten conniptions, badgering the poor fellow at Amazon until he restored the price to the usual 2.99. What I noticed after, however, was that people kept buying it...to the tune of 8K more, plus there was spillover to my other three books, all of which saw noticable increases in sales. This month, I did it deliberately, lowering the price of Bound by the Heart first to .99 at Smashwords, which Amazon picked up within two days and price matched, then to 0.00 at SW, which took Amazon almost three weeks before they matched it. They finally put the 0.00 price on it Thursday night. It shot almost instantly to #3 on the top 100 freebie list and has been there ever since. Another of my books, The Wind and the Sea has been reaping the benefits, which is the whole point behind the loss leader, as it were. It has risen as high as #72 on the top 100 paid bestseller list and currently hovers anywhere between 83 and 97 (numbers fluctuate hour by hour) I haven't decided yet how long I'll leave it free. This is all fairly new to a lot of us so we're all trying different strategies to see what works. Sharing what succeeds and what maybe doesn't work so well, surely will, in the long run, help us all navigate through the brave new world of indie publishing.


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## Iwritelotsofbooks (Nov 17, 2010)

How many people's books are still Free?  I've noticed some have gone back to their paid price, but I'm hoping Amazon will keep mine free a while longer.


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## Kevis Hendrickson (Feb 28, 2009)

lacymarankevinmichael said:


> How many people's books are still Free? I've noticed some have gone back to their paid price, but I'm hoping Amazon will keep mine free a while longer.


Mine's still free. If I read the response letter Deborah got from Amazon correctly, the free book price is here to stay (assuming you don't change the price elsewhere). But anything's possible so far as Amazon's concerned.


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## MJWare (Jun 25, 2010)

Kevis Hendrickson said:


> Mine's still free. If I read the response letter Deborah got from Amazon correctly, the free book price is here to stay (assuming you don't change the price elsewhere). But anything's possible so far as Amazon's concerned.


Both of mine are still free. I have a 3rd that is free elsewhere, but hasn't gone free on Amazon (yet). My downloads have slowed down, but are still kicking. Only one review so far, some "likes" & sales of my other titles are picking up some; probably people getting around to reading the freebies--or maybe kids who've finally pestered either parents enough to buy the omnibus.


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## A. S. Warwick (Jan 14, 2011)

Mine is still free - but hasn't had anywhere near the downloads of some others from here.  Hopefully it stays free in the long term while I expand on the collection.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

modwitch said:


> Your shoulder issue sounds like a royal pain, but I'm glad you unstuck your WIP. I enjoy following your writing process on your blog very much - it helps make visible some of the "tools" seasoned writers use, and reassures me that we all write ourselves into corners sometimes!


The shoulder = my own fault. But I should be mostly done with the the things that truly aggravate it. (Day Job issues -- I'll have to do a little tomorrow.)

As for the blog, it's always hard to figure the balance of what to record. I can bore _myself_ on some of the things I obsess about. But I'm glad to find that several people do seem to like the process posts. And when it comes to writing ourselves into corners... some authors do it intentionally. And certainly it's heartening to see that even highly prolific authors who are very "achievement" oriented (DWS) will set goals and then just completely blow them off.

Camille


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## Laura Lond (Nov 6, 2010)

I've just gotten the email about Fair Price! Happy Dance!


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## ASparrow (Oct 12, 2009)

daringnovelist said:


> The shoulder = my own fault. But I should be mostly done with the the things that truly aggravate it. (Day Job issues -- I'll have to do a little tomorrow.)
> 
> As for the blog, it's always hard to figure the balance of what to record. I can bore _myself_ on some of the things I obsess about. But I'm glad to find that several people do seem to like the process posts. And when it comes to writing ourselves into corners... some authors do it intentionally. And certainly it's heartening to see that even highly prolific authors who are very "achievement" oriented (DWS) will set goals and then just completely blow them off.
> 
> Camille


I can relate to the shoulder issue. I've lost a ton of mobility there. I had a fall this winter that must have torn something when my elbow hit the pavement (along with spraining my ankle). I did not seek medical attention, which was likely a mistake. Oddly, my good shoulder is now almost as bad, perhaps from overcompensating for the first shoulder. I can forget about scratching my back for a while. Reaching to the side triggers excruciating muscle spasms (at least I think that's what they are). Starting a lawnmower has been a real treat these days.

I can also relate to the corner issue. My remedy had been to initiate three WIPs which has had the effect of getting me stuck into three corners. (Although, one's not really a corner it's just a lack of inspiration.) And another is a middle grade novel that has vocabulary better suited for adults. The third corner is genuine. My thriller does not know where it wants to go.

On the free downloads front, I continue to rack them up at a moderate pace (4,500 since the freebies began (1,700 UK)). I'm sinking on the main lists, but hanging in on the sub-genre listings. Those poor readers who attempt to read my cryptic and opaque stories with their feeble anti-heroes and anticlimaxes! I wish them the best. Maybe it's not such a good thing to have so many downloads, but some people seem to like these stories or at least find them intriguing. At least they're well-edited.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

20 new freebies tonight.. some are VERY short.. 15kb, and others are full length novels.. >400kb


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## John H. Carroll (Nov 26, 2010)

My other two are up now in that group.   That makes all 5 of my short stories are available for free.  

"The Emo Bunny that Should" is being downloaded at an amazing pace since it was put on there Friday.   It's been downloaded 7240 times, ranked #16 in the free kindle store top 100.  It's also #1 in children's books. . . . those poor children! 

I'm hoping they all stay permanently free.


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## marshacanham (Jul 30, 2010)

Well, my book was free up until tonight when I just checked and the price went back up to .99, even though BBTH is still free at Smashwords.  It hit #3 on the Top 100 freebie list, and #1 on the historical romance list.  Tonight's numbers show 33K downloads over the weekend, so here's hoping the sales keep coming at .99.

I never did get an email from Amazon, they just dropped the price without notice, and now raised it again without notice. Interesting.


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## John H. Carroll (Nov 26, 2010)

marshacanham said:


> Well, my book was free up until tonight when I just checked and the price went back up to .99, even though BBTH is still free at Smashwords. It hit #3 on the Top 100 freebie list, and #1 on the historical romance list. Tonight's numbers show 33K downloads over the weekend, so here's hoping the sales keep coming at .99.
> 
> I never did get an email from Amazon, they just dropped the price without notice, and now raised it again without notice. Interesting.


I saw yours up there. 33k?! wow, that's amazing. I love your covers btw. I'm not into romance, but they look amazing.


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## marshacanham (Jul 30, 2010)

kookoo88 said:


> I saw yours up there. 33k?! wow, that's amazing. I love your covers btw. I'm not into romance, but they look amazing.


Up to 38K today and still going.

And thanks for the compliment about my covers. I have fun doing them. I have another ready to go...just as soon as I get the book finished LOL


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

marshacanham said:


> Up to 38K today and still going.


Goooollllly!


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## William Campbell (Feb 11, 2010)

Got my first title free at last, free at last...

Not completely sure, but it may have made a difference -- Amazon seemed to ignore my "lower price elsewhere" reports, but then I realized, I was reporting myself through my author/publisher Amazon account, rather than my personal Amazon account to which my Kindle is associated. Duh. Seems that Amazon acts when a Kindle owner speaks out and takes the rest with a grain of salt. Makes sense. Or it all could be a coincidence and I just had to be patient.

At any rate, Awakening went free early a.m. and took off like a Saturn V to the Moon. And now, 24 hours later, sales of books 2 and 3 are picking up, which was the whole idea. I started doing the "free book 1" idea at iBooks last fall, following the example set by Half-Orc. Indeed, offering one book for free does sell later books in the series.

EDIT: other pertinent information -- I reported both Sony and Kobo to Amazon, which are listing the title for free via Smashwords.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

sigh.. too bad Amazon wouldn't retroactively go back and refund anyone who paid for these freebies in the past, I'd have a HUGE credit right now. HUUUUUGE


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## yomamma (Feb 10, 2011)

My story FOREPLAY (a prequel to my Pocket series) just got marked as free...after being free for 7 months everywhere else. Go figure!


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## DonnaBurgess (Jan 1, 2011)

I just noticed one of my books is now free at Amazon. I lowered the price with Smashwords only two weeks ago. I don't know if it helped, but after changing the price to free at Smashwords, I had a few of my friends alert Amazon of a lower price elsewhere. And now, Bam! A freebie  I just hope readers find this set of stories interesting enough to possibly pay for something later.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004LROWWU


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## rudykerkhoven (Aug 23, 2010)

Hey, just found this thread again, and now that it's been almost 4 weeks since this deluge of free titles went up, I was wondering how many of you still have your books for free?  I clicked on several, and they were all still at $0.00.  Is there anyone who wishes that the sale would end, or is everyone happy with the indefinite sale...

Mine went free about 48 hours ago, and I think it's great, I just wonder how long it will last for.  I've put another book of mine for free at Smashwords to see if lightning will strike twice.


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## A. S. Warwick (Jan 14, 2011)

Mine has been free since the start of the push - and I hope it stays that way.  It is a good source of publicity and can only help drive sales of other stories if people enjoy it enough.


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## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

Still free, and I'm very happy about that.


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

Both still free.


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## nomesque (Apr 12, 2010)

rudykerkhoven said:


> Hey, just found this thread again, and now that it's been almost 4 weeks since this deluge of free titles went up, I was wondering how many of you still have your books for free? I clicked on several, and they were all still at $0.00. Is there anyone who wishes that the sale would end, or is everyone happy with the indefinite sale...


I'm happy so far. Sales on the other books in the DEAD(ish) series have steadied to quadruple the average of previous months. That's well worth the 'lost' sales on the first, in my opinion.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Yep. Still free. Still lovin' it.


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## Henry WK (Apr 3, 2011)

Took to opportunity to load up on a few authors/books that caught my eye, including outside of my usual genres.

Good showing everyone. I look forward to reading your stories.


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## AJB (Jul 9, 2010)

At the time of writing my book's still free on .com, but is back to being 69p on .co.uk - and it looks like others have gone the same way.

Amanda


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## Rayo Azul (Mar 1, 2011)

AJB said:


> At the time of writing my book's still free on .com, but is back to being 69p on .co.uk - and it looks like others have gone the same way.
> 
> Amanda


Yep, can agree with this. Right now still free on .com, but I am guessing that this will be curtailed soon.

Never mind that it is still free on Smashwords, the experiment seems to be moving on to the next phase


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## Iwritelotsofbooks (Nov 17, 2010)

Also still free and hoping it lasts forever.


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## rudykerkhoven (Aug 23, 2010)

With so many people having their books put on for free, then I have to ask: are there any authors who are reading this who have made their books free at Smashwords (or some other site) and have yet to see a similar price reduction take place at Amazon.com (assuming you've given Amazon at least a month, or so...)


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## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

AJB said:


> At the time of writing my book's still free on .com, but is back to being 69p on .co.uk - and it looks like others have gone the same way.
> 
> Amanda


Yes, same here. Back to 69p on the .uk site, still free (for now) on .com.


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## ascepticalmedium (Mar 18, 2011)

I'd love to know what would happen with mine if one was made free by Kindle. At the moment, the most interesting thing to me is that the two highest priced ones are the ones I sell most of everywhere and not just on here.


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## A. S. Warwick (Jan 14, 2011)

Mine is no longer free on UK either - so I guess it is a case of getting in and getting in for free on the US side while it still lasts.


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