# I'm going to give you my biggest Pearl...



## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

I don't want to be overwhelmed with competition, ha ha, (or invite drive by one stars for success - bites lip in fear!) but I love you guys so I want you to know my amazement / joy / surprise / and, ultimately, possibly a monster tip to boost sales:

A Christmas Short Story! Write it now - get it up NOW! (and make it free if you can!)

Obviously write it in your own genre so that it grabs the right kind of readers that will then be interested in your other stuff and link it madly to your other books, but get it out there as fast as you can type and edit the darn thing!!

I have a Christmas Short Story of only 7k words, it is young adult, the cover is from Fiverr, and it is free. Right now this book is getting *over 1,000 downloads a day* (between Amazon US and Amazon UK), _every single day_ (it picked up from one to two hundred a day as soon as we hit November).

It's had over 30k downloads so far this month just on these two sites (I have not checked all the other platforms/countries in detail), with not a single bit of marketing. None.

A part of me so wishes I was charging for this book, but it is seriously short and it was always meant only as a loss-leader to link to my other work. (and it probably wouldnt be so popular if it was not free, lets be honest). But total cost for me was $5 for the cover and $14 to get it proofed. How is that not worth it? 

It's currently sitting at #33 Free in the entire Kindle store UK! and Amazon US Best Sellers Rank: #83 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Teen & Young Adult > Romance > Contemporary
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 45 minutes (22-32 pages) > Teen & Young Adult

Anyway, just thought that anyone wanting a boost at this time of year might seriously want to consider doing the same sort of thing 










_Sorry, Evenstar, no links!. --Betsy_


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## pwtucker (Feb 12, 2011)

Interesting! Perhaps a 7k Paranormal Romance Christmas short is in order from my pen name... thanks for the tip!


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## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

This is very interesting. Wonder if people would be interested in an alien Christmas story


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## Joseph J Bailey (Jun 28, 2013)

How about an epic fantasy Christmas?

Congratulations on all the DL's!


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## mojomikey (Apr 9, 2014)

What a great idea! I'm going to start working on 2 right now - one on working Christmas as a firefighter, one in my series! And I think I'll present it as a challenge to my writing group.


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## Queen Mab (Sep 9, 2011)

It's a lovely little cover, Stella.


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## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

Is there a special "Seasonal" category?


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## Mark E. Cooper (May 29, 2011)

Patty Jansen said:


> This is very interesting. Wonder if people would be interested in an alien Christmas story


How about a cease fire at Christmas between an alien and human space fleet? Could work Patty!


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## KaiW (Mar 11, 2014)

Great numbers, congrats, but are you also seeing good sell-through to your others from this?


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## Queen Mab (Sep 9, 2011)

And what if Amazon didn't price match? Maybe I'm just a pessimist...


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

KaiW said:


> Great numbers, congrats, but are you also seeing good sell-through to your others from this?


To be honest I'm not seeing a huge amount more sales than I would expect anyway at this time of year, but I am getting quite a lot of mailing list sign-ups. I think that the readers want only Christmas themed stuff right now, but I'll get them in the new year when I hit the mailing list then and they are not so hooked on seasonal reading. Another theory I have is that people download and don't always read the very same day, so I think this should have a tail.

Plus it is keeping my name out there, I'm now in the top 100 storewide for UK, US, NL and MX, and I've had two requests for author interviews this weekend, which I'm sure must be off the back of this book going bonkers. It all helps, right?


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## Kate. (Oct 7, 2014)

Congrats, Stella!   

Do you see many sales in countries without price-matching (such as Australia)?


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

Patty Jansen said:


> Is there a special "Seasonal" category?


I think there are a couple under other different categories, in the US I used the Juvenile Fiction one which does have a Christmas Category and in the Uk, this showed up on its own: #6 in Kindle Store > Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Holidays


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## hopecartercan (Jun 19, 2015)

Just wanna say thanks for the advice. It's so, so very generous of you.


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## KGGiarratano (Aug 14, 2013)

I'm totally doing this next year. I'm doing too much to get a book ready for release next month, but a Christmas mystery sounds fun.


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

Darcy said:


> Congrats, Stella!
> 
> Do you see many sales in countries without price-matching (such as Australia)?


Australia yes, but not much anywhere else


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## Randall Wood (Mar 31, 2014)

But....

What do serial killers DO on Christmas? I mean, I know what they do on New Years, but Christmas?

Wait...don't answer that.


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## GrandFenwick (Aug 24, 2015)

This sounds like great advice. Leonard wrote a couple of Christmas shorts. Dumb question: does Amazon allow you to list something for free?


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## Anarchist (Apr 22, 2015)

KGGiarratano said:


> I'm totally doing this next year. I'm doing too much to get a book ready for release next month, but a Christmas mystery sounds fun.


Another option is to start with a list of major holidays and write a short story around each one. For example, cozy mysteries with the following as the main characters:

- a mother (Mother's Day)
- a father (Father's Day)
- a military vet (Veteran's Day)
- someone who lost a loved one in a war (Memorial Day)

Fill the rest of the year with shorts centered on Thanksgiving, Independence Day, Labor Day and Malcolm X Day (just kidding). That way, you'll have a full calendar of short stories finding new readers and giving your books more visibility. 

You could even create a series of shorts that focus on a major character of an existing series.


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## KGGiarratano (Aug 14, 2013)

Anarchist said:


> Another option is to start with a list of major holidays and write a short story around each one. For example, cozy mysteries with the following as the main characters:
> 
> - a mother (Mother's Day)
> - a father (Father's Day)
> ...


Actually, I'm working on the first book in a cozy mystery series and my main character is Jewish. So, I'm going to write a Hanukkah themed mystery for next year. But I could write a Christmas themed story to go with my YA series that I'm publishing this year and next. The possibilities are endless.


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## CherieMarks (Oct 10, 2011)

Thank you for sharing! I have a writer friend who wrote a short for Christmas, Valentine's, and Fourth of July. She saw incredible growth from just those three, and I keep meaning to try each year. Nice to have such a terrific group of writers who continually share successes just for the idea that it might help someone else. Going to go one-click your Christmas short right now.


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## J.T. Williams (Aug 7, 2014)

Odd, I had thought a Folklore-ish Krampus fantasy tale for this wonderful season. This is a good idea. I will have to see if I can get something out.


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## Marilyn Peake (Aug 8, 2011)

Thanks for sharing that! That's totally awesome. Congratulations!


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

Anarchist said:


> We don't actually have any of these holidays in the UK, but in fact yes, I am planning one for Valentine's day, and I did one this year and last for Halloween. But nothing close to the downloads for this. I'm pretty sure that the Christmas theme is the key factor. Some people just love Christmas!


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## angela65 (Oct 8, 2014)

Thanks so much for the tip, Evenstar! I'm in the mood for a Christmas story now. Going to download yours.


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## treesloth5 (Dec 11, 2014)

Evenstar said:


> Anarchist said:
> 
> 
> > You had also stated earlier in the summer that there was a bump for out of season material for Christmas as well. Do you have a full length work set in the Christmas season? I'm wondering how the funnel would pick up sales for the smaller work with a decently priced full length book with different characters.


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## StarWriter (Jan 18, 2014)

That's pretty cool. I hadn't thought of that. Could be fun. Thanks.


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## Steve Vernon (Feb 18, 2011)

I sure wish MY Christmas short was getting those kind of sales figures.



Way to go, Evenstar!


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## J. Dane Tyler (Jul 8, 2010)

Wow, thank you for the advice, EvenStar. Very, very generous of you.


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## Mark0600 (Feb 7, 2015)

Well done. And thanks for the good tip.


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## Mark0600 (Feb 7, 2015)

Patty Jansen said:


> This is very interesting. Wonder if people would be interested in an alien Christmas story


Yes! I would.


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## GrandFenwick (Aug 24, 2015)

GrandFenwick said:


> This sounds like great advice. Leonard wrote a couple of Christmas shorts. Dumb question: does Amazon allow you to list something for free?


Bump. Seriously sorry if this is a dumb question, but I've googled and can't find an answer. Can you easily list something as permanently free on Amazon? And Nook and iBooks for that matter?

Or do you just offer for it for free on your website?


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## TheLemontree (Sep 12, 2015)

GrandFenwick said:


> Bump. Seriously sorry if this is a dumb question, but I've googled and can't find an answer. Can you easily list something as permanently free on Amazon? And Nook and iBooks for that matter?
> 
> Or do you just offer for it for free on your website?


What Jeff Tanyard just said. You can set it to free at other retailers, but then you need to email Amazon and say 'hey there, these other retailers have got this book at $0.00 could you please price match' and then wait for them to do so.


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## RinG (Mar 12, 2013)

It's easy to set it free through iBooks and nook, going through D2D if not direct. Then you send Amazon a polite email and request that they price match.

A Christmas theme box set does reasonably well too, plus you have the benefit of cross promo with other authors. I'm in one of these at the moment, and it's doing nicely.


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## GrandFenwick (Aug 24, 2015)

Thanks, all. That makes sense. So far, I've only put Leonard's books on Amazon, but it's probably time to branch out. Frankly, his books don't do great on "borrows" anyway.


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## geronl (May 7, 2015)

I wanted to title something "Christmas on the Moon", but finding a free image for a cover would be hard.


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## Chinese Writer (Mar 25, 2014)

KGGiarratano said:


> I'm totally doing this next year. I'm doing too much to get a book ready for release next month, but a Christmas mystery sounds fun.


I actually have a Christmas mystery, but I haven't added it to my keywords. Thanks for the tip, Stella.


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

Steve Vernon said:


> I sure wish MY Christmas short was getting those kind of sales figures.
> 
> 
> 
> Way to go, Evenstar!


Um... Yeah, I'm guessing that Christmas Romance is going to have a slightly broader appeal than Christmas Horror, lol, but I'm going to get a copy of your book, I'm kind of in a mood for horror 

I really love the idea of an Alien Christmas cease-fire! That could be very moving if done as a nod to WW1


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## Steve Shelley (Jan 10, 2015)

Thanks for sharing Evenstar, awesome idea!


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## Steve Vernon (Feb 18, 2011)

Evenstar said:


> Um... Yeah, I'm guessing that Christmas Romance is going to have a slightly broader appeal than Christmas Horror, lol, but I'm going to get a copy of your book, I'm kind of in a mood for horror
> 
> I really love the idea of an Alien Christmas cease-fire! That could be very moving if done as a nod to WW1


I appreciate that, Evenstar. Truth to tell, SHOTGUN CHRISTMAS isn't horror at all - but I freaking love the cover and I don't think I would ever change it. Still, I believe I am going to steal a tip from you and kick it into the freebie zone over on Kobo and Apple and the like and then see if I can Amazon to price-match to perma-free.

Thanks for the good advice.


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## Chinmoy Mukherjee (Apr 26, 2014)

Evenstar said:


> I don't want to be overwhelmed with competition, ha ha, (or invite drive by one stars for success - bites lip in fear!) but I love you guys so I want you to know my amazement / joy / surprise / and, ultimately, possibly a monster tip to boost sales:
> 
> A Christmas Short Story! Write it now - get it up NOW! (and make it free if you can!)
> 
> ...


Let me run and write a Merry Christmas Coloring Book


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

Coloring Books said:


> Let me run and write a Merry Christmas Coloring Book


Good grief, why on earth have you not done that already? Sounds like a winner to me


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## Philip Gibson (Nov 18, 2013)

Great idea! Thanks for sharing it.

I'm using a largely already written extract from my Apollo 8 book and will try to get it set to free as soon as possible.








Philip


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## Word Fan (Apr 15, 2015)

Evenstar said:


> A Christmas Short Story! Write it now - get it up NOW!


This is good advice.

Retailers of all types, books included, have long known about the psychology of Christmas within the collective mind of the buying public. Romance publishers, especially, yearly put out multi-author collections of holiday stories. Mercenary creatures that those publisher are, they wouldn't continue to do it for as long as they have if those collections never made money.


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## Philip Gibson (Nov 18, 2013)

Evenstar said:


> #83 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)


Now #68 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)

Well done!

Philip


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## AlexaGrave (Jun 11, 2015)

I have a humorous fantasy Christmas short planned for next year (A Very Grinka Christmas).  

This year I settled for having one of my paired shorts released on Dec. 13th to be one with a cold/wintery theme.

I know it's an awesome idea to try to do each year, but this year I just don't have the time!


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

Philip Gibson said:


> Now #68 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
> 
> Well done!
> 
> Philip


Cool, thanks! I wonder what would happen if I actually did any promotion on it, maybe I'll throw in a BKnights Fiverr gig for fun


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## Philip Gibson (Nov 18, 2013)

Evenstar said:


> Cool, thanks! I wonder what would happen if I actually did any promotion on it, maybe I'll throw in a BKnights Fiverr gig for fun


Do it just to see if you can crack the top 10. BKnights is pretty much a guaranteed good result.

Philip


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## Steve Vernon (Feb 18, 2011)

Evenstar said:


> Cool, thanks! I wonder what would happen if I actually did any promotion on it, maybe I'll throw in a BKnights Fiverr gig for fun


Go for it.

I picked up your freebie as well. Hope you move a bunch.


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

Aw, thank you everyone who got a copy and I'm so sorry if it's total dross!

It's fab to see it being so popular but the sad reality, of course, is that it will drop like a stone as soon as Christmas is done.


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## Guest (Nov 23, 2015)

Stella, I downloaded your Christmas romance over the summer when we were talking about Christmasphiles--people who like Christmas year-round. I've been meaning to tell you that I enjoyed the story. Very sweet. You hit a lot of pluses for the genre and the season. 

I have a nostalgic Christmas family comedy (Christmas, Red House Style) out year-round that is a feeder for the larger book The Red House: Almost a Memoir. People seem to like it though I get sales, but no reviews which is okay.


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## EC Sheedy (Feb 24, 2011)

Thanks for the tip, Evenstar.   

I just put a Christmas book up--my first time ever doing a Holiday themed book. It's weird putting one up there, a standalone, naked of reviews, and dedicated to one short season. I love it! 

I'm exclusive with AMZ, so I'll take your advice by setting the book free for five days the first week of December. (Probably about the time everyone is already sick of all things Christmas, because that's how I usually roll.    )


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## alawston (Jun 3, 2012)

Interesting. I do have a Christmas story in the Sanity Clause anthology, but the rights won't revert to me for another six months, so this is a tip I'm going to have to save up for next year


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## Spin52 (Sep 6, 2015)

Already got mine ready to go -- about 7,000 words and will be priced at an extremely reasonable 99 cents. It's a more or less cozy mystery.


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## CelinaGrace (Nov 20, 2013)

I've been throwing the idea of doing a Christmas short story for my main series for a few years now but have never quite got around to it - but Evenstar, you have finally made me pull my finger out and get it done! 1000 words in and should finish it by Wednesday.

My problem was that I was having trouble coming up with a suitably feel good plot seeing as I write crime mysteries but now I think I've finally cracked it.

Can I ask if you take it down after Christmas, or do you leave it up year-round?


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

CelinaGrace said:


> I've been throwing the idea of doing a Christmas short story for my main series for a few years now but have never quite got around to it - but Evenstar, you have finally made me pull my finger out and get it done! 1000 words in and should finish it by Wednesday.
> 
> My problem was that I was having trouble coming up with a suitably feel good plot seeing as I write crime mysteries but now I think I've finally cracked it.
> 
> Can I ask if you take it down after Christmas, or do you leave it up year-round?


I leave it up. It gets roughly 100 downloads a day even in the summer, I guess some people just love Christmas! If you have the remotest inclination to search then I think I posted my amazement on this back in June or July, I just couldn't understand why people were still reading it!


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## andreadrew (Dec 11, 2014)

Thanks Evenstar!
Didn't even think of this what a great idea!
Since I read your post I've knocked off 3000 words and it should be ready to go to the editor in a day or two.
I hope I get even half the success you've had with a christmas themed short story


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## ScottCarlson (Jul 23, 2015)

J.T. Williams said:


> Odd, I had thought a Folklore-ish Krampus fantasy tale for this wonderful season. This is a good idea. I will have to see if I can get something out.


Krampus is awesome!


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## MarionMyles (Oct 1, 2015)

I don't think I can prepare a Christmas story quickly enough for this year, but you can bet I'll be ready for November 2016. Thanks so much for this tip and congratulations on your success! The indie writing community really does rock!


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## 69959 (May 14, 2013)

Congratulations, Stella!  I hope to have as much success with the upcoming promos on my Christmas novels.


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## S.R. Booth (Oct 6, 2013)

Great numbers! Wow! Thanks for the kick in the booty. I started a Christmas short this summer and forgot about it. Thanks to you I pulled it out today and finished it up. And then even better, my youngest daughter designed a cover for me!










Now to find an editor who's not swamped...

Edit: Wow! The image is huge and I don't know how to make it smaller.


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## Philip Gibson (Nov 18, 2013)

Got mine uploaded to Amazon and onto my signature bar here at KBoards. Now to go to D2D to make it free on other stores before asking Amazon to price match it.

Thanks so much for posting this gem of a tip, Stella - it had never occurred to me.

Philip


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## Gentleman Zombie (May 30, 2011)

Wow this is a great idea... thanks  a lot!!!


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## Jena H (Oct 2, 2011)

I wrote a holiday story a few years ago as part of a writing challenge. It had to be 1500 words or something, I forget exactly, but it was quite a challenge to do one so short. After the contest I edited it a bit (fattened it up to about 2000 words) and put it up for sale last year. (It's now free.)

(Thanks for the reminder, though-- I need to update the back matter to include links to other books; can't remember why I didn't do it to begin with. )


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

I'm so thrilled it has gotten so many of you to think of doing the same.  And I love the CLAWS cover! Cats and Christmas? I gotta get that...


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## KatrinaAbbott (Jan 28, 2014)

I love that this is doing so well for you, Stella! Congrats on it. I've been thinking of doing this for a while, but I think I'm tapped out for this year but will seriously think of doing one after I finish this series.  Thanks so much for sharing.


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## Annabel Chant (Feb 24, 2015)

Wow well done, Stella! And thanks for the tip.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk


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## Tuttle (Jun 10, 2010)

Evenstar said:


> I really love the idea of an Alien Christmas cease-fire! That could be very moving if done as a nod to WW1


This.

An alien Christmas Story could be well done, whether a cease-fire or not (I've read some that weren't, but weren't military science fiction). But a cease-fire that was a nod to WW1 could be really well done.


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## chalice (Jan 5, 2013)

Evenstar said:


> To be honest I'm not seeing a huge amount more sales than I would expect anyway at this time of year, but I am getting quite a lot of mailing list sign-ups. I think that the readers want only Christmas themed stuff right now, but I'll get them in the new year when I hit the mailing list then and they are not so hooked on seasonal reading.


*Nice that they are already signing up to your e-mail list.

Best Regards,
Shana Jahsinta Walters.*


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## Philip Gibson (Nov 18, 2013)

Wow! This all happened so quickly.

1. Read Stella's OP and decided to make a 15-page Christmas permafree leading to my Apollo books... 2 minutes
2. Adapted a section of one of the Apollo books (the Christmas message from Apollo 8 ) ...  20 minutes
3. Made a cover for the book using KDP's cover creator... 5 minutes
4. Uploaded book and cover files to KDP and waited for it to be approved... 4 hours
5. Uploaded book and cover to D2D to be put on Apple, Kobo and B&N, waited for approval... 6 hours
6. Sent free links to KDP and asked them to price match the book to free. Waited for approval... 3 hours

And now A Christmas Message From The Moon is permanently free and well in time for Xmas.

This was all so smooth. Thanks so much Stella!

Philip


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

It's not showing as free Philip


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## Philip Gibson (Nov 18, 2013)

Evenstar said:


> It's not showing as free Philip


In the U.K.? It shows as free here in Laos (I can only see prices in the U.S. store). I downloaded a free copy myself an hour ago.

Thanks for letting me know, Stella. If you wouldn't mind, maybe you could check again in 24 hours. If it still doesn't show as free in the U.K., I'll contact KDP support.

Philip


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## Sonya Bateman (Feb 3, 2013)

You are awesome, Evenstar. Thanks for this great idea!


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## bendanarama (Jul 25, 2015)

You know what, I'm up for this. I'm gonna rattle off a Christmas horror/adventure and see what comes of it!


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## CelinaGrace (Nov 20, 2013)

You've started a Christmas revolution, Evenstar! 
Finishing my story tomorrow and hopefully up on Amazon etc by the weekend.


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## Overrated (Mar 20, 2015)

This is such a great idea. I read this thread yesterday morning, wrote my short, and sent it off to my editor last night. Made a cover and everything. 

Thank you for sharing. 

I also read yours - what a great short that was!


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

Brilliant! I'm so pleased this was helpful and hope you all get buckets of sales  

Philip I just checked again and it is still not showing as free in the UK, and in fact also is showing as $1.50 to me on the US site as well, so maybe someone actually from US can double check that for you. I'll check again tomorrow if you like. x


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## geronl (May 7, 2015)

Jeff Tanyard said:


> Use a public domain photo from the moon landing. Plenty of free photos from NASA. Then just find a free-to-use Christmas tree you like and photoshop it in. Here's a (very) rough example:


lol, That's not bad. Although I actually haven't written it yet.

Not technically true, I did have a very short story on my blog in July or something with the title.

http://flscifi.blogspot.com/2015/07/short-story-christmas-on-moon.html


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## S.R. Booth (Oct 6, 2013)

Evenstar said:


> Philip I just checked again and it is still not showing as free in the UK, and in fact also is showing as $1.50 to me on the US site as well, so maybe someone actually from US can double check that for you. I'll check again tomorrow if you like. x


I see it as free in the US.


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## Philip Gibson (Nov 18, 2013)

Evenstar said:


> Philip I just checked again and it is still not showing as free in the UK, and in fact also is showing as $1.50 to me on the US site as well, so maybe someone actually from US can double check that for you. I'll check again tomorrow if you like. x


Yes, please. Thanks a lot. I'll give it until 24 hours after you first posted before I contact KDP support. The book has started to have free downloads in the U.S. and now has a free downloads ranking there.

#12,161 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > History > Science & Medicine > Astronomy
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > History > World > Expeditions & Discoveries
#2 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 30 minutes (12-21 pages) > History

Wondering if the U.K. KDP support place is different to the U.S. KDP support place? Anyone know?

Philip


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## Steve Vernon (Feb 18, 2011)

Okay folks - somebody PLEASE do me a favor. Because I am in Canada - when I go to check this out on Amazon.com, I can't tell.

Click my book SHOTGUN LOVE - (see the signature) - and let me know if it is free or not.


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## S.R. Booth (Oct 6, 2013)

Steve Vernon said:


> Okay folks - somebody PLEASE do me a favor. Because I am in Canada - when I go to check this out on Amazon.com, I can't tell.
> 
> Click my book SHOTGUN LOVE - (see the signature) - and let me know if it is free or not.


It's free!


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## Jena H (Oct 2, 2011)

Steve Vernon said:


> Okay folks - somebody PLEASE do me a favor. Because I am in Canada - when I go to check this out on Amazon.com, I can't tell.
> 
> Click my book SHOTGUN LOVE - (see the signature) - and let me know if it is free or not.


You mean Shotgun *Christmas, *right? (And not Love?) Yes, it's free.


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## Steve Vernon (Feb 18, 2011)

Jena H said:


> You mean Shotgun *Christmas, *right? (And not Love?) Yes, it's free.


Oh heck. I've renamed it - as of yesterday - in honor of a bleak coffeeless lapse in sanity...
  

AND Philip - I'm looking at your Christmas On The Moon chapbook and it lists as 99 cents up top - but in the Amazon ranking it is currently listed as 12,408 Free In Kindle so I guess that it IS free in the US - just not free if the person who is looking at it is NOT living in the US.

(did that last sentence make sense - or do I need more coffee?)

And, Evenstar and other interested folk - this tactic REALLY does work. I've had 15 readers grab up that e-book for free. It's a short read and hopefully they'll be a few reviews and maybe I'll find myself a few new fans. The theoretical loss is minimal - because I think I sold maybe three copies of SHOTGUN CHRISTMAS over the last year or so at its previous price of 99 cents. I'm looking forward to see how it goes over the weekend. I've got a big Facebook party I am scheduled to appear at for an hour or so and I intend to yell about it a little. If I think of it I'll mention yours and Phillip's e-book as well. Maybe even do a blog entry.


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

Oh yes, I forgot to mention the reviews, lots of those, which is nice.

Philip and Steve, your books are still not showing as free in the UK, I'd email Amazon about it if you're bothered


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## Steve Vernon (Feb 18, 2011)

Thanks, Evenstar. I'll definitely have to get to that sometime this weekend.


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## missypyxi (Jan 23, 2015)

I saw this when it was first posted, and though the idea appealed to me it I brushed it off.  Since then, it has been nagging at me.  I now have 3500 words of a half finished short story that takes place in Cerion, and a cover. Hoping to finish tomorrow. My question is, is it too late? Mine is a Midwinter's Eve tale. A feast day in my world.


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## CelinaGrace (Nov 20, 2013)

I'd like to thank Stella for this pearl. Since I got my Christmas mystery short story up and made free, it's been downloaded nearly 2000 times and is currently sitting at these rankings on Amazon US:

#458 Free in Kindle Store
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > One hour (33-43 pages) > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > One hour (33-43 pages) > Literature & Fiction
#17 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery > Cozy

Most importantly, my readers have LOVED it and I've received lots of lovely emails thanking me for it. Which is rather nice and in keeping with the season of peace and goodwill to all


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

CelinaGrace said:


> I'd like to thank Stella for this pearl. Since I got my Christmas mystery short story up and made free, it's been downloaded nearly 2000 times and is currently sitting at these rankings on Amazon US:
> 
> #458 Free in Kindle Store
> #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > One hour (33-43 pages) > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
> ...


Woohoo! Giving you massive high fives, that's a fantastic result!


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## Marilyn Peake (Aug 8, 2011)

CelinaGrace said:


> I'd like to thank Stella for this pearl. Since I got my Christmas mystery short story up and made free, it's been downloaded nearly 2000 times and is currently sitting at these rankings on Amazon US:
> 
> #458 Free in Kindle Store
> #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > One hour (33-43 pages) > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
> ...


That is really cool! Another goal I've now set for next year: Write holiday stories. I won't have enough time before Christmas or New Year's, but maybe a holiday after that...maybe Valentine's Day.


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## katrina46 (May 23, 2014)

Randall Wood said:


> But....
> 
> What do serial killers DO on Christmas? I mean, I know what they do on New Years, but Christmas?
> 
> Wait...don't answer that.


Well, there's that Krampus evil Santa movie out right now. Maybe your killer should dress up as a scary Santa or elf. The dumbest B movie I ever saw was about a rogue Rudolph, so the Christmas horror and thriller possibilities are endless.


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## 69959 (May 14, 2013)

Congrats on the results! I ran a free promo on Seaside Christmas last week, and it topped off at #27 in the free store and was #1 in several categories.


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## CelinaGrace (Nov 20, 2013)

Thanks for all the congrats. I've got a BKnights promo going out today which should also help.

I'm with you, Marilyn, on writing holiday stories now - got another idea for a mystery novella for Valentine's Day so that's on next month's list of things to do!


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## missypyxi (Jan 23, 2015)

Sometimes I feel like my posts are invisible!

Congrats to everyone on their successful releases.


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

missypyxi said:


> I saw this when it was first posted, and though the idea appealed to me it I brushed it off. Since then, it has been nagging at me. I now have 3500 words of a half finished short story that takes place in Cerion, and a cover. Hoping to finish tomorrow. My question is, is it too late? Mine is a Midwinter's Eve tale. A feast day in my world.


So sorry missypyxi, I think that sounds fantastic, I would definitely read it. I don't think it's too late but I wouldn't leave it too long!


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## CelinaGrace (Nov 20, 2013)

Sorry, I was skim-reading with a toddler sitting on my lap - Misspyxi, I think you should go for it


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## Francesp (Mar 3, 2014)

You've just given me a great excuse to finish the spontaneous Xmas story instead of dredging through the current novel!  
But thank you. I really want to play with the holiday short anyway.


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## UnicornEmily (Jul 2, 2011)

Thank you for the fabulous idea, and for sharing it, Evenstar.  I now have a Christmas short story up, and I'm going to take advantage of some free days.

Next year, I'll try to think up something even more fun for a new short story.


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

It will soon be time to start those Valentine's Day stories everybody!


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## Steve Vernon (Feb 18, 2011)

I've got two Valentine's Day collections written and a new Valentine's Day book cooking.


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## missypyxi (Jan 23, 2015)

Hi everyone! I'm new to this concept and am having trouble figuring out how to publish it for free. The lowest I can list for is .99
Any advice?


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## UnicornEmily (Jul 2, 2011)

Hi, Missy!

If it's wide (other places besides Amazon), you can get it price-matched as free.  If it's in Kindle Select, you can only use five free days in a three-month period.

Either way, Amazon gives you no option to make your book's normal price lower than 99 cents.  You just have to price-match it.


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## CelinaGrace (Nov 20, 2013)

Yes, as Unicorn Emily says, you have to have the book free at at least one other site, like iBooks, and then wait for Amazon to price-match. You can always email KDP support and ask them to do so - that's what I did for my Christmas story.

And yes, I'm writing my Valentine's Day novella in January!


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## RinG (Mar 12, 2013)

How do Valentine's Day stories go. Anyone done one before.


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

Nope, this will be my first. But the Valentine's day film bombed


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## Keith Blenman (May 31, 2009)

Dang it! I think I just missed the boat on the Black Friday story I'm writing.


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## CelinaGrace (Nov 20, 2013)

Keith Blenman said:


> Dang it! I think I just missed the boat on the Black Friday story I'm writing.


 

We should all report back after Valentine's Day.
I also fully intended to do a Halloween ghost story this year but run out of time. I will do this in 2016.


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

Patty Jansen said:


> This is very interesting. Wonder if people would be interested in an alien Christmas story


i think that would be the *only* christmas story i'd be interested in. LOL


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## CelinaGrace (Nov 20, 2013)

Bodefit said:


> Christmas stories sell well at Christmas. Wow, hold the front page.
> People on these boards are easily impressed.


And your problem is...?

Stella shared a marketing tip that has worked for her and in doing so, encouraged some of us to emulate her success. And guess what? It worked for me too. At least one of my reviewers of my Christmas short has stated that they've never read any of the others in the series but will be purchasing them now.

I probably wouldn't have bothered to write and publish that short without the encouragement of this thread. We're having fun here. What are you doing?


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## missypyxi (Jan 23, 2015)

My Christmas story is up! I'm still waiting for price match to make it permafrost, though. iTunes is taking its sweet time publishing. 

Since I'm the impatient type, I also released it on my blog.  It's a fun story. My main characters, Azi (the knight) and her bestie/boyfriend Rian (the Mage), go searching for a magical flower as a gift for the guild's custodian. 

I haven't seen much movement on it yet, but I'll do a bknights fiver once its perma free.


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## 69959 (May 14, 2013)

Bodefit said:


> Christmas stories sell well at Christmas. Wow, hold the front page.
> People on these boards are easily impressed.


If the thread doesn't help you, move on. Simple.


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## Julz (Oct 30, 2014)

I saw your book at number one in the YA romance category forever and cheered for you  I'm so glad you've found so much success with this!! I personally loved the book.


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## Michael W Griffith (Sep 6, 2014)

Late to the party, but "You'll Be Home For Christmas" is live on Amazon and should be shortly with iBooks. I'll contact Amazon as soon as it is to price-match down to free and see how it goes. The first book in the series ended a few days before Christmas anyway, so it was a natural to do the short for Christmas Eve and Christmas, and I'll pick up with the second novel after that. 

I already have the first draft of novel #2 finished and would like to finish by mid-January. Things are lining up nicely for the Valentine's Day follow-up.

Great idea and thanks to all for sharing!


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## batmansero (Oct 10, 2014)

I just got mine up on Amazon and into Select. It's a prequel to my BBW roller derby romance serial, it just doesn't have roller derby in it and it's a little light on the romance. I'm hoping it works as an introduction to new readers and also a fun thank you to existing readers


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## missypyxi (Jan 23, 2015)

Mine's finally free now. Thanks again for this great advice!

Link in my signature if anyone cares to read Snowberry Blossom. Happy holidays!


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## Steve Vernon (Feb 18, 2011)

batmansero said:


> I just got mine up on Amazon and into Select. It's a prequel to my BBW roller derby romance serial, it just doesn't have roller derby in it and it's a little light on the romance. I'm hoping it works as an introduction to new readers and also a fun thank you to existing readers


Love the title.


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## batmansero (Oct 10, 2014)

Steve Vernon said:


> Love the title.


Thanks. I get a lot of raised eyebrows, but it's explained in the first book: _One Skid Mark_.


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## CelinaGrace (Nov 20, 2013)

Loving all these new Christmas stories!

Mine's at about 5000 downloads now across the sites which is pretty cool. That's with one BKnights promo and the lovely readers on my mailing list as the only promo I've done. Thanks Stella


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

batmansero said:


> I just got mine up on Amazon and into Select. It's a prequel to my BBW roller derby romance serial, it just doesn't have roller derby in it and it's a little light on the romance. I'm hoping it works as an introduction to new readers and also a fun thank you to existing readers


Does it mean the same thing in America as in England? I don't quite know how to elaborate politely!


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## batmansero (Oct 10, 2014)

Evenstar said:


> Does it mean the same thing in America as in England? I don't quite know how to elaborate politely!


Yes 

The title is explained in the first book in the series: One Skid Mark.


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## Moist_Tissue (Dec 6, 2013)

I have been working on a Xmas short for the past week. Already have the cover. I'm doing it to a) break a year long writing block (eh...I've been sick) and b) improve my self-editing. I will post it once it's live. I might get in trouble.


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## Marseille France or Bust (Sep 25, 2012)

That's phenomenal! Did you do any advertising? I have a cozy x-mas romance under a pen name that is $2.99 and not seeing any sales after the promo.




Evenstar said:


> I don't want to be overwhelmed with competition, ha ha, (or invite drive by one stars for success - bites lip in fear!) but I love you guys so I want you to know my amazement / joy / surprise / and, ultimately, possibly a monster tip to boost sales:
> 
> A Christmas Short Story! Write it now - get it up NOW! (and make it free if you can!)
> 
> ...


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

PatriceWilliamsMarks said:


> That's phenomenal! Did you do any advertising? I have a cozy x-mas romance under a pen name that is $2.99 and not seeing any sales after the promo.


Because downloads had plateaued at around 1500 a day, I decided to run a freebooksy for it at the start of last week, now they sit at around 2000 a day and holding. Other than that, no promo. Obviously it really helps that it is free (but it is only a short story so it kind of had to be) and that it is very "christmassy" cover-wise. But it will promptly vanish in January, shrug. I'm just hoping I'm making hay while the sun shines, and that people are reading my other books because of it.


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## bang on the drum (Nov 2, 2015)

My gut feeling, with no data to back it up, would be that, like Christmas fruticake, brisk sales the last few weeks of the year are more than outweighed by nonexistent sales the rest of the year.

Is it worth it? I realize you sell a lot during the few weeks around Christmas, but then what? Wait a year for the next bunch of sales?


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## Marseille France or Bust (Sep 25, 2012)

Your strategy is working. I've very happy for your success. And you may be surprised and discover that the downloads will still continue after the New Year. I read in another thread that X-mas books can sell year round.



Evenstar said:


> Because downloads had plateaued at around 1500 a day, I decided to run a freebooksy for it at the start of last week, now they sit at around 2000 a day and holding. Other than that, no promo. Obviously it really helps that it is free (but it is only a short story so it kind of had to be) and that it is very "christmassy" cover-wise. But it will promptly vanish in January, shrug. I'm just hoping I'm making hay while the sun shines, and that people are reading my other books because of it.


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

bang on the drum said:


> My gut feeling, with no data to back it up, would be that, like Christmas fruticake, brisk sales the last few weeks of the year are more than outweighed by nonexistent sales the rest of the year.
> 
> Is it worth it? I realize you sell a lot during the few weeks around Christmas, but then what? Wait a year for the next bunch of sales?


It depends what you mean by non-existent? This book was getting 100 downloads a day, every single day, all through the spring/summer (in fact I did a post about it back in May http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,215251.msg2999837.html#msg2999837 ) By the time we hit August, downloads were up to 200 a day, which is the summer holidays! Numbers went up from then. So even though it will not be getting silly downloads like at Christmas, it would appear to mildly popular all year round. But hey, even though I am aware that sales will massively drop, I'm just grateful for what it is achieving right now, and would be totally thrilled if that was repeated next Christmas.


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## UnicornEmily (Jul 2, 2011)

Alas, poor algorithm magic, I shall miss you.

My short story has been doing really, really well: it is now sitting at #35 Free in Children's eBooks.  #562 Free in the entire Kindle store!

Sadly, since I pulled it out of my short story collection, which is in Kindle Select, I couldn't go wide and use permafree, so I only had five Kindle Select days I could use to make it free.  I paid $60 for some promos, and I have given away nearly 1,030 copies.  I barely did anything at all on the last two days, and I still got over 200 downloads on the second to last.  Even more today.

If I could, I would keep it going for another ten days.  This is awesome.  Alas, it is about to end in 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . .


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## CoraBuhlert (Aug 7, 2011)

I've had success with two standalone Christmas romances as well as a Christmas installment of my Helen Shepherd Mysteries in previous years, but I've had a hard time coming up with a Christmas story this year.

However, today I managed to write a Christmas short in my _Alfred and Bertha's Marvellous Twenty-First Century Life_ series of parodistic stories. It's not my most popular series, but it has its devoted fans.


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## unkownwriter (Jun 22, 2011)

I was inspired by this thread to write and publish a holiday-themed zombie apocalypse short. Came up with a pretty decent cover (I think), and put it up for KU. I'm putting everything in KU for at least one run, so no thought about going wide with it. I'm hoping that combining this short with some promos on a novella, plus releasing a new one, will build some sales/page reads, for Kindlemas.


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## Rachel Anne (Apr 18, 2015)

Well.l. I picked up a copy of your book, Evenstar and curled up by my tree after work last night and read it.. I needed some downtime and it was perfect! Thank you.

This is definitely a wonderful idea -- and hopefully next year I'll be able to participate in doing something similar as well. I have nothing published yet (still writing my first novel) so I wasn't sure if doing something like this at this point would be beneficial to take the time away from my current project.. but I'm game for next year!


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## KGGiarratano (Aug 14, 2013)

James at GoOnWrite is having a 50% off cover sale and he has a Christmas category. Based on the advice in this thread, I purchased a cover to be used for next year. Might be worth a look.

goonwrite.com


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