# Kindle Nation Daily - Is a sponsorship worth it?



## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

***PLEASE NOTE!!***

I started this thread in Feb of 2011, trying to get an idea if buying an ad from KND was worth it. I wanted to see what experiences people had had with them.

Please keep in mind that this thread was stared a long time ago, when reading through here. A lot has changed.

Get up-to-date information when deciding where to spend advertising dollars. And I *highly* suggest looking for at least a week on the ranks of the books featured on ANY website you are thinking of paying money to. All it would take would be a quick check in the morning and another quick check in the evening, making note of the rank of the featured book. Doing this could literally save you hundreds of dollars.


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

I'm set up for August 7th for my Omnibus, and it was the then $29.99 package. So John and McAfee will get results sooner than I.

David Dalglish


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## Sean Sweeney (Apr 17, 2010)

Just call me the guinea pig.


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## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

...and along the same line...I'm wondering whether it makes sense to advertise in blogs that fit my genre (specifically, military websites) . Any one had any experience? I think the fact that I have no hardcopy available might work against me...

Zack


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

Zack Hamric said:



> ...and along the same line...I'm wondering whether it makes sense to advertise in blogs that fit my genre (specifically, military websites) . Any one had any experience? I think the fact that I have no hardcopy available might work against me...
> 
> Zack


I might be totally dumb, but I would not advertise on blogs that don't target kindle owners. Even though I have a paperback... I still wouldn't pay on a website or blog that didn't target kindle owners. It's still a hard sell for a self-published author to get people to buy their books.

Would I send copies of my book to review blogs? Sure, that's fine. But I wouldn't pay to advertise. But like I said, I might be dumb. 

Vicki


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## SpearsII (Jan 16, 2010)

I also would not pay much for advertising. My wife and I have been building a small fan base and finding readers by giving review copies to blogs. Slowly it is paying off in more steady sales and name recognition. Advertising unless done really well is just more clutter. That said, I also look for more ways to get the book to readers but I think paying for it is very risky. Just my thoughts anyway.  I don't think there is a magic bullet. It takes time for people to read your book, like it and then tell others about it.


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## tonyaplank (Jun 14, 2010)

It worked really well for me. I'm currently at #50 in the paid Kindle store! It really helped though that the editor said really wonderful things about my book. In his note on the website he said he usually doesn't say such things but this was a great opportunity to, for 99 cents, discover a new author bound for great things - or something like that. I was so stunned! It really made me blush  I mean I was really happily stunned! At the time I signed up there was a $99 option, which is the one I did. I had a big surge in sales last week after I reduced the price of my book to 99 cents (it hadn't been that low before - I'd had it at $3.99). But I only got down to #403 last week, and then it started to go back up. Doing the Kindle Nation ad this week made sales far greater. I'd recommend doing it! I'd do at least the two-day option.


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## Sean Sweeney (Apr 17, 2010)

I'm only doing the one-day option... it's all I can afford. But if it works, then I'll splurge more for future releases.


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## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

tonyaplank said:


> It worked really well for me. I'm currently at #50 in the paid Kindle store! It really helped though that the editor said really wonderful things about my book. In his note on the website he said he usually doesn't say such things but this was a great opportunity to, for 99 cents, discover a new author bound for great things - or something like that. I was so stunned! It really made me blush  I mean I was really happily stunned! At the time I signed up there was a $99 option, which is the one I did. I had a big surge in sales last week after I reduced the price of my book to 99 cents (it hadn't been that low before - I'd had it at $3.99). But I only got down to #403 last week, and then it started to go back up. Doing the Kindle Nation ad this week made sales far greater. I'd recommend doing it! I'd do at least the two-day option.


Thank you for sharing that! I'm now seriously considering this in my marketing plan!


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## David McAfee (Apr 15, 2010)

I bought the biggest package they offered. If it gets me some much needed exposure it'll be totally worth it. If it doesn't work and the book flops, by God it ain't gonna be for lack of trying.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

Thank you all for the feedback.  I'm so glad it's helped boost your sales Tonya!

I'll be crossing my fingers that it boosts your sales John, David, and Oligart.  I'm still too chicken to sign up yet.  But I'll watch and listen and learn from all of you guys!!

Vicki


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

When I saw the results for another author, I knew they would get inundated with indies wanting exposure, so I signed up quick. Glad I did, considering the prices nearly doubled.

David Dalglish


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## tonyaplank (Jun 14, 2010)

Yes, they must have a huge amount of readers! I'm really stunned by the results. John, you can always sign up for more days later if you decide to. I think it's particularly worth it since it seems to be the least expensive advertising I've seen. I agree that it's better to spend your advertising dollars on sites that cater to Kindle owners or e-book readers in general. Good luck you guys! This is so exciting


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## daveconifer (Oct 20, 2009)

Half-Orc said:


> When I saw the results for another author, I knew they would get inundated with indies wanting exposure, so I signed up quick. Glad I did, considering the prices nearly doubled.
> 
> David Dalglish


I have to tell you, man. Every time I read a post of yours I realize that you are brilliant at this -- not just great writing but the whole shebang. Keep it up, Orc, and don't forget about us when you're at the top!


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

I'm having trouble signing up.  I emailed them yesterday afternoon, but no response yet.


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## D.A. Boulter (Jun 11, 2010)

DArenson said:


> I'm having trouble signing up. I emailed them yesterday afternoon, but no response yet.


They say they'll respond within 3 business days. You've a while to go before you need to start worrying.


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## David McAfee (Apr 15, 2010)

It took 3 days for him to get back to me. I think after Karen Fenech's novel skyrocketed through the rankings he became inundated with sponsors.


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

Did you guys pay first, then email?  I just emailed and said I'm in, and will pay if things are cool and they have room available.


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

I paid, then sent the email. About the time I was getting nervous, he responded. Trying the reverse route will probably not accomplish much.

*waves hello to Conifer*

David Dalglish


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## David McAfee (Apr 15, 2010)

Half-Orc said:


> I paid, then sent the email. About the time I was getting nervous, he responded. Trying the reverse route will probably not accomplish much.
> 
> *waves hello to Conifer*
> 
> David Dalglish


Ditto.

(except the waving part)


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

David McAfee said:


> (except the waving part)


Anti-social meanie.


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

Hmm, looks like I better pay fast, before they get too swamped (and even raise their prices again).  Aaaaannnnndddd... DONE.  Hope this works out!


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## David McAfee (Apr 15, 2010)

Half-Orc said:


> Anti-social meanie.


*waves at Oligart using a single finger*

There. Happy?


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## Guest (Jul 29, 2010)

I think some folks misunderstand the role of advertising.

Advertising is not about generating one-shot sales.  Advertising is about brand-building.  You will rarely see a direct relationship to any single ad and sales.  That isn't how advertising works.  People don't spend a million dollars on a single Super Bowl ad because they think that one ad will generate a million in sales.  The spend the money because they know that ad will also generate weeks of additional hype before the game and after that reinforces the brand.

Advertising builds credibility.  The more a person sees something, the more concrete it becomes.  The average consumer needs to see something seven times before they will even remember it.  Even when you think about "impulse buys" in a store, you might be surprised how much effort went in to getting you to "impulsively" buy an item.  Much of it is subliminal.  The next time you stop and pick up a Snickers or something in the check-out aisle, ask yourself why you grabbed that candy instead of another one.  Your "impulse buy" isn't the result of any one ad.  It's the culmination of months (or years) of constant advertising.

The more books you have, the more important overall branding becomes.  If you only have one title, you can focus on simply promoting that one title.  I have over a hundred products on the market.  I can't feasibly promote a hundred products simultaneously.  Therefore, building my brand overall becomes essential.  Paid advertising is more important to me because it allows more targeted branding.  It may not be that important if you have just one book you can personally plug.


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## David McAfee (Apr 15, 2010)

bardsandsages said:


> I think some folks misunderstand the role of advertising.
> 
> Advertising is not about generating one-shot sales. Advertising is about brand-building. You will rarely see a direct relationship to any single ad and sales. That isn't how advertising works. People don't spend a million dollars on a single Super Bowl ad because they think that one ad will generate a million in sales. The spend the money because they know that ad will also generate weeks of additional hype before the game and after that reinforces the brand.
> 
> ...


*bowing* You are wise, oh, Barded and Saged One.


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## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

bardsandsages said:


> I think some folks misunderstand the role of advertising.
> 
> Advertising is not about generating one-shot sales. Advertising is about brand-building. You will rarely see a direct relationship to any single ad and sales. That isn't how advertising works. People don't spend a million dollars on a single Super Bowl ad because they think that one ad will generate a million in sales. The spend the money because they know that ad will also generate weeks of additional hype before the game and after that reinforces the brand.
> 
> ...


Excellent post and well said. Would you consider being a guest blogger on my blog about this subject?


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## Guest (Jul 29, 2010)

MaryMcDonald said:


> Excellent post and well said. Would you consider being a guest blogger on my blog about this subject?


Sure, just message me and let me know what you need  I'm always happy to run my mouth


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

bardsandsages said:


> I think some folks misunderstand the role of advertising.
> 
> Advertising is not about generating one-shot sales. Advertising is about brand-building. You will rarely see a direct relationship to any single ad and sales. That isn't how advertising works. People don't spend a million dollars on a single Super Bowl ad because they think that one ad will generate a million in sales. The spend the money because they know that ad will also generate weeks of additional hype before the game and after that reinforces the brand.
> 
> ...


True. However, I don't have the budget Snickers has to build my brand. I can spend $200 on a facebook ad, and it will help build my brand. But if I don't see any sales from it, I've lost my entire ad budget. I can spend $159 on this Kindle Nation Daily ad, and since it targets Kindle users, I probably will see more sales from it. I can't build my brand with thousands of dollars of ads though... I just don't have it.

So, I probably won't ever sell like Snickers. But I'll take enough of a boost from a KND ad to put me on the radar for Kindle users. If the ad really does get seen and noticed by Kindle users. If it worked for others, I'm willing to try it.

That's all I'm saying.

Vicki


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## scottnicholson (Jan 31, 2010)

Stephen Windwalker is amazing. Ally yourself with the winners, the progressive people.

We've put together a big package for my 90-day blog tour Sept through November, for which he's a sponsor. His prices are higher now but still worth it, because he is the ONLY person besides Amazon situated to target your core audience. He's been there since Day One, working hard, building an audience, staying positive and smart.

Besides, if this is now your small business, you should have a business plan, including dedicating money to advertising--smart advertising. Social networking is amazing, but compare the time spent with the money you could spend to achieve similar "results." I hate all that MarketSpeak, but I look at it like, well $50 is 25 book sales, and even if I don't make that money back, I have saved hours of my life that I would have spent reaching 25 new readers.

And don't stop at just buying the add--build up and promote Kindle Daily Nation, tweet it, build his subscriber base, the Kindle, your indie family, your fellow authors, and most of all those wonderful readers who take a chance on us. I've never been a kumbaya guy, but I truly believe we are all building this amazing digital village together, and I'm happier when I do that and worry less about "numbers."

Scott Nicholson
http://www.hauntedcomputer.com


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## Sean Sweeney (Apr 17, 2010)

Amen, Scott.


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## scottnicholson (Jan 31, 2010)

Thanks, John I was actually just talking about this on BBC yesterday for The Strand--it's archived for a week at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p008r4m9

Scott


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## J.R. Chase (Jun 22, 2010)

Is there an equivalent of KND for the Ipad, Nook, Kobo or Sony?


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## lyndahilburn (Apr 8, 2010)

Victorine: I never heard of this. Thanks for posting the thread. I'm going to check it out.

Lynda


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## Imogen Rose (Mar 22, 2010)

David McAfee said:


> I bought the biggest package they offered. If it gets me some much needed exposure it'll be totally worth it. If it doesn't work and the book flops, by God it ain't gonna be for lack of trying.


When are you on?

I am doing the 8th Aug.


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

Heh, I get to clear the way for you, Imogen. Everyone will be like, "Half-Orcs? Weird. Whatever. Oh hey, awesome, a time travel book!"

David Dalglish


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## Imogen Rose (Mar 22, 2010)

Half-Orc said:


> Heh, I get to clear the way for you, Imogen. Everyone will be like, "Half-Orcs? Weird. Whatever. Oh hey, awesome, a time travel book!"
> 
> David Dalglish


Half-Orcs sound fun to me!


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

Imogen Rose said:


> Half-Orcs sound fun to me!


That's just because you've seen us in the Killer Muppets Photoshop Nightmare thread. When you know they're hanging out with Kermit and starting fights with Muppets, they're a totally more appealing creation


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## Imogen Rose (Mar 22, 2010)

Half-Orc said:


> That's just because you've seen us in the Killer Muppets Photoshop Nightmare thread. When you know they're hanging out with Kermit and starting fights with Muppets, they're a totally more appealing creation


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

Alright, I don't know if this was dumb or not, but I just sent them the first 6 chapters for the Free Kindle Nation Short section.  I'm crossing my fingers it gets accepted.  If not, I guess I'm only out $15.

Has anyone else done that bit?

Vicki


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## David McAfee (Apr 15, 2010)

Imogen Rose said:


> When are you on?
> 
> I am doing the 8th Aug.


The email goes out on 8/3. Blog sponsorships are 8/5, 8/9, and 8/11.



Victorine said:


> Alright, I don't know if this was dumb or not, but I just sent them the first 6 chapters for the Free Kindle Nation Short section. I'm crossing my fingers it gets accepted. If not, I guess I'm only out $15.
> 
> Has anyone else done that bit?
> 
> Vicki


I haven't, but I would have if I'd seen it.


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## Imogen Rose (Mar 22, 2010)

David McAfee said:


> The email goes out on 8/3. Blog sponsorships are 8/5, 8/9, and 8/11.
> 
> I haven't, but I would have if I'd seen it.


David which package did you sign up for?


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## Sean Sweeney (Apr 17, 2010)

J.R. Chase said:


> Is there an equivalent of KND for the Ipad, Nook, Kobo or Sony?


He does one for the iPad, as well.


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## Sean Sweeney (Apr 17, 2010)

My findings:

I re-cooped my investment (remember that the price of sponsorships have gone up since I placed my order) within the first few hours of it being live. Just seeing the numbers tick up was incredible.

I ended up gaining 69 new readers as of this writing.

Now: How do I replicate that this month?


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## farrellclaire (Mar 5, 2010)

John Fitch V said:


> My findings:
> 
> I re-cooped my investment (remember that the price of sponsorships have gone up since I placed my order) within the first few hours of it being live. Just seeing the numbers tick up was incredible.
> 
> ...


That's great, fair play to you. Sounds like it's well worth the cost.


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## gone (May 8, 2010)

John Fitch V said:



> My findings:
> 
> I re-cooped my investment (remember that the price of sponsorships have gone up since I placed my order) within the first few hours of it being live. Just seeing the numbers tick up was incredible.
> 
> ...


Have you sent your book to all the review sites? I'm only guessing, but most of them review free, don't they?


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## Sean Sweeney (Apr 17, 2010)

dfigueroa said:


> Have you sent your book to all the review sites? I'm only guessing, but most of them review free, don't they?


I do a lot of promotion with blog sites.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

John Fitch V said:


> My findings:
> 
> I re-cooped my investment (remember that the price of sponsorships have gone up since I placed my order) within the first few hours of it being live. Just seeing the numbers tick up was incredible.
> 
> ...


Thank you so much, John, for being willing to share your findings with us all. I'm so glad it worked so well for you!! I hope it bumps your daily sales up over August.

Vicki


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## Guest (Aug 2, 2010)

Well I just ponied up for this. I do strange things at 4am.


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## David McAfee (Apr 15, 2010)

I have to say that, based on my own results, KND sponsorship is definitely worthwhile.

At 5PM on 8/3, My sales numbers for the month looked like this:

33 A.D.: 12
Saying Goodbye to the Sun: 3
GRUBS: 5
The Lake and 17 Other Stories: 13

Less than 24 hours after the Kindle nation email, they looked like this:

33 A.D.: 116
Saying Goodbye to the Sun: 14
GRUBS: 14
The Lake and 17 Other Stories: 21

And they went up a little more overnight. That's just from the one email blast. I still have several blog posts that are coming up, so those numbers should (hopefully) increase. Being a successful writer calls for more than just writing a good book. People have to know about the book, or else they'll never buy it. In that sense, Kindle Nation Daily has a large readership and so far I haven't found a better means of reaching a large number of people.

Worth it? Absolutely. The extra sales I got this month have already paid for the cost of the sponsorship. I'll definitely do this again.


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## D.A. Boulter (Jun 11, 2010)

Looks like they put their sponsorship prices up again.  Priced me out of the market.


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

David McAfee said:


> I have to say that, based on my own results, KND sponsorship is definitely worthwhile.


Thanks for this info, David. I'm sure many of your recent sales are also due to word-of-mouth!

If you don't mind sharing, did you choose the gold sponsorship (the most expensive one)? Do you feel the gold sponsorship is the one to get? I'm thinking of grabbing a gold sponsorship for my new book, which is coming out in a month or two.

Thanks!


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## David McAfee (Apr 15, 2010)

DArenson said:


> Thanks for this info, David. I'm sure many of your recent sales are also due to word-of-mouth!
> 
> If you don't mind sharing, did you choose the gold sponsorship (the most expensive one)? Do you feel the gold sponsorship is the one to get? I'm thinking of grabbing a gold sponsorship for my new book, which is coming out in a month or two.
> 
> Thanks!


The options changed after I bought mine. Stephen was experimenting with pricing and packages at the time, and the one I bought is no longer available.


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## Guest (Aug 5, 2010)

I'm coming up August 21st. It's a shame I won't be around that day. Anyone feel like keeping track of my ranking? I'd probably kiss someone who sent me a screenshot of my book under 500.

And I just checked, and the prices did shoot up another 20 bucks just since I went for it. Glad I didn't wait.


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

David McAfee said:


> The options changed after I bought mine. Stephen was experimenting with pricing and packages at the time, and the one I bought is no longer available.


Ah... ok. As far as I understand, you can now buy either:

1) Newsletter blast
2) A spot on the blog (which appears online, and is also pushed to Kindles)
3) A space to post an excerpt

I believe that Steven sells these separately, or you can buy all three in a package deal.


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## Sean Sweeney (Apr 17, 2010)

David McAfee said:


> Worth it? Absolutely. The extra sales I got this month have already paid for the cost of the sponsorship. I'll definitely do this again.


Makes two of us.


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## Beth O (Jul 9, 2010)

I'm doing a one-day sponsorship on August 15th.  But I purchased it when it was priced at $50, not $70.  I'll report back with my numbers.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

I admit, $70 is a lot for me.  I'm not sure I'll do a sponsorship with them.  It's a lot to take a chance on.  

I'm watching each day to see what each sponsor is ranked, and I have to say some of them aren't breaking 1,000.  What if mine was one that just didn't appeal to all those KND subscribers?

I haven't decided anything yet.  I have no idea what I'll do with that.  I'm just waiting to see what happens each day.

Vicki


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

Vicki, mine is coming up August 24.  I'll let you know how it goes.  I know John and David McAfee had lots of success with it.


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## Sean Sweeney (Apr 17, 2010)

Beth O said:


> I'm doing a one-day sponsorship on August 15th. But I purchased it when it was priced at $50, not $70. I'll report back with my numbers.


Yikes. I have to re-consider now. I don't have the budget for $70, unless I cover two games a day for two weeks.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

DArenson said:


> Vicki, mine is coming up August 24. I'll let you know how it goes. I know John and David McAfee had lots of success with it.


Yes, but they're demographic is probably male, where mine is more female. (Don't get me wrong, guys have read my book and enjoyed it, but most of the people reading are women.)

I'm just afraid all the KND subscribers are men and my $70 or more would be a waste.

Vicki


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

Vicki, my novel's protagonist is a teenage girl.  I think it's mostly females reading mine, too.


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## Carolyn Kephart (Feb 23, 2009)

Victorine said:


> I admit, $70 is a lot for me. I'm not sure I'll do a sponsorship with them. It's a lot to take a chance on.
> Vicki


I'll be watching to see if the temporary success creates a real and lasting momentum.

CK


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## David McAfee (Apr 15, 2010)

Victorine said:


> Yes, but they're demographic is probably male, where mine is more female. (Don't get me wrong, guys have read my book and enjoyed it, but most of the people reading are women.)
> 
> I'm just afraid all the KND subscribers are men and my $70 or more would be a waste.
> 
> Vicki


*ahem* Neither John nor I did nearly as well as Tonya Plank, who's novel _Swallow_ made it all the way to #42. Read the description of _Swallow_. It's clearly more attuned to a female demographic. I'd say you are going to absolutely _smoke_ John and me.


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

Why don't you ask Steven if he can provide demographic information?  Many websites can provide this info to advertisers.


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## Guest (Aug 5, 2010)

DArenson said:


> Vicki, my novel's protagonist is a teenage girl. I think it's mostly females reading mine, too.


Me too. Which day did you say you were getting the sponsorship? I'm not sure their demographic is male though.


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

foreverjuly said:


> Me too. Which day did you say you were getting the sponsorship? I'm not sure their demographic is male though.


August 24 for me. I figure "Firefly Island" can appeal to a wide demographic, so I'm not too worried about it. But again: if you're worried, ask Steven from KND if he knows. Some websites install pixels that can track demographic data.


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## Guest (Aug 5, 2010)

DArenson said:


> August 24 for me. I figure "Firefly Island" can appeal to a wide demographic, so I'm not too worried about it. But again: if you're worried, ask Steven from KND if he knows. Some websites install pixels that can track demographic data.


Thanks. I'm not worried at all. I think it'll be good. I'll be just a few days before you on the 21st. Seems like we're practically taking over the place.

The one thing I thought of was whether or not a weekend or weekday would be better. I think I lucked out with a Saturday, but we'll have to see.


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

foreverjuly said:


> The one thing I thought of was whether or not a weekend or weekday would be better. I think I lucked out with a Saturday, but we'll have to see.


I haven't noticed a difference in sales on different weekdays. But maybe I'm not selling enough copies per day to see a trend. Have you?


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

Awe, thanks guys.  You are always so supportive.   

I wish they had a less expensive "I'll list you with a bunch of other indies on this page" listing.

Vicki


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

Vicki, your novel seems to be doing really well on its own, actually!


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## Beth O (Jul 9, 2010)

Victorine said:


> Yes, but they're demographic is probably male, where mine is more female. (Don't get me wrong, guys have read my book and enjoyed it, but most of the people reading are women.)
> 
> I'm just afraid all the KND subscribers are men and my $70 or more would be a waste.
> 
> Vicki


Vicki, I believe Tonya Plank ("Swallow") did very well with her sponsorship and she writes chick lit/women's fiction. I'm not trying to talk you into it, and I don't know if I would do it for $70, I just wanted to point that out.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

You're right, Swallow did very well.  I shouldn't be so paranoid.  

Thanks, Daniel!  I wish it were more steady... lately I feel like I have to pull teeth to get a sale.  lol!

I'll still consider a sponsorship.  I sent my first 6 chapters in for the "Kindle Nation Short" thing, and I'm crossing my fingers they do that for me.  I got a "I'll contact you next week" email from them, and haven't heard back yet.  But I know they're swamped, so I'm trying to be patient.

Vicki


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## Guest (Aug 5, 2010)

Victorine said:


> I wish it were more steady... lately I feel like I have to pull teeth to get a sale. lol!


You know, you really might want to use this slow time to dig into Goodreads a little more. I've found a lot of readers over there. 456 to be exact. I think the summer is slowing things down for everyone. Might be a good time for a vacation too.


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## Carolyn Kephart (Feb 23, 2009)

foreverjuly said:


> You know, you really might want to use this slow time to dig into Goodreads a little more. I've found a lot of readers over there. 456 to be exact. I think the summer is slowing things down for everyone. Might be a good time for a vacation too.


I haven't spent much if any time at Goodreads. The interface seemed Byzantine, but the prospect of increasing readership is tempting enough to give it another go.

Vacations are exhausting.

CK


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

I can't figure out Goodreads either.  I've tried.  It gives me a headache.


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## Guest (Aug 5, 2010)

DArenson said:


> I can't figure out Goodreads either. I've tried. It gives me a headache.





Carolyn Kephart said:


> I haven't spent much if any time at Goodreads. The interface seemed *Byzantine*, but the prospect of increasing readership is tempting enough to give it another go.


I love that adjective!  Really though, Goodreads is a breeze compared to librarything, which I found to be largely a waste of time. In goodreads, just search out a few groups for kindle readers or your genre and introduce yourself and your work and see what happens. A lot of people have been receptive.


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

foreverjuly said:


> I love that adjective!  Really though, Goodreads is a breeze compared to librarything, which I found to be largely a waste of time. In goodreads, just search out a few groups for kindle readers or your genre and introduce yourself and your work and see what happens. A lot of people have been receptive.


Can you recommend any good groups?


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## Carolyn Kephart (Feb 23, 2009)

DArenson said:


> Can you recommend any good groups?


I second that query! 

CK


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## Guest (Aug 5, 2010)

DArenson said:


> Can you recommend any good groups?


I honestly feel like I'm giving away one of my cards in a poker hand here. Check out this thread and this group: I hope you got there in time. This stuff is time sensitive! I guess Stacey and I don't need to monopolize it anymore. This group is my home team on that site.


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## Sharlow (Dec 20, 2009)

foreverjuly said:


> You know, you really might want to use this slow time to dig into Goodreads a little more. I've found a lot of readers over there. 456 to be exact. I think the summer is slowing things down for everyone. Might be a good time for a vacation too.


Exactly what do you mean by "dig into Goodreads?" I'm curious, as I'm there, and I don't find much to do there. How do you dig in?


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## Steven L. Hawk (Jul 10, 2010)

I'm up on Aug 26th.  When I looked last week, it cost less (I think it was $59) than the $69 I paid.  

Good to see that the response has been positive for those who have tried this, though.  

Steve


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## Sharlow (Dec 20, 2009)

foreverjuly said:


> I honestly feel like I'm giving away one of my cards in a poker hand here. Check out this thread and this group: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/368286-ya-indie-authors . I guess Stacey and I don't need to monopolize it anymore. This group is my home team on that site.


yeah but showing me a 10H, doesn't tell me your also holding the A-J of hearts as well. Oh and what happened to Hit Girl...


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## Sharlow (Dec 20, 2009)

Steven L. Hawk said:


> I'm up on Aug 26th. When I looked last week, it cost less (I think it was $59) than the $69 I paid.
> 
> Good to see that the response has been positive for those who have tried this, though.
> 
> Steve


Seems like he may be pricing himself out of a market. There comes a point where most Indy's are not going to make enough back to warrant using his site, if he keeps raising the prices.


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## Guest (Aug 5, 2010)

Sharlow said:


> yeah but showing me a 10H, doesn't tell me your also holding the A-J of hearts as well. Oh and what happened to Hit Girl...


Sadly it came time to revert back to my usual masked identity. It's just a matter of getting in there and talking to people. No different than what we do here.

The price did get bumped up, and I might not have done it if I'd seen it now, but then again if people are making enough to cover it, he might get away with it. He'll find out real soon how much he can change, and he'll only do that by overshooting it. It's all economics.


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## Steven L. Hawk (Jul 10, 2010)

Yes, it's all about supply and demand.  It seems like he's raised prices every week for the past several, so the demand is still there.  At some point, his prices will outrun demand and we may see a price drop.

This was the top of the price range for me.  Any higher and I'd pass.  On the other hand, at $29 I'd probably do it once every 3-4 months until it no longer paid off.

Steve


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

It's an individual decision.  Personally, I sponsored Kindle Nation Daily, and I'll probably sponsor them again.  I don't have a lot of time to self promote.  I don't have time to navigate Goodreads, NothingBinding, do endless blogging, etc.  By the time I get home from work and finish the daily chores at home, I just want to spend an hour writing new books, not promoting.  So for me, it's worth paying KND to promote the book for me.  Other authors might have equal success promoting on their own.


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## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

Well I signed up for the gold sponsorship the week of October 4.

So I guess we know Space Junque will be out by October 4! ha.


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## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

I'm up for August 19th.  I have my fingers crossed.


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## Jim Bernheimer (Jul 21, 2010)

I signed up for early September.  70 bucks seems a bit stiff and other posters are correct that he might be pricing himself out of the market.  I'll be curious how well the rest of you do.


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## JL Bryan (Aug 10, 2010)

After reading about other people's experiences, I bought a daily sponsorship with an excerpt.  I'll be sure to let everyone know my results on that day (if any  

Jeff


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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

KND sounds interesting.

I know it's a bit more expensive, but a more sustained effort can also come from: http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/book-your-tour/

They offer packages ranging from one-month to three-month promotional pushes and during that time, you only need to move 95-190 units to pay for any of their packages. Haven't tried them myself yet, but I hear good things.

Only reason I haven't tried either KND or PUYB is because I don't have my first book ready and available yet. My theory is to wait on PAID promotional efforts until I've sold enough copies to pay for the promotional efforts out of sales already made, so that I'm reinvesting rather than risking money. It's a strategy that fits my budget and makes sense to me.

Until then, I've been told by reliable Indie authors that you can generate a lot of your own buzz just by being on here and Amazon's community boards, and you can almost set up your own initial blog tour by responding to all those "Looking for indie authors to interview" threads on Amazon...

Hopefully I've been well-advised.


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## Guest (Aug 16, 2010)

I know that "name recognition" advertising is suppose to be the stuff. Talk to anyone who sells it.
I have a chiropractic business. I have found that some forms of advertising allow me to count every penny I make from them; they are not name recognition. I have spent a lot of money on name recognition, and my name is often recognized in town when I put a credit  card down in a store, but I cannot trace much back to it.
I personally don't believe the name recognition thing: it works best for those selling it. They can count every penny you give them


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## tonyaplank (Jun 14, 2010)

Yes, Vicki, mine did very well. I'm so thrilled with the results! About a week before I did the sponsorship, I'd also reduced the price of my book to .99. Mine had been priced at $3.99 and then I read about K.L. Brady's success lowering hers to 99 cents, and I just figured I really wanted people to read my book more than anything, more than making money at this point. Anyway, when I reduced my book to 99 cents, I hit (inadvertently) a bunch of those 99 cent lists, and that happened about a week before my KND sponsorship. My book had just barely hit the 900-range from those 99 cent deal lists. It had started to climb back up to - it was like 5,000 -something by the time my KND sponsorship happened, and in a couple days of the KND sponsorship, it shot back up and all the way this time to 42. Of course it's gone back down again but it's sales are still strong and it's remained for several weeks now in the top 1000, and in the top 10 in legal fiction. My book is kind of dark / edgy  chick lit - both the women and men who've read it seemed to have liked it, though from its description I think more women are picking it up. So, I wouldn't be afraid of any gender gap! I would definitely take the chance if I were you! Sales-wise it's definitely been the best investment for me. Oh, and I did the gold sponsorship - it was I think one day of the email and two days on the blog, or something like that. He's since changed it.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

tonyaplank said:


> Yes, Vicki, mine did very well. I'm so thrilled with the results! About a week before I did the sponsorship, I'd also reduced the price of my book to .99. Mine had been priced at $3.99 and then I read about K.L. Brady's success lowering hers to 99 cents, and I just figured I really wanted people to read my book more than anything, more than making money at this point. Anyway, when I reduced my book to 99 cents, I hit (inadvertently) a bunch of those 99 cent lists, and that happened about a week before my KND sponsorship. My book had just barely hit the 900-range from those 99 cent deal lists. It had started to climb back up to - it was like 5,000 -something by the time my KND sponsorship happened, and in a couple days of the KND sponsorship, it shot back up and all the way this time to 42. Of course it's gone back down again but it's sales are still strong and it's remained for several weeks now in the top 1000, and in the top 10 in legal fiction. My book is kind of dark / edgy chick lit - both the women and men who've read it seemed to have liked it, though from its description I think more women are picking it up. So, I wouldn't be afraid of any gender gap! I would definitely take the chance if I were you! Sales-wise it's definitely been the best investment for me. Oh, and I did the gold sponsorship - it was I think one day of the email and two days on the blog, or something like that. He's since changed it.


Thanks so much, Tonya, for all of the information. You're so great to let us know how well it worked. I'm so glad you're getting the exposure and sales you deserve! You've got a great novel.

Vicki


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## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

I've decided to give it a shot. My day is August 30th 

Sandy


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## Beth O (Jul 9, 2010)

I did the one-day blast yesterday. For the first 2 weeks of the month I had been selling on average 6-7 copies per day of "Honeymoon for One." Yesterday I sold 70 copies and my rank jumped from around 4000 to around 300. Last night I was #9 on the Kindle Movers & Shakers list. [According to my uncle I was #4 this morning, but it was gone by the time I checked so I can't verify ]

Do I think these new sales figures/rankings will last? No, I'm sure they won't. But the ad paid for itself and then some (I signed up when it was only $50) and the extra readers/exposure can only help in the long run.

That's my experience, YMMV.


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## lyndahilburn (Apr 8, 2010)

I had my sponsorship today and it was definitely worth it. I got a nice bump and sold some books. I'll sign up for another day for my second book. 

Lynda


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## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

lyndahilburn said:


> I had my sponsorship today and it was definitely worth it. I got a nice bump and sold some books. I'll sign up for another day for my second book.


I'm glad to hear it ! I'm up tomorrow and I'm as nervous as I was on my first date (many moons ago).


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

At the higher price I will probably wait until I release a sequel, so that new readers for the first book have something else to buy right away.

But right now I have to get back to writing the sequel.

Camille


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## Guest (Aug 19, 2010)

Way to go Indies!
Good job - now you're making me think of trying it.


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## ReeseReed (Dec 5, 2009)

I got an email today saying that they'd have my Christmas one up December 6th, the day I requested.  So, it seems they're not averse to giving dates that far in advance (at least not yet).


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## Guest (Aug 19, 2010)

I'm just 3 days away! Let's see what happens!


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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

The sales rank changes are interesting... but anyone feel OK sharing the actual units sold? It might be enlightening.

P.S. Tonya, I just bought SWALLOW.


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## D. Nathan Hilliard (Jun 5, 2010)

Okay, I just ordered the $99 package and asked for a date in early to mid fall. Now I wait and see.


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## Sharlow (Dec 20, 2009)

CraigInTwinCities said:


> The sales rank changes are interesting... but anyone feel OK sharing the actual units sold? It might be enlightening.
> 
> P.S. Tonya, I just bought SWALLOW.


Take a look at this chart. Make sure you switch it to sales and for the month. Then you can compare her sales. Also, novel rank is terrible at keeping track when there is a flurry of sales all in a row. So she sold more then this most likely. Compare that to other days of the month.

http://www.novelrank.com/title/the-vampire-shrink-kismet-knight-phd-vampire-psychologist-series-kindle-edition


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

I'm so glad you're all having great results from KND!!  That's fantastic.

I submitted a short for the Free Short thing they do.  There was a $15 reading fee, and it took about 3 1/2 weeks to hear back, but Stephen just emailed today and said my short will be live on September 22!  Yay!  I can't wait!

I'll let you all know if it gets me any sales.  I'm thinking of doing a sponsorship too.

Vicki


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## Sharlow (Dec 20, 2009)

Wow a hundred bucks for a day. I wonder how much higher it's going to go.


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## Sharlow (Dec 20, 2009)

Victorine said:


> I'm so glad you're all having great results from KND!! That's fantastic.
> 
> I submitted a short for the Free Short thing they do. There was a $15 reading fee, and it took about 3 1/2 weeks to hear back, but Stephen just emailed today and said my short will be live on September 22! Yay! I can't wait!
> 
> ...


Hey that's my birthday... And Frodo's and Bilbo's.


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## D. Nathan Hilliard (Jun 5, 2010)

Sharlow said:


> Wow a hundred bucks for a day. I wonder how much higher it's going to go.


Yep. I'll be sure and let you guys know if it turns out to be worth that price.


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## lyndahilburn (Apr 8, 2010)

Sharlow said:


> Take a look at this chart. Make sure you switch it to sales and for the month. Then you can compare her sales. Also, novel rank is terrible at keeping track when there is a flurry of sales all in a row. So she sold more then this most likely. Compare that to other days of the month.
> 
> http://www.novelrank.com/title/the-vampire-shrink-kismet-knight-phd-vampire-psychologist-series-kindle-edition


Novel rank isn't ever very accurate for my stats. So far in August, I've sold 675 copies of that book. In the time period between 5:20 a.m. Aug. 18 and 5:30 a.m. Aug. 19 (during my sponsorship), I sold 130 copies of that book. I wasn't home to track all my ranks, but they got pretty high on the vampires, fantasy/futuristic/ghost, romantic suspense, and overall romance, plus movers and shakers.

Lynda


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## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

Forbidden The Stars is at bat today, and Stephen Windwalker is including my book trailer in the page.

http://kindlehomepage.blogspot.com/2010/08/kindle-nation-daily-free-book-alert-for_19.html

My rank when I woke up this morning was 35,648 / book trailer views on youtube was 43 views.

You just _know _ I'm going to be checking amazon, youtube and dtp every five second today .... lol

... just checked -- rank 8365 / youtube views 50

Even if I don't sell a lot of copies today, the feelgood factor makes it worth it


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## D.A. Boulter (Jun 11, 2010)

Valmore Daniels said:


> Forbidden The Stars is at bat today, and Stephen Windwalker is including my book trailer in the page.
> 
> http://kindlehomepage.blogspot.com/2010/08/kindle-nation-daily-free-book-alert-for_19.html
> 
> Even if I don't sell a lot of copies today, the feelgood factor makes it worth it


Well, I wish you lots of sales to make the feelgood factor even better.


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## KathyBell (Nov 7, 2009)

Because of all the great results people have seen, I've just signed up for an excerpt to be issued the day Evolussion releases to Kindle (10/10/10). The excerpt is from Regression, so hopefully people will go and purchase both!

Thanks for sharing the resource, I would not have known it existed. And good luck to everyone with an upcoming 'feature', may it bring you lots of sales.


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## CCrooks (Apr 15, 2010)

> Forbidden The Stars is at bat today, and Stephen Windwalker is including my book trailer in the page.
> 
> http://kindlehomepage.blogspot.com/2010/08/kindle-nation-daily-free-book-alert-for_19.html
> 
> ...


Right now it's ranked at 1100. Nice. Your trailer looks great too.

- Christina


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## Steven L. Hawk (Jul 10, 2010)

Valmore Daniels said:


> I'm glad to hear it ! I'm up tomorrow and I'm as nervous as I was on my first date (many moons ago).


I'm anxious to hear how things went today. I'm up in a week!


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Just wanted to chime in to add that this thread is such a great example of why I'm so thrilled to have found KB. I learned about a great resource. Get first-hand experiences relayed back and support from fellow writers. It's a triple whammy!


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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

lyndahilburn said:


> Novel rank isn't ever very accurate for my stats. So far in August, I've sold 675 copies of that book. In the time period between 5:20 a.m. Aug. 18 and 5:30 a.m. Aug. 19 (during my sponsorship), I sold 130 copies of that book. I wasn't home to track all my ranks, but they got pretty high on the vampires, fantasy/futuristic/ghost, romantic suspense, and overall romance, plus movers and shakers.
> 
> Lynda


Hey Linda... I took a flyer on the first Kismet novel a few weeks ago, but I've been so busy I haven't read it yet. If I like it, though, and it DID look promising... I'll probably fill out my collection soon.

Been too busy of late with a different novel, but the one I bought already is certainly on my list.


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## Jim Bernheimer (Jul 21, 2010)

Spirals of Destiny Book One: Rider is up on Friday September 3rd.  I think going into Labor Day weekend should be decent.  We'll see.  Valmore seems to be doing well today, so that's a real good sign.

If it works out well, I'll immediately book some more dates.


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## lyndahilburn (Apr 8, 2010)

CraigInTwinCities said:


> Hey Linda... I took a flyer on the first Kismet novel a few weeks ago, but I've been so busy I haven't read it yet. If I like it, though, and it DID look promising... I'll probably fill out my collection soon.
> 
> Been too busy of late with a different novel, but the one I bought already is certainly on my list.


Thank you, Craig! That was very thoughtful of you. I appreciate it.

Lynda


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## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

Is a sponsorship worth it?  To me it was very worthwhile.  Considering my genre, my lack of reviews, and the title being three weeks old, the sponsorship very nearly paid for itself on the first day (I got in before the price went up).  The future value, however, may be greater:  perhaps a few of the readers who picked up the book yesterday will tell two friends, and they'll tell two friends, etc.

Final results:  at one point, my rank hit 1167, which I'm very pleased with, my book trailer is up to 81 views, which is very nice.  
I'm in the top 100 in my categories:
#30 in   Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Science Fiction > Adventure 
#21 in   Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > High Tech 
#14 in   Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Science Fiction > High Tech 

And I got this on my Amazon page:  
65% buy the item featured on this page:
Forbidden The Stars by Valmore Daniels Kindle Edition
$2.99

Yes, I will do it again, but I will prepare better next time, and make sure I have some reviews up so that nothing detracts from the potential reader's decision to click the purchase button.


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## JL Bryan (Aug 10, 2010)

_Jenny Pox_ is now scheduled for a Kindle Nation Daily on Wednesday, September 29. I chose the "daily sponsorhip plus excerpt" option. I'm not sure where the excerpt actually goes, but I'm sure it cost an extra $20.

I will definitely post back to this thread & report the results!

Valmore - Thanks for letting us know. How did you get a book trailer made?

Jeff Bryan


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Since you all have been discussing this publication I thought I'd give it a try.  I was disappointed.  I got about a week's worth of issues and, honestly, all it was was advertisements.  I sort of expected some write ups like I get in "A Kindle World" and "I love my Kindle", with the occasional round up of free/inexpensive books on offer.  I fully expected ONE book promo a day as you all have been talking about paying for a sponsorship.  I don't have a problem with that. . . . .but there was nothing in the REST of the content except 'Here's what's free/cheap'. . . which I already knew because it had all been previously posted here.  Perhaps I should have researched more so as to adjust my expectations.  Anyway, I canceled it.


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Since you all have been discussing this publication I thought I'd give it a try. I was disappointed. I got about a week's worth of issues and, honestly, all it was was advertisements. I sort of expected some write ups like I get in "A Kindle World" and "I love my Kindle", with the occasional round up of free/inexpensive books on offer. I fully expected ONE book promo a day as you all have been talking about paying for a sponsorship. I don't have a problem with that. . . . .but there was nothing in the REST of the content except 'Here's what's free/cheap'. . . which I already knew because it had all been previously posted here. Perhaps I should have researched more so as to adjust my expectations. Anyway, I canceled it.


Ann, as much as I like KND, I generally agree -- but I think this is a new phenomenon. In recent weeks, KND has been full of advertisements; much more than usual. I hope KND goes back to providing more content, as it used to, along with the ads and sponsorships.


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## Sean Sweeney (Apr 17, 2010)

I did the UK sponsorship for A GALAXY AT WAR on Wednesday. While I netted 0 UK sales, I did get a few new readers in the US. I did not recover the $20 investment, but that is OK because I more than made my money back for the TURNING BACK THE CLOCK investment of last month.

My hope is that people in the UK remember for next week/the week after when their Kindles arrive. Will I do the UK again? Most definitely. I just need to set aside a budget for it.


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## Dawn McCullough White (Feb 24, 2010)

Yes, I think so.  The first mail went out last night at 5pm Eastern, and I'm sponsored on KND's website today, here is my current Amazon ranking:


Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #688 Paid in Kindle Store
#18 in  Kindle Books,  Fiction, Action & Adventure
#5 in Kindle Books, Fantasy, Historical
#10 in  Books, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Fantasy,  Historical


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

My fantasy novel _Firefly Island_ will be featured this Monday. We'll see how it goes! I'm looking forward to it.

_Flaming Dove_, my upcoming dark fantasy novel, will sponsor KND in October.


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## wm ollie (Aug 9, 2010)

i'm up with an excerpt for my Sideshow novel on Sept 1st, will be interesting to see what happens.


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

DArenson said:


> My fantasy novel _Firefly Island_ will be featured this Monday. We'll see how it goes! I'm looking forward to it.
> 
> _Flaming Dove_, my upcoming dark fantasy novel, will sponsor KND in October.


I'm curious to see what your results are, since my book is in the same genre as yours. Fantasy isn't as huge a market as mystery and romance, so I wasn't sure I should spend the money if the sponsorship wouldn't make it back in sales.


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

kcmay said:


> I'm curious to see what your results are, since my book is in the same genre as yours. Fantasy isn't as huge a market as mystery and romance, so I wasn't sure I should spend the money if the sponsorship wouldn't make it back in sales.


Thanks!

I expect (hope?) that _Firefly Island _will do well -- it's generally well reviewed and, I feel, offers a great story. But I expect _Flaming Dove_ to do even better.

_Firefly Island_ is an epic fantasy -- sword fights, knights in armor, battles, horses, castles, ogres, and lots of magic. It's great fun (if you ask me!), but a bit of a retro style.

_Flaming Dove_ (coming soon) is a dark, Gothic fantasy, which also fits comfortably into the "paranormal" and "horror" genres. I think that style is hot now!


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## JoeMitchell (Jun 6, 2010)

Valmore Daniels said:


> Final results: at one point, my rank hit 1167, which I'm very pleased with, my book trailer is up to 81 views, which is very nice.
> I'm in the top 100 in my categories:
> #30 in Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Science Fiction > Adventure
> #21 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > High Tech
> #14 in Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Science Fiction > High Tech


Congrats Valmore! I have a couple of questions, if you don't mind answering. Where do you go to check your rank? I see this posted all the time by other authors. Second, more importantly, how many actual sales did the one-day ad give you? I'm wondering if it actually pays for itself or not.


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## Steven L. Hawk (Jul 10, 2010)

JoeMitchell said:


> Congrats Valmore! I have a couple of questions, if you don't mind answering. Where do you go to check your rank? I see this posted all the time by other authors. Second, more importantly, how many actual sales did the one-day ad give you? I'm wondering if it actually pays for itself or not.


Joe, this on the Amazon page for your book. Scroll down to the "Product Details" and it should show your book's ranking. Your current ranking shows:

_Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #12,014 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store) _

Category rankings show up beneath the Kindle Store ranking.

Steve


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## JL Bryan (Aug 10, 2010)

Good luck, Sibel!  Also, I added Fashion Police to my Wish List, though it's not usually my kind of book...never doubt that a cute cover gets attention!


Jeff


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## Imogen Rose (Mar 22, 2010)

sibelhodge said:


> Fourteen Days Later is on the UK Kindle Daily Alert today... http://bit.ly/9ZXZBQ will see what happens! Fingers crossed.


All the best!!


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## J.M Pierce (May 13, 2010)

Good luck Sibel!


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Fingers and toes crossed for ya, Sibel!

And, congratulations Valmore. Those numbers sure look good.


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## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

JoeMitchell said:


> Congrats Valmore! I have a couple of questions, if you don't mind answering. Where do you go to check your rank? I see this posted all the time by other authors. Second, more importantly, how many actual sales did the one-day ad give you? I'm wondering if it actually pays for itself or not.


Yeah, I don't mind sharing. Now, I went into this knowing I wasn't going to blow the roof off the joint, I just wanted to get the ball rolling, and I'm pleased with the end result. My book is fairly new (three weeks old today), I don't have any customer reviews, and while hard sf has a solid and loyal audience, it's not as big as thrillers, romance, urban fantasy, etc.

I got in when the price was $60 and I sold 25 books yesterday (bringing my total for the first three weeks of release to 56). Provided most of the sales were US-based, that'll mean it _almost _ paid for itself in one day ...

But you can't think of advertising as a one-time return. It has a cumulative effect. For me, the exposure was more than invaluable for a new book without a platform. I've already received a few messages through my website from some who have purchased the book, and from some who saw the book, but it wasn't in their genre, and just wanted to compliment me on the cover and trailer. Maybe a few of yesterday's purchasers will like it enough to post a review, or tell two friends, etc. And maybe someone who saw the sponsorship yesterday will come across a blog tomorrow featuring my book and make the decision then.

My only regret is not having a few reviews up - maybe that would have helped some of the people who were waffling to purchase instead of pass.


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## KathyBell (Nov 7, 2009)

JoeMitchell said:


> Congrats Valmore! I have a couple of questions, if you don't mind answering. Where do you go to check your rank? I see this posted all the time by other authors. Second, more importantly, how many actual sales did the one-day ad give you? I'm wondering if it actually pays for itself or not.


The Top 100 rankings only show up for your book if you are on one of the lists...which is why selecting your categories carefully can work in your favour. If you choose a category that is appropriate and also does not have 'huge name' sellers, you have a better chance of moving up the ranks and also hitting your target market. Now, you have to watch, someone might get suspicious if your book is listed at #1 in >cats category and has nothing to do with felines, LOL! But, I found those rankings really help when you are on the first page (top 25), because people do browse through the categories.


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## Brenda Carroll (May 21, 2009)

Does anyone have a link for this sponsorship thing for the US?  All I can find is the one for UK.  I'd like to look into it.


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Brendan Carroll said:


> Does anyone have a link for this sponsorship thing for the US? All I can find is the one for UK. I'd like to look into it.


Here you go:

http://kindlehomepage.blogspot.com/p/sponsor-kindle-nation-daily-free-book.html


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## Brenda Carroll (May 21, 2009)

Thank you, Miss Monique.  I see the prices have sky-rocketed.


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Brendan Carroll said:


> Thank you, Miss Monique. I see the prices have sky-rocketed.


You're very welcome, sir.

Yes, the prices seem to be going up weekly.


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## D. Nathan Hilliard (Jun 5, 2010)

I bought their 99 dollar deal. What experience has anybody had with their cheaper packages?


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## Sharlow (Dec 20, 2009)

lyndahilburn said:


> Novel rank isn't ever very accurate for my stats. So far in August, I've sold 675 copies of that book. In the time period between 5:20 a.m. Aug. 18 and 5:30 a.m. Aug. 19 (during my sponsorship), I sold 130 copies of that book. I wasn't home to track all my ranks, but they got pretty high on the vampires, fantasy/futuristic/ghost, romantic suspense, and overall romance, plus movers and shakers.
> 
> Lynda


So was it worth it? The price you paid?


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## Gordon Ryan (Aug 20, 2010)

Bought my first KND one day sponsorship yesterday at 70, but have not heard back from them yet as to the date.  From this thread, I can see that it often takes several days for them to respond.  I paid at the same time as I sent them my material.  

The reviews and results on here look good, but not startling and certainly related to genre.  But as someone said, general marketing is the key to name branding.  I would trade 70 in costs for 70 in sales every day if I could get it.  Eventually, the revenue would exceed the expense and the ball would start rolling.  When I have a date, I'll advise on this forum and report the results as everyone else has done.

One particular question about Amazon: several people have mentioned their ranking in the overall Amazon Kindle store, but also separate genre ranking.  Do we have to place our books on certain lists to get them in that category, or does Amazon do it for us, or do they not even make it until sales are sufficient to reach a top 100 or some set number?  What, if anything do WE need to do to get our books on those individual lists?

Great group here.  Going to like this new home.

Cheers,


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## lyndahilburn (Apr 8, 2010)

Sharlow said:


> So was it worth it? The price you paid?


It was worth it. I try to do whatever I can to introduce myself and my books to new readers. August had been my slowest month so far before the KND sponsorship, and it's now looking better. I am going to sign up to promote my second book.

Lynda


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## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

Novelist said:


> What, if anything do WE need to do to get our books on those individual lists?


Sales . It's an automatic sort of thing and rankings change hourly.

Sandy


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

I jumped off the fence last night and emailed Kindle Nation about a one-day $69.99 sponsorship. They responded within a few hours with a PayPal email. I took the first available date, which is September 5.

JimC

EDIT: The correct date is September 23.


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

I hopped on the bandwagon as it sped past. Looks like the next available date is mid-Sept!


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## Vyrl (Jun 7, 2010)

OK. OK. You've twisted my arm


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

I think your book will do really well with a mention on KND, Robert.  It's a great book and an awesome cover.  

Vicki


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## D.A. Boulter (Jun 11, 2010)

sibelhodge said:


> I had my KDN UK spot on Friday 20th and it didn't improve sales at all! Unfortunately, it wasn't worth doing for me.


Sorry to hear that you had the same experience as I did.


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## Guest (Aug 22, 2010)

Ok, results are in from my US Day long sponsorship. I sold exactly enough books to cover the cost. So I think it was a good way to boost readership in a slow month, but it certainly wasn't a big moneymaker. I think I will try doing it again though once the 2nd book in my series is released. We'll see if DArenson has any better luck in a day or two.


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## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

Just throwing my .02 into the pot.

If the ad _exactly _ paid for itself, then you are way ahead of the game. Advertising isn't a one-off strategy; it's a cumulative effect. I've been in retail management for ten years and putting out a single ad almost never yields immediate results. Getting instant feedback like this is phenomenal. I have to have an ad run for a minimum of 3 weeks in my town before people will respond.

You just had 10,000 eyeballs on your book. Okay, so only 25 or 30 actually pulled the trigger and bought. That's a bonus. Now, tomorrow, or next week, one of those 10,000 may stumble across a blog featuring your book and think, oh yeah!, I've seen that one before! And then they might make the decision to purchase then.

The ripple effect: Before I placed the ad, I was getting 1 to 2 sales a day. In the last two days, I've had 5 to 7 a day, and I haven't done anything different from before. Keep checking how you are trending. If you are selling more daily after the KND sponsorship than before, then KND has paid off in spades. I used novelrank.com to check the past two weeks of KND sponsors, and while novelrank.com is usually off by about 20%, I would say most books trend higher after KND sponsorship than before, with a few exceptions.

As for the UK KND, I think another thread one of our UK cousins mentioned that advertising is the wrong approach for the UK market, and I tend to agree. Also, their Kindle store _just _ went live. It's going to take a bit of time to get the ball rolling.

Again, just my .02 and feel free to ignore me


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## Guest (Aug 22, 2010)

That's definitely a valuable perspective, Valmore. I see what you're saying and it makes a lot of sense. I guess I was only comparing myself to previous people in this thread who mentioned getting much bigger numbers. I only want the people who are interested in my book to buy it. I even got my first refund, and I'd much rather see that than a 1-star review. Your point about how rare it is to see a direct connection between an ad and a sale is true indeed. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on how sales go for the next week or so (or forever). Who knows how many grabbed samples and may be coming back.


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Good advice, Valmore. It's so true. While we all tend to focus on the immediate results, it's about much more than that. Breaking even is a win!


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

foreverjuly said:


> Ok, results are in from my US Day long sponsorship. I sold exactly enough books to cover the cost. So I think it was a good way to boost readership in a slow month, but it certainly wasn't a big moneymaker. I think I will try doing it again though once the 2nd book in my series is released. We'll see if DArenson has any better luck in a day or two.


I love KND... but I've heard complaints that the number of ads grew so much, that people are annoyed and unsubscribing. I hope that's wrong... because I love KND.


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

I'm a little confused by the various options. I don't quite understand just what you get for each. Can someone explain it to me? Their page doesn't really go into any depth. Or am I just dense?


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## Guest (Aug 22, 2010)

DArenson said:


> I love KND... but I've heard complaints that the number of ads grew so much, that people are annoyed and unsubscribing. I hope that's wrong... because I love KND.


Interesting. That's definitely something he's going to need to be aware of, Dan. I don't think it's too bothersome to scroll past an ad at the top of a page. I think it's a great site too. I have a feeling new people with kindles will more than make up for those who yearn for the olden days.


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

Monique said:


> I'm a little confused by the various options. I don't quite understand just what you get for each. Can someone explain it to me? Their page doesn't really go into any depth. Or am I just dense?


Here's how I understand it (though Steven who runs KND knows more than I do):

There are three options: a pitch on their blog (which appears online AND on people's Kindles), a pitch in an email newsletter, or inclusion of an excerpt in the blog (e.g. your first chapter). You can buy either one of these three... OR buy all three in a package deal.

At least, I think that's how it works!


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Thank you, Daniel! Boy, it's tough to know what would be most effective. Really appreciate the response.


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

Monique said:


> Thank you, Daniel! Boy, it's tough to know what would be most effective. Really appreciate the response.


I just bought the package deal (luckily before the price went up). I hope it works!


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

DArenson said:


> I just bought the package deal (luckily before the price went up). I hope it works!


Here's hoping!


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## Nancy C. Johnson Author (Apr 28, 2010)

Hi, Everybody

Thanks, Vicki, for letting people know about Kindle Nation Daily.

I wasn't aware of it until today. It looks like quite a few writers have benefited from the exposure they provide, and in some cases, it was not that helpful.

It appears to be getting more expensive though, so I'm not sure about it either.

I'll keep an eye on it though.

Nancy


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

Thanks, everyone, for sharing your experiences with KND. I subscribed to the daily on my Kindle and enjoy checking out the freebies as well as the sponsor ads. I've downloaded 3 books so far based on what I read in KND.

And thanks, Valmore, for the link to novelrank. I'm going to try to track my sales activity relative to my online activity. The day I posted an update on my Facebook page that included the term "fantasy novels," my sales jumped to a whopping three! That's a new single-day record for me (sadly). On Facebook, 13,500 people have Liked the "fantasy novels" page. I can't say for sure that my FB wall posting was responsible for the increase in sales, but I'll try it again next time the book gets a review worthy of a news update. 

I'm just looking for exposure. KND subscribers who enjoy the kind of book I've written may download a sample. And if they read it, I'm confident they'll buy it.


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## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

Valmore Daniels said:


> If the ad _exactly _ paid for itself, then you are way ahead of the game. Advertising isn't a one-off strategy; it's a cumulative effect. I've been in retail management for ten years and putting out a single ad almost never yields immediate results. Getting instant feedback like this is phenomenal. I have to have an ad run for a minimum of 3 weeks in my town before people will respond.
> 
> Again, just my .02 and feel free to ignore me


I think you're dead on- I actually just bought three daily spots that will run two weeks apart leading up to the release of my second book in November. It will be interesting to see if there's a bigger hit off the first one or a cumulative build off all three... I'll keep ya posted!

Zack


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

My Kindle Nation Daily sponsorship is due today.  It's almost 8 pm, and it hasn't appeared yet.  Has anyone else seen delays like this?  I'm getting worried.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

DArenson said:


> My Kindle Nation Daily sponsorship is due today. It's almost 8 pm, and it hasn't appeared yet. Has anyone else seen delays like this? I'm getting worried.


I'd have emailed Stephen the first you noticed it wasn't up. He might have double booked accidentally, and made an error. See if you can't get him to email you.

Vicki


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

Maybe Steve reads KindleBoards; it just got sent out.


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## Harry Shannon (Jul 30, 2010)

This is an interesting thread, thanks to everyone for keep it going. I haven't done anything like this yet, but have given it a lot of thought, especially if I do the next mystery novel on my own instead of through a publisher.


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## Gordon Ryan (Aug 20, 2010)

Daniel, your KND results seem phenomenal.  Windwalker gave high praise and the Amazon numbers seem to show dramatic results.  Are you going to share some background with us hopefully?  Thanks.


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

Novelist said:


> Daniel, your KND results seem phenomenal. Windwalker gave high praise and the Amazon numbers seem to show dramatic results. Are you going to share some background with us hopefully? Thanks.


Thank you, Novelist. I uploaded Firefly Island







to Kindle in April. It was selling nicely before KND too, once even reaching 12th bestselling epic fantasy. But KND definitely gave the novel a HUGE boost; my sales rank leapt from about 10,000 to 500, and currently Firefly Island is Kindle's 8th bestselling epic fantasy. I would highly recommend sponsoring KND.

Note, though, that some books have not done great on KND. Really, it just gives you large exposure. The actual sales depend on how compelling your novel seems. So you need a good cover, a great sample, and some positive reviews also help. KND brings the horse to the water; your job is to make that water taste great.


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## Steven L. Hawk (Jul 10, 2010)

Today is my turn on KND. Halfway through the day and initial results look very promising.

My current Amazon Bestsellers Rankings are:

#792 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#10 in Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Science Fiction > Adventure
#8 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Men's Adventure
#3 in Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Men's Adventure

My previous bests were #4950, #73, #50 and #33, respectively.

When I was at #13 earlier today in the SF>Adventure category, _Peace Warrior_ was sitting between Andre Norton at #12 and Frank Herbert's 40th Anniversary Edition of _Dune _at #14. As a SciFi fan, whose favorite book is _Dune_, that was _way _cool. I did a Print Screen for proof... wonder if it's of frameable quality?

Also got my first 5-star review today. It looks lonely sitting atop those 4-stars, but I'll take it!

Steve


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Hey, that's great, Steven! Those numbers look great to me. And, yay on the 5 star review!

Congratulations!


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## Guest (Aug 26, 2010)

Steven is killing it. That's awesome. I do think having a male-oriented story helps.


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## rudykerkhoven (Aug 23, 2010)

OK, I have to be honest, I don't quite know what the different options at Kindle Nation entail.  What is the Free Book Alert Sponsorship--does your book have to be free?

And does that have anything to do with the sponsored book for each day?  How does one get that?

I've looked through the site, and I'm not entirely sure what the 69.99 option gives you...


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

rudykerkhoven said:


> OK, I have to be honest, I don't quite know what the different options at Kindle Nation entail. What is the Free Book Alert Sponsorship--does your book have to be free?


Nope, your book doesn't have to be free. I think it just means the alert itself is free for subscribers.


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## rudykerkhoven (Aug 23, 2010)

Thanks, that makes sense.  So, does one need to shell out for the Gold package to get their book advertised on the front page of the website?


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

rudykerkhoven said:


> Thanks, that makes sense. So, does one need to shell out for the Gold package to get their book advertised on the front page of the website?


No, the Gold Package means they'll also include an excerpt and a mention in their newsletter.


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## Sharlow (Dec 20, 2009)

DArenson said:


> No, the Gold Package means they'll also include an excerpt and a mention in their newsletter.


Question for you. With the success you've had with sponsorship there, are you going to do it again, with the increased price?


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

Sharlow said:


> Question for you. With the success you've had with sponsorship there, are you going to do it again, with the increased price?


I bought two gold sponsorships at the old price. One happened last week. The next is scheduled for October. It's getting a bit pricey now, but I think it's still worth it. It's a great way to get your book out there.


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## CCrooks (Apr 15, 2010)

I signed up for a UK book sponsorship for Wed Sept 22 to promote my Choose Your Own Romance adventure book. We'll see what happens! 

Christina


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## kyrin (Dec 28, 2009)

I signed up for UK sponsorship on September 10th. I still need to book US sponsorship but I am working on getting some reviews first.

After that, I need to finish a manuscript and short story collection so they will be ready for X-mas.


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## Steven L. Hawk (Jul 10, 2010)

Steven L. Hawk said:


> Today is my turn on KND. Halfway through the day and initial results look very promising.
> 
> My current Amazon Bestsellers Rankings are:
> 
> ...


Sponsorship worked well for me, and I bought in at the increased price. My additional sales paid for my sponsorship, and then some. I topped out the day with following rankings:

#526 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#7 in Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Science Fiction > Adventure
#5 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Men's Adventure
#2 in Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Men's Adventure

It's been three days, and my sales are still feeling the momentum. I would consider doing it again in a few months.

S.


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## Sharlow (Dec 20, 2009)

CCrooks said:


> I signed up for a UK book sponsorship for Wed Sept 22 to promote my Choose Your Own Romance adventure book. We'll see what happens!
> 
> Christina


Hey, that's my birthday, and Frodo's, and Bilbo's.


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## CCrooks (Apr 15, 2010)

> Hey, that's my birthday, and Frodo's, and Bilbo's.


I love The Hobbit! I had to look. From Wikipedia: 


> "Hobbit Day is the birthday of the hobbits Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, two fictional characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's popular set of books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. And it is also the wedding date of Angelwriter and StickyCent. In the books both Bilbo and Frodo were said to be born on September 22, but of different years. Bilbo was born in the year of 2890 and Frodo in the year of 2968 in the Third Age (1290 and 1368 respectively in Shire-Reckoning.)
> Tolkien Week is the week containing Hobbit Day."


A fortuitous day. 

Christina


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## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

So...it's my turn today. 

Here's my rank this morning on Crazy For You:

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,385 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)#78 in  Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Romance > Contemporary 

When I went to bed last night my rank was at #975. So this is probably before the sales I'm seeing from the first tweet have kicked in. 

We'll see how it goes...wish me luck!

Sandy


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Looks like it's going pretty well, Sandra!

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #400 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#14 in Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Romance > Contemporary
#22 in Books > Romance > Contemporary

Yay!


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## rudykerkhoven (Aug 23, 2010)

Even though the price has gone up, I have to think that this is still a pretty good deal for advertising.  I don't know what else I could do that would be nearly as effective for advertising for that price.  So, like so many others here, I've jumped in and purchased the $70 deal.  Who knows when my day will be.

Sandra: how did you get your book on the front page of the blog?  What option did you get?


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## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

Thanks Monique...Yes, it's going well . (For those who are curious...I've had 35 sales since the tweet this morning). 

I purchased the 'Free Book Alert Sponsorship' which is...let me check...option #1 .

The exposure alone is worth it, IMO.


Sandy


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## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

Mid-day update. 

My current numbers at Amazon are:

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #198 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#79 in  Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Fiction > Contemporary Fiction 
#4 in  Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Romance > Contemporary 
#11 in  Books > Romance > Contemporary 

My sales have slowed a bit in the last hour, so this will be going back soon. But man, I'm impressed with the exposure KND gave me!

Sandy


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## rudykerkhoven (Aug 23, 2010)

Those are impressive stats, Sandra, especially for the price.  I know I've spent more than $70 mailing out a few complete manuscripts before...

So, is there only one paid sponsor per day?


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## Guest (Aug 30, 2010)

Sandra Edwards said:


> Mid-day update.
> 
> My current numbers at Amazon are:
> 
> ...


After watching yours yesterday I purchases a middling package too. Mine should go around Thanksgiving or between Thanksgiving and Christmas.. Nothing like the xmas spirit to get folks to spend 8 bucks!


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## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

rudykerkhoven said:


> So, is there only one paid sponsor per day?


Yes, I believe that is correct.

Sandy


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## David McAfee (Apr 15, 2010)

I purchased another package for right around Christmas. 

The first package was so incredibly worth it, I've decided to do one every couple of months.


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## David Derrico (Nov 18, 2009)

Thanks for all the info, guys.

My fear is that it seems the prices have more than doubled since many of you bought yours, and that he's increased the frequency of ads and reduced the frequency of real content -- which should make subsequent ads less effective yet more expensive.


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## Sharlow (Dec 20, 2009)

CCrooks said:


> I love The Hobbit! I had to look. From Wikipedia:
> A fortuitous day.
> 
> Christina


I hadn't realized they now called it Hobbit day. lol. Cool, that's kinda funny.


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## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

I think as long as he's got the top spot on subscriptions, and as long as sponsors get an exact or better return on their sponsorship _that day_, it will continue to be worth it.

FWIW, before my sponsorship, I was getting 1-2 sales per day. For three days after the sponsorship, I got between 5 and 7 (with another boost when I was on jcphelps blog). It's a compound effect.

Check out Scott Nicholson's blog tour. It's an awesome setup by someone who clearly knows the game, and he's included not 1, not 2, but 3 Kindle Nation sponsorships.

http://www.hauntedcomputer.com/booktour.htm


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## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

Valmore Daniels said:


> I think as long as he's got the top spot on subscriptions, and as long as sponsors get an exact or better return on their sponsorship _that day_, it will continue to be worth it.
> 
> FWIW, before my sponsorship, I was getting 1-2 sales per day. For three days after the sponsorship, I got between 5 and 7 (with another boost when I was on jcphelps blog). It's a compound effect.
> 
> ...


I actually have spots running on the 14th, the 31st, and Oct. 15- should be interesting to see if it compounds....

Zack


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## scottnicholson (Jan 31, 2010)

Thanks for the plug, Val. I am not sure I understand the game but I sure as hell plan to play it wide open, breaking every rule and running backwards with dull scissors.

I worked out a comprehensive deal as a tour sponsorship but that was before he raised his rates. I am still not quite sure what I have but it is spread over three months, starting with a sponsorship and a guest blog on Sept. 1. I love what Stephen Windwalker has done because he understood right away what was going on, not just with the Kindle but the entire changing era of writing and publishing. And he's stayed ahead of the curve. I expect he will push the UK market as it develops, too, and I foresee a separate UK edition (I hope you took his recent survey and saw what he was trying to learn).

Paid advertisement is hit or miss but this seems to be one where you are pretty sure to hit your target audience. Still, you can't make the audience click the "buy" button.

Scott


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

Seems like most people are doing really well with a sponsorship.  That's great!

Vicki


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## D.A. Boulter (Jun 11, 2010)

I see he's raised his rates yet again.

The UK sponsorship which I bought at 19.99 went quickly to 29.99 and now to 39.99.  I got absolutely 0 sales from that one.  The Gold sponsorship is now at 229.99.  That's about triple what it was 6 weeks ago.  Looks like he's trying to find the maximum the market will bear.  Good for him, not so good for us.


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## Sean Sweeney (Apr 17, 2010)

That's getting to be a tad too expensive for my blood. Unfortunate.


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## D.A. Boulter (Jun 11, 2010)

John Fitch V said:


> That's getting to be a tad too expensive for my blood. Unfortunate.


It's now beyond me.


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

At $179 I thought the Gold package was too expensive so I went with the 1-day sponsorship. I wonder if he's trying to price it out of reach of most Indies and just attract larger pockets like big publishers.


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

kcmay said:


> At $179 I thought the Gold package was too expensive so I went with the 1-day sponsorship. I wonder if he's trying to price it out of reach of most Indies and just attract larger pockets like big publishers.


When he first launched it, it was dirt cheap. Then the people buying it started flying way up in the ranks and -easily- making their money back. It doesn't take much thought to realize what happened next. He got flooded with emails. Think about it, how many people here would pay 30 bucks to have their book reach the 200-500 rankings for a day, especially if its rankings had been in the 10,000+? So what do you do to curb the avalanche? Raise prices. And he did. And I bet it did squat. So he's raised and raised with the sole purpose to price out a lot of people.

Eventually he'll hit a spot where he's making a crapload of money, yet still getting people confident enough in their work to pay for the ad. But he's not doing it just to 'get at indies' or anything.

Btw, 179, at 2 bucks a pop, means you only need about 90 sales to recover that initial investment (not counting added benefit of name recognition, star ratings you can get, being on movers/shakers lists, etc). Many, many people doing this sold 100 or so copies, at least when it first started (the adds might start losing their affect as KND readers start getting acclimated to them).

David Dalglish


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

I didn't mean to imply I thought he was out to get Indies. Just that if a book's not selling, the author won't be able to afford the advertisement that would give it a kickstart. The price is more affordable for those whose books are already selling pretty well. Those of us who need more exposure are being priced out of that particular avenue.


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

kcmay said:


> I didn't mean to imply I thought he was out to get Indies. Just that if a book's not selling, the author won't be able to afford the advertisement that would give it a kickstart. The price is more affordable for those whose books are already selling pretty well. Those of us who need more exposure are being priced out of that particular avenue.


By this logic, it'd be like me deciding "You know, I'm not making much money on book 1, so I should probably make a really cheap cover for book 2 until its sales take off, then pay for good artist." I was several hundred dollars in the hole by the time I put out my second book. When I got my first Amazon check, I thought it was going to take six months just to pay off my first book cover. But you can't think like that. You have to work, promote, and edit like your book is about to hit the big time.

Do what you can to get the sales you feel your book deserves. Don't sit at sales you aren't happy with and wait for the money to arrive to do something about it. If you're confident enough that the book is for the same KND demographic, and the price is competitive, and you KNOW you have a good blurb and sample...then you just might have to bite the bullet and make the investment, regardless of past sales.

David Dalglish


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

I agree with you to a point. Just throwing money at a book isn't going to make it sell, so we have to pick and choose where to throw the money. For TKL, I don't think a Gold sponsorship package at $179 or higher is going to do that much good (although I might be underestimating the effect of KND -- I do have a 1-day sponsorship scheduled, so we'll see). Had it been less expensive, I might have tried it. Maybe it boils down to me not having much confidence in my book. 

For my upcoming novel, I'm definitely going to get the Gold package even if it kicks my wallet in the shins and steals its lunch money... I can live on carrots and hamburger for a couple weeks.


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

kcmay said:


> For my upcoming novel, I'm definitely going to get the Gold package even if it kicks my wallet in the shins and steals its lunch money... I can live on carrots and hamburger for a couple weeks.


There ya go!


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## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

Okay here's my numbers for the day. First let me say that Crazy For You has been getting, on average, about 15 sales a day for about the last two weeks. Sunday was my personal best with 22. My rank at Amazon dropped to #975 Sunday evening (another personal best). 

By the time I woke up Monday morning (I get up at roughly 6 a.m. I'm on the west coast) my rank had gone up to:

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,385 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store) 
#78 in Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Romance > Contemporary	


Steve's first tweet went out about half an hour later. The best rank that I saw yesterday was:


Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #119 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#52 in  Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Fiction > Contemporary Fiction 
#3 in  Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Romance > Contemporary 
#6 in  Books > Romance > Contemporary 

What does that mean in numbers you ask? 160 copies sold. 

It's really up to each individual as to whether or not they think Steve's current prices are worth it. Do I think they're worth it? Yes. Will I buy more sponsorships? Yes. For me, it's not about whether or not I make my money back in one day. It's about the accumulated effect I get from the exposure to people with Kindles (6000+ people with Kindles). Oh sure, I know not all of them will read my ad and an even larger portion won't read my book. But where else can you get that kind of exposure for that kind of money--and so quickly.

Sandy


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## J.R. Chase (Jun 22, 2010)

I agree with David. Being indie means being your own publisher. It means investing in your work (if you want sales and exposure). A few hundred bucks invested in your book is not much at all (cover, KND, etc). I guess authors can see if book sales grow without any expenses, but if you're serious, you have to put your stake in it.



Half-Orc said:


> By this logic, it'd be like me deciding "You know, I'm not making much money on book 1, so I should probably make a really cheap cover for book 2 until its sales take off, then pay for good artist." I was several hundred dollars in the hole by the time I put out my second book. When I got my first Amazon check, I thought it was going to take six months just to pay off my first book cover. But you can't think like that. You have to work, promote, and edit like your book is about to hit the big time.
> 
> Do what you can to get the sales you feel your book deserves. Don't sit at sales you aren't happy with and wait for the money to arrive to do something about it. If you're confident enough that the book is for the same KND demographic, and the price is competitive, and you KNOW you have a good blurb and sample...then you just might have to bite the bullet and make the investment, regardless of past sales.
> 
> David Dalglish


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## SpearsII (Jan 16, 2010)

After following this thread for awhile I have reversed myself and now I think this might be a really good marketing plan. We bought the gold package. We where able to do it with our profits so I look at it as reinvestment in the business. There is no cost-free way to market. I use blogs as much as possible, but even then I have to give review copies (paper) and that cost us money. The hardest part now is waiting to see what happens. The ads don't start till Nov.


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## rudykerkhoven (Aug 23, 2010)

D.A. Boulter, that's too bad about the UK sponsorship.  I signed up for that one as well just yesterday.

Does KND have a monopoly on this style of advertising?  Is there another similar site/blog/subscription service that does something similar, both in terms of selling advertising space to authors and articles geared towards Kindle owners?


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

To be honest...part of me thinks surely there's other blogs/places with big followings, but I haven't heard of them. What I have seen is massive success after massive success for the majority of people who sign up for it (barring myself, *grumble*). It appears Romance/Mystery does VERY well there.

David Dalglish


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## Dawn McCullough White (Feb 24, 2010)

Holy cow has anyone looked at the price of Gold sponsorship now?  It's 229.00!!  Wasn't it just 159.00 a month or two ago?

Dawn


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## J.M Pierce (May 13, 2010)

I finally just bought option #1! It's going to be a long months wait to find out how it goes. Thanks to everyone for posting both their successes and failures and enabling me to make a sound decision based on facts. Take care.

J.M.


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## JL Bryan (Aug 10, 2010)

Follow Scott's blog tour and you can win a free _Jenny Pox_ (along with plenty of other great ebooks in the Pandora's Box prize).

Still waiting on my 9/29 Kindle Daily + excerpt sponsorship. Mr. Windwalker seems like a nice guy from my correspondence with him. What does he do besides KND?


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

FYI, you can book in advance, before a book is published.

I want to do a KND sponsorship shortly after my upcoming SF novel is published. It doesn't have an ASIN yet, and it presumably won't get one until I click the Publish button, but by the time I do, the closest available date would be like 2 months further away. So, I emailed Steve Windwalker and asked if I could pre-book a sponsorship for my upcoming book, and he said, "Absolutely!"

Since the book is planned for a Dec 1 release, I booked a sponsorship for 2 weeks later, Dec 14th. (An email from Amazon told me that was their biggest sales day last year.) Hopefully I can get ARCs out to bloggers and have some (good) reviews up by then.


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

Has anyone tried a KND sponsorship TWICE for the same book?  I sponsored them for Firefly Island last month.  I wonder what'll happen if I advertise Firefly Island there again -- say, in two or three months.  Would I still see a big spike in sales, what with all the new K3 owners?


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

Daniel Arenson said:


> Would I still see a big spike in sales, what with all the new K3 owners?


I'm just guessing, but I would guess yes.

I have an Option #1 sponsorship coming up later this week, and I hope it kicks the sales up. I paid $70, and if it sells an additional 34 books, I'll recoup the investment.

Crossing my fingers.

Jim


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## Guest (Sep 21, 2010)

Daniel Arenson said:


> Has anyone tried a KND sponsorship TWICE for the same book? I sponsored them for Firefly Island last month. I wonder what'll happen if I advertise Firefly Island there again -- say, in two or three months. Would I still see a big spike in sales, what with all the new K3 owners?


I'm coming up again Sept 30th. I'll let you know.


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## Guest (Sep 21, 2010)

I sold sixteen books the day of and the day after my KND day, but a week later I sold fifteen more when people finished reading the preview, I guess.  I made a fair profit.  I have already exceeded Aug. Sales substantially.


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## Guest (Sep 21, 2010)

Half-Orc said:


> To be honest...part of me thinks surely there's other blogs/places with big followings, but I haven't heard of them. What I have seen is massive success after massive success for the majority of people who sign up for it (barring myself, *grumble*). It appears Romance/Mystery does VERY well there.
> 
> David Dalglish


Fantasy Book Critic has a hit counter at the very bottom that boasts nearly 2 million hits, and I think it reaches over 3,000 fantasy fans through Goodreads and a few other sites where the reviewers post. This is ten times better than KND for fantasy writers because it is all fantasy readers. When you visit scroll down a bit and look on the right. 

http://www.fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com/


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## Michael Crane (Jul 22, 2010)

I may have to give this a go at some point... but until then, I'll just bug the crap out of my FB friends.


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

M.R. Mathias said:


> Fantasy Book Critic has a hit counter at the very bottom that boasts nearly 2 million hits, and I think it reaches over 3,000 fantasy fans through Goodreads and a few other sites where the reviewers post. This is ten times better than KND for fantasy writers because it is all fantasy readers. When you visit scroll down a bit and look on the right.
> 
> http://www.fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com/


Not to mention their reviews are awesome! It's the first blog I read every day. Liviu is reading my book and will review soon (I hope). I plan to query them about my SF book, too, because they do read/review SF from time to time.


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

kcmay said:


> Not to mention their reviews are awesome! It's the first blog I read every day. Liviu is reading my book and will review soon (I hope). I plan to query them about my SF book, too, because they do read/review SF from time to time.


I emailed FantasyBookCritic in August, and asked if they'd like to review Flaming Dove. They never answered. Does that mean no? Or should I send them a gentle reminder? I prefer a "no thank you" to just no reply....


----------



## Guest (Sep 21, 2010)

Liviu is a trip with his reviews, he posted a prelim of mine on goodreads and gave me five stars with a full posted FBC review to follow.  I saw you there too KC.  Maybe this is the break we need!  FYI, the first day I was up on the notable releases I sold five copies.


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## Guest (Sep 21, 2010)

Daniel Arenson said:


> I emailed FantasyBookCritic in August, and asked if they'd like to review Flaming Dove. They never answered. Does that mean no? Or should I send them a gentle reminder? I prefer a "no thank you" to just no reply....


Daniel I never asked them to review me so I don't know. Liviu bought my book for 11.88 off of smashwords and contacted me through Goodreads. After my review is posted I will mention you though.


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

Daniel Arenson said:


> I emailed FantasyBookCritic in August, and asked if they'd like to review Flaming Dove. They never answered. Does that mean no? Or should I send them a gentle reminder? I prefer a "no thank you" to just no reply....


I emailed Liviu in early August and asked if he'd be interested. He wrote back saying he was about to pass on it based on my blurb (which I've since updated), but decided to peek inside just for the heck of it. Thankfully he did, because he said he was immediately engaged, so he agreed to read it. I emailed him an epub file. I presume they'd decline if it was a definite no, so maybe your query got lost in the shuffle. Did you direct it to one of the reviewers in particular?


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

kcmay said:


> I emailed Liviu in early August and asked if he'd be interested. He wrote back saying he was about to pass on it based on my blurb (which I've since updated), but decided to peek inside just for the heck of it. Thankfully he did, because he said he was immediately engaged, so he agreed to read it. I emailed him an epub file. I presume they'd decline if it was a definite no, so maybe your query got lost in the shuffle. Did you direct it to one of the reviewers in particular?


No, I just emailed their generic email, which appears on their blog: http://fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com/

If Liviu has a personal email, I don't know it....


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

I checked my email outbox and it turns out I did email the same address that's listed on the blog. He responded the same day. I would email again, just to be sure.


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

kcmay said:


> I checked my email outbox and it turns out I did email the same address that's listed on the blog. He responded the same day. I would email again, just to be sure.


Okay. I assume that "no reply" means "no thanks", but I'll send a polite follow up, just to make sure.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

Okay, I'm here to share my experiences so far with KND.

As I posted here earlier, I didn't pay for a sponsorship... (because I'm poor right now...) so what I did was take advantage of the tab that says "Free Kindle Nation Shorts."  I read it, and it said I could submit my first few chapters to their free short program for a $15 reading fee.  I may or may not get selected.  Basically it was a $15 gamble, instead of a $79 (or more) sure thing.  So I gambled.

It took Steven a little over two weeks to get back with me on if I would be selected to be featured as a free short or not.  He did accept the short, and gave me the date of September 22nd.

Last night the short got emailed out, and this morning the short appeared on the website and was pushed to over 6,000 kindles.

So far, I've sold 12 books and my rank jumped up to 2,123.  (It was in the 9,000's I think before.)  My rank has jumped up in the last hour with no sales reported yet, so I think DTP is slow... I might have sold a few more than 12.

I'll let you know over the next couple of days if I keep selling, or not.  So far, here's what I have learned.  1. Having a free short featured is awesome.  2. It probably isn't going to get as many sales as having a sponsorship.  3. It's definitely worth the reading fee, if you get selected.  4. Waiting to see if you get selected is not good on your fingernails.

If you have any questions, fire away at me.

Vicki


----------



## Guest (Sep 23, 2010)

This is probably the most petty thing ever, but I'm glad to see the real kindle nation daily thread back in rotation. So many fond memories.


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## Steven L. Hawk (Jul 10, 2010)

Thanks for the update, Vickie.  I saw your book on last night's KND email and was wondering how it went for you.  If it is anything like mine, the sales jump will continue for  few days.  Good luck and congrats on getting selected!

S.


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

My Option #1 ($70) KND sponsorship was today. I needed 34 sales at $2.99 to break even, and as of 8:00 PM, I had sold 47 copies today, with hopefully some more tonight and tomorrow. I'm also at a 519 sales ranking.

So it was definitely worth it to me.

Jim


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

Wow, Jim, that is great!  Yes, looks like the sponsorship is definitely worth it.

I'm up to 18 sales for today.  Yay!

I'm pretty sure I'm going to purchase a sponsorship for when my next book comes out.  KND does give you a lot of great exposure.

Vicki


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

Victorine said:


> I'm up to 18 sales for today. Yay!


I average about four sales a day. 18 sales, and I'm running up and down the street telling everyone!


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## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

Congrats, Vicki and Jim!

Thrilled for you both 

Sandy


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## Holly A Hook (Sep 19, 2010)

Does anyone know the email address for Fantasy Critic?  I tried to email them, but I can't figure out how to set up Outlook on my computer (which opens when I hit the link.)


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

You should be able to right-click their Contact Me link/button and choose Copy Email Address. But in case you can't, it's [email protected]


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## Holly A Hook (Sep 19, 2010)

Thanks so much!  Outlook absolutely refuses to set up for me.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

I'm up to 27 sales for today.  Yippeeeee!

And I'm #18 in Romantic Suspense, which is awesome.

Vicki


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## R. Doug (Aug 14, 2010)

That is so cook, Vicki.  My turn for a paid sponsorship comes up on Tuesday, October 19, and I can hardly wait.  In fact I'm thinking about purchasing a second go-'round before the first even runs.


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

Whoa that's terrific, Vicki!

My sponsorship is scheduled for Tuesday the 28th. So far, Sept has been my best month @ Amazon (not as good @ Smashwords) with about 1 sale per day. For my book, I don't really expect a huge flood of sales, but it'll be interesting to see how much the KND sponsorship helps. The three 5-star reviews that came in this week will no doubt be super helpful!


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## LCEvans (Mar 29, 2009)

Jim and Vicki, 
Congratulations! Thanks for the information. I've been wanting to get a sponsorship for my new book, Jobless Recovery, but I didn't because I only have two reviews. So now I'm thinking I'll get the sponsorship for We Interrupt This Date and submit Jobless for the free short program instead. Except, I was wondering if I get selected for the free short, does that mean that later I can't do a sponsorship? Anyone have an answer? Guess I could always ask.

Linda


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## Guest (Sep 24, 2010)

LCEvans said:


> Jim and Vicki,
> Congratulations! Thanks for the information. I've been wanting to get a sponsorship for my new book, Jobless Recovery, but I didn't because I only have two reviews. So now I'm thinking I'll get the sponsorship for We Interrupt This Date and submit Jobless for the free short program instead. Except, I was wondering if I get selected for the free short, does that mean that later I can't do a sponsorship? Anyone have an answer? Guess I could always ask.
> 
> Linda


I'm sure that you could do a sponsorship later. There really aren't many rules.


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## tonyaplank (Jun 14, 2010)

Congratulations Jim and Vicki! I knew you were going to do well, Vicki


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

Sales look like they're winding down now, but since the KND sponsorship ad went live yesterday morning, I've sold 65 books. Some of those are undoubtedly due to being mentioned on Spalding's Racket, but I definitely recovered my $70 investment at KND.

I even had another sale in the UK.

So put me down as a satisfied customer!

Jim


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## JL Bryan (Aug 10, 2010)

Thanks for keeping this thread updated!

My KND ad goes out Wednesday, 9/29, and I'll be sure to report back here, where it all started...


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## Guest (Sep 24, 2010)

JL Bryan said:


> Thanks for keeping this thread updated!
> 
> My KND ad goes out Wednesday, 9/29, and I'll be sure to report back here, where it all started...


I'm the day after you. Which book are you advertising?


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## Paul Clayton (Sep 12, 2009)

White Seed is also in the pipeline.  Can't wait.


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

I didn't get today's KND on my Kindle -- sent a note to Steve, just in case it's another technical glitch. Anyone else miss their issue today?


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

I'm up to 43 sales for today and yesterday.  This was definitely worth it.  And I'm going to splurge and pay for a sponsorship on my next book.  I might even sign up for it early so I can have it go live for the release date.

Here's my current rank, which is better than yesterday:

#897 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#13 in  Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Romance > Romantic Suspense
#17 in  Books > Romance > Romantic Suspense

I don't expect it to last, but it sure is nice to see right now.  

Vicki


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## Guest (Sep 24, 2010)

Victorine said:


> I might even sign up for it early so I can have it go live for the release date.
> 
> Vicki


Vicki, give yourself a week buffer. That's my honest recommendation. Sometimes the books take longer to go live than we expect, or there could be other complications. Also, it'll give you time to maybe get reviews from a few advance readers. They seem extremely important considering it's advertising. Just looking out for your best interest here.


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

Victorine said:


> And I'm going to splurge and pay for a sponsorship on my next book. I might even sign up for it early so I can have it go live for the release date.


I timed my sponsorship on Venom for 2 weeks after my scheduled go-live date. That'll give my advance reviewers time to post reviews, plus allow for any delays in the publication. I also plan to have the paperback version ready by the time the sponsorship runs so that if someone thinks their non-Kindle-owning friend or relative would like it, they can see that a paperback version is available just in time for holiday gift giving!


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

foreverjuly said:


> Vicki, give yourself a week buffer. That's my honest recommendation. Sometimes the books take longer to go live than we expect, or there could be other complications. Also, it'll give you time to maybe get reviews from a few advance readers. They seem extremely important considering it's advertising. Just looking out for your best interest here.


Great advice. This is why I love all you here at KB so much.

K.C., you are wise.

Vicki


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## j.m.zambrano (Jul 16, 2010)

Just got my email from Steve and my sponsorship is scheduled for Nov.7.  Keep your fingers crossed for The Trophy Hunter!
It's really encouraging to read about the good results many of you are enjoying.
Cheers!
Jean


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## Guest (Sep 25, 2010)

j.m.zambrano said:


> Just got my email from Steve and my sponsorship is scheduled for Nov.7. Keep your fingers crossed for The Trophy Hunter!
> It's really encouraging to read about the good results many of you are enjoying.
> Cheers!
> Jean


Wow, I can't believe how far backed up he is. I estimate he's making at least $50,000 a year just from these sponsorships.


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## rcordiner (Jul 4, 2010)

I'm keen to do it - and I have 2 middle grade novels.  I can only afford to mention one - which one?  Do the ads show the covers


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

j.m.zambrano said:


> Just got my email from Steve and my sponsorship is scheduled for Nov.7. Keep your fingers crossed for The Trophy Hunter!
> It's really encouraging to read about the good results many of you are enjoying.
> Cheers!
> Jean


Good luck, Jean! It was a great boost for me. Things are starting to slow down, but I'll never know how many people will read my excerpt later on and buy it, since it's on their kindles.

Thursday I sold 28 books, Friday I sold 27, and today I've sold 12. I'm a happy camper!

I wonder if Steve will ever put two sponsors up per day? He's getting a lot of requests, since he's booked into November.

Vicki


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## rudykerkhoven (Aug 23, 2010)

Has anyone here ever done the one-day sponsorship twice?  I wonder how effective it would be, say a couple of months later? 

Although I'd have to think it wouldn't be nearly as beneficial the second time around.


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## Guest (Sep 26, 2010)

rudykerkhoven said:


> Has anyone here ever done the one-day sponsorship twice? I wonder how effective it would be, say a couple of months later?
> 
> Although I'd have to think it wouldn't be nearly as beneficial the second time around.


I'll find out on Thursday.


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## rudykerkhoven (Aug 23, 2010)

Hey, that's cool that you're trying it again this Thursday.  If it works well, I think I'll purchase another one before the price inevitably shoots up again (my US sponsorship is out Oct. 8th).  It's crazy how far in advance he is booked for things, so obviously there is strong demand and he can surely charge more with the good press he's been getting lately.


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## Daphne (May 27, 2010)

In answer to the initial question, is sponsorship worth it - a resounding "yes". I can also give my experience on the question of whether it is worth sponsoring the same book twice. I put Artist's Model up in August (daily sponsorship US) with good results (it went from 83 332 to 747 in Kindle store in 9 hours and was still getting sales up to ten days afterwards). I've just put it up for UK daily sponsorship, which put it up to 6 for kindle contemporary romance UK. The sales in the UK are slower, but the impact on ranking is greater, so it still works out effective in terms of exposure. Also, UK sponsorship does result in a reasonable boost in US sales. Not the same dramatic effect second time around, but the UK sponsorship was less expensive so I am happy with the results. I've put my new book, Purple Lake, for US sponsorship today and was delighted to see that Steve had given a supportive editorial comment. It has only been up for a matter of hours but already a good boost in sales. I hope this is useful to anyone considering sponsorship. Good luck to you all.


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

Today's my sponsorship day. My book wasn't exactly flying off the shelves before (avg. 1 sale per day). Now, two hrs after the KND arrived on my Kindle, the sponsorship has already put me into the highest ranking I've ever seen!

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #5,400 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#44 in Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Mythology
#46 in Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Fiction > World Literature > Mythology

(still confused about these categories, but whatever!)


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## Dawn Judd (Jun 8, 2010)

That is great news.  I think it's safe to say, it is worth it.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

Yay, KC!  That's great!

And I know it will continue to climb.  

Vicki


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

OK, I'm dragging myself up off the floor to type this.

You know how today, Amazon announced Kindle for the Web? You can start reading books on the web with a browser without installing anything? Of course, that announcement went out on KND earlier in the day. It's very cool. But get this:

http://kindlehomepage.blogspot.com/2010/09/start-reading-excerpt-from-kinshield.html

I vote that Steve Windwalker is THE COOLEST!!!!!!11111oneoneoneone


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## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

That's sweet!


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## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

KC, Look at you go girl! Woohoo!!!!

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,185 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#25 in Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Fantasy > Epic
#4 in Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Mythology
#6 in Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Fiction > World Literature > Mythology

Congrats!
Sandy


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## Guest (Sep 28, 2010)

I hope he does that in two days when I have my sponsorship.


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## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

foreverjuly said:


> I hope he does that in two days when I have my sponsorship.


You can modify the embed code and put it on your website with your own book:

http://www.lkrigel.com/2010/09/kindle-for-the-web/


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## Guest (Sep 28, 2010)

LKRigel said:


> You can modify the embed code and put it on your website with your own book:
> 
> http://www.lkrigel.com/2010/09/kindle-for-the-web/


That's interesting. I'm sure that'll help draw people to the kindle...and people's books. I have the first chapter available as a pdf on my website. I think that's probably fine. But your site looks good!


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## Steven L. Hawk (Jul 10, 2010)

Very nice, K.C.  Your book is getting up there where it should be!  5 stars!


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

So awesome, KC! Well deserved.


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## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

foreverjuly said:


> That's interesting. I'm sure that'll help draw people to the kindle...and people's books. I have the first chapter available as a pdf on my website. I think that's probably fine. But your site looks good!


aww, thanks!


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

Thanks, everyone! I'm absolutely giddy over here.

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #972 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#17 in Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Fantasy > Epic
#3 in Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Mythology
#5 in Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Fiction > World Literature > Mythology
and
#30 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Epic

I presume some folks are downloading the sample and will decide during the rest of the week whether to read the rest.


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## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

This is so much fun to watch. Hurray!


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## rudykerkhoven (Aug 23, 2010)

Had my go at the UK Kindle Nation sponsorship today/yesterday (damn timezones), and much like others have reported, not a single UK sale.  I'd averaged about 1 a week, but nothing these last 48 hours.  It does seem to have led to a boost in my US sales, although I've by coincidence also been featured on Kindle Author and Indie Books Blog all in the last 48 hours as well, so it's hard to judge what the boost is from exactly.

I have my US sponsorship next Friday, so hopefully that's different.  I wasn't expecting much, but I was hoping for a few sales...

Oh well.


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

Where I am, it's 9:25pm, and I've officially broken even on the cost of Sponsorship. I'm thrilled! I didn't expect to break even the day of -- I figured the trickle sales would push me over the break-even point. From this point forward, it's all gravy.

Before: Amazon US Bestsellers Rank (at 9am): *62,532*
After: Amazon Bestsellers Rank: *#849* Paid in Kindle Store
#14 in Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Fantasy > Epic
#2 in Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Mythology
#5 in Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Fiction > World Literature > Mythology
#26 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Epic


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

You guys talked me into it.  I went and signed up. I asked for any date in November or early december, other than Thanksgiving weekend.  We'll see what's available.

Camille


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

kcmay said:


> Where I am, it's 9:25pm, and I've officially broken even on the cost of Sponsorship. I'm thrilled! I didn't expect to break even the day of -- I figured the trickle sales would push me over the break-even point. From this point forward, it's all gravy.
> 
> Before: Amazon US Bestsellers Rank (at 9am): *62,532*
> After: Amazon Bestsellers Rank: *#849* Paid in Kindle Store
> ...


*Awesome!* Well deserved, and your sales will continue over the next few days. Yay!

Vicki


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## KathyBell (Nov 7, 2009)

KC, did you also find a jump in sales of your novella, or was it already in the mid teens? It's at 14,000 or so right now, and you mentioned your other novel was in the 60s - did you get a bonus effect? Congratulations on such a great response; that's great you've recouped the expense.

I've signed up for the KND on Oct. 11, the release date for Evolussion but it is actually promoting Regression. I'm hoping to see sales for both. I might also have a collection of short stories ready by then, which would hopefully benefit as well.


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

KathyBell said:


> KC, did you also find a jump in sales of your novella, or was it already in the mid teens? It's at 14,000 or so right now, and you mentioned your other novel was in the 60s - did you get a bonus effect? Congratulations on such a great response; that's great you've recouped the expense.


Yes, two sales of the novella today -- that's two more than I expected. 

Good luck with your sponsorship. I'll bet you'll have sales for both. Looks like at least some folks check out other work by the author.


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## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

I'll set my mark in the sand at #4470 for my start point. We'll see how my sponsorship goes today. This is my second sponsorship this month- first one peaked at #972 and took me from 8-10k average ranking to 4-5,000 average ranking. Crossing my fingers!!


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## JL Bryan (Aug 10, 2010)

Today is Jenny Pox's big day!  I bought a 'daily sponsorship with sample' or something like that.  We'll see how she does!

KC and others who have done this--about what time of day did the KND go out?

Thanks!
Jeff


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

I took periodic notes and screenshots:

first seen at 10:45am on the KND web site
push to Kindle first seen at 11:25am

Since I'm in GA, USA, this would be eastern timezone.


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

JL Bryan said:


> Today is Jenny Pox's big day! I bought a 'daily sponsorship with sample' or something like that. We'll see how she does!


Good luck!!


----------



## D. Nathan Hilliard (Jun 5, 2010)

JL Bryan said:


> Today is Jenny Pox's big day! I bought a 'daily sponsorship with sample' or something like that. We'll see how she does!
> 
> Jeff


Good luck! We're all rooting for you! Keep us updated!


----------



## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

Good luck!!  I'm sure you'll both do well today.

Vicki


----------



## rudykerkhoven (Aug 23, 2010)

Like I mentioned in an earlier post, I didn't get any UK sales for my UK KND sponsorship, although there was an uptick in US sales.  I've read a few people who say they didn't receive any UK sales for the UK KND sponsorship, as well.  My question is, is there anyone here who HAS had decent results for the UK sponsorship?


----------



## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

Zack Hamric said:


> I'll set my mark in the sand at 10:00 #4470 for my start point. We'll see how my sponsorship goes today. This is my second sponsorship this month- first one peaked at #972 and took me from 8-10k average ranking to 4-5,000 average ranking. Crossing my fingers!!


3:14 2,485 rank 8 books sold


----------



## Steven L. Hawk (Jul 10, 2010)

Zack Hamric said:


> I'll set my mark in the sand at #4470 for my start point. We'll see how my sponsorship goes today. This is my second sponsorship this month- first one peaked at #972 and took me from 8-10k average ranking to 4-5,000 average ranking. Crossing my fingers!!


Thanks, Zack! I will be watching your updates closely. My first sponsorship (last month) took me from 12-14k average to 7-9k. If you reach the next level with a second sponsorship, I will likely pull the trigger on a second one myself.

Good luck to you!

And to you as well, Jeff, with Jenny Pox!


----------



## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

Zack Hamric said:


> 3:14 2,485 rank 8 books sold


4:20 1,782 rank 12 books


----------



## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

Quote from: Zack Hamric on Today at 11:43:50 AM
3:14    2,485 rank 8 books sold

4:20  1,782 rank  12 books

5:20  1,422        17 books  (Clearly I have too much time on my hands today...)

Zack


----------



## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

3:14     2,485 rank 8 books sold

4:20   #1,782 rank  12 books

5:20   #1,422         17 books   

6:30   #1001           25 books

Hmm...hope it keeps going...


----------



## JL Bryan (Aug 10, 2010)

Thanks for keeping us updated, Zack.  Your ad on KND looks great by the way!

My daily sponsorship still hasn't gone out...getting nervous.  Not nervous that they won't send it, but nervous like stage fright


----------



## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

JL Bryan said:


> Thanks for keeping us updated, Zack. Your ad on KND looks great by the way!
> 
> My daily sponsorship still hasn't gone out...getting nervous. Not nervous that they won't send it, but nervous like stage fright


3:14 2,485 rank 8 books sold

4:20 #1,782 rank 12 books

5:20 #1,422 17 books

6:30 #1001 25 books

7:30 #834 30 books

Hopefully this repetitive posting isn't too boring, but I always wondered how sales volume tied into ranking...


----------



## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

JL Bryan said:


> Thanks for keeping us updated, Zack. Your ad on KND looks great by the way!
> 
> My daily sponsorship still hasn't gone out...getting nervous. Not nervous that they won't send it, but nervous like stage fright


Congrats on all the sales, Zack!

JL, the Jenny Pox KND just arrived in my email. Good luck!


----------



## D. Nathan Hilliard (Jun 5, 2010)

JL Bryan said:


> Thanks for keeping us updated, Zack. Your ad on KND looks great by the way!
> 
> My daily sponsorship still hasn't gone out...getting nervous. Not nervous that they won't send it, but nervous like stage fright


It just arrived in my inbox.


----------



## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

D. Nathan Hilliard said:


> It just arrived in my inbox.


I just saw it come in as well....Good Luck!

Zack


----------



## JL Bryan (Aug 10, 2010)

Yay!  I think it looks good.  We'll see what happens


----------



## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

Yippee! New high ranking for me...#648

3:14    2,485 rank 8 books sold

4:20  #1,782 rank  12 books

5:20  #1,422        17 books  

6:30  #1001          25 books

7:30  #834            30 books

8:30  #648            35 books


----------



## JL Bryan (Aug 10, 2010)

Zack, you are my personal support group today


----------



## Guest (Sep 30, 2010)

Zack Hamric said:


> Yippee! New high ranking for me...#648
> 
> 3:14 2,485 rank 8 books sold
> 
> ...


I hope the fish keep biting tomorrow!


----------



## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

JL Bryan said:


> Zack, you are my personal support group today


...and it just keeps getting better...

3:14 2,485 rank 8 books sold

4:20 #1,782 rank 12 books

5:20 #1,422 17 books

6:30 #1001 25 books

7:30 #834 30 books

8:30 #648 35 books

9:30 #549 39 books...


----------



## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Zack Hamric said:


> ...and it just keeps getting better...
> 
> 3:14 2,485 rank 8 books sold
> 4:20 #1,782 rank 12 books
> ...


Are you accounting for the fact that rankings tend to hit your page about three hours after the sales are reported on your DTP page? (You could have additional ranking juice after the sales slow - we'll see.)

Camille


----------



## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

daringnovelist said:


> Are you accounting for the fact that rankings tend to hit your page about three hours after the sales are reported on your DTP page? (You could have additional ranking juice after the sales slow - we'll see.)
> 
> Camille


You're correct- I'm putting up real time numbers- I don't think I've seen that done before- I'm a little surprised by what I'm seeing...What is really interesting is that it's not a big spike but a fairly consistent 5 sales an hour...Tomorrow will also be good because a lot of people run a day behind on reading their announcements....
Zack


----------



## Guest (Sep 30, 2010)

daringnovelist said:


> Are you accounting for the fact that rankings tend to hit your page about three hours after the sales are reported on your DTP page? (You could have additional ranking juice after the sales slow - we'll see.)
> 
> Camille


I'm not convinced that's accurate. Rankings usually change the hour following a sale. If there aren't any sales, the rankings don't continue to drop.


----------



## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

Way to go! Nice numbers there. I've had 19 more sales since I went to bed last night, so it's slowing down but not slamming on brakes. I'm sure yours will keep up too.


----------



## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

foreverjuly said:


> I'm not convinced that's accurate. Rankings usually change the hour following a sale. If there aren't any sales, the rankings don't continue to drop.


My sales are slow enough that I can see exactly when they show up on the Amazon rankings. It takes about three hours. It's possible that it varies, but I've never caught it when it does.

Camille


----------



## Gordon Ryan (Aug 20, 2010)

You guys, Zack and KC, have done great, and will continue to increase sales over the next week. As of today (and soon the month will end and I will show ZERO and cry) ten days after my promo, I have risen to 141 sales. Well worth the KND costs involved.

Next stop: November 12 for Book Two, _*Uncivil Liberties*_.

Gordon Ryan


----------



## libbyfh (Feb 11, 2010)

Zack... these are amazing results! Way to go, 

So good, in fact, that I signed up (and paid for option #1) last Saturday. Haven't heard back from them yet. SHould I worry? Anyone?


----------



## D.A. Boulter (Jun 11, 2010)

libbyfh said:


> Zack... these are amazing results! Way to go,
> 
> So good, in fact, that I signed up (and paid for option #1) last Saturday. Haven't heard back from them yet. SHould I worry? Anyone?


Send an e-mail.


----------



## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

...and the last update for the night...(unless my dog wakes me up at 3:00!)

3:14    2,485 rank 8 books sold

4:20  #1,782 rank  12 books

5:20  #1,422        17 books  

6:30  #1001          25 books

7:30  #834            30 books

8:30  #648            35 books

9:30    #549            39 books...

12:00am #517        51 books


----------



## D.A. Boulter (Jun 11, 2010)

Well done, indeed.  And many thanks for the ranking to sales info.  That's the sort of data I appreciate.


----------



## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

That's awesome Zach!  Way to go!  I'll bet you have a great day tomorrow too.  

Vicki


----------



## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

Zack Hamric said:


> ...and the last update for the night...(unless my dog wakes me up at 3:00!)
> 
> 3:14 2,485 rank 8 books sold
> 
> ...


Those are some great sales figures, Zack!

Congratulations.... 

Sandy


----------



## P.A. Woodburn (May 22, 2010)

Thanks, Zack and KC for posting your figures. I have been sitting on the fence with this, and it is very useful information.
Ann.


----------



## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

libbyfh said:


> Zack... these are amazing results! Way to go,
> 
> So good, in fact, that I signed up (and paid for option #1) last Saturday. Haven't heard back from them yet. SHould I worry? Anyone?


It usually takes him a few days to get you scheduled and to reply with your date. I wouldn't worry until Friday.


----------



## JL Bryan (Aug 10, 2010)

Daily sponsorship went out at 8:00 PM last night.

As of 7:00 AM this morning I've sold...five books.

I hope it picks up today or I'm deep in the hole for this ad!

UPDATED: About 4 new sales in the last hour, maybe something will happen today.


----------



## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

3:14    2,485 rank 8 books sold

4:20  #1,782 rank  12 books

5:20  #1,422        17 books  

6:30  #1001          25 books

7:30  #834            30 books

8:30  #648            35 books

9:30    #549            39 books...

12:00am #517          51 books

3:30am  #462          54 books (yep- my dog woke me up...)

8:58am      #588      57 books



JL. 5 books since last night is not bad- the ad I ran 2 weeks ago only generated about 15 sales the first day. Your real concern should be the increase in the number of books you sell over the next two weeks- that will give you a better idea of the true impact. 

Good Luck!
Zack


----------



## Guest (Sep 30, 2010)

Hey Zack, what time did your book show up yesterday? I'm still waiting!


----------



## JL Bryan (Aug 10, 2010)

It's pretty bad compared to the results most people have gotten on this thread.  I'm hoping that the real effect will pick up today, since he didn't send it out until last night.  That's looking like the case so far...

UPDATE: No sales since. I think I got 8 or 9 so far from the ad, which went out 15 hours ago.  I totally feel like Charlie Brown right now...


----------



## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

foreverjuly said:


> Hey Zack, what time did your book show up yesterday? I'm still waiting!


11:40 am more or less....That's pretty normal...

Zack


----------



## Guest (Sep 30, 2010)

Well, my day's off and running. Already up 2 sales in the first ten minutes! Let's keep that pace!


----------



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

foreverjuly said:


> Well, my day's off and running. Already up 2 sales in the first ten minutes! Let's keep that pace!


Good luck, man!


----------



## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

I'm confused -- Zack and JL, you both had ads on the same day? I thought it was one at a time. 

Did you have two different kinds of sponsorship?


----------



## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

foreverjuly said:


> Well, my day's off and running. Already up 2 sales in the first ten minutes! Let's keep that pace!


Good luck! (I see you got your website straightened out, whew!)


----------



## Guest (Sep 30, 2010)

LKRigel said:


> Good luck! (I see you got your website straightened out, whew!)


Thanks, it actually vanished for no reason again and now the side bar isn't working, but I've got to walk away from it for a bit.

I'm up to 14 sales in just over 2 hours. AND the first book in the series was just randomly put on sale for 2.39. I still get 70% of that right? I know a million people have asked, but when it happens to you. I guess we'll see either way!


----------



## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

foreverjuly said:


> Thanks, it actually vanished for no reason again and now the side bar isn't working, but I've got to walk away from it for a bit.
> 
> I'm up to 14 sales in just over 2 hours. AND the first book in the series was just randomly put on sale for 2.39. I still get 70% of that right? I know a million people have asked, but when it happens to you. I guess we'll see either way!


Yes, you do. My top book was put on sale like that, and as long as YOU don't lower the price below 2.99, you get 70 percent of the discounted price.

Camille


----------



## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

LKRigel said:


> I'm confused -- Zack and JL, you both had ads on the same day? I thought it was one at a time.
> 
> Did you have two different kinds of sponsorship?


Not sure..we might have had different sponsorships...I think I had the $69 one day sponsorship....

Zack


----------



## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

How frustrating! -- website and book on sale.

Why does that happen? Do you have it on Kobo or B&N where they might have discounted it?


----------



## Guest (Sep 30, 2010)

LKRigel said:


> How frustrating! -- website and book on sale.
> 
> Why does that happen? Do you have it on Kobo or B&N where they might have discounted it?


I think Camille has it right. It's 2.99 everywhere else, so I think this'll just be a little extra incentive. I'm up to 20 sales. And I got a good review on goodreads from a hardcore paranormal romance reader, which surprised me because my book isn't that genre at all!


----------



## J.M Pierce (May 13, 2010)

Go buddy go!


----------



## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

JL Bryan said:


> It's pretty bad compared to the results most people have gotten on this thread. I'm hoping that the real effect will pick up today, since he didn't send it out until last night. That's looking like the case so far...
> 
> UPDATE: No sales since. I think I got 8 or 9 so far from the ad, which went out 15 hours ago. I totally feel like Charlie Brown right now...


JL - Don't worry, the email went out yesterday but he sends the free short out to the Kindles the next day. Today should be your day to see sales. I wouldn't worry too much until tonight. And tomorrow should be good as well. Keep us posted! Good luck!

(And the commentary on your book was awesome, by the way. To have Scott say such nice things will definitely help, I'm sure.)

Vicki


----------



## Steven L. Hawk (Jul 10, 2010)

Zack Hamric said:


> Not sure..we might have had different sponsorships...I think I had the $69 one day sponsorship....
> 
> Zack


Thanks for the updates, Zack. Your success with a second sponsorship encouraged me to head over to KND and line up another one myself. I see that the one day sponsorship is now $79! Ouch!


----------



## Guest (Sep 30, 2010)

Things were going strong, but it seems like it's dying down. Only one sale in the last hour. Here's hoping things pick up for the evening.


----------



## tonyaplank (Jun 14, 2010)

Has anyone done the KND UK sponsorship? That's the least expensive right now and I could use some sales in the UK store. I'm just not sure how many Brits subscribe to KND.


----------



## D. Nathan Hilliard (Jun 5, 2010)

tonyaplank said:


> Has anyone done the KND UK sponsorship? That's the least expensive right now and I could use some sales in the UK store. I'm just not sure how many Brits subscribe to KND.


I have one scheduled on Oct 6.


----------



## Jason G. Anderson (Sep 29, 2010)

tonyaplank said:


> Has anyone done the KND UK sponsorship? That's the least expensive right now and I could use some sales in the UK store. I'm just not sure how many Brits subscribe to KND.


I've seen a few people do the KND UK spondership, but unfortunately they haven't had much luck (a handful of sales at best). It might pick up over time though.


----------



## Guest (Sep 30, 2010)

tonyaplank said:


> Has anyone done the KND UK sponsorship? That's the least expensive right now and I could use some sales in the UK store. I'm just not sure how many Brits subscribe to KND.


There have been numerous cases in which people got KND UK sponsorships and received not a single sale. It may has a better chance of netting you a couple US sales.


----------



## Sharlow (Dec 20, 2009)

libbyfh said:


> Zack... these are amazing results! Way to go,
> 
> So good, in fact, that I signed up (and paid for option #1) last Saturday. Haven't heard back from them yet. SHould I worry? Anyone?


Which one is the option one?


----------



## rudykerkhoven (Aug 23, 2010)

tonyaplank said:


> Has anyone done the KND UK sponsorship? That's the least expensive right now and I could use some sales in the UK store. I'm just not sure how many Brits subscribe to KND.


Personally, I wouldn't bother with the UK sponsorship. I had mine on Monday, and had no UK sales because of it (I've had 4 in the previous month). I did notice an uptick in my US sales, which I didn't expect, but not worth the $40, at least that's my experience. From what I've seen, it seems normal for UK sales to be about 1/10th to 1/20th the US sales, so it doesn't really seen valuable that the KND UK price is only 1/2 the US price. I have my US sponsorship next Friday, so that will a better test for me.

Wow, I didn't expect my post to contain so many fractions...


----------



## JL Bryan (Aug 10, 2010)

Thanks, Victorine!


----------



## D.A. Boulter (Jun 11, 2010)

I had one of the first UK sponsorships.  Zero sales.  None in the next couple of weeks either.  One problem may be that most of us have no reviews on the UK site.  They don't transfer over with the other information on the product page.  I've had one UK sale for that book in the 4+ weeks since my sponsorship and I don't know that the ad had anything to do with it.  Frankly, I doubt it.  Fortunately, I payed only $19.95 for it.  He's now charging $49.95.


----------



## tonyaplank (Jun 14, 2010)

Thanks so much for the feedback on the UK sponsorship, you guys! I think I'm going to hold off for now...


----------



## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

Sharlow said:


> Which one is the option one?


The first one on the drop down list...$69 or $79??

That's the one I've been using...

Zack


----------



## Guest (Oct 1, 2010)

Some people were asking about whether or not to do a book twice, and I can now speak to that. I noticed maybe a 10% reduction in sales, but that was more than made up for with sales of the second book. Nearly all the purchases were doubles. So it could be a good move for books in a series, though doing it for individual books may not prove as successful. I've signed up for a third day but requested it be put off well into December when the third book should be out.


----------



## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

foreverjuly said:


> Some people were asking about whether or not to do a book twice, and I can now speak to that. I noticed maybe a 10% reduction in sales, but that was more than made up for with sales of the second book. Nearly all the purchases were doubles. So it could be a good move for books in a series, though doing it for individual books may not prove as successful. I've signed up for a third day but requested it be put off well into December when the third book should be out.


It's interesting how things worked this months- my first spot on September 14 sold around 48 books over two days. My second spot on the same book went 57 in one day. I have two thoughts on that- If I subtract my average sales per day- roughly 6 or 7 from the total for the day, did I pay for the ad? Absolutely! More importantly, my average daily sales saw a residual bump.

The other piece- something I believe strongly, is that in the long term, you have to build a brand and spend time and money to do it. I remember a discussion a couple of months ago about .99 vs $2.99 and my view was that you take the additional revenue and spend it on advertising instead of discounting to drive sales- that seems to have worked so far- I'm spending roughly 25% of revenue on advertising and seeing fairly good results.

I might have a better feel after the middle of the month- I have a perfect storm of advertising hitting with a KNB spot on the 14th and three days in a row on the Kindleboard sponsorship- Sure hope it works or I'll be drinking cheap wine for the rest of the month...

Again- thanks for all the great advice I've received from folks on this board...it's helped a lot on the learning curve...

Zack


----------



## libbyfh (Feb 11, 2010)

Help! I paid for a sponsorship... sent it in last Saturday.. then emailed them on Wednesday, ... haven't heard a word. Any suggestions?


----------



## Steven L. Hawk (Jul 10, 2010)

libbyfh said:


> Help! I paid for a sponsorship... sent it in last Saturday.. then emailed them on Wednesday, ... haven't heard a word. Any suggestions?


Steve is usually very good about responding. I'd give it until Monday before sending another email. I don't think you need to worry, though. He will get back to you.

And the next available dates are a ways out, so you've got your place in line by already making the payment. Post back when you hear from him and let us know.


----------



## libbyfh (Feb 11, 2010)

Thanks, STeven. I'll wait.


----------



## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

Today I find out the answer to this thread's title question.

I've got the gold sponsorship (I booked it when it was 189.99), and it runs three consecutive days. 

Today is the email shorts alert. I've noticed that sometimes these come out in the morning and sometimes they don't come out until the evening, so the impact may depend on when the email goes out and how much distance there is between one day's email and the next.

Right now, pre-KND, my ranking is 18,961


----------



## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

LKRigel said:


> Today I find out the answer to this thread's title question.
> 
> I've got the gold sponsorship (I booked it when it was 189.99), and it runs three consecutive days.
> 
> ...


Yes, keep us posted! I did find that when my email went out, in the evening, I didn't see much until the next day.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

Vicki


----------



## J.M Pierce (May 13, 2010)

Go get 'em, LK!


----------



## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

Argh! I just got a note from Dave Wisehart that my interview is posted on Kindle Author today. Talk about obscuring results!

Oh, well. It's all good, right? hahaha


----------



## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Think of it as a marketing blitz! 

Knock 'em dead, LK!


----------



## Guest (Oct 4, 2010)

LKRigel said:


> Argh! I just got a note from Dave Wisehart that my interview is posted on Kindle Author today. Talk about obscuring results!
> 
> Oh, well. It's all good, right? hahaha


I think one of these is going to have a huge impact, and the other...is a nice interview.

Let us know when the sales start rolling in!


----------



## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

LK, I'm anxious to live vicariously through you 

Wishing you the best of luck!

Sandy


----------



## David Wisehart (Mar 2, 2010)

LKRigel said:


> I just got a note from Dave Wisehart that my interview is posted on Kindle Author today. Talk about obscuring results!


LK:

Sorry if I obscured your results, but I can tell you that if you see a big jump in sales this week, it's almost certainly from Kindle Nation Daily. That blog is older, better established, and has a much bigger email list.

Authors who do interviews on my site (which is not quite three months old) generally see 1-10 sales from people who clicked directly from the interview links. There may be indirect sales, but I can't track that.

Of course, I don't charge authors to be interviewed, so any sales from my site are pure profit for the author. And as my site grows over the coming years, I fully expect the sales impact to increase for authors interviewed, including for those (like you) who got interviewed in the early days.

Best of luck with your book!

David


----------



## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

David, please don't think for a minute I'm unhappy about this! If I had been worried about doubling up, I would have said something to you.

It's working out perfectly, as a matter of fact -- and your interview was amazingly generous.


----------



## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

I don't think it helps to over-manage the way things fall out in the universe. It all goes together, and each part reinforces the others in ways we can't know.

It's ALL good, I mean it!


----------



## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

And interviews, especially those with well-known blogs (like Kindle Author) keep on giving. They'll always show in the search results for your book. It's perpetual exposure. 

Hope your day is kick Astor Bar, LK!


----------



## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

In fact -- not to hijack the KND thread, but David, is your blog available as a subscription from Amazon? I'll put a link on my website if you could post it here.


----------



## David Wisehart (Mar 2, 2010)

LK:

Sure thing. The subscription link to my blog is here: http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Author/dp/B003Z9K0DU/

David


----------



## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

Excellent! I've added you to THE MATRIX


----------



## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

The email went out about half an hour ago, and there's been a sale already. Wow.

And Steve wrote some nice stuff about SJ too!


----------



## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

LKRigel said:


> The email went out about half an hour ago, and there's been a sale already. Wow.
> 
> And Steve wrote some nice stuff about SJ too!


Yes, he did have very nice things to say about SJ!

Wishing you all the best. I see your ranking has already dropped considerably 

Congrats!

Sandy


----------



## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

I've had 8 sales since the email came out. This has brought me from around 30K (it went down before it went up) to 5702 as of now.


----------



## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

More will come and it will have a ripple effect for a few days, especially because you have the gold!


----------



## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

Monique said:


> More will come and it will have a ripple effect for a few days, especially because you have the gold!


Yes, it will be interesting to see the cumulative effects of 3 days in a row.

I'm really happy with the results so far. Some day, I hope these results will seem dismal to me (ha) but right now, it's incredible to have 8 *9 *sales in a few hours.

One surprise I hadn't expected: It's gratifying that people respond to the showcase like this. This coupled with the feedback I've got from readers is giving me the real sense that SJ is a good read, a worthy entertainment. Feels good.


----------



## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

Monique said:


> More will come and it will have a ripple effect for a few days, especially because you have the gold!


I had a ripple effect. And I agree that because LK has the gold, there should be some fantastic results 

We are rooting for you!

Sandy


----------



## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

WOOHOO! I just broke into the top 100 Kindle Romance FFG!


----------



## Guest (Oct 5, 2010)

Awesome, looks like you're already riding high!


----------



## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

It's interesting to see how few sales it actually takes to get into the 4 figures. I'm sure it takes a whole lot more to get into the hundreds.

It is fun to make it into some subcategories.


----------



## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

You'll be in the hundreds soon, I have no doubt.  You go!  Yay!

Vicki


----------



## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

LKRigel said:


> WOOHOO! I just broke into the top 100 Kindle Romance FFG!


Fantastic numbers!


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## Holly A Hook (Sep 19, 2010)

Congrats on your numbers!  This is exciting.  I'm up the day after Thanksgiving (the big shopping day), so that should be interesting.


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## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

So coming in to the end of the first day of a gold sponsorship, which is supposed to be:



> Monday 10/4: Free Kindle Nation Shorts excerpt and sponsorship to be emailed to 5,500 opt-in free email subscribers and pushed directly via Whispernet to over 6,000 Kindles owned by paid subscribers


The email went out a few minutes after 2 p.m. As far as I can tell, it never got pushed to the Kindle. I've had 11 sales since the email and got into the 2700s in the rankings, plus SJ got into some subcategories for the first time.

This sponsorship individually now goes for $99.99. It might have been better if it had actually gone to the Kindles. I'm not at all unhappy with this result. And Steve wrote a great intro to my excerpt. I will do it again!

Tomorrow it's supposed to be:


> Tuesday 10/5: Weekly Kindle Nation newsletter email blast sponsorship to be emailed to 5,500 opt-in free email subscribers


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## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

The dawn of Day Two of a gold sponsorship

I woke up to three more sales. Very nice. My ranking dropped to 3531 -- but yesterday started in the 30,000s. It's another day.

I never did see the Kindle push -- and I emailed Steve about it. He was kind enough to call me at home and show me how to better navigate my Kindle content, and there it was! ha. I don't know when that guy sleeps!

Today's sponsorship is:


> Tuesday 10/5: Weekly Kindle Nation newsletter email blast sponsorship to be emailed to 5,500 opt-in free email subscribers


We'll see what happens. This is fun.


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## JL Bryan (Aug 10, 2010)

Since I was having a slower response before, I just wanted to stop by and mention that ALL my books are selling better since the KND ad. I think the response might have been slow because my sample size was pretty large--4 chapters.

Anyway, I'm very happy with my sales now, and it's starting to look like I could sell a few hundred books this month, which is an improvement for me. Even my paperbacks are way up  Plus _Helix_ has gone to #1 in "biotechnology" and competes with Richard Dawkins for the #1 spot in "genetics."

Jeff


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## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

It seems one of the great things about KND is that it goes on well past the official days. People browse through the offerings on their own time. 

It is fun, though, to see the sales tick up on the very day, ha.


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## J.M Pierce (May 13, 2010)

Congrats, JL and LK!

I'm up in less than two weeks and I have to say, my heart is already beating fast. I can't wait for the 15th.


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## Cathymw (May 27, 2010)

Hmm... today is my UK day (the Gold level sponsorship doesn't kick in until November, and then February).  

And I'm still looking at that brown bar in the UK area.  I'm hoping that perhaps it's a delayed response.


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Success with the UK promotion has been spotty so far. Some have seen a bump to their US sales though.

I've not read the UK newsletter, but I wonder if it's the same as the US version? The hard sell that works so well here does not seem to best for the UK. We've seen a negative reaction to the "salesy" approach by some members and I've spoken with a few UK friends and they've all echoed the sentiment. I wonder if a softer, more testimonial approach wouldn't work better?

Has anyone read the UK newsletter? Any UKers out there who can offer some insight?


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## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

J.M. Pierce said:


> Congrats, JL and LK!
> 
> I'm up in less than two weeks and I have to say, my heart is already beating fast. I can't wait for the 15th.


Congratulations! ...and you're correct- the effect continues well past the advertised date...

Zack


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## Basil Sands (Aug 18, 2010)

Having just invested in KND for two of my books, I am anticipating good things based on what you folks said here.


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## rudykerkhoven (Aug 23, 2010)

Monique said:


> Success with the UK promotion has been spotty so far. Some have seen a bump to their US sales though.
> 
> I've not read the UK newsletter, but I wonder if it's the same as the US version? The hard sell that works so well here does not seem to best for the UK. We've seen a negative reaction to the "salesy" approach by some members and I've spoken with a few UK friends and they've all echoed the sentiment. I wonder if a softer, more testimonial approach wouldn't work better?
> 
> Has anyone read the UK newsletter? Any UKers out there who can offer some insight?


I noticed 0 UK sales with my promotion (mine was a week ago exactly), but a bump of about 5-10 sales from my US account (it's hard to be sure how much to attribute to what). All in all, I would not recommend the UK promotion. I think it should cost no more than $20.

But my US promotion is this Friday, and I'm quite looking forward to that!


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## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

I'm loving it. The best part is having your name and title put in front of so many readers in such a professional and enthusiastic presentation.

Legitimacy is the hardest thing for independent authors to earn, and I believe the KND sponsorship is part of building that legitimacy.


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## Cathymw (May 27, 2010)

rudykerkhoven said:


> I noticed 0 UK sales with my promotion (mine was a week ago exactly), but a bump of about 5-10 sales from my US account (it's hard to be sure how much to attribute to what). All in all, I would not recommend the UK promotion. I think it should cost no more than $20.


Yeah, that seems in line with my experience now too.


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## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

So my gold sponsorship has ended. It ran Mon-Tues-Wed. Was it worth it?

I will do it again, so the answer is yes.

I'm not wild about my results: Monday 10, Tuesday 12, Wednesday 21. It didn't pay for one day, let alone three. Today so far, I've sold 2.

And yet at this point I'm pretty sure I'll be a regular sponsor of KND.

*I think more important than immediate sales is getting your name out there in front of real readers, building brand. Even more important than that is the legitimacy the sponsorship gives to an independent author. 
*
I think part of my problem with _Space Junque_ is that it seems science fiction readers think it's romance and romance readers think it's science fiction. It's actually some of each. I'm pretty sure that confusion will be cleared up with my next title, so I'm not going to worry about that.

My next gold sponsorship will be spread over several days instead of consecutively. It will be interesting to see how that goes.

Edit: I forgot to say that I got my first UK sale during this sponsorship. Also, for the first time, I got into the subcategories which puts the book in more places in Amazon's algorithms. Re-reading this post, it doesn't come across as enthusiastic as I really am.

Repeat: I will be a regular on the KND circuit.


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## KathyBell (Nov 7, 2009)

LKRigel said:


> I think part of my problem with _Space Junque_ is that it seems science fiction readers think it's romance and romance readers think it's science fiction. It's actually some of each. I'm pretty sure that confusion will be cleared up with my next title, so I'm not going to worry about that.


I'm in a similar boat, where people are unsure exactly what genre Regression falls into...I had one person ask me why I put a romance cover on my sci-fi book! I'm up for KND on Sunday, the official release date for Evolussion although the KND push is for the first book in the series.

I hope your future sponsorships see at least a repayment of your investment!


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## J.R. Chase (Jun 22, 2010)

That's great you found it worthwhile LK.  My KND runs tomorrow, but personally, if I don't recoup the investment it will be the last time.  I can do all sorts of promotion for free, and spending good money after bad doesn't make sense to me.  It's all too subjective in terms of getting a name out there etc., with KND.


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Hope it's a big success, JR.


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## rudykerkhoven (Aug 23, 2010)

J.R. Chase said:


> That's great you found it worthwhile LK. My KND runs tomorrow, but personally, if I don't recoup the investment it will be the last time. I can do all sorts of promotion for free, and spending good money after bad doesn't make sense to me. It's all too subjective in terms of getting a name out there etc., with KND.


Your promotion runs tomorrow? I thought my promotion runs tomorrow...

I paid for the 1 day sponsorship... what do you have?


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## rudykerkhoven (Aug 23, 2010)

Hey, I just saw on the KND website site he's no longer accepting any UK sponsorships until further notice.  I wonder if something's wrong with it, or if people stopped requesting sponsorships.  I'd think he'd just drop the price if there was weakening demand...


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## Guest (Oct 8, 2010)

rudykerkhoven said:


> Hey, I just saw on the KND website site he's no longer accepting any UK sponsorships until further notice. I wonder if something's wrong with it, or if people stopped requesting sponsorships. I'd think he'd just drop the price if there was weakening demand...


Interesting. I wouldn't be surprised if people complained considering buying the sponsorships clearly do not lead to UK sales. I'm sure he can retool and come up with something to improve on that.


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## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

rudykerkhoven said:


> Hey, I just saw on the KND website site he's no longer accepting any UK sponsorships until further notice. I wonder if something's wrong with it, or if people stopped requesting sponsorships. I'd think he'd just drop the price if there was weakening demand...


I actually talked to him about this during my sponsorship. He isn't that happy himself with the response, and so he's going to think of a better way of doing it.


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## libbyfh (Feb 11, 2010)

Stupid question time. My book will be up in November... but I don't have a Kindle. Is there a place I can read the finished "product" so to speak? 

Thanks in advance.

PS Never mind. Just found it on the website. See? I told you it was a stupid question... going back in my corner now.


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## Jason G. Anderson (Sep 29, 2010)

LKRigel said:


> I think part of my problem with _Space Junque_ is that it seems science fiction readers think it's romance and romance readers think it's science fiction. It's actually some of each. I'm pretty sure that confusion will be cleared up with my next title, so I'm not going to worry about that.


I've been relistening to all the old episodes of the podcast "Writing Excuses" (IMHO a fantastic podcast for all authors), and they touched on this in one episode. The example they used was a book that was published that combined sci-fi with JAG-style lawyer/courtroom themes, which ended up being a total flop. The sci-fi people picked it up and went "eww, I don't want to read a lawyer book". The lawyer story lovers picked it up and went "ewww, I don't want to read a sci-fi".

Their suggestion was if you're genre blending, pick just one of the reader groups to promote it too and downplay the other genre in your marketing. With the sci-fi/lawyer example, their suggestion was to market it as a military sci-fi book, since that crowd would be more accepting of the JAG material once they were into the story (while the lawyer story crowd wouldn't accept the sci-fi).

Jason


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## rudykerkhoven (Aug 23, 2010)

Well, my KND sponsorship when up just an hour or two ago, and there are 5 new sales.  An encouraging start.  I'm not sure how being placed on a Friday will affect things--I imagine many people wait until the weekend to read their KND update.


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## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

rudykerkhoven said:


> Well, my KND sponsorship when up just an hour or two ago, and there are 5 new sales. An encouraging start. I'm not sure how being placed on a Friday will affect things--I imagine many people wait until the weekend to read their KND update.


Have fun today!


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## rudykerkhoven (Aug 23, 2010)

So far, I'm quite impressed, especially after my disappointing UK results just last week.  It's 2:44 (PDT) and I've sold 24 copies today, and I'm just teetering above the #1000 ranking.  Oh, I'd like to break down there, but I'm really appreciating how hard it is, and I know I'll soon slingshot back up.  

Still, I'm impressed with how things have started, although I have no idea how things will go this evening.  Do people really buy books on a Friday night?


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## lakefable (Sep 22, 2010)

Yes.  It helped launch the Kindle version of my book "The Lake That Stole Children" which was written for YA readers (in some cases) and parents reading to children.  I've already paid for a second session because the results I got were immediate.

But other posts have also made good points about ongoing marketing:  Kindle Nation is a good beginning, but I suggest following up on your blog, etc.

www.lakefable.com

Good luck.


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## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

rudykerkhoven said:


> So far, I'm quite impressed, especially after my disappointing UK results just last week. It's 2:44 (PDT) and I've sold 24 copies today, and I'm just teetering above the #1000 ranking. Oh, I'd like to break down there, but I'm really appreciating how hard it is, and I know I'll soon slingshot back up.
> 
> Still, I'm impressed with how things have started, although I have no idea how things will go this evening. Do people really buy books on a Friday night?


Congrats! Glad to see it's working out for you 

Sandy


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## P.A. Woodburn (May 22, 2010)

Watching all of the people on Kindle Boards all week (a small sample) I have noticed that they all dipped to lowest rank in the afternoon and then went up a bit in the evening. No idea why.


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## rudykerkhoven (Aug 23, 2010)

I have nothing but great things to say about the KND sponsorship.  50 sales from morning until night, my previous single best in a day being 8.  I'm definitely doing it again.  I highly recommend it.

On the weekend I'll post a detailed overview on my blog.


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

That's terrific! I'm sure you'll continue to see increased sales for the next few days, too.


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## J.M Pierce (May 13, 2010)

Has anyone done the KND sponsorship with their book priced at $.99? Everyone that I've seen (I think) was priced at $2.99. I'm wondering if the 99 cent price would bring more readers during the sale or if some would look at it adversely. What do you guys think? My sponsorship is on the 15th and I'm trying to make up my mind. I understand that the chances of recovering the cost of the sponsorship are slim to none at 99 cents, but I don't see that as my main objective. I raised the price of Failing Test to $2.99 on October first and so far my sales are on target. Of course this comes just off the heals of a Daily Cheap Reads promotion too.


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## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

Great numbers, Rudy! Hope the momentum continues for you!


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## rudykerkhoven (Aug 23, 2010)

So, I have to wonder: why the extreme differences between the UK and US sponsorships?  In both sponsorships, Stephen's day-of email stated that the sponsorship was getting sent to 6000+ Kindles, but can that really be true for the UK one?  It seems to me like there are hardly any UK residents signed up for KND.  

Like I said, I am overwhelmingly impressed with my results from the US sponsorship.  My cynical goal was 20, the realistic goal was 40 (break even), and my secret goal was 50.  I've already signed up for December 7th.  I just hope Stephen doesn't raise the price again too soon.

But, again, does anyone know why there is such a discrepancy between the US and UK results?  For me, my 24 hours stats:
UK: 0  (although 5 US sales)
US: 56 (no UK sales)


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## R. Doug (Aug 14, 2010)

Ten days to go until my sponsorship comes up.  Not that I'm counting or anything.


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## Guest (Oct 9, 2010)

J.M. Pierce said:


> Has anyone done the KND sponsorship with their book priced at $.99? Everyone that I've seen (I think) was priced at $2.99. I'm wondering if the 99 cent price would bring more readers during the sale or if some would look at it adversely. What do you guys think? My sponsorship is on the 15th and I'm trying to make up my mind. I understand that the chances of recovering the cost of the sponsorship are slim to none at 99 cents, but I don't see that as my main objective. I raised the price of Failing Test to $2.99 on October first and so far my sales are on target. Of course this comes just off the heals of a Daily Cheap Reads promotion too.


I think Imogen had hers at 99c, and I'll be leaving my book 1 at 99 this next time (Dec 10th) with the next two books at 2.99. It's a tough call. You would definitely sell more copies, but you'll sell a lot of copies anyway. No need to dig yourself a hole when you could be getting the money back. Your decision.


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## KathyBell (Nov 7, 2009)

I'm up tomorrow with a sponsorship for Regression in honour of the release of Evolussion. Hopefully I'll see a good response for one, with the expectation that if KND users already have Regression then the announcement of the release of Evolussion will send them out to purchase it (assuming they liked the original book in the series enough to buy the second!).

My rankings have been tracked on Novelrank for both Regression and Evolussion, so I will be able to see graphical representation of the sales changes which might arise. Here's keeping my fingers cross!

Does the UK listing ONLY send to UK Kindles? I think you're right, Rudy, that if there are 6000 US subscribers, it's doubtful there are 6000 UK subscribers. Although the fact that the UK was the first location for which Amazon created an independent platform might speak to the fact they have adopted the Kindle in huge numbers?!?


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## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

J.M. Pierce said:


> Has anyone done the KND sponsorship with their book priced at $.99? Everyone that I've seen (I think) was priced at $2.99. I'm wondering if the 99 cent price would bring more readers during the sale or if some would look at it adversely. What do you guys think? My sponsorship is on the 15th and I'm trying to make up my mind. I understand that the chances of recovering the cost of the sponsorship are slim to none at 99 cents, but I don't see that as my main objective. I raised the price of Failing Test to $2.99 on October first and so far my sales are on target. Of course this comes just off the heals of a Daily Cheap Reads promotion too.


I did my first KND (Aug 30) with Crazy For You priced at $0.99. (I bought early in August when the price was cheaper). In the first 24 hours I sold 165 copies of CFY. Over the course of the following week, I sold just shy of 400 copies. By the end of September, my sales were still strong. I lost my momentum after I increased the price though...which is why I changed it back. My book Incredible Dreams has a spot coming up on Oct 20th...because of the recent slump in sales, I've lowered ID's price to $0.99, too, and plan to leave it there for the KND day.

Sandy


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## J.M Pierce (May 13, 2010)

Sandra Edwards said:


> I did my first KND (Aug 30) with Crazy For You priced at $0.99. (I bought early in August when the price was cheaper). In the first 24 hours I sold 165 copies of CFY. Over the course of the following week, I sold just shy of 400 copies. By the end of September, my sales were still strong. I lost my momentum after I increased the price though...which is why I changed it back. My book Incredible Dreams has a spot coming up on Oct 20th...because of the recent slump in sales, I've lowered ID's price to $0.99, too, and plan to leave it there for the KND day.
> 
> Sandy


Wow! That is strong motivation to lower the price right there.



foreverjuly said:


> I think Imogen had hers at 99c, and I'll be leaving my book 1 at 99 this next time (Dec 10th) with the next two books at 2.99. It's a tough call. You would definitely sell more copies, but you'll sell a lot of copies anyway. No need to dig yourself a hole when you could be getting the money back. Your decision.


Thanks, Jason. You know your opinion is always valued with me. I've got some pondering to do. One of my employees is getting married tonight so I think I may have to ponder over a couple of drinks!

Thanks again, to both of you, for your feedback. I much appreciate it.

Take care.

J.M.


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## Guest (Oct 9, 2010)

J.M. Pierce said:


> Wow! That is strong motivation to lower the price right there.
> 
> Thanks, Jason. You know your opinion is always valued with me. I've got some pondering to do. One of my employees is getting married tonight so I think I may have to ponder over a couple of drinks!
> 
> ...


Honestly, Sandra's argument impressed me too. You'd still make your money back if you sold all those copies at 99 cents over the following week. I couldn't blame you for trying to replicate that at all. Have fun at the wedding!


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## bobavey (Sep 14, 2010)

My publisher signed me up. I think I'm scheduled for December 9.


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## KathyBell (Nov 7, 2009)

So, I'm starting the morning at about 7500 with Regression (the sponsored book) and 8K for Evolussion (the sequel). I've been tracking on novelrank for both books, so will be able to see individual sale timings even though I have to go to a Thanksgiving dinner (Canadian here, eh?) and won't be posting hourly numbers or anything. I will post an update once I get home.

My book is listed at $2.99. I've played with pricing, but found that price did not bring about 6x the sales volume (except perhaps during the crazy holiday season from Dec 15-Jan 15), and also tended to get people who might not normally choose to purchase my book because they were not science fiction fans, and thus did not enjoy it. Yes, I sold thousands of copies at that price, but made very little money from it and really did not even garner many reviews (less than 1% of sales).

If your book will appeal to a certain market more than the general public, I don't think a price reduction always works in your favour. At $2.99, the prospective reader will give it more thought, and thus there is less chance of a poor match of reader and writing. I think you get 'feeding frenzies' for cheap and free books, and yes, it does increase the number of people owning your book...but does it really increase your 'readers'? Those people who will buy your next book? Who will write a review which says 'I loved this book'? The release of the sequel will go a long way to identifying whether those cheap sales did create readers!


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

Tanya Plank's book Swallow was at 99 cents when she had her KND sponsorship.  I don't know how many she sold, but her rank was VERY high for a long time, so I'm sure she made back the investment plus quite a bit.  (Just guessing here...)

If I ever did KND again, I would definitely keep my price at 99 cents.  The bump is higher and keeps you going longer because once you get that many sales Amazon's system advertises for you.

Just sayin...

Vicki


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## J.M Pierce (May 13, 2010)

Thank you everyone. I have decided to do the 99 cents. It's so hard when every dollar that you spend is important to another aspect of life, especially when family is involved. Thanks for helping me make an informed and thought out decision. You guys are the best.

Take care.

J.M.


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## KathyBell (Nov 7, 2009)

Back when all royalties were 35%, the boost in sales was worth the reduction in royalties. At 99 cents, I made it to #147 in the Kindle store, selling hundreds of copies per day. This was when free books were also part of the sales rankings, while they now are separated from paid books. I did not have any promotions going on; this was through simple chart climbing. I kept my price at 99 cents until the sales fell off and the royalty structure changed. I would likely still be at 99 cents if royalties were still at 35%, but since my sales did not drop off at $2.99, I'd rather be making $2 a book than 35 cents!

Victorine, you are correct, though, that the sales ranking system is a form of advertising once you've hit those top categories. And, there is the thrill of seeing your book outsell well known authors (I was ahead of 'The Host' at one point on the SciFi/Fantasy list!!). But I've seen many, many indie authors with books at 99 cents that don't find those types of sales, so it is not just price that sells the book, it's also the target market. If you have a book that sells well across genres, you will likely do better at 99 cents than someone with a very specific market. If you are only selling a handful of copies per day at 99 cents, you are unlikely to see much drop in sales going to $2.99. Especially if you are not on any top 100 listings. 

But, for a promotional blast, trying the 99 cent pricing will certainly give an indication if your book is one which responds to low pricing. Just keep in mind you must sell 6x as many books! Almost 300 copies to break even (at his current pricing). At either selling price, you get some residual sales from people who later read the sample, but you only need 50 sales to break even. It's not just about recouping the investment, as I mentioned on the PUYB thread, but since your investment is $100 for one day, instead of multiple days on multiple venues at $20/day, the parameters are different.


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## J.M Pierce (May 13, 2010)

I much appreciate your input and it does make it difficult. I got my spot for $69 and I'm glad I got it when I did. I think I'm going to sit at 99 cents and see how it plays out. 100 sales at 30% royalty is more encouraging to me than 30 sales at 70%. I won't say that FT has been floundering, sales have steadily increased monthly without going backwards once, but I would love to see it get a little stronger momentum.

Again, thank you much for you input. It is sincerely appreciated.

J.M.


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## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

One thing to think about: When you make all these sales at 99 cents and Amazon gets you into its "people who bought this also bought this" algorithm, you're going to be associated with a bunch of 99 cent books. You'll be building an audience of 99 cent readers as well.


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## KathyBell (Nov 7, 2009)

LKRigel said:


> You'll be building an audience of 99 cent readers as well.


Are you considering that a good thing, or a bad thing, LOL?!?

I'm getting a little nervous...I looked at the KND website, and the post there has a different book as today's sponsor. I booked this day back in August, with the email confirmation to show it, and hope that the book posted is really yesterday's and mine will go up shortly! Today is the official release date for Evolussion, which was why I booked the date two months ago! I did email Stephen to clarify, but will be a bit upset if there is a screw-up and my book is not being featured. Story of my life, stuff like that happens to me on a weekly basis.


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## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

KathyBell said:


> Are you considering that a good thing, or a bad thing, LOL?!?
> 
> I'm getting a little nervous...I looked at the KND website, and the post there has a different book as today's sponsor. I booked this day back in August, with the email confirmation to show it, and hope that the book posted is really yesterday's and mine will go up shortly! Today is the official release date for Evolussion, which was why I booked the date two months ago! I did email Stephen to clarify, but will be a bit upset if there is a screw-up and my book is not being featured. Story of my life, stuff like that happens to me on a weekly basis.


a bad thing

the KND is confusing. He sells three different levels of sponsorship, and all three happen in a day. Being on the website is the (more) expensive one.


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## KathyBell (Nov 7, 2009)

Ah, that would explain the lack of presence on the website. Good to know. Stephen did reply that my excerpt would go out this afternoon. But, you're right, the descriptions on his site are not that clear about which sponsorship goes on his page.

I do think many of the 99 cent shoppers are not 'readers', so the sales to them don't build your readership for future, higher priced, works. I'm pleased so far with sales of Evolussion (37 already this month) considering it's not officially released yet, just posted to Kindle a bit early to be ready for today. And, I know those people are ones who bought Regression, because otherwise they would not have ever found Evolussion!


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## rudykerkhoven (Aug 23, 2010)

Although I've voiced my experiences and opinions on the KND sponsorship already in some recent posts here, I've put a detailed account of it on my blog with graphs that illustrate just how dramatic the sales were in my instance.

http://kerkhoven.wordpress.com/2010/10/10/seventh-week-in-review/


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## Cliff Ball (Apr 10, 2010)

I decided to take the plunge. How long does it normally take before he lets you know when you're sponsorship is going to be?


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## David Derrico (Nov 18, 2009)

KathyBell said:


> My book is listed at $2.99. I've played with pricing, but found that price did not bring about 6x the sales volume (except perhaps during the crazy holiday season from Dec 15-Jan 15), and also tended to get people who might not normally choose to purchase my book because they were not science fiction fans, and thus did not enjoy it. Yes, I sold thousands of copies at that price, but made very little money from it and really did not even garner many reviews (less than 1% of sales).
> 
> If your book will appeal to a certain market more than the general public, I don't think a price reduction always works in your favour. At $2.99, the prospective reader will give it more thought, and thus there is less chance of a poor match of reader and writing. I think you get 'feeding frenzies' for cheap and free books, and yes, it does increase the number of people owning your book...but does it really increase your 'readers'? Those people who will buy your next book? Who will write a review which says 'I loved this book'? The release of the sequel will go a long way to identifying whether those cheap sales did create readers!


My experiences almost exactly matched yours, Kathy (and I think your books show up pretty prominently among "People who bought this also bought" for my books, and vice versa). A low price helped facilitate a fair number of sales, and the thrill of selling in the thousands and being on those bestseller lists is intoxicating for a while, but I don't know how many people even end up reading them at 99 cents -- I also have well under a 1% review rate, compared to my sales. I do also feel like I got several poor/angry reviews from people who didn't check out the sub-genre very carefully, didn't read the sample, and weren't a good match for the book. At $2.99, I think people are more likely to consider if the book is something they'd like, instead of just seeing it on a list and 1-clicking. They're more likely to sample, and just delete it if they don't like it, instead of buying it on impulse for $0.99 and then leaving a bad review if it's not their cup of tea. In the long run, those bad reviews could end up hurting you more than being on bestseller lists helps you.


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## J.M Pierce (May 13, 2010)

LKRigel said:


> One thing to think about: When you make all these sales at 99 cents and Amazon gets you into its "people who bought this also bought this" algorithm, you're going to be associated with a bunch of 99 cent books. You'll be building an audience of 99 cent readers as well.


I'm not sure that I'll make assumptions, but I know that I'd be plenty happy about being associated with books titled:

My Blood Approves
Portal
The Synthesis
Not What She Seems
The Weight of Blood
Hush Money
The Red Church
and many more.

If you look at some of the higher end (price wise) books right now, most all are associated with books that were free this past week. What does that mean if "99 cent readers" are something to be looked down upon?  Times are very hard right now and I don't blame a soul for trying to get as much entertainment as they can for a hard earned buck. If they don't like the story, then yes, I will feel badly that they may have wasted a buck. But then again, what if they actually made the conscious decision to buy my book at the higher price and still didn't like it. Now they're out three bucks.

I understand the logic that the matching up of reader and book might not be of the percentage it may at $2.99. The only thing is that you can't second guess what everyone does. I am a reader as much as an author and I buy what interests me. A good number of those are 99 cent books and I don't consider myself a slummer. Shoot, maybe I am and didn't know it! 

I say these things with the greatest of respect for your opinion. Thanks and have a great evening.

J.M.


----------



## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

I'm not talking about the quality of the books at all. I'm talking about price and creating expectations around price. 

I don't even know what I'm talking about -- just thinking out loud here, trying to figure it out. I feel the temptation to come down to 99 cents. I might do it. I hope I don't.


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## J.M Pierce (May 13, 2010)

Until October 1st, Failing Test had been priced at 99 cents. My original question was centered around the KND sponsorship and whether or not anyone had left their book priced at 99 cents during their run on the KND page. I know that many have raised their price temporarily (and justifyably so to cover the cost), but wasn't sure that I'd known of anyone who went through at 99 cents. It really wasn't my intent to open the debate of 99 cents versus 2.99. That argument has been beaten to death in my opinion. Even if I were to do the KND at 2.99, my intent was to go back to 99 cents in November.

Again, please don't think I am discounting your opinion. Absolutely not. I hope you do well with whichever direction you choose to go! Take care.

J.M.


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## libbyfh (Feb 11, 2010)

Cliff: 

It took over a week for Steve to get back to me. Maybe 9 days. He's really backed up with requests. But he will get back to you.


----------



## Cliff Ball (Apr 10, 2010)

libbyfh said:


> Cliff:
> 
> It took over a week for Steve to get back to me. Maybe 9 days. He's really backed up with requests. But he will get back to you.


Thanks, because $70 is a lot to spend when you really don't have it, and I just wanted to know, since I'm rather paranoid


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## KathyBell (Nov 7, 2009)

So, off to a good start with sales of Regression at 20 units sold since the KND email/push happened and I've climbed to just above 1,300 in the rankings. Most of my sales seem to happen after midnight, guess my readership are on the West Coast, so hopefully I'll see some nice sales numbers when I get up in the morning!

I've also had a nice rise in sales of Evolussion, which I expect can be attributed to the KND sponsorship. 6 copies sold this afternoon, and ranking in the 3000s.


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

J.M. Pierce said:


> I'm not sure that I'll make assumptions, but I know that I'd be plenty happy about being associated with books titled:
> (list of indie books)


The thing is.... This isn't about the quality of the books you're associated with - it's about whether they really have the same readership.

The point of the "people who bought that also bought this" feature isn't for the writers. It isn't a badge of honor or a quality issue. It's a TASTE issue. It's there to help readers find things that suit their tastes. When the system is thrown off - whether it's by price or excessive cross-promotion by indies and indie fans - it becomes less helpful to the customers. And when it becomes less helpful to them, it's less helpful to us.

I hate to say it, but it's the same with the tagging clubs... anything that games the system makes that system less valuable.

Not that I blame people for doing every ethical thing they can to boost their sales. It's just that one of the things we count on as indies is the quality of those Amazon algorithms, so we should realize that there is a larger picture here.

Camille


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> I think some folks misunderstand the role of advertising.
> 
> Advertising is not about generating one-shot sales. Advertising is about brand-building. You will rarely see a direct relationship to any single ad and sales. That isn't how advertising works. People don't spend a million dollars on a single Super Bowl ad because they think that one ad will generate a million in sales. The spend the money because they know that ad will also generate weeks of additional hype before the game and after that reinforces the brand.
> 
> ...


I had to bring this quote back because it's impressive and meaningful. I have to explore your website, Julie, and also look for more of your counsel. While I've been building my brand slowly and surely--even winning awards and getting my books into bookstores--I can see you're somewhere where I'm trying to go.

P.S. I paid for an ad a few weeks ago, and it'll run this month.


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## KathyBell (Nov 7, 2009)

Regression has broken the top 1000, with 35 sales in 18 hours. A typical day has been between 2 and 5 sales lately.

Evolussion might be getting a (as Stephen put it) 'Halo' effect, showing 11 sales yesterday...but that could also be the purchases by people who knew the 10/10/10 release date.

So, the first day is definitely looking promising, and has paid for the sponsorship, so everything from here on in is gravy (Thanksgiving today, gravy on the mind, LOL!). My blog tour started today as well, although at the home of a romance reader, which my book is definitely not! At least she liked the story.

Soon I'll start writing the third book in the series...


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## KathyBell (Nov 7, 2009)

Dogs are done, horses away, kids asleep, laundry folded, and I'm calling it a night after one last look at the stats for the KND push.

Regression - 45 sales at $2.99 #1091 in Kindle Store.
#10 in Books > Romance > Time Travel 
#14 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction > High Tech 
#15 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > High Tech

Evolussion - 28 sales at $3.99 #1397 in Kindle Store.
#12 in Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers > Technothrillers 
#12 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers > Technothrillers 
#17 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction > High Tech

Excellent results 30 hours after transmission.


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## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

Very good numbers. Hope your sales rank stays low!


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Those are great numbers, Kathy! Congratulations.


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## R. Doug (Aug 14, 2010)

I'm up a week from tomorrow.  Hope I do as well.


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## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

I'm on KND on the 14th- after a 3 day blast on the KindleBoards sponsorship. Should be interesting to see how that works... Best rank to date #462- Hoping for top 100?? Starting this morning at 

Zack


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## Guest (Oct 12, 2010)

daringnovelist said:


> The thing is.... This isn't about the quality of the books you're associated with - it's about whether they really have the same readership.


FYI: They do.


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## JL Bryan (Aug 10, 2010)

Mid-Afternoon is the Free Book Sponsor thingy today.

Currently, it's at

# Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #8,654 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

    * #7 in  Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Humor > Parodies
    * #28 in  Books > Entertainment > Humor > Parodies
    * #56 in  Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Horror > Occult


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## J.M Pierce (May 13, 2010)

Go get 'em, JL!


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## Cliff Ball (Apr 10, 2010)

To update: My Kindle Sponsorship is scheduled for January 1, 2011. That being a Saturday and probably College Football Bowl games aplenty, maybe I'll have lots of bored readers out there who want to try something new. But, its an awesome way to start the New Year


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## R. Doug (Aug 14, 2010)

T-minus  twenty-nine hours, thirty-six minutes and counting.  That's how long until Tuesday, my sponsorship day.


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## JL Bryan (Aug 10, 2010)

Now Mid-Afternoon is at:

#4,221 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

    * #3 in  Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Humor > Parodies
    * #11 in  Books > Entertainment > Humor > Parodies
    * #28 in  Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Horror > Occult


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## R. Doug (Aug 14, 2010)

That's great, J.L.  Keep those numbers coming.


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Congrats, JL! It's so exciting to your book in so high in those bestseller lists.


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## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

That's so much fun! hurray!


----------



## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

Congrats J.L. Glad to see those stats dropping (which has to mean the sales number are rising 

Sandy


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

JL Bryan said:


> Now Mid-Afternoon is at:
> 
> #4,221 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
> 
> ...


That's great! Hope you continue to see increased sales for a few more days.


----------



## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

Go JL Go!


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## Learnmegood (Jun 20, 2009)

I paid for the cheapest option (at the time it was $70), and I'm scheduled for this Sunday.  Will my book just be featured on the website, or will it go out in the emails, or what?  Will the universe have my book's name imprinted on its collective conscious?  Or will it just be a whisper in Grand Central Station?  Metaphor much?


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## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

Learnmegood said:


> I paid for the cheapest option (at the time it was $70), and I'm scheduled for this Sunday. Will my book just be featured on the website, or will it go out in the emails, or what? Will the universe have my book's name imprinted on its collective conscious? Or will it just be a whisper in Grand Central Station? Metaphor much?


I only do the $70 packages. So far, I've done 4. In every case, the day of the ad, my revenue has doubled the amount of money spent and had a nice residual for several days afterwards...

Zack


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## CNDudley (May 14, 2010)

I've been following this thread with interest and decided, since I'd never tried anything like it, to fork over for the Gold and see what results each of the different sponsorships had. My dates are very spread out, but today was the Free Book Sponsorship: http://kindlehomepage.blogspot.com/2010/10/kindle-nation-daily-free-book-alert_22.html

Steve Windwalker was EXTREMELY kind and helpful in his remarks. I think I'm in love.  We'll see if it translates to any sales. Beginning rank: 39,244.


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## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

Go Christina! I'm sure you'll get a very decent response!


----------



## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

I love your book covers, Christina, and I'm sure you'll get sales from your sponsorship.  You go!

Vicki


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## CNDudley (May 14, 2010)

Victorine said:


> I love your book covers, Christina, and I'm sure you'll get sales from your sponsorship. You go!
> 
> Vicki


Thanks, Valmore and Vicki. So far I've only slipped in the rankings!!! (And Vicki, the cover admiration is mutual. Who did yours?)

Christina


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## rudykerkhoven (Aug 23, 2010)

I have a daily sponsorship scheduled for December 7th for "The Adventures of Whatley Tupper," which already had a daily sponsorship on Oct 8th.  Also I've just paid for another sponsorship for my new book, which I'm about to release in the next week or so, for some time in January.  

However, I'm now wondering if I should instead change my December 7th promotion for my new book (if Stephen is OK with my changing it at this point.  I think he would be, he's been great about everything else), or if I should give my new book more time to sit and gather reviews before the sponsorship.

Any thoughts?


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## Genaro Zamora (Jul 6, 2010)

I purchased the weekly sponsorship and it started on Tuesday 10/19/2010. 
I personally wanted it around this time in October being that the books genre is great for Halloween.

I'm happy with the results. Stephen was able to put in a slot for October as I had wanted and the results have been satisfying for me in getting some publicity out their. I definitely recomend Kindle Nation Daily.

As of right now my rankings are:

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #6,269 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store) 
#22 in  Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Horror > Ghosts 
#36 in  Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Horror > Ghosts 
#73 in  Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery > Hard-Boiled


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## CNDudley (May 14, 2010)

Genaro Zamora said:


> I purchased the weekly sponsorship and it started on Tuesday 10/19/2010.
> I personally wanted it around this time in October being that the books genre is great for Halloween.
> 
> I'm happy with the results. Stephen was able to put in a slot for October as I had wanted and the results have been satisfying for me in getting some publicity out their. I definitely recomend Kindle Nation Daily.
> ...


A weekly sponsorship sounds like a good idea for your theme. No idea that was an option. As of 2:15P, I'm now ranked #4,052. A good jump from #40,000+


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## Genaro Zamora (Jul 6, 2010)

CNDudley said:


> A weekly sponsorship sounds like a good idea for your theme. No idea that was an option. As of 2:15P, I'm now ranked #4,052. A good jump from #40,000+


yeah definitely a good jump for you. Hope your numbers keep climbing.


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## CNDudley (May 14, 2010)

Genaro Zamora said:


> yeah definitely a good jump for you. Hope your numbers keep climbing.


Thanks, Genaro.

For those considering the $70 Free Book Alert Sponsorship, here are the first day's numbers (hasn't been 24 hours yet). I sold 51 copies, after averaging an embarrassingly modest 1.3 copies/day every other day in Oct. Here's hoping there's a tail on the sales.

At its peak, the book went from an Amazon ranking of #40,669 at noon all the way to #686 at 11:00P and made #25 on the Kindle/ebooks/Humor and #25 on Books/Fiction&Literature/Comedy.

Since I signed on for the Gold package, I'm keeping tabs on how the other options do (not till Nov and Feb) to see which is most effective.


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## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

Awesome results ... and just imagine how many people samples and will purchase later throughout the next week or two ...


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## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

I'm trying to decide between the Free Book alert or the Kindle Short excerpt sent via email. 

Anyone anyone have experience with both or with the excerpt one?


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## Imogen Rose (Mar 22, 2010)

MaryMcDonald said:


> I'm trying to decide between the Free Book alert or the Kindle Short excerpt sent via email.
> 
> Anyone anyone have experience with both or with the excerpt one?


Yes... do both


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## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

Imogen Rose said:


> Yes... do both


I wish I could. Can't afford it just yet. My sequel will be out by the time I can sponsor NGD, so I'm hoping that buyers/readers will also buy the sequel eventually.


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## CNDudley (May 14, 2010)

Valmore Daniels said:


> Awesome results ... and just imagine how many people samples and will purchase later throughout the next week or two ...


I like your thinking! Meaning, I didn't think of that--!


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

I quoted Julie on advertising earlier in this thread, and I'm back to say that yesterday my book _The Brightest Moon of the Century_ was the sponsor of Kindle Nation Daily. The book's ranking went from #148,843 yesterday morning to #626 this morning. What I didn't expect was Steve Windwalker's personal note he attached to it. It turns out he read my book and liked it so much that he spoke about how a good read is a good read whether it's genre fiction or, like mine, literary fiction. I'm sure he doesn't have time to read every sponsor's book, so I appreciate the extra attention.

He used my book to talk about literary fiction, too. Literary fiction is such a broad category, ranging from, say, Nick Hornby's humorous/serious take on suicide in "A Long Way Down," to Jonathan Franzen's long expositive passages that nonetheless enthrall in "Freedom," to Margaret Atwood's scathing social commentary in her slightly futuristic "The Year of the Flood." You can read what he wrote at http://bit.ly/9L1M6q

Such a leap in ranking, by the way, doesn't mean thousands of people bought it. It represents about fifty books. That paid for the sponsorship in one day. If I'm lucky, people who downloaded a sample will go on to buy the book. Maybe readers will tell other readers. I downloaded the sample and found you get a lot--a couple of chapters. Try it--you get a good chunk, and you might like it.


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## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

Fantastic results, Christopher; I hope this helps build momentum for you.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Thank you, Valmore. I have to say that lately on Kindleboards, I'm looking at people's signatures to see if the links take people to good places. Your website in clean and strong, where people get an excerpt from your book. I then watched your trailer--simple and effective. I left with a good sense of your work. While science fiction isn't what I read, I nonetheless am impressed with your presentation. If you haven't sponsored a day on Kindle Nation, you might consider it because you'll find the science fiction readers you want. (Or have you?)


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

_Flaming Dove_ will be sponsoring KND tomorrow. Fingers crossed.


----------



## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Great showing Christopher!

I know you'll do well, Daniel!


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## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

Christopher Meeks said:


> If you haven't sponsored a day on Kindle Nation, you might consider it because you'll find the science fiction readers you want. (Or have you?)


Thank you for the wonderful comments  Yes, I did a KND sponsorship in August, and was very pleased with the results.


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## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

Daniel Arenson said:


> _Flaming Dove_ will be sponsoring KND tomorrow. Fingers crossed.


got my fingers and toes crossed for you Daniel 

Sandy


----------



## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

Daniel Arenson said:


> _Flaming Dove_ will be sponsoring KND tomorrow. Fingers crossed.


I predict big numbers for you.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

Great results, Christopher!  I hope the sales continue!  And that's awesome what Stephen said about your book.  You're right, he doesn't have time to read each book.

And I know you'll do awesome, Daniel!

Vicki


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

Valmore Daniels said:


> I predict big numbers for you.


Same here. You're going to rock it (or maybe rocket... to the top of the bestseller lists!).


----------



## tonyaplank (Jun 14, 2010)

Christopher Meeks said:


> He used my book to talk about literary fiction, too. Literary fiction is such a broad category, ranging from, say, Nick Hornby's humorous/serious take on suicide in "A Long Way Down," to Jonathan Franzen's long expositive passages that nonetheless enthrall in "Freedom," to Margaret Atwood's scathing social commentary in her slightly futuristic "The Year of the Flood." You can read what he wrote at http://bit.ly/9L1M6q


Oh wow, he mentioned my book too in his writing on you, Christopher; he called my novel "great literary fiction"!!! I'm all giddy now; I hadn't seen that before! Thank you for linking to it 

Literary fiction is a harder sale, but definitely not impossible. Did you hear about R.J. Keller's Amazon Encore deal?!

Congratulations on your big bump in sales, Christopher. I do want to read your book, as soon as I finish the four on my TBR list in front of it!


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## Learnmegood (Jun 20, 2009)

Well, I'm up on KND today and hoping for great things.  Since I checked last night, I've had 3 sales, but I don't know if they were as a result of KND or not.

Right now, Learn Me Good is sitting at #9,424 in the Kindle store.  Here's hoping that rises throughout the day and week!

John


----------



## 911jason (Aug 17, 2009)

Looks like you've had a few more...

*Amazon Bestsellers Rank*: #6,992 Paid in Kindle Store
#6 in Books > Entertainment > Humor > Business & Professional
#9 in Books > Entertainment > Humor > Business


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

John, if your ranking is this good in the early morning, it'll rise well--guaranteed. I also read what Steve wrote on the site. I happen to teach, too (college English), and so what he says about your book is close to my heart. Also a story on last night's "60 Minutes" about unemployment showed an engineer who was laid off two years ago and is still desperately trying to find employment. Your teaching third grade sounds funny, heartfelt, and engaging. I'm downloading.

My novel, "The Brightest Moon of the Century," sponsored the site two days ago, and the ranking is still up there. I made it to a ranking of #624 at one point, and now it's the following:

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,848 Paid in Kindle Store 
#54 in  Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Humor 

That's not bad considering it's word-of-mouth or people reading the free sample and buying the book.

May you have a great day.


----------



## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

Christopher Meeks said:


> John, if your ranking is this good in the early morning, it'll rise well--guaranteed. I also read what Steve wrote on the site. I happen to teach, too (college English), and so what he says about your book is close to my heart. Also a story on last night's "60 Minutes" about unemployment showed an engineer who was laid off two years ago and is still desperately trying to find employment. Your teaching third grade sounds funny, heartfelt, and engaging. I'm downloading.
> 
> My novel, "The Brightest Moon of the Century," sponsored the site two days ago, and the ranking is still up there. I made it to a ranking of #624 at one point, and now it's the following:
> 
> ...


Jumping to 624 from 148k or so is porbably the biggest jump I've seen to date! Congratulations!

Zack


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## Learnmegood (Jun 20, 2009)

Thanks, Christopher.  That's awesome how high your book rose in the rankings.  I can only hope mine does as well.  So far, so good.  Had about 15 sales so far, and I'm sitting at #2,340 right now.  A VERY nice upswing in the ratings as of now...


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Zack Hamric said:


> Jumping to 624 from 148k or so is porbably the biggest jump I've seen to date! Congratulations!
> 
> Zack


Zack, much of such a jump has to do with Steve Windwalker reading my book and then using it to discuss literary fiction in general and my book specifically. You can read what he wrote here: http://bit.ly/9L1M6q

Literary fiction is a hard thing to market--such a broad genre--that I like how he reduced it to "a good read is a good read."

--Chris


----------



## Learnmegood (Jun 20, 2009)

I tell you what, after a nice long day of teaching irrascible munchkins, it is SUCH a great feeling to plop down on the computer and check Amazon, where I find these awesome numbers for Learn Me Good:

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #776 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store) 
#1 in  Books > Entertainment > Humor > Business & Professional 
#1 in  Books > Entertainment > Humor > Business 
#26 in  Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Humor 

I've even had 1 UK sale, just for icing on the cake.

To answer the original question of this thread, my sponsorship has very nearly paid for itself already, and it has been less than 12 hours on the very first day...


----------



## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

I was going so sponsor KND today, but it's postponed to tomorrow evening.  I'll let you guys know how it goes.


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

Learnmegood said:


> Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #776 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
> To answer the original question of this thread, my sponsorship has very nearly paid for itself already, and it has been less than 12 hours on the very first day...


AWESOME!! So glad you found success with it!


----------



## Judi Coltman (Aug 23, 2010)

I purchased a 1 day Kindle Nation sponsorship the other day, set to be complete on December 15th.  It's the most my budget would allow.  Am I going to regret this?


----------



## CNDudley (May 14, 2010)

Betsala said:


> I purchased a 1 day Kindle Nation sponsorship the other day, set to be complete on December 15th. It's the most my budget would allow. Am I going to regret this?


I think not, to judge by the results mentioned in the thread. Sounds like everyone does better than break even. After the exciting climb, the bounce lasts a couple days. I think I sold about 70 more than I would have...


----------



## Judi Coltman (Aug 23, 2010)

Music to my ears.   Thanks for your opinion!


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Betsala said:


> I purchased a 1 day Kindle Nation sponsorship the other day, set to be complete on December 15th. It's the most my budget would allow. Am I going to regret this?


When did you purchase? I sent mine in on 10/19 and I'm still waiting to hear.


----------



## N. Gemini Sasson (Jul 5, 2010)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> When did you purchase? I sent mine in on 10/19 and I'm still waiting to hear.


Yes, I'm eager to hear, too. Gertie, I purchased mine a few days after yours.

And what a fantastic leap, John! Rocketing right up there - woo hoo!!!


----------



## Learnmegood (Jun 20, 2009)

Just one more drop-in before I go to bed...

Betsala, you definitely won't regret it.  It's been a fantastic day for Learn Me Good.  I started the day at over 9,000 in the rankings, and here is the current marker:

# Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #561 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

   * #1 in  Books > Entertainment > Humor > Business & Professional
   * #1 in  Books > Entertainment > Humor > Business
   * #18 in  Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Humor

I've also sold 2 paperback copies, which is a really good day.  Started at around 381,000, and now:

# Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #27,368 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

    * #17 in  Books > Entertainment > Humor > Business & Professional
    * #24 in  Books > Entertainment > Humor > Business


So I'd say I got my money's worth.  And from what I've heard, the effect tends to ripple throughout the whole week.

I'm very pleased.


----------



## Cliff Ball (Apr 10, 2010)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> When did you purchase? I sent mine in on 10/19 and I'm still waiting to hear.


It took him a week and a half to get back to me. I did it three weeks ago. My sponsorship is on January 1st...


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## Judi Coltman (Aug 23, 2010)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> When did you purchase? I sent mine in on 10/19 and I'm still waiting to hear.


 To tell you the truth, I don't remember the date, due to some really good pain meds after foot surgery (another reason I was hoping it wasn't a dumb move!) And, I haven't heard back yet either so the date isn't set in stone it's just what was offered at the time of purchase. I will let you know when I hear though as I am sure it must have been around the 18th as well.


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## Judi Coltman (Aug 23, 2010)

Learnmegood said:


> Just one more drop-in before I go to bed...
> 
> Betsala, you definitely won't regret it. It's been a fantastic day for Learn Me Good. I started the day at over 9,000 in the rankings, and here is the current marker:
> 
> ...


 That is outstanding!!! As a former educator, I imagine your book is full of all sorts of familiar scenarios! I always told parents that I wouldn't believe what their children told me about them if they promised not to believe anything their children told them about me.


----------



## David Greene (Oct 16, 2010)

Jack--congratulations on a splendid day.  That should help with the forty children...

I bought a sponsorship package late last night and got a reply from Steve around 4am.  No dates given to me yet.  He seems to be booked well into 2011 for option 3.

I feel like someone who has come to a party that began around 9pm, but I'm showing up at 6 in the morning...hoping it'll still be going on.


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

DavidGreene said:


> Jack--congratulations on a splendid day. That should help with the forty children...
> 
> I bought a sponsorship package late last night and got a reply from Steve around 4am. No dates given to me yet. He seems to be booked well into 2011 for option 3.
> 
> I feel like someone who has come to a party that began around 9pm, but I'm showing up at 6 in the morning...hoping it'll still be going on.


If he got back to you right away and I haven't heard back in a week, I think I'd better contact him.


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## David Greene (Oct 16, 2010)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> If he got back to you right away and I haven't heard back in a week, I think I'd better contact him.


What he wrote me this morning was: "I'll be in touch formally, with scheduling, within a week."

So I guess his note was "informal." Even so, I think you should check in with him to see what's up since it has been a week.


----------



## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

Learnmegood said:


> Just one more drop-in before I go to bed...
> 
> Betsala, you definitely won't regret it. It's been a fantastic day for Learn Me Good. I started the day at over 9,000 in the rankings, and here is the current marker:
> 
> ...


Very nice stats. Congratulations!

Sandy


----------



## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

My dark fantasy novel _Flaming Dove_ is sponsoring the KND newsletter this evening. I'll let you know how it goes. Sales are trickling in.


----------



## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

Yay!  I saw that come through.  I hope you get a ton of sales!  And it should be pushed out to Kindles tomorrow, so you'll see the most sales tomorrow I think.

Vicki


----------



## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

Victorine said:


> Yay! I saw that come through. I hope you get a ton of sales! And it should be pushed out to Kindles tomorrow, so you'll see the most sales tomorrow I think.
> 
> Vicki


Yes, Vicki. The newsletter is emailed tonight and pushed to Kindles tomorrow. I'm seeing a trickle of sales right now; hoping for a burst tomorrow. Even if I don't sell too much, that's okay; every sale is a real person sharing the world I created, and that's super.


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## tonyaplank (Jun 14, 2010)

Daniel Arenson said:


> Even if I don't sell too much, that's okay; every sale is a real person sharing the world I created, and that's super.


I totally agree with that for myself - perfectly stated!


----------



## Genaro Zamora (Jul 6, 2010)

Learnmegood said:


> Just one more drop-in before I go to bed...
> 
> Betsala, you definitely won't regret it. It's been a fantastic day for Learn Me Good. I started the day at over 9,000 in the rankings, and here is the current marker:
> 
> ...


awesome!


----------



## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

Largely thanks to KND exposure, _Flaming Dove_ is now:

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #2,634 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#15 in Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Mythology
#20 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > World Literature > Mythology
#22 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Horror > Occult

I'm hoping for another boost in the evening, when people get home from work and browse Amazon. The rank has been slowly and steadily improving since last night. I'll keep you posted.


----------



## Judi Coltman (Aug 23, 2010)

I just heard from Steve Windwalker.  My day is set for January 11th.  Just wanted to update you all.


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## CNDudley (May 14, 2010)

Daniel Arenson said:


> Largely thanks to KND exposure, _Flaming Dove_ is now:
> 
> Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #2,634 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
> #15 in Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Mythology
> ...


Any new news? Where did it peak?


----------



## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

CNDudley said:


> Any new news? Where did it peak?


_Flaming Dove_ hit 700-and-something sales rank last night. This morning, it's at 900-and-a-bit. Hoping for more sales today. Thanks for asking! I love being in the triple-digits, if only for a few days.


----------



## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

Here's a screencap from yesterday with _Flaming Dove_ at 898. Around 3 am, I think it hit 700-and-something, but I was tired and groggy, and I'm not sure if I took a screencap. We'll see if I can climb a bit higher today.


----------



## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

That's darn exciting, Daniel!

Congrats!


----------



## Judi Coltman (Aug 23, 2010)

I'll give you a big ol' Facebook Thumbs Up "Like" on that screen shot!


----------



## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

Daniel Arenson said:


> Here's a screencap from yesterday with _Flaming Dove_ at 898. Around 3 am, I think it hit 700-and-something, but I was tired and groggy, and I'm not sure if I took a screencap. We'll see if I can climb a bit higher today.


I didn't get a screen cap, but according to metric junkie, here are your hourly stats (mountain time):

Rank Time Stamp 
1,028 Oct 28, 2010 - 09:00AM 
948 Oct 28, 2010 - 08:00AM 
959 Oct 28, 2010 - 07:00AM 
919 Oct 28, 2010 - 06:00AM 
876 Oct 28, 2010 - 05:00AM 
833 Oct 28, 2010 - 04:00AM 
804 Oct 28, 2010 - 03:00AM 
763 Oct 28, 2010 - 02:00AM 
744 Oct 28, 2010 - 01:00AM 
754 Oct 28, 2010 - 12:00AM 
* 741 Oct 27, 2010 - 11:00PM  *
815 Oct 27, 2010 - 10:00PM 
852 Oct 27, 2010 - 09:00PM 
898 Oct 27, 2010 - 08:00PM 
1,010 Oct 27, 2010 - 07:00PM


----------



## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

Valmore Daniels said:


> I didn't get a screen cap, but according to metric junkie, here are your hourly stats (mountain time):
> 
> Rank Time Stamp
> 1,028 Oct 28, 2010 - 09:00AM
> ...


Ah... sweet. I just saw a short burst of sales, prolly enough to push me back into triple-digits on the next sales rank update.


----------



## J.R. Chase (Jun 22, 2010)

In my experience, a KND sponsorship is a "must do" for a new indie book.  It's a launch like no other.  If the book is good, sales will go on and on and on....


----------



## iamstoryteller (Jul 16, 2010)

Would love to hear how any new sponsorships out there are doing.

Sharon


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## davidhburton (Mar 11, 2010)

I'm up today...we'll see how things go.


----------



## iamstoryteller (Jul 16, 2010)

Hope your sales soar...


----------



## davidhburton (Mar 11, 2010)

Thanks! Fingers crossed!


----------



## Cliff Ball (Apr 10, 2010)

I did the e-book of the day, which ended up the day before/day of Thanksgiving, and I had absolutely no sales from it. I also have a Free book alert sponsorship coming up on January 1st, so I'm guessing I'll have the same results. I guess with KND, you're mileage will vary, because I ran out of gas before I got anywhere. So, for me personally, it wasn't worth it.


----------



## Guest (Nov 29, 2010)

Cliff Ball said:


> I did the e-book of the day, which ended up the day before/day of Thanksgiving, and I had absolutely no sales from it. I also have a Free book alert sponsorship coming up on January 1st, so I'm guessing I'll have the same results. I guess with KND, you're mileage will vary, because I ran out of gas before I got anywhere. So, for me personally, it wasn't worth it.


The ebook of the day is different from the sponsorship of the free books. That's interesting that so little came of it. I'm coming up again December 10th, and I wonder if the ebook of the day thing will be a detriment to my sponsorship.


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## iamstoryteller (Jul 16, 2010)

Cliff, I am sure your KND sponsorship will be good.

Check out this sister thread: http://www.kboards.com/index.php?topic=43395.new;topicseen#new, I am sure it will give you renewed hope.

Best of luck!


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## Guest (Nov 29, 2010)

I did the excerpt on KND. I've made 110 sales this month whereas normally I get between 20-40. I couldn't be mor epleased with it.

I plan to do the full sponsorship for my next novel.


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## iamstoryteller (Jul 16, 2010)

derekprior said:


> I did the excerpt on KND. I've made 110 sales this month whereas normally I get between 20-40. I couldn't be mor epleased with it.


That is great information, thanks for sharing!


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## D.A. Boulter (Jun 11, 2010)

foreverjuly said:


> The ebook of the day is different from the sponsorship of the free books. That's interesting that so little came of it. I'm coming up again December 10th, and I wonder if the ebook of the day thing will be a detriment to my sponsorship.


Yes, the 'ebook of the day sponsorship' is different and I'd recommend against wasting money on it. Cliff got 0 sales, I got three and Camille (daringnovelist) figures she got about 8. After 0 sales using their UK sponsorship and now 3 using the ebook of the day, I could hardly be less pleased with KND sponsorships. The regular sponsorships may be worth it but I doubt I'll ever partake. You know: "fool me twice . . . won't get fooled again."


----------



## Laura Lond (Nov 6, 2010)

I've paid for the Book of the day, haven't heard back regarding the date yet... How long does it normally take? I've nudged, asking whether they have received my files - still nothing.


----------



## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

Rather than start a new thread just for my book, I figured I'd resurrect this one to post my excitement about being today's sponsor:










and later, the results. This sponsorship is for Venom, which is 14 days old and has 7/7 5-star reviews (one is trapped on the paperback's page). I'm excited!


----------



## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

kcmay said:


> Rather than start a new thread just for my book, I figured I'd resurrect this one to post my excitement about being today's sponsor:
> 
> and later, the results. This sponsorship is for Venom, which is 14 days old and has 7/7 5-star reviews (one is trapped on the paperback's page). I'm excited!


I _know _ you're going to do well today !


----------



## LCEvans (Mar 29, 2009)

I'm excited for you K.C.!


----------



## Cliff Ball (Apr 10, 2010)

D.A. Boulter said:


> Yes, the 'ebook of the day sponsorship' is different and I'd recommend against wasting money on it. Cliff got 0 sales, I got three and Camille (daringnovelist) figures she got about 8. After 0 sales using their UK sponsorship and now 3 using the ebook of the day, I could hardly be less pleased with KND sponsorships. The regular sponsorships may be worth it but I doubt I'll ever partake. You know: "fool me twice . . . won't get fooled again."


To say I'm not pleased with it, would be an understatement. I'm starting to build up quite a list of places that didn't work for me when it comes to promoting my novel(s), some are free, some are paid, and most of them have been hyped to the moon. I do have the Free Book Alert coming up on January 1st, which I signed up for a month or so before I even knew about the ebook of the Day, so I'm remaining really skeptical about it. I'm joking when I say this, but, I swear there must be a secret cabal of traditional authors who have let some indie authors into their club, and those indies are making tons of sales. ARGH!


----------



## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

KC! I'm so excited for you. This is going to be a great day.


----------



## Cliff Ball (Apr 10, 2010)

kcmay said:


> Rather than start a new thread just for my book, I figured I'd resurrect this one to post my excitement about being today's sponsor:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Good luck KC


----------



## Paul Clayton (Sep 12, 2009)

kcmay said:


> Rather than start a new thread just for my book, I figured I'd resurrect this one to post my excitement about being today's sponsor:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Good luck today, KC,

BTW, I'm very happy with my gold sponsorship. I've got my money back already and I'm hoping to garner a lot of readers. I don't know how other folks fared, I don't see any numbers here, but White Seed was hovering around 7,000, plus or minus a thousand, and it made it up to about 519 and has been hovering there for about twelve hours or so.

Steve and I sent out 26,000 words to White Seed, enough to get them on the island (Roanoke) with the colonists, and I'm guessing that some folks haven't read that far yet, hoping anyway. And I'm further hoping that when they to they'll buy.

Anyway, Yeah, it's worth it.

Paul Clayton


----------



## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

I'm crossing my fingers for you, KC!!!

Vicki


----------



## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

Someone upstream mentioned my results (among several others) as evidence that KND doesn't necessarily work.  I agree, however I do want to add one caveat about using my numbers to draw any conclusions:

I was intentionally testing these waters in isolation as much as I could.  Other than here in the writer's cafe (where people see my banners every day, and those who are likely to buy have already bought) most of the people seeing an ad for my books are seeing it for the first time.  Very few people buy on the first mention of anything.

Those of you who already have some momentum are likely to do better, because ads build on other ads.

That said, I do think that the novelty on the ads did give early adopters a boost, and at the current prices I won't be buying again.  I can't speak for whether it would be worth it for others.

Camille


----------



## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

I have a second KND spot coming up in a couple weeks. I am still hoping Spiderwork will be ready for it, but if not then good old Space Junque will have a second go.

It will be interesting to see how a second round does.

btw, I have the KND shorts spot on Christmas Day. It will either be phenomenally good or bad, ha!


----------



## iamstoryteller (Jul 16, 2010)

KC, that is exciting! Hope it works really well for you.



LKRigel said:


> I have a second KND spot coming up in a couple weeks. I am still hoping Spiderwork will be ready for it, but if not then good old Space Junque will have a second go.
> 
> It will be interesting to see how a second round does.
> 
> btw, I have the KND shorts spot on Christmas Day. It will either be phenomenally good or bad, ha!


That will be interesting, LK, keep us posted on all of it! And best of luck to you!


----------



## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

Thanks for the good wishes! So far, it's not doing as well as Kinshield had done at this time of day, but I'm not displeased by any means!

# Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #2,988 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
   * #28 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers > Technothrillers
   * #30 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction > High Tech
   * #36 in Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers > Technothrillers
   * #49 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > High Tech

That's the highest ranking Venom has ever had.


----------



## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

Wishing you the best of luck, KC 

Sandy


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

I reluctantly signed up for the free book alert sponsorship on 1/9. Reluctantly because it's rather expensive. Since then, there have been many other opportunities at much more reasonable prices. I'll certainly report my results for KND. 

I did very well with my banner ad here in November which more than paid for itself. I have five days on David Wiseheart's blog starting Thursday, one day for each book. Another banner ad here in February, three BOTD ads here and one in January for Two Ends of the Pen. All of these were half or less than the price I paid to KND. 

I feel that I'm building up a good catalog and it's time to start putting some of my royalties back in and paying for some advertising.


----------



## iamstoryteller (Jul 16, 2010)

KC, those numbers look good, hope they keep up!

Thanks for sharing with us Margaret. 

It would be great if you would keep us posted. I hope you have great success with all your promotion.


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

iamstoryteller said:


> KC, those numbers look good, hope they keep up!
> 
> Thanks for sharing with us Margaret.
> 
> It would be great if you would keep us posted. I hope you have great success with all your promotion.


I will. I just wanted to try a few things here and there so maybe I can build a little momentum. It's like Camille said, just seeing your ad one time probably won't do much. If a lot of the same people are looking at each of these blogs, they'll see me over and over and maybe start to recognize me.


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Steve posted a spreadsheet showing results of the sponsorships over December.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=0AlfzLsx6vYzodF9pc1d5QmowM2tpemQ5NUp3N1lud0E&output=html


----------



## rudykerkhoven (Aug 23, 2010)

That spreadsheet has some really interesting information.  Does he regularly release information like that?  

And where did you find that?  It seems to show that 2.99 is the maximum price on which KND readers feel willing to make an impulse purchase.


----------



## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

rudykerkhoven said:


> That spreadsheet has some really interesting information. Does he regularly release information like that?
> 
> And where did you find that? It seems to show that 2.99 is the maximum price on which KND readers feel willing to make an impulse purchase.


Hi Rudy,

Well, I probably *should* release it more often than I do; it's really just a matter of taking the time to pull it together. My goal now is to try to keep the spreadsheet current going forward and gradually build back into previous months, because (I hope) it is useful information for people to have, including me.

KND readers are definitely a bargain-conscious bunch, but they have shown some willingness to go to $3.99 and $4.99 at times, perhaps most often when there has been a compelling excerpt through the Free Kindle Nation Shorts program, as occurred with PINK SLIPS AND PARTING GIFTS this past week and SET THE NIGHT ON FIRE last month. That being said, I suspect both authors would have gained more in royalties had they priced their books at $2.99 -- and I'm not saying that's a good thing, just that it's a real thing. The converse is also true, of course, with FKNS excerpts: if the excerpt lacks distinction *or* is in some way outside the wheelhouse of KND readers, neither the price nor anything I say is likely to move it, even if it is priced at 99 cents.

Steve

ps - I posted the link last night on my sponsorship info page at http://kindlehomepage.blogspot.com/p/sponsor-kindle-nation-daily-free-book.html


----------



## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Interesting.Thanks for posting, Steve.


----------



## D.A. Boulter (Jun 11, 2010)

Just to get a little perspective on the % numbers:

1 sale can take you from the 240,000 mark to the 25,000 mark.  7 sales over an 8 hr period can take you from the 60,000 mark to the 5500 mark.  If they are bunched closer together, they'll take you lower.

Thus: the '2900% gain' from 154,000 - 5100 could have been caused by as few as 5 or 6 sales in a short time or it could entail several more over the day with a no sale rise at the end.  The '439% gain' from 154,000 to 28,000 could have been accomplished with 1 sale . . . or a few depending upon when they happened during the day.


----------



## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

D.A. Boulter said:


> 7 sales over an 8 hr period can take you from the 60,000 mark to the 5500 mark.


Absolutely. The sponsorships that really hit the sweet spot are those where an author's book climbs into the top 3,000, which probably happens about 70 percent of the time overall, higher with our Free Book Alerts and excerpts. Many climb a lot higher than that, and many of those authors find ways to maintain those positions. But as with anything else, all we do is provide exposure to very prolific readers/customers, and a great deal depends on the book being featured, the way it is presented, the price, the review, the cover, an author's other books, and a dozen other things. And it's all still very much a learning process.

Steve


----------



## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

modwitch said:


> Ah, a fellow data geek, this was exactly the question I was about to ask! Is this from your own experience, or are there numbers somewhere that say xx sales/day translates to xx rank? I'm checking out lots of books on amazon right now, and it would be great to understand approximate sales volumes from their rankings.


Amazon keeps the actual algorithm a deep dark secret, so it's only guessing based on experience.

Camille


----------



## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Fwiw, and I'm not sure it's much, we could probably come up with guesstimate ranges for sales. For instance, I would think sales in the 10-15 range daily will put you in the 2,000-3,500 range. Of course, it's not just number of sales, but velocity. If you get all 10 sales at once, you will jump much higher in the rankings. And the rankings are relative to other books' sales, but we could project some daily average ranges, I think. *shrug*


----------



## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

Monique said:


> Fwiw, and I'm not sure it's much, we could probably come up with guesstimate ranges for sales. For instance, I would think sales in the 10-15 range daily will put you in the 2,000-3,500 range. Of course, it's not just number of sales, but velocity. If you get all 10 sales at once, you will jump much higher in the rankings. And the rankings are relative to other books' sales, but we could project some daily average ranges, I think. *shrug*


Definitely agree with this


----------



## D.A. Boulter (Jun 11, 2010)

modwitch said:


> Ah, a fellow data geek, this was exactly the question I was about to ask! Is this from your own experience, or are there numbers somewhere that say xx sales/day translates to xx rank? I'm checking out lots of books on amazon right now, and it would be great to understand approximate sales volumes from their rankings.


From my own experience. I've been using metricjunkie to track my books. It gives an hourly snapshot of your book's ranking. The highest any of my books have ever ranked is about 5500 and that's why I gave no examples of anything above that mark. The 240,000 -> 25,000 was a book of mine that received one sale. The other example was a second book of mine.

Take a look at the following. Note that from 4pm-7pm there were no sales and the rank dropped from 6344 -> 8606, then climbed to 5448. Had that last sale come at 4pm, it seems very likely that I would have achieved a higher ranking than 5448. having 1 sale every second hour in a day won't get you near the same ranking as 12 sales within one hour.

Rank Time Stamp

7,497 Nov 05, 2010 - 11:00PM no sales
6,773 Nov 05, 2010 - 10:00PM no sales
6,076 Nov 05, 2010 - 09:00PM no sales
5,448 Nov 05, 2010 - 08:00PM 1 sale
8,606 Nov 05, 2010 - 07:00PM no sales
7,050 Nov 05, 2010 - 06:00PM no sales
6,344 Nov 05, 2010 - 05:00PM no sales
6,344 Nov 05, 2010 - 04:00PM maybe sales, maybe not -- depends what other books were doing
6,671 Nov 05, 2010 - 03:00PM sales
8,352 Nov 05, 2010 - 02:00PM no sales
8,352 Nov 05, 2010 - 01:00PM sales
11,121 Nov 05, 2010 - 12:00PM sales
60,068 Nov 05, 2010 - 11:00AM no sales
58,843 Nov 05, 2010 - 10:00AM no sales

25,992 Nov 04, 2010 - 02:00PM no sales
23,537 Nov 04, 2010 - 01:00PM 1 Sale
116,717 Nov 04, 2010 - 12:00PM no sales


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

This is what I love about the rankings. I have two novels in the same category. A sale of one depresses the ranking of the other. I'm in competition with myself every day.  

What I anticipate from my sponsorship at KND and other places is not so much sales, but exposure. For everyone that samples or buys one of my books, they are more likely to take a look at one or two of the others. That's why when I had the banner ad here, I linked it to my author central page rather than one book. Sales of all my books increased. 

Certainly not all of the 6,000 people that get Steve's emails are going to be interested in my genre just like every TV ad won't interest everyone who sees it. If only 1% takes a look and only 10% of those buy, that's six people who wouldn't have bought one of my books otherwise and might post a review and/or be interested in buying another.


----------



## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

Well, I'm off and rolling on my KND sponsorship. I'm actually double dipping because My Kindle WiFi Giveaway is running at the same time...And it seems like both books are moving well...
Crescent Rising Blank Slate 
12/20: 2251- 12sold 3167- 7sold Daily Total- 19

12/21: 1455- 18 sold 3125- 8sold 12:00
1151- 25 sold 2023- 10sold 1:00

I'll keep ya posted!

Zack


----------



## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

Zack Hamric said:


> Well, I'm off and rolling on my KND sponsorship.


You go, Zach!

Cheers,
Steve
http://bit.ly/KNDSponsorResults


----------



## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

Windwalker said:


> You go, Zach!
> 
> Cheers,
> Steve
> http://bit.ly/KNDSponsorResults


Thanks Steve- BTW- You did a particularly nice job setting it up this time! It's rocking today!

Zack


----------



## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

Well, I'm off and rolling on my KND sponsorship. I'm actually double dipping because My Kindle WiFi Giveaway is running at the same time...And it seems like both books are moving well...
Crescent Rising Blank Slate 
12/20: 2251- 12sold 3167- 7sold Daily Total- 19

12/21: 1455- 18 sold 3125- 8sold 12:00
1151- 25 sold 2023- 10sold 1:00
887- 33 sold 2023- 11sold 2:00

I'll keep ya posted!

Zack


----------



## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

Zack Hamric said:


> Thanks Steve- BTW- You did a particularly nice job setting it up this time! It's rocking today!


Well, you know, Zack, whenever I think of you wasting away on that yacht in the Gulf, my heart goes out to you and I just try to go the extra mile....


----------



## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

Windwalker said:


> Well, you know, Zack, whenever I think of you wasting away on that yacht in the Gulf, my heart goes out to you and I just try to go the extra mile....


Hey, I'm thinking about taking Dolce Vita on a 30 day sail to Italy next year- I'll pre-buy 30 days of advertising on KND and end up in the top 50 by the time I hit Sorrento...(The only downside is I get seasick when I try to write on a boat...

Zack


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## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

Zack Hamric said:


> I'll pre-buy 30 days of advertising on KND


Please, no! I think if we featured freakin' _*Ulysses*_, _*The Brothers Karamazov*_ or [_insert your pick for the greatest novel of all time here_] even 5 days in a row we'd lose half our regular readers to sponsor fatigue, and we'd find out that the other half wasn't really paying attention.

Steve
*http://bit.ly/KNDSponsorResults*


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## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

Well, I'm off and rolling on my KND sponsorship. I'm actually double dipping because My Kindle WiFi Giveaway is running at the same time...And it seems like both books are moving well...
            Crescent Rising     Blank Slate   
12/20:      2251- 12sold      3167- 7sold            Daily Total- 19
         
12/21:     1455-  18 sold     3125- 8sold  12:00
             1151-  25 sold     2023- 10sold 1:00
               887-  33 sold     2023- 11sold 2:00
               764-  37 sold     1898- 13 sold 3:00
                559-  41sold      1841-14 sold 5:00

Zack


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## Laura Lond (Nov 6, 2010)

Congrats Zack! That's excellent!!


----------



## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

Laura Lond said:


> Congrats Zack! That's excellent!!


Thanks Laura! It's looking like a good day!

Crescent Rising Blank Slate 
12/20: 2251- 12sold 3167- 7sold Daily Total- 19

12/21: 1455- 18 sold 3125- 8sold 12:00
1151- 25 sold 2023- 10sold 1:00
887- 33 sold 2023- 11sold 2:00
764- 37 sold 1898- 13 sold 3:00
559- 41sold 1841-14 sold 5:00
641- 51 sold 2084- 17 sold- 8:00


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

Woot!  You're rockin'!

Congratulations!

Vicki


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

That's great, Zack!


----------



## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

Crescent Rising    Blank Slate  
12/20:      2251- 12sold      3167- 7sold            Daily Total- 19
          
12/21:    1455-  18 sold    3125- 8sold  12:00
              1151-  25 sold    2023- 10sold 1:00
                887-  33 sold    2023- 11sold 2:00
                764-  37 sold    1898- 13 sold 3:00
                559-  41sold      1841-14 sold 5:00
                641-  51 sold    2084- 17 sold- 8:00
                611- 63 sold      2000- 21sold- 11:00    84 sold so far today!!!!

Life is sweeet!


----------



## terryr (Apr 24, 2010)

Right on, Zack.


----------



## N. Gemini Sasson (Jul 5, 2010)

Zack Hamric said:


> Crescent Rising Blank Slate
> 12/20: 2251- 12sold 3167- 7sold Daily Total- 19
> 
> 12/21: 1455- 18 sold 3125- 8sold 12:00
> ...


Excellent! Congratulations on those numbers, Zack.


----------



## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

Crescent Rising    Blank Slate  
12/20:      2251- 12sold      3167- 7sold            Daily Total- 19
          
12/21:    1455-  18 sold    3125- 8sold  12:00
              1151-  25 sold    2023- 10sold 1:00
              887-  33 sold    2023- 11sold 2:00
              764-  37 sold    1898- 13 sold 3:00
              559-  41sold      1841-14 sold 5:00
              641-  51 sold    2084- 17 sold- 8:00
              611- 63 sold      2000- 21sold- 11:00    84 sold so far today!!!!
              745-73 sold      2281- 25sold- 8am      98 sold over 24 hour period

This was interesting- It ended up being 5 times my daily average and even though the ad was geared toward Crescent Rising, sales of Blank Slate were increased as well..
My best results with KND to date.

I think a couple of things helped- I have more reviews than I did before. The Kindle WiFi Giveaway that I've been running all month also helped the results.

Total sales for the month to date are at 440 compared to 435 for all of November. Should end up at 650-700 for the month....

Thanks,
Zack


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## Scott Neumyer (Dec 8, 2010)

Those are GREAT numbers, man! Makes me consider a KND sponsorship!


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## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

Zack Hamric said:


> It ended up being 5 times my daily average and even though the ad was geared toward Crescent Rising, sales of Blank Slate were increased as well.. My best results with KND to date.


Congratulations, Zack. Now wish **me** luck! My new book _*Kindle Free For All*_ just got mentioned at Kindle Nation Daily, so I'm hoping I will get a little bump today -- http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004GXAWLO/?tag=ebest -- along with our daily sponsor Susanne O'Leary's _*Finding Margo*_.

Steve
*http://bit.ly/KNDSponsorResults*


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## destill (Oct 5, 2010)

My Free eBook Sponsorship ad for _Deedee Divine's Totally Skewed Guide to Life _ ran on Sunday, Dec. 19. I couldn't be more pleased with the results! Already I have purchased two more ads for 2011 (different book). If you haven't already done so, I'd highly recommend looking at the spreadsheet KND provides at this link: https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=0AlfzLsx6vYzodF9pc1d5QmowM2tpemQ5NUp3N1lud0E&output=html

Here, you will see the results for all ads that have run during the month of December. I find patterns that suggest weekdays produce better results than Sundays--but other factors might explain this. My ad was a Sunday ad, and I was happy with the results. Could they have been better on a weekday? I've no idea.


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## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

destill said:


> I couldn't be more pleased with the results!


Thanks, Diana, and congratulations. Over the past few months Saturdays and Sundays have done pretty well; they get 5-20 percent less cold traffic than weekdays but readers tend to be more engaged and responsive on weekends, perhaps because they have more time to read. When I look at specific title performances on weekends in December, it is a pretty small sample size, but in several cases there are particular characteristics of a book that have made, in my view, some significant difference.

Cheers,
Steve


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Did I read that right, Steve? You have a new book out?


----------



## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

Monique said:


> Did I read that right, Steve? You have a new book out?


Yes, thanks for asking, Monique. It's _*KINDLE FREE FOR ALL: How to Get Millions of Free Kindle Books and Other Free Content With or Without an Amazon Kindle (For Use with the Latest Generation Kindles and Kindle Apps)*_ and it just went live overnight. I was lucky enough to be able to hire April Hamilton as my editor and due to her incredible efforts we got it out in time for the holidays. It's just 99 cents but my hope is that if it does okay it will help build the Kindle Nation Daily blog, which in turn would help indie author sponsors.

Steve


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

I predict brisk sales!


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## Zack Hamric (Jun 2, 2010)

Good luck Steve! I'm sure you'll do great with your new book!

Thanks,
Zack


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## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

Thanks, Monique and Zack,

It seems to be off to a pretty good start. Just passed 200 copies in the last four hours. Meanwhile, I'll admit that I have been checking more often than I should on a day when I am supposed to by getting this week's Kindle Nation weekly out the door, catching up with sponsorship scheduling, and getting read to take my sweetie for an overnight so she'll wake up in Newport on her birthday. But those DTP reports have such magnetism!

Steve
*http://bit.ly/KNDSponsorResults*


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## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

I'm looking forward to my sponsorship on Christmas Day. Space Junque is not selling well. I don't think it's a bad book at all. People who do read it seem to like it. 

This will be Space Junque's second go with KND. I've lowered the price to 99 cents for this one, and I think I've made it more clear in the description that it is more paranormal romance and less science fiction. 

So it will be interesting to see how the results compare to last time!


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Congratulations Zack and Diana. Great results for both of you.


----------



## harpwriter (Sep 28, 2010)

I was unsure when I saw my assigned book of the day was Christmas Eve, but I figured it could go either way: either everyone is out with family already, or else a bunch of people are looking for last-minute books to load onto the kindles they're giving for Christmas.

When I looked a few days ago, my rank was around 29,000.  Today, it is at 11,900 at 12:30 my time, although nothing shows for sales in dtp.amazon.  Hm.  Something must have sold for it to drop to 17,000 in rank.


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

_The Gods of Dream_, my new fantasy novel (live as of this morning!) will be featured tomorrow on KND's newsletter.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Daniel Arenson said:


> _The Gods of Dream_, my new fantasy novel (live as of this morning!) will be featured tomorrow on KND's newsletter.


That could be a good thing as people open their Christmas Kindles and start looking for something to read on it.


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> That could be a good thing as people open their Christmas Kindles and start looking for something to read on it.


I hope so. It was a last minute purchase. A slot became available on KND's newsletter (for an ebook excerpt) only yesterday. So I bought it on a whim.


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## harpwriter (Sep 28, 2010)

A couple hours later I'm sitting just above 10,000, so somebody's buying.


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## harpwriter (Sep 28, 2010)

And at 7,000-something!


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

harpwriter said:


> And at 7,000-something!


Sales usually update before rankings. Here's hoping they show up tomorrow.


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## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

harpwriter said:


> I was unsure when I saw my assigned book of the day was Christmas Eve, but I figured it could go either way: either everyone is out with family already, or else a bunch of people are looking for last-minute books to load onto the kindles they're giving for Christmas.
> 
> When I looked a few days ago, my rank was around 29,000. Today, it is at 11,900 at 12:30 my time, although nothing shows for sales in dtp.amazon. Hm. Something must have sold for it to drop to 17,000 in rank.


Laura, I think your sponsorship was a KindleBoards Book of the Day rather than a Kindle Nation Daily sponsorship.

Merry Christmas,
Steve


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## harpwriter (Sep 28, 2010)

Windwalker said:


> Laura, I think your sponsorship was a KindleBoards Book of the Day rather than a Kindle Nation Daily sponsorship.
> 
> Merry Christmas,
> Steve


  I feel like I just walked into the wrong party! You're right, I thought I was in a Book of the Day thread. I must have been trying to wrap presents and read at the same time.


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## Judi Coltman (Aug 23, 2010)

My KND sponsorship is on January 11th and I am nervous.  Not because I am worried about the cost effectiveness but because I am terrified I will be the anomoly on the above spreadsheet.  The one that doesn't move at all.  Nail biting begins.


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

My KND newsletter was a flop today.  It was sent this morning.  Only sold two books.


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## Imogen Rose (Mar 22, 2010)

I am having an awesome day with my KND sponsorship today. I have sold three times as many Portal copies as usual. (I also have a banner here which will also be helping  )


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Daniel Arenson said:


> My KND newsletter was a flop today. It was sent this morning. Only sold two books.


But you don't know how many people sampled. My sponsorships took a couple of days to take off. KND comes up 1/9.


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## iamstoryteller (Jul 16, 2010)

Thanks everyone for your gracious sharing of results. My own Kindle Daily sponsorship is set for Feb. 3 and I am worried that I don't have enough reviews and that it won't reach my target market. But my editor assures me that everyone is a potential target market so we are going with the flow and trusting things will turn out fine. 

Steve, I hope sales of your book continue to rise!

Sharon


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## SidneyW (Aug 6, 2010)

My sponsorship for Blood Hunter, my most popular e-book title, is coming up 1/8. We'll see how it goes.


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## destill (Oct 5, 2010)

OK, I'm back to throw in my two cents' worth. I ran a SECOND sponsorship yesterday. So that makes TWO $79 sponsorships for the month of December (two different books). BOTH ads more than paid for themselves, the first day. This is the first full month in which _Stilettos No More _ has been available. Yesterday's KND sponsorship (coupled with a banner ad that's been running on Red Adept Reviews) produced 136 sales--in one day! This book is now sitting in slot #8 on Amazon's Hot New Releases in Humor list (#2 in Hot New Releases in Humor Essays).

Don't let advertising costs determine how you market your books. (That's what credit cards were made for. ) No, really, if you believe in yourself and your book, then give your babies a chance to thrive and every opportunity to be seen. Just be smart about WHERE you're advertising. Check the rankings of other books recently advertised on whatever site you're considering. Especially check the Amazon rankings for similar books advertised on the site. KND makes it EASY to explore this. They provide an entire spreadsheet filled with current results.

Now, I'm not suggesting anyone take on more debt than he or she can handle. So please don't do that. I'm just saying we shouldn't shy away from costlier forms of advertising if these methods WORK and we can afford them.

But above all . . . believe it can happen, FOR YOU! Because it can!


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## Mark Adair (Dec 4, 2010)

Today, The Father's Child, is the eBook of the Day sponsor on Kindle Nation. Didn't plan it this way but I also ended up with a banner ad on KB as well. Should be interesting.

Cheers,

Mark


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## iamstoryteller (Jul 16, 2010)

Those are great numbers Diana, thanks for sharing! 

Good luck Mark, keep us posted...


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

I agree, Diana. I'm looking for exposure and to build momentum. That's why I have sponsorships all over the place January through April. To put it in perspective, including the ads in November and December, only cost me one month's royalties.


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## rudykerkhoven (Aug 23, 2010)

I've had two KND daily sponsorships, and have been pleased with both, although I had better success with my choose-your-own-adventure (it also had more reviews when it went up than my second book).  I personally think the KND sponsorship is hands-down the best advertising opportunity for an indie-author, at least as far as the ones that I'm aware of.  I personally have four more KND sponsorships coming up: two more for "The Adventures of Whatley Tupper" in mid-Jan and then early April (I'm curious how it will fare compared to before), another for "The Year We Finally Solved Everything" in mid-March, as well as I'm using a KND daily sponsorship to promote the release of my new choose-your-own adventure on April 30th.  I plan on publishing this new book with Amazon four days prior so that hopefully the product description will be up, so I'll see how that works.  Has anyone else tried timing out a KND daily sponsorship to coincide with the release of a brand new book?


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## Mark Adair (Dec 4, 2010)

iamstoryteller said:


> Good luck Mark, keep us posted...


Sales have been dribbling in all day long. I just hit #59 on the Amazon Techno-thriller list!!!


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## destill (Oct 5, 2010)

Mark, I'm glad to see you're getting some sales today. It's been a slow drip, here. Maybe tomorrow will be better.


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## Cliff Ball (Apr 10, 2010)

Mine is on Saturday. So, I'm wondering if anyone is home on New Year's Day. Or, if they are, are they watching Bowl Games and not paying attention to the computer? Anyone have any experience with having a sponsorship on a holiday?


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## Imogen Rose (Mar 22, 2010)

Cliff Ball said:


> Mine is on Saturday. So, I'm wondering if anyone is home on New Year's Day. Or, if they are, are they watching Bowl Games and not paying attention to the computer? Anyone have any experience with having a sponsorship on a holiday?


I am doing the Kindle Nation ebook of the day on Saturday! Hoping for good sales for the both of us!


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## Mark Adair (Dec 4, 2010)

destill said:


> Mark, I'm glad to see you're getting some sales today. It's been a slow drip, here. Maybe tomorrow will be better.


Thanks Diana. Sorry it's been slow for you. Interesting experience all around. I just broke the top 50 on the techno-thriller list and close to 7000 overall! Apart from the sales, I've had a good deal of ancillary activity - facebook "likes", etc. And it's been a great item to notify others about via email, facebook, twitter, etc. several turning into the beginnings of longer term relationships. All in all, I would definitely do it again.

Cliff, I plan to be sitting around watching football on New Year's Day. It does seem like a great way to start the New Year. I'll be interested to see how it goes.


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## Cliff Ball (Apr 10, 2010)

Imogen Rose said:


> I am doing the Kindle Nation ebook of the day on Saturday! Hoping for good sales for the both of us!


Good luck with the eBook of the Day. Mine fell around Thanksgiving, and I had no sales from it, but your book is probably a heck of a lot more popular, so hope you do well too!


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## Cliff Ball (Apr 10, 2010)

Mark Adair said:


> Thanks Diana. Sorry it's been slow for you. Interesting experience all around. I just broke the top 50 on the techno-thriller list and close to 7000 overall! Apart from the sales, I've had a good deal of ancillary activity - facebook "likes", etc. And it's been a great item to notify others about via email, facebook, twitter, etc. several turning into the beginnings of longer term relationships. All in all, I would definitely do it again.
> 
> Cliff, I plan to be sitting around watching football on New Year's Day. It does seem like a great way to start the New Year. I'll be interested to see how it goes.


I'm interested in seeing how it goes too. I'll probably sit at my computer the whole day refreshing DTP!


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## Mark Adair (Dec 4, 2010)

Time to wrap it up for today. I'm happy with the #44 in techno-thrillers and the overall exposure was good. Glad I did it. I'm interested to see how it affects sales for the next few weeks. Also looking forward to hearing how things go for those of you with a date coming up. Thanks everyone for the encouragement and support!


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## iamstoryteller (Jul 16, 2010)

That's great Mark! Good for you. 

Cliff and Imogen I would not discount the effect on New Year's Day. So many new ereaders, so many individuals of all ages who won't want to be watching football or even if they are, will be playing with their new toys all during it...

Hope it goes well for you both!!

Sharon


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Even if everyone is either watching football or recuperating from NYE, they'll still read Steve's email the next day or the day after.


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## Guest (Jan 3, 2011)

rudykerkhoven said:


> I plan on publishing this new book with Amazon four days prior so that hopefully the product description will be up, so I'll see how that works. Has anyone else tried timing out a KND daily sponsorship to coincide with the release of a brand new book?


By accident, yes.  I'm one of the KN sponsors today with Emperor's Edge, and I published it on the 22nd, I think. I thought I'd be scheduled for March, but Stephen had an opening pop up (and I'd said, first available day, please!), so here we are. I only had two reviews up this morning, but things are going okay so far, considering it's Sunday on a holiday weekend.

I chose the $80 Free Book Alert option. I don't know if the purchases will end up paying for the ad, but I'd still do it again. I suspect there are some intangible benefits to having your ebook introduced to that many people, even if they don't ultimately purchase.

I do wish there were some genre-specific kindle sites like Kindle Nation. I suspect fantasy (and even more so science fiction) tends not to be something people pick up if they don't already have a preference for that genre.

Good luck to everyone!


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## Blodwyn (Oct 13, 2010)

Very nice to read how it's been going. Mine's coming up in March so it's helpful to see how everyone's doing.


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## Cliff Ball (Apr 10, 2010)

Well, since mine was yesterday I'd say the Free Book Alert sponsorship is definitely worth it, even though as soon as yesterday ended I practically went back to the obscure author dungeon  

I think I'll do it again when I make more money this month, but I did make up in sales what I paid for it and the eBook of the Day, which I had no sales for back in November, so I'm glad I did it.


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## rcordiner (Jul 4, 2010)

I'm on the 4th.  I am waiting to see how it goes before I ante up for the other books.  Not sure how middle grade novels will fare.


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## Daphne (May 27, 2010)

I've had nothing but good experiences on KND - and here is Purple Lake up today looking so good I want to buy it myself!
http://kindlehomepage.blogspot.com/


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## iamstoryteller (Jul 16, 2010)

It does look good Daphne, all the best to you.

And RG, good luck to you tomorrow!

Sharon


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## Mark Adair (Dec 4, 2010)

Good luck Daphne. Hope it's a banner day for you.


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## Daphne (May 27, 2010)

Thank you both for your good wishes.  I wondered if anyone with recent experience can tell me if KND sponsorship has had a positive effect on their UK sales as well as US?


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## Mark Adair (Dec 4, 2010)

Daphne said:


> Thank you both for your good wishes.  I wondered if anyone with recent experience can tell me if KND sponsorship has had a positive effect on their UK sales as well as US?


Hi Daphne. My recent KND experience resulted in a nice increase in US sales (up to #44 in techno-thrillers) but virtually no UK sales.


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## Daphne (May 27, 2010)

Interesting. The KND sponsorship does show up for UK Kindlers who subscribe to KND - I do myself; but the overall sale of Kindle books over here is still much slower than in the US. Having said that, I think a lot people here in England had a Kindle in their Christmas stocking.


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## Guest (Jan 4, 2011)

Daphne said:


> Thank you both for your good wishes.  I wondered if anyone with recent experience can tell me if KND sponsorship has had a positive effect on their UK sales as well as US?


I didn't have any UK sales, but I don't have any reviews for the book over there either. Someday, when I don't have a zillion things to do, I'll have to court some UK book reviewers.


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## rcordiner (Jul 4, 2010)

I am up today - 4th - not sure when the email goes out though


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## Daphne (May 27, 2010)

Best of luck, recordiner.


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## rcordiner (Jul 4, 2010)

Thanks daphne - I can see it on the website but I don't know when the email goes out - can anyone tell me when it comes out?


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## Michael Crane (Jul 22, 2010)

rcordiner said:


> Thanks daphne - I can see it on the website but I don't know when the email goes out - can anyone tell me when it comes out?


Good luck! I just saw it posted on their Facebook, so I imgagine the e-mail should be going out soon.


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## Cliff Ball (Apr 10, 2010)

I haven't seen an e-mail for KND since last week, so I don't know when it's supposed to show up either.


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## rcordiner (Jul 4, 2010)

Well if anyone has a kindle subscribed - can you let me know - I'm just trying to work out whether to go to bed yet (it is 11:14pm here)


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## Judi Coltman (Aug 23, 2010)

rcordiner said:


> I am up today - 4th - not sure when the email goes out though


I hope it exceeds your hopes! I am up on the 11th!


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## D.M. Trink (Apr 8, 2010)

Good luck RC!

I'm up today also as the ebook of the day--sales rank hasn't changed yet though! I was confused about the timings when everything went out but Steve sent me a quick reply clarifying things.

Hope it's a good day for all!

Delyse


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## Daphne (May 27, 2010)

rcordiner said:


> Well if anyone has a kindle subscribed - can you let me know - I'm just trying to work out whether to go to bed yet (it is 11:14pm here)


Don't know if you are in bed yet, but you have downloaded onto my Kindle (UK).


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## Basil Sands (Aug 18, 2010)

My eBook 65 Below is up on KND today and within the first 2 hours it has paid for the ad!

Of course, giving away a free Kindle as part of the promo is probably helping a lot as well.


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## iamstoryteller (Jul 16, 2010)

Go Basil!!


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## Cathymw (May 27, 2010)

Basil, I thought that was a clever promotion when I saw that this morning.

Good luck to you, and to everyone else with KND sponsorship.

We've got another sponsorship going on January 10th, for Terry's sci-fi trilogy (well, for the first in the series.)


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## DonnaBurgess (Jan 1, 2011)

These are some terrific numbers, so I am encouraged!  My e-book of the day is scheduled for 1/12.  Unfortunately, I only have 2 reviews so far, but here's hoping I'm not the odd-girl out whenever KND posts their next spreadsheet.  Best of luck to everyone.


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## Cliff Ball (Apr 10, 2010)

I looked at the spreadsheet with my book on there, and Stephen is right about it under counting sales and it not reflecting on the sales ranking. Even on Metric Junkie, Novel Rank, and Title Z, they're still not showing anything accurately from before January 27th. Yesterday, I noticed my sales ranking bouncing all over the place, even though I had no sales for most of the day. One hour it was in the top 100 for regular political fiction books, then the next it wasn't, and it did that for most of yesterday. For the political fiction ebooks, it seems to stay in the top 60's.

Also, because of the weird bugs Amazon seems to be having, all the sales I made for last week was included as being sales on January 1st on the DTP spreadsheet, so it looks like I have about 15 more sales than I actually did. Weird.


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## Basil Sands (Aug 18, 2010)

Four hours into KND advert and here's the stats on 65 Below:

# Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #4,119 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

    * #31 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > War
    * #48 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > War
    * #66 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers > Spy Stories & Tales of Intrigue


(up from 150,000 yesterday)


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## iamstoryteller (Jul 16, 2010)

Impressive, Basil! Keep posting!

Winnie, best of luck to you. 

Sharon


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## Basil Sands (Aug 18, 2010)

65 Below is now at:

# Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #759 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

* * #9 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > War*
* #14 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > War
* #18 in Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers > Spy Stories & Tales of Intrigue

And it keeps getting better!


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## Cliff Ball (Apr 10, 2010)

Very cool Basil, and you don't have a holiday or sports to compete with!


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## Basil Sands (Aug 18, 2010)

Cliff Ball said:


> Very cool Basil, and you don't have a holiday or sports to compete with!


Indeed...luck of timing.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Now I can't wait for mine on Sunday. 

My Kindle-Author sponsorship with David Wisehart is still paying off. I'm guessing there were a lot of samples downloaded and now they're buying. Since the sponsorship, my daily average is up by at least 50%.


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## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> Now I can't wait for mine on Sunday.
> My Kindle-Author sponsorship with David Wisehart is still paying off. I'm guessing there were a lot of samples downloaded and now they're buying. Since the sponsorship, my daily average is up by at least 50%.


That's awesome. I love the power of sampling!


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## Basil Sands (Aug 18, 2010)

We're getting closer....

65 Below is at #5 in Top 100 Kindle/War

Right below W.E.B Griffin, Max Brooks, Vaughn Heppner, and Newt Gingrich

_feelin' the love!_

_...or it could just be the pot of the coffee I had right before lunch..._


----------



## Basil Sands (Aug 18, 2010)

At 1445 Alaska Time
Rankings for 65 Below are now at:

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #485 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
   * #4 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > War
   * #9 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > War
   * #10 in Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers > Spy Stories & Tales of Intrigue

The advert definitely paid off, and the free Kindle offer is worth the extra $$

Here's praying it gets to the top before the day is out.


----------



## iamstoryteller (Jul 16, 2010)

Awesome, Basil, I am sending prayers too. 

Sharon


----------



## DonnaBurgess (Jan 1, 2011)

Thanks, Sharon.  And thanks, Basil for sharing your numbers.  I am psyched. And more importantly, motivated to get the next novel written, edited and released.  To think, 3 months ago, I was writing to make an agent like me and my work...

I'm not sure when I last felt this in control of my success.


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## J.M Pierce (May 13, 2010)

Fantastic numbers, Basil! I have the KND ebook of the day on the 6th. You are getting me pumped up!

Congrats!

J.M.


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## iamstoryteller (Jul 16, 2010)

Just one more sleep, JM. Good luck!

Sharon


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## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

Basil Sands said:


> At 1445 Alaska Time
> Rankings for 65 Below are now at:
> 
> Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #485 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
> ...


Very nice. I hope that translated into plenty of sales for you!

Sandy


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## Basil Sands (Aug 18, 2010)

Sandra Edwards said:


> Very nice. I hope that translated into plenty of sales for you!
> 
> Sandy


It did. Yesterday's sales alone paid for the KND sponsorships and the first Kindle I am giving away. Next week I am running the same deal with my novel Faithful Warrior. Hopefully it will do as well.

Best of luck to everyone else on your KND runs.

My judgement: KND is worth it, but make sure your book is absolutely the best it can be before you put an ad out on it. You want the world to fall in love with it first time.


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## destill (Oct 5, 2010)

Just wanted to drop and let everyone know that my KND ads have done so well that I've contracted for a customized package for all three books. This will test various ads (options 1 & 5) throughout March, April, and May. I already had an ebook of the day sponsorship scheduled for tomorrow, January 8. I'm dropping some bucks to see how repeat advertising in this venue works. If you're interested in doing something similar, all you have to to is ask Steve Windwalker to help you develop a customized plan and provide a quote.


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## iamstoryteller (Jul 16, 2010)

That is fabulous, Diana. 

Sharon


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## Basil Sands (Aug 18, 2010)

destill said:


> ... I'm dropping some bucks to see how repeat advertising in this venue works. ...


Repeat advertisement is the best way to go. People typically have to see a thing eight or more times before they associate and remember it. The more it is before them, the more natural it will be to decide to pay money for it.


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## Guest (Jan 7, 2011)

I wrote up the results of my Kindle Nation sponsorship (from Sunday the 2nd), in case anybody's curious. It was for a $2.99 fantasy novel.

Good luck to all those with upcoming ads!


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## ◄ Jess ► (Apr 21, 2010)

GoblinWriter said:


> I wrote up the results of my Kindle Nation sponsorship (from Sunday the 2nd), in case anybody's curious. It was for a $2.99 fantasy novel.
> 
> Good luck to all those with upcoming ads!


Thanks for posting that.  I have a $2.99 fantasy as well and have considered KND, but I think I'll wait until I have more books out. Hearing your experience definitely helps, though!


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

I'm up tomorrow. Not expecting anything so I won't be disappointed. It's for a $2.99 historical romance, _Ariana's Pride._


----------



## Mark Adair (Dec 4, 2010)

Good luck, Margaret!


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Mark Adair said:


> Good luck, Margaret!


Thanks. I'm trying to stay cool but my fingernails are suffering already.


----------



## Judi Coltman (Aug 23, 2010)

Good Luck!  I am up Tuesday and have knots in my stomach because I don't want to be the one who reports back with NADA.


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Betsala said:


> Good Luck! I am up Tuesday and have knots in my stomach because I don't want to be the one who reports back with NADA.


Don't worry. I'll probably beat you to it. 

With my banner ad, I didn't have a lot of sales on the day, but two days later, sales suddenly took off and stayed at that level for about a week. It's easy for me to track. I sell the same number of books almost every day.


----------



## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> I'm up tomorrow. Not expecting anything so I won't be disappointed. It's for a $2.99 historical romance, _Ariana's Pride._


I hope you increase your readership by a multitude.


----------



## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> I'm trying to stay cool but my fingernails are suffering already.


Good luck, Margaret ... to you, your book, your fingernails, and your stomach!

Steve


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Windwalker said:


> Good luck, Margaret ... to you, your book, your fingernails, and your stomach!
> 
> Steve


Thanks, Steve. I just received your email and I'm feeling better now that I've looked at the page.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm posting the link for the page Steve set up for me. I have the free book alert sponsorship.

http://kindlehomepage.blogspot.com/2011/01/kindle-nation-daily-free-book-alert_09.html

It's as good or better than a full page ad in any newspaper or magazine with a comparable circulation. So in answer to the original question, is a sponsorship worth it? Win, lose or draw, *yes*, it's worth it.

I may start a scrapbook!


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Here's my ranking this morning.

#22,995 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

    * #26 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > History > World > Medieval

Ignore the weird category. AP is not a history book.  

I'm keeping an eye on author central sales info because we know that's updated hourly.


----------



## Lynn Mixon (Jan 2, 2011)

GoblinWriter said:


> I wrote up the results of my Kindle Nation sponsorship (from Sunday the 2nd), in case anybody's curious. It was for a $2.99 fantasy novel.
> 
> Good luck to all those with upcoming ads!


I just spent quality writing time wandering around your site. Very nice. How am I ever going to get this novel done?

I saw your new cover. It's great. I went to the artist's site and was totally blown away. Holy Cow! Her work is simply gorgeous. If it's not prying too much, what ballpark range did it cost you and what was the process of getting it done like from start to finish?

That might be better in a new thread or a blog post, but I had to ask. I think I've fallen in love with her art and covet it for a future book of my own.


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

New rank

#12,123 in Kindle books store (paid)  (up) 10,012 ranks today.

Back to writing. I'm not going to look for another hour. (yeah, sure I'm not   )


----------



## Mark Adair (Dec 4, 2010)

Thanks Margaret for the update!


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

As of 1:25

#8,635 in Kindle books store (paid) (up) 13,500 ranks today


----------



## David Greene (Oct 16, 2010)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> As of 1:25
> 
> #8,635 in Kindle books store (paid) (up) 13,500 ranks today


Plus your at #7 in History > Medieval

I'm rooting for you. Go historical fiction, rah, rah, rah!!!


----------



## Ricky Sides (Sep 16, 2009)

Congratulations Gertie.


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

2:35 update

#5,305 in Kindle books store (paid) (up) 16,830 ranks today

    * #4 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > History > World > Medieval
    * #6 in Books > History > World > Medieval

Ticking along nicely.

Thanks for all the encouragement.


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

3:40 update

#4,680 Paid in Kindle Store 

    * #4 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > History > World > Medieval
    * #6 in Books > History > World > Medieval


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

5:20pm

#4,341 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

    * #4 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > History > World > Medieval
    * #5 in Books > History > World > Medieval


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

#4,069 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

    * #4 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > History > World > Medieval
    * #5 in Books > History > World > Medieval

Sales have been steady all day.


----------



## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

That's wonderful. It sure is fun, isn't it?


----------



## Blodwyn (Oct 13, 2010)

Yay! Congrats!


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Monique said:


> That's wonderful. It sure is fun, isn't it?


It sure is. Now I'm at 3,882 and wondering just how high this will go.

My experience with the KB banner and David Wisehart's sponsorship is that the sales continue after the day.


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Oh, poop, I had a return. But my rank is still going up.

#3,472 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

    * #2 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > History > World > Medieval
    * #3 in Books > History > World > Medieval


----------



## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> But my rank is still going up.


Yes it is, Margaret:

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #3,093 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
* #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > History > World > Medieval

Way to go! You're Number One!

Cheers,
Steve


----------



## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

Woot!!  You are rockin'!  Congratulations!

Vicki


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Windwalker said:


> Yes it is, Margaret:
> 
> Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #3,093 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
> * #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > History > World > Medieval
> ...


Just about to post that! And there's still the West Coast to hear from. I'm sure I'll have some overnight sales.

Thanks, Steve. You set up a very nice page for me.


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Night all.  I'll let you know if I have any overnight sales.


----------



## iamstoryteller (Jul 16, 2010)

Way to go Margaret!

Hope sales continue for a bit.

Sharon


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Several more sales overnight. In addition to sales, there may have been samples downloaded that should show up in future sales. Wish there was a way of tracking samples.


----------



## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> Several more sales overnight. In addition to sales, there may have been samples downloaded that should show up in future sales. Wish there was a way of tracking samples.


Very good showing! Congratz!


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Valmore Daniels said:


> Very good showing! Congratz!


Thanks, Valmore. And on 1/19, Deb Martin's Two Ends of the Pen.


----------



## Judi Coltman (Aug 23, 2010)

Today is my KND sponsorship.  I am FBing it, Tweeting it, and emailing it and HOPING that I can sell 15 books today to break even.  I'll keep you posted, but I will be finding solace in my hairdresser's chair as we try to find a hairstyle with a trompe de l'oeil  effect  that covers my neck!


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Betsala said:


> Today is my KND sponsorship. I am FBing it, Tweeting it, and emailing it and HOPING that I can sell 15 books today to break even. I'll keep you posted, but I will be finding solace in my hairdresser's chair as we try to find a hairstyle with a trompe de l'oeil effect that covers my neck!


Good luck!

How come you don't have your book linked in your siggy? There are instructions stickied at the top of the Cafe if you don't know how to do it.

Goodness, that's an ambitious hairstyle. I just try to find something that doesn't make me look like an ancient monkey.


----------



## Judi Coltman (Aug 23, 2010)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> Good luck!
> 
> How come you don't have your book linked in your siggy? There are instructions stickied at the top of the Cafe if you don't know how to do it.
> 
> Goodness, that's an ambitious hairstyle. I just try to find something that doesn't make me look like an ancient monkey.


I did, then messed it up and now will gat back on that THANKS! And ancient monkeys can be cute!


----------



## Judi Coltman (Aug 23, 2010)

I think I got it fixed!


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Betsala said:


> I did, then messed it up and now will gat back on that THANKS! And ancient monkeys can be cute!


Yes, but only in a Tibetan Monastery.


----------



## iamstoryteller (Jul 16, 2010)

Good luck, Betsala. You must have gotten in early if only 15 books will break even. I am sure you will sell a whole lot more than that!!



Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> Yes, but only in a Tibetan Monastery.


LOL

Sharon


----------



## N. Gemini Sasson (Jul 5, 2010)

Holy cow! KND does work!!! I've been waiting over two months for my sponsorship to go up and it's just past noon on my day for _Isabeau_ and for my three books I've already surpassed my record daily total of books sold. _Isabeau_ is already at #6385 (up from #20,000+ two days ago), which is the highest any of my books have every been in the U.S. (although it's been more in the #2000-6000 range in the UK and dipping in and out of the Top 100 in HF there).

The extra wonderful thing is that the sales of my other books have picked up today, too.


----------



## iamstoryteller (Jul 16, 2010)

That is fabulous, Gemini, hope those sales keep on a-comin'...

Sharon


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

N. Gemini Sasson said:


> Holy cow! KND does work!!! I've been waiting over two months for my sponsorship to go up and it's just past noon on my day for _Isabeau_ and for my three books I've already surpassed my record daily total of books sold. _Isabeau_ is already at #6385 (up from #20,000+ two days ago), which is the highest any of my books have every been in the U.S. (although it's been more in the #2000-6000 range in the UK and dipping in and out of the Top 100 in HF there).
> 
> The extra wonderful thing is that the sales of my other books have picked up today, too.


Congratulations! Yes, I found the same thing. Fingers crossed it continues for you.


----------



## N. Gemini Sasson (Jul 5, 2010)

Thanks, Margaret and Sharon.  #3397 now...


----------



## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

That's excellent, Gemi! I hope it keeps getting even better.


----------



## Judi Coltman (Aug 23, 2010)

N. Gemini Sasson said:


> Holy cow! KND does work!!! I've been waiting over two months for my sponsorship to go up and it's just past noon on my day for _Isabeau_ and for my three books I've already surpassed my record daily total of books sold. _Isabeau_ is already at #6385 (up from #20,000+ two days ago), which is the highest any of my books have every been in the U.S. (although it's been more in the #2000-6000 range in the UK and dipping in and out of the Top 100 in HF there).
> 
> The extra wonderful thing is that the sales of my other books have picked up today, too.


 That is outstanding! I know I thought my day as well worth it!


----------



## iamstoryteller (Jul 16, 2010)

Keep it up...

Sharon


----------



## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

Congrats, Gemi! Looks like a very nice 24 hours!

Isabeau, A Novel of Queen Isabella and Sir Roger Mortimer by N. Gemini Sasson
Format: eBook Released: August 17, 2010
Publisher: Cader Idris Press List price: 2.99
ISBN: B003ZYFBMU 
Amazon page
date/time Amazon rank

Jan. 13, 2011 at 10:26 a.m. 28,903
Jan. 13, 2011 at 12:11 p.m. 6,385
Jan. 13, 2011 at 3:25 p.m. 3,979
Jan. 13, 2011 at 4:17 p.m. 3,337
Jan. 13, 2011 at 5:24 p.m. 3,124
Jan. 13, 2011 at 8:08 p.m. 2,718
Jan. 13, 2011 at 9:15 p.m. 3,011
Jan. 13, 2011 at 8:08 p.m. 2,718
*Jan. 13, 2011 at 10:00 p.m. 2,128*
Jan. 14, 2011 at 4:53 a.m. 2,441
*Current: Jan. 14, 2011 at 6:22 a.m. 2,381*


----------



## DonnaBurgess (Jan 1, 2011)

My sponsorship was yesterday and I'm extremely pleased with the results.  I climbed from around 11,000 (can't remember the exact #) right before the post to a high point of approx. 1700.  It's dropped some since, but for my first novel, I am please.  Will definitely do it again for the next book.

Cheers!


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Steve, if you're lurking, have you done a comparison of .99 books to 2.99 books? Of course, other things factor in like genre, timing, etc., but in general, I'm wondering how well one does against the other.


----------



## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

winniethepoe said:


> My sponsorship was yesterday and I'm extremely pleased with the results. I climbed from around 11,000 (can't remember the exact #) right before the post to a high point of approx. 1700. It's dropped some since, but for my first novel, I am pleased. Will definitely do it again for the next book.
> Cheers!


Thanks, Donna! The "eBook of the Day" sponsorships are newer, cheaper, and not so overbooked, but I've been very pleased lately with what they have accomplished for you, Imogen, Jenny Hilborne and some other authors!
Cheers,
Steve

Darklands: A Vampire's Tale (Darklands Vampires) by Donna Burgess
Format: eBook Released: December 18, 2010
Publisher: Naked Snake Press List price: 0.99
ISBN: B004GNFTQC 
date/time Amazon rank
Jan. 12, 2011 at 6:13 p.m. 10,525
Jan. 12, 2011 at 8:56 p.m. 9,735
Jan. 13, 2011 at 4:43 a.m. 5,282
Jan. 13, 2011 at 5:41 a.m. 5,420
Jan. 13, 2011 at 7:52 a.m. 5,685
Jan. 13, 2011 at 8:55 a.m. 5,174
Jan. 13, 2011 at 10:26 a.m. 2,341
Jan. 13, 2011 at 12:11 p.m. 1,866
Jan. 13, 2011 at 3:25 p.m. 1,765
Jan. 13, 2011 at 4:17 p.m. 1,946
Jan. 13, 2011 at 5:24 p.m. 1,815
Jan. 13, 2011 at 8:08 p.m. 1,729
Jan. 13, 2011 at 9:15 p.m. 1,934
Jan. 14, 2011 at 4:53 a.m. 2,378
Jan. 14, 2011 at 6:22 a.m. 2,115
Jan. 14, 2011 at 7:37 a.m. 2,212
Current: Jan. 14, 2011 at 8:29 a.m. 2,280


----------



## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> Steve, if you're lurking, have you done a comparison of .99 books to 2.99 books? Of course, other things factor in like genre, timing, etc., but in general, I'm wondering how well one does against the other.


Worth a look at or Dec and Jan sponsorship results, Margaret. There are links to each at http://kindlehomepage.blogspot.com/p/sponsor-kindle-nation-daily-free-book.html

Cheers,
Steve


----------



## LaFlamme (Dec 9, 2010)

The KN gold and silver packages are high on my wish list. In fact, while I'm grooving on it, it occurs to me that my credit card hasn't taken a beating lately. I'm going in.


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

LaFlamme said:


> The KN gold and silver packages are high on my wish list. In fact, while I'm grooving on it, it occurs to me that my credit card hasn't taken a beating lately. I'm going in.


Mark, Mark, MARK!!! Speak to us!!!

I'm in the process of changing bank accounts or I would do another one. I have to make sure all my direct deposits take effect first.


----------



## LaFlamme (Dec 9, 2010)

Too late, Margaret. I am nothing if not impulsive. Thanks for trying to set up an intervention, though.


----------



## David Derrico (Nov 18, 2009)

Well, I bought a KND sponsorship for my first novel, _Right Ascension_ (KB thread here), and the sponsorship is now live. So far, I'm pleased. While I haven't quite made back the $80 cost yet, I'm hopeful the sales will continue. It's already been my best sales day in over 6 months.

My ranking dropped from #15,000 or #20,000 to *#2,907* right now. My other books have gotten a small bump as well &#8230; which will hopefully increase as the people buying my first book read it and hopefully go on to try out my other ones.


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Congratulations, David. Don't forget, the West Coasters will still be buying overnight. Look for another bump in the morning.


----------



## LCEvans (Mar 29, 2009)

That's great, David. Margaret's right about that bump from the West coasters. Moving up in the rankings can sometimes keep the sales bump going for a couple of days.


----------



## MQ (Jan 5, 2011)

I'm new to this thread. 

Can someone tell me where I can get more information regarding KND?  And how does it work?

My head is spinning from going through all the pages.

Thanks in advance.


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Mobashar Qureshi said:


> I'm new to this thread.
> 
> Can someone tell me where I can get more information regarding KND? And how does it work?
> 
> ...


Here's the link. All the info you need is on that page.

http://kindlehomepage.blogspot.com/p/sponsor-kindle-nation-daily-free-book.html


----------



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

Looks like it's time to get a Sponsorship. So many great stories from authors on KND.


----------



## David Derrico (Nov 18, 2009)

Thanks, Margaret and L.C.! Hopefully you're right and there will be another bump tomorrow.

Sales seem to have slowed down for today, but are still trickling in. I'll report back tomorrow or if there's anything else interesting to report.


----------



## rudykerkhoven (Aug 23, 2010)

I had my second KND sponsorship for "The Adventures of Whatley Tupper" on Friday, and once again I'm very impressed with the results (better than the last time I had a sponsorship for this book, actually). You can see the dramatic effect by looking at the sales graph on my blog:

http://kerkhoven.wordpress.com/2011/01/16/whatley-loves-knd/


----------



## JenniferBecton (Oct 21, 2010)

_Charlotte Collins _ is up tomorrow! Woohoo!


----------



## Paul Clayton (Sep 12, 2009)

Rudy,
I'm intrigued by this.  I always assumed that a second run, shooting the same book, the same sample, to the same folks via whispernet, would  not really amount to much.  But obviously I was wrong.  How do you account for this?


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

JenniferBecton said:


> _Charlotte Collins _ is up tomorrow! Woohoo!


Good luck! I'm sure you'll do well.


----------



## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

I'm about 13 hours into my sponsorship. My ranking this morning was about 24,000. At this moment, it's now 2400. I'm really happy with the results so far.    My book is $2.99. Just thought I'd mention because someone wondered about the difference in 99 cent books vs. higher priced books.


----------



## JenniferBecton (Oct 21, 2010)

That's awesome, Mary. I hope to emulate your success. My book is $2.99 too.


----------



## rudykerkhoven (Aug 23, 2010)

callingcrow said:


> Rudy,
> I'm intrigued by this. I always assumed that a second run, shooting the same book, the same sample, to the same folks via whispernet, would not really amount to much. But obviously I was wrong. How do you account for this?


I think it comes down to a few things:

-There are a lot more Kindle owners out there now. I've noticed a general upswing in sales since Christmas.
-I have almost twice as many reviews as the last time.
-A lot of KND readers probably skim over the ads, or don't even read them. Perhaps for some people, it takes seeing the same ad a couple of times to think seriously about it.

I know I'm not the only one who has had success with a second KND run. I have a third KND sponsorship for the same book in April, but I'm thinking of putting it at 99 cents to promote my next choose your own adventure ebook. But I'm still not certain and I probably won't know for sure until late March. So, what will be interesting is if I keep the book at 2.99 and try it again. We'll see...


----------



## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

As my KND day was yesterday, just thought I'd share my rankings as it changed in 24 hours:

                                                  .com   .co.uk
January 21, 2011, 1:05 am EST    17344   21442
January 21, 2011, 2:05 am EST    19776   21323
January 21, 2011, 4:05 am EST    21482   21202
January 21, 2011, 5:05 am EST    22185   21196
January 21, 2011, 6:05 am EST    22311   21234
January 21, 2011, 8:05 am EST    15549   21444
January 21, 2011, 10:05 am EST    16171   21747
January 21, 2011, 11:05 am EST    12344   21926
January 21, 2011, 1:05 pm EST    4858   22157
January 21, 2011, 2:05 pm EST    4237   4625
January 21, 2011, 4:05 pm EST    2826   6104
January 21, 2011, 5:05 pm EST    2906   6104
January 21, 2011, 6:05 pm EST    2906   7! 929
January 21, 2011, 7:05 p! m EST    2911   8874
January 21, 2011, 9:05 pm EST    2533   10397
January 21, 2011, 10:05 pm EST    2528   10769
January 22, 2011, 12:05 am EST    2468   11106


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Excellent, Mary. I can't believe your UK rankings went up, too. 

Just checked my ledger for my KND day and there was no noticeable difference in the UK.


----------



## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> Excellent, Mary. I can't believe your UK rankings went up, too.
> 
> Just checked my ledger for my KND day and there was no noticeable difference in the UK.


I only sold one book in the U.K. It might have just been a coincidence. lol.


----------



## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

Great to see people doing so well!

One thing that's been exciting for us here at KND has been that our newest and least expensive form of sponsorship, the Kindle Nation Daily eBook of the Day, has recently been catching up with its more expensive alternatives when it comes to results for authors and publishers. I've just broken out a spreadsheet isolating the past 4 weeks' KND-EBOD results and it is now public at http://bit.ly/hD7EMM. We've added staff to help keep up with all of this, and we have availability as soon as February for KND-EBOD sponsorships.

One of the things that we've seen in the past month, as Rudy Kerkhoven suggested in his analysis above, is that the value of the same sales ranking as between, say, November and the present, has probably increased by a factor of 2 or 3 times. My hope is that by being totally transparent about sponsorship results we can help authors and publishers spend marketing dollars wisely, and also continue to play a role in helping to connect writers of distinction with the greatest readers in the world. (Pardon my sloganspeak, but what part of that is not true?) There are links to results for all of our different sponsorship offerings at the top of our Sponsorship Info Page at http://kindlehomepage.blogspot.com/p/sponsor-kindle-nation-daily-free-book.html.

Cheers,
Steve


----------



## NoahMullette-Gillman (Jul 29, 2010)

Well, today is my day up at Kindle Nation. I was averaging 4 copies a day for the first 15 days of January, then my sales stopped suddenly dead in their tracks and I only sold a couple of copies last week. (Very frustrating!)

I sold 2 copies last night after the Planet iPad feature went up (one of which a reader of mine referred to the event.) The actual KND sponsorship went up early this morning and I've sold 11 so far today. So, I'm off to a good start! 

Will I break even and sell 35 because of the event? Will I sell hundreds of copies this weekend?  Hard to say. I'll let you know!


----------



## Guest (Jan 22, 2011)

Good luck, Noah!


----------



## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

NoahMullette-Gillman said:


> Well, today is my day up at Kindle Nation. I was averaging 4 copies a day for the first 15 days of January, then my sales stopped suddenly dead in their tracks and I only sold a couple of copies last week. (Very frustrating!)
> 
> I sold 2 copies last night after the Planet iPad feature went up (one of which a reader of mine referred to the event.) The actual KND sponsorship went up early this morning and I've sold 11 so far today. So, I'm off to a good start!
> 
> Will I break even and sell 35 because of the event? Will I sell hundreds of copies this weekend?  Hard to say. I'll let you know!


Good luck!


----------



## NoahMullette-Gillman (Jul 29, 2010)

Thanks Jason and Mary! 
I'm curious to see how this compares to http://dailycheapreads.com. I sold 26 copies in 2 days after being featured there!


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

NoahMullette-Gillman said:


> Well, today is my day up at Kindle Nation. I was averaging 4 copies a day for the first 15 days of January, then my sales stopped suddenly dead in their tracks and I only sold a couple of copies last week. (Very frustrating!)
> 
> I sold 2 copies last night after the Planet iPad feature went up (one of which a reader of mine referred to the event.) The actual KND sponsorship went up early this morning and I've sold 11 so far today. So, I'm off to a good start!
> 
> Will I break even and sell 35 because of the event? Will I sell hundreds of copies this weekend?  Hard to say. I'll let you know!


Sounds like you're off to a good start. Don't forget the West Coast overnight sales.


----------



## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

Good luck, Noah!  May your readership increase by a multitude.


----------



## JFHilborne (Jan 22, 2011)

I did the $59.99 Kindle Nation Daily this month and saw an increase in sales for about a week. The bump was on the day of the Ad, but they continued after. I'd do it again.


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Windwalker said:


> Great to see people doing so well!
> 
> One thing that's been exciting for us here at KND has been that our newest and least expensive form of sponsorship, the Kindle Nation Daily eBook of the Day, has recently been catching up with its more expensive alternatives when it comes to results for authors and publishers. I've just broken out a spreadsheet isolating the past 4 weeks' KND-EBOD results and it is now public at http://bit.ly/hD7EMM. We've added staff to help keep up with all of this, and we have availability as soon as February for KND-EBOD sponsorships.
> 
> ...


Scheduled it. Thanks, Steve.


----------



## NoahMullette-Gillman (Jul 29, 2010)

Thanks everyone. I'm up to 15 now.

Hope things are off to a good start with Angelfire, Valmore! I remember in the 1990s when my email used to be [email protected] . I miss it!


----------



## David Greene (Oct 16, 2010)

I had the "Free Kindle Nation Shorts" slot last night--which was accompanied by a generous endorsement from Steve (Thank you!).

At the moment my rank is 2,206
#6 in Gay Fiction

The rank was near 60,000 yesterday before the KND promotion came out--so a big difference!  I sold more copies in the last 12 hours than in all of June last summer.  

It's quite a thrill.


----------



## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

My KND daily sponsorship a few months ago had great results, and I'll definitely do it again.

Cheers,
JimC


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## JenniferBecton (Oct 21, 2010)

Today is my day too. I'm doing the KND Free Book Alert Sponsorship. I started the day at 2823 and am now at 1383, my best rank ever. That was approximately 21 sales! Woohoo!   

Best to you too Noah! I see your ebook of the day is going on too. Go KND!


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## Abigail (Apr 27, 2010)

I have paid but yet to get a date, I have asked for available dates.


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## NoahMullette-Gillman (Jul 29, 2010)

Abigail said:


> I have paid but yet to get a date, I have asked for available dates.


Isn't that prostitution?  I haven't paid for a date either, but I did buy dinner while out on a few... 

@Jennifer - sounds like you're doing great! I'm down to 4,003 rank. 17 sold today. Not my best-ever sales day, but close. Strangely, that is my lowest rank ever! I guess it wasn't just me who was having a slow sales week?


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## JenniferBecton (Oct 21, 2010)

Noah, Congratulations! Let's hope you get at least 17 more! And the slower everyone else is the better ranks we'll get. I have a crazy, insane dream of getting to 999. Just one hour is all I ask. LOL


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## Abigail (Apr 27, 2010)

NoahMullette-Gillman said:


> Isn't that prostitution?  I haven't paid for a date either, but I did buy dinner while out on a few...
> 
> @Jennifer - sounds like you're doing great! I'm down to 4,003 rank. 17 sold today. Not my best-ever sales day, but close. Strangely, that is my lowest rank ever! I guess it wasn't just me who was having a slow sales week?


yes I do believe it is. 

How do you know you daily figures? Do you pick a time and record the number and then check at the same time each day?


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## NoahMullette-Gillman (Jul 29, 2010)

I guess that would work. I haven't tried that myself. I know how many I usually sell each day, and I know how low I've seen the ranking go. I think just under 5K was the lowest I've seen before now. Still at 4,003 now.

Yes, half-way to having paid for itself now. If the promotion properly started at 6 am this morning, that's been 10 and a half hours to get 50% of the way there. I'd say that if I break even this weekend this has been an unqualified success. One doesn't usually expect that out of advertising!


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## LCEvans (Mar 29, 2009)

I've paid for another sponsorship for We Interrupt this Date, but I'm still waiting to get on the schedule. I had fabulous results with my first sponsorship.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Abigail said:


> yes I do believe it is.
> 
> How do you know you daily figures? Do you pick a time and record the number and then check at the same time each day?


I keep a notebook with running totals for each book in both the US & UK and now Smashwords. I'm not bothering with the other SW outlets. I'll wait for those quarterly reports from SW. I now check Create Space once or twice a day because my paperbacks started to sell about six months ago. I'm also an obsessive sales checker so I check several times a day.

My books sell pretty steadily with very few spikes or dips so I know if something is working. I saw a 50% increase after the Kindle Authors blog sponsorship and another 50% increase over that with KND. I'm putting some of my royalties back into advertising because I want to build a name, not just get a quick return.


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## LaFlamme (Dec 9, 2010)

This is probably one of those situations where a new topic is called for. But I hate starting topics. Feels like shoving the needle from the record player in order to make a speech at a party. 
This weekend, I have an eBook of the Day sponsorship going at *Kindle Nation*. Next month, I have a sponsorship with *Kindle Author* and then in April and May, I'm back to Kindle Nation with a silver package. Lots of plugging away through the rest of wretched winter. My problem: with the DTP (excuse me: KTP) reporting the way it is, I can find absolutely no way to take a look at sales for a given day. That would be hugely helpful, obviously, when you have some sort of promotional campaign going. Did I sell more than usual on Saturday when my EBOTD sponsorship got underway? Did I sell any at all Thursday while I had Google adwords going? And so on. I haven't had much luck with *NovelRank* for this purpose, either. I don't see many complaints about this around the boards, so I suspect you pros have found a way to check your sales on a daily basis. And if you have, I'd love to hear about it.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Mark, when you go into KDP (will I ever get used to that?) you'll see reports at the top in between bookshelf and community. Click on that. The top category is Month-To-Date unit sales. Click on that. That will show your up to the minute US sales. Just above the sales is a line for view reports for UK store. Click on that to see your UK sales. Repeat as necessary. 

I keep a ledger for each book in each store and I have a running total going every day. OCSC (obsessive-compulsive sales checker) is a condition most of us have succumbed to.


----------



## NoahMullette-Gillman (Jul 29, 2010)

Just a quick update - Only 1 more sale since this afternoon, bringing me up to 18 for the day. I'm guessing my audience is out dancing on a Saturday night?  I'll frankly be disappointed if I don't AT LEAST hit 20 today. Other authors set my expectations *well* above even that... but there's some time yet.

Maybe the weekend is less than ideal?


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

NoahMullette-Gillman said:


> Just a quick update - Only 1 more sale since this afternoon, bringing me up to 18 for the day. I'm guessing my audience is out dancing on a Saturday night?  I'll frankly be disappointed if I don't AT LEAST hit 20 today. Other authors set my expectations *well* above even that... but there's some time yet.
> 
> Maybe the weekend is less than ideal?


Don't forget the West Coast sales. I had ten new sales the next morning. My sponsorship was on a Sunday.


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## NoahMullette-Gillman (Jul 29, 2010)

Yeah, I'll count anything today or tomorrow as being clearly a part of this, especially after the poor sales I had all last week.


----------



## LaFlamme (Dec 9, 2010)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> Mark, when you go into KDP (will I ever get used to that?) you'll see reports at the top in between bookshelf and community. Click on that. The top category is Month-To-Date unit sales. Click on that. That will show your up to the minute US sales. Just above the sales is a line for view reports for UK store. Click on that to see your UK sales. Repeat as necessary.


That is up to the minute, huh? For some reason, I thought that was updated weekly or something crazy like that.

Cool. Thanks.


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

LaFlamme said:


> That is up to the minute, huh? For some reason, I thought that was updated weekly or something crazy like that.
> 
> Cool. Thanks.


The six weeks report is updated weekly (midnight Saturday PST) and the monthly report is updated on the 15th of the following month. I love to have up to the minute reports.

There's also bookscan in author central under sales info. That's for paperback sales. I printed out the map and every time one of my paperbacks sells in an area, I color it in. That updates on Fridays.


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## JenniferBecton (Oct 21, 2010)

Charlotte Collins has had 41 sales since KND went live today. It doesn't look like I'll be seeing my dream of getting below 1,000 in rank. Oh well...maybe next time.


----------



## rudykerkhoven (Aug 23, 2010)

JenniferBecton said:


> Charlotte Collins has had 41 sales since KND went live today. It doesn't look like I'll be seeing my dream of getting below 1,000 in rank. Oh well...maybe next time.


It's becoming increasingly difficult to break the #1000 mark. I think you'd have to sell well over 100 books in a 24 hour period to break it now. Back when I had my first KND sponsorship in October, I got to the 500's with selling about 65 in 24 hours. For my last KND sponsorship a week ago I sold a decent number more than that and couldn't crack 1300...


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## JenniferBecton (Oct 21, 2010)

Rudy, thanks for telling me that!   I guess the upsurge in Kindles and ebooks is making things more competitive. That's good to know.

Noah, I meant to say earlier...I wonder if lower sales than expected were because of a different type of sponsorship. It may just be that the ebook of the day isn't as visible on KND. 

I can't say that all 41 sales today were from KND because I was averaging 20 books per day before it started. But I've been very pleased with my results.


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## NoahMullette-Gillman (Jul 29, 2010)

Just after midnight EST now. I'm pleased. I've had 24 sales since the event started. I'm sure I'll have some more tonight and tomorrow as a result.

And none of this will include any readers who, like me, sample before they buy! 

I'll update one last time at the end of Sunday.


----------



## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

NoahMullette-Gillman said:


> Just after midnight EST now. I'm pleased. I've had 24 sales since the event started. I'm sure I'll have some more tonight and tomorrow as a result.
> 
> And none of this will include any readers who, like me, sample before they buy!
> 
> I'll update one last time at the end of Sunday.


That's a very strong showing. Don't forget the ripple effect: when those new readers tell two friends, and they tell two friends ...


----------



## NoahMullette-Gillman (Jul 29, 2010)

Valmore, yes, at this stage that's how I look at all my sales. I mean 25 or even 100 sales are nothing just by themselves, but every sale I get is someone who might enjoy the book enough to tell their friends. Every sale is like a new lottery ticket. I'm beginning to build a buzz.

I've got people over on the Amazon boards who have read and are talking about my work tonight! That feels fantastic!


----------



## David Greene (Oct 16, 2010)

I'm continuing to see a tremendous bump from the KND sponsorship.

Current numbers are:
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,122 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#1 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > Literature & Fiction > Fiction > Gay
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Gay & Lesbian
#44 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Historical Fiction

It's clear to me that nothing like this would be happening without the KND sponsorship.


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## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

NoahMullette-Gillman said:


> Valmore, yes, at this stage that's how I look at all my sales. I mean 25 or even 100 sales are nothing just by themselves, but every sale I get is someone who might enjoy the book enough to tell their friends.... I'm beginning to build a buzz.


Noah and Valmore, I think it's so important for all of us as authors to think that way about marketing and exposure. (Wearing two hats here). Of course I'm thrilled when anyone "makes back their investment within 24 hours" on a sponsorship with KND or, for that matter, with anyone else, but I get concerned when that becomes the standard -- not so much because it is setting the bar too high (which it is) but because it misses the point of building, over time, the base of enthusiastic readers who can continue to spread the word and look forward to each new book. So thanks for saying it.

Cheers,
Steve
*Sponsorship Info Page: http://kindlehomepage.blogspot.com/p/sponsor-kindle-nation-daily-free-book.html.
*


----------



## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

David Greene said:


> I'm continuing to see a tremendous bump from the KND sponsorship.
> 
> Current numbers are:
> Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,122 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
> ...


Congratulations, David. I think you've really got something with this book, and I recommend it to everyone here as well: http://www.amazon.com/Unmentionables-A-Novel-ebook/dp/B003AQBBXG

I know you can't go any higher than #1 on some of the niche lists, but as I said in my post today -- http://kindlehomepage.blogspot.com/2011/01/kindle-nation-daily-free-book-alert_23.html -- I don't think you're done climbing yet.

Cheers,
Steve


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Yes, it's all about building. That's why I've got at least one sponsorship a month in different venues including another KND in February.


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## Sybil Nelson (Jun 24, 2010)

You guys are making this Kindle Nation Daily Sponsorship thing seems so amazing I'm tempted to do it as well. But I've been burned in the past by paid advertising that had no effect whatsoever on my sales. Plus I have four books out on Kindle and I'm not sure which I should go with.


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## Sybil Nelson (Jun 24, 2010)

Has anyone with a children's book had success?


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## JenniferBecton (Oct 21, 2010)

I'm still seeing a boost from KND, and I'll definitely be signing up again. I've been hovering around the 3000-6000 range, but since yesterday I've been in the 1000-2000 range. It's so exciting!


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Sybil Nelson said:


> Has anyone with a children's book had success?


I don't remember specifically, but Steve publishes reports on each sponsorship. You can look through the listing to see if there are any children's books.

Here's a link to the sponsorship page. I think he posts the spreadsheets at the top.

http://kindlehomepage.blogspot.com/p/sponsor-kindle-nation-daily-free-book.html

There are, of course, no guaranties, but a lot of us have had some success. The real payoff for me is increased sales over time.


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## LaFlamme (Dec 9, 2010)

One of my books has been up as eBook of the Day on Kindle Nation since early this morning and it seems to be averaging about one sale per hour, if the KTP reports can be trusted. I'm not going to drive myself batty by checking in every 15 minutes, but I'll update this post every now and then throughout the day for the sake of those considering a sponsorship. The eBook of the Day is the cheapest option over there, but it offers quite a lot of exposure. 
http://tinyurl.com/4d7f333


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## matt youngmark (Jan 11, 2011)

One thing to consider about KND sponsorship is the pricing of your book -- people subscribe to KND to find free ebooks, so if your book isn't bargain priced you probably won't fare as well. When I tried it last October, my book was still priced at 5.99, and KND didn't have much impact for me.

On advertising in general, I do run a fair amount of ads on targeted blogs -- not in an attempt to sell copies directly, but drive people to my website where they can read an extended sample and really just get to know me and my book. Advertising doesn't have to be expensive -- I use Project Wonderful, which uses a bidding system similar to ebay to price ads on a huge number of sites based on demand -- I fiddle constantly with my advertising so I'm never paying more than .01 - .07 per click to drive readers to my website. PW handles advertising for an especially large number of geek-centric sites (perfect for my zombie choose-your-own-adventure), but you might find some good, cheap, advertising opportunities that suit your genre as well. You can bid 2 cents a day on one of the less-popular sites, and evaluate your results at the end of the week after you're only out a dime.

The key is to have your website function as a sales pitch for your book, not the ad itself. http://www.projectwonderful.com/


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## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

mattyoungmark said:


> One thing to consider about KND sponsorship is the pricing of your book -- people subscribe to KND to find free ebooks, so if your book isn't bargain priced you probably won't fare as well. When I tried it last October, my book was still priced at 5.99, and KND didn't have much impact for me.


Good point, Matt, although I think the point about the demand elasticity of ebook pricing applies across the board far beyond the readership of Kindle Nation. Kindle owners generally buy gazillions more ebooks at 99 cents than at $2.99, gazillions more at $2.99 than $5.99, and gazillions more at $9.99 than $12.99, none of which is surprising, and Kindle Nation readers follow or lead the same trend. There have been a few books at higher price points that have done pretty well with Kindle Nation sponsorships, but they have clearly been in our readers' wheelhouse.

While I think Kindle Nation readers are similar to the larger population of Kindle customers with respect to price-conscious buying, I think they may differ from other elements of that population when it comes to reading interests. Although both my 12-year-old son and I loved your book and said so in the October 12 post that seemed to drive your book to its highest sales ranking of any point from there to the end of 2010 -- http://kindlehomepage.blogspot.com/2010/10/kindle-nation-daily-free-book-alert_12.html -- the combination of price and a genre in which my readers have done very little reading created some buying friction. I'm curious when you lowered your price.

I do think it's important for all of us as authors to try different marketing approaches, and although I'm not entirely down with what you say about the centrality of the author's website, you're right on the money when it comes to the importance of finding a match between your marketing audience and the audence for your book, i.e., lining up geek-centric eyeballs for your zombie CYOA book.

Cheers,
Steve


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## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

David Greene said:


> I'm continuing to see a tremendous bump....
> Current numbers are:
> Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,122 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
> #1 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > Literature & Fiction > Fiction > Gay
> ...


Congratulations to David Greene for continuing to rocket up into the rarefied air. 24 hours later Unmentionables -- http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003AQBBXG -- *has been in the 500s for several hours and is currently at the top -- #1 -- of Gay Fiction and #25 in historical fiction.
*
*Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #561 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
* #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Gay & Lesbian
* #1 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > Literature & Fiction > Fiction > Gay
* #25 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Historical Fiction*

I know you were visiting New York when you emailed me yesterday, David. The question is, does the publishing industry know you are there??!!

Cheers,
Steve


----------



## matt youngmark (Jan 11, 2011)

Hi Steve,

Sorry -- didn't mean to imply that KND readers were cheapskates.  I was happy with my sponsorship experience, even if sales didn't go through the roof (and was pleased as punch with your -- and Danny's -- seal of approval). The truth is, I've had MUCH more success marketing trade paperbacks at $14.95 than I ever had marketing ebooks at $5.99.

I dropped the ebook price to 2.99 on January 1st -- and have sold 88 copies in the last 3 weeks (compared to 100 copies in the previous 12 months). That certainly speaks more to my specific readership's buying habits than it does to KND's demographics.

Also, when I wrote about directing readers to my website, I should have specified that I use that strategy for ads on non-kindle-specific blogs. With anything targeted specifically to kindle owners, I'd definitely send them straight to Amazon (as I did with the KND ad, and will be again when my ad pops up on the top of this page next week).


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## David Greene (Oct 16, 2010)

I am in New York, and happy to be with friends to celebrate this unexpected moment.  We just saw a great play by Tennessee Williams with Olympia Dukakis, and had an amazing meal.

Thanks for your encouragement, Steve.  I've sold 200 books in 48 hours, a far cry from last week.  It is clearly a demonstration of your influence.


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## NoahMullette-Gillman (Jul 29, 2010)

Final update: Over the course of the weekend, I sold 32 books. 30 of the featured title at $2.99, and 2 others. I think that's an unqualified success!
I'm sure that I'll have more sales in the days to come which began with samples downloaded this weekend! Thanks so much Steve!


----------



## D.A. Boulter (Jun 11, 2010)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> There are, of course, no guaranties, but a lot of us have had some success. The real payoff for me is increased sales over time.


Exactly. No guaranties. My two sponsorships (1 UK in August and 1 ebook-of-the-day in November) garnered 1 sale that I can attribute to the sponsorships and 2 that might possible be due to them. Sales did not pick up over time. Could be my writing, my genre, my cover, my blurb, or any combination of the above--or it could be than no one was reading the sponsorship ads. It wasn't the price, 'cause I was at $0.99 for the second sponsorship. [Note: UK sponsorship has been discontinued.]

So, it's a gamble. You may do well or you may not. My motto is 'only put up the money that you can afford to lose'. If I can't afford to see a '0' return, I won't buy.


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## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

NoahMullette-Gillman said:


> Final update: Over the course of the weekend, I sold 32 books. 30 of the featured title at $2.99, and 2 others. I think that's an unqualified success!
> I'm sure that I'll have more sales in the days to come which began with samples downloaded this weekend! Thanks so much Steve!


Terrific, Noah. Cheers!


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Another thing I think is important. *promote the sponsorship*. I tweeted it and posted it on three different forums.


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## Mike McIntyre (Jan 19, 2011)

Does Kindle Nation Daily review ebooks other than those linked to paid sponsorships?


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## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

Mike McIntyre said:


> Does Kindle Nation Daily review ebooks other than those linked to paid sponsorships?


We're not really a "review" site, Mike; there are some very good ones, by the way. But we're constantly bringing Kindle books to our readers' attention, and that's definitely not limited to sponsors' titles.

Cheers,
Steve


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## WilliamEsmont (May 3, 2010)

Rank before KND sponsorship: 7637
Rank as of a few minutes ago : *479*

Yes. I do believe it is worth it. I have 161 new readers as of this evening


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

WilliamEsmont said:


> Rank before KND sponsorship: 7637
> Rank as of a few minutes ago : *479*
> 
> Yes. I do believe it is worth it. I have 161 new readers as of this evening


Bravo! Which sponsorship did you get?


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## Daniel Pyle (Aug 13, 2010)

My sponsorship (for _Dismember_) is coming up tomorrow, and I'm very excited about it.


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## LCEvans (Mar 29, 2009)

Good luck, Daniel. I had great results from my sponsorship and I'm doing another one in April.


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## Basil Sands (Aug 18, 2010)

Good luck! It certainly paid off for me.


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## Daniel Pyle (Aug 13, 2010)

Things are going great so far.  As of just now:

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #2,082 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#51 in Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers > Psychological Thrillers
#71 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Horror
#83 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Horror



I've never made it into the top 2,000 before.  I'm sooooooo close.


----------



## Daniel Pyle (Aug 13, 2010)

_Down the Drain_ has gotten a nice little boost, too.

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #5,430 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#51 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Horror > Occult
#56 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Horror > Occult

It's been around #10,000-20,000 most of the month.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Way to go, Daniel.


----------



## Daniel Pyle (Aug 13, 2010)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> Way to go, Daniel.


Thanks. 

The sales are still trickling in. I've already sold 41 books beyond my daily average for _Dismember_ plus 8 extras for _Down the Drain_, so the sponsorship has more than paid for itself. I'm very pleased.

If you're reading this, Steve, thanks a million!


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## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

KND Sponsorship results updated daily in public spreadsheets linked from this page; Dec-Feb at http://bit.ly/KNDSponsorshipResults

Congratulations to all for a great January!

Cheers,
Steve


----------



## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

Today Spiderwork sponsors the weekly KND email, and Steve kindly mentions Hero Material in it too. I'm sure I'll get a boost!

My ranking starting out:

Hero Material  68,519
Spiderwork      90,911

Within minutes of the email going out, I had sold 2 Hero Materials and 1 Spiderwork.  People can't buy your books if they don't know they exist!


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## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

LKRigel said:


> Today Spiderwork sponsors the weekly KND email, and Steve kindly mentions Hero Material in it too. I'm sure I'll get a boost!
> 
> My ranking starting out:
> 
> ...


May your readership increase at a geometric rate.


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## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

Valmore Daniels said:


> May your readership increase at a geometric rate.


Thanks Val -- I love the Angel Fire cover!


----------



## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

Update... So far today, I've sold 6 Hero Materials and 9 Spiderworks.


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## WilliamEsmont (May 3, 2010)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> Bravo! Which sponsorship did you get?


I did the $80 sponsorship. The final # for the full 48 hour period was 205 sales. I was averaging about 8.5/day before my sponsorship, so subtracting 17 from that total gives me a bump of 185. Since the sponsorship ended, my average has stuck at around 20/day.

It took about 1.5 days to fall from the rankings stratosphere, and I seem to have stabilized around the 3.5-4.5K level (knock on wood), which I'm happy with. I was 7-8K before the sponsorship.

In terms of cost, I made about $60 in sales (Patriot was priced at .99c), so the sponsorship only cost me $20. I spent FAR more than that the last time I ran a Facebook ad and I had no discernible sales to show for it.


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## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

I'm sure the effect is lasting -- you don't know how many people have downloaded a sample and will pick up the book later.

It's great exposure, no matter what.


----------



## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

LKRigel said:


> Update... So far today, I've sold 6 Hero Materials and 9 Spiderworks.


Wait a sec. Didn't you have two books in your sig when I left for my vacation last month? And now there are four? Daniel wrote one while I was away, too. You guys are


----------



## maryannaevans (Apr 10, 2010)

Wounded Earth







was Kindle Nation Daily Ebook of the Day yesterday.

I sold 49 copies during the day it was featured, and sales were still trickling in throughout the day today, so it's hard to tell what the ultimate impact will be. The sales ranking went from 52,474 to at least 2613. I say "at least" because this is the number posted for yesterday on Amazon Author Central, but I know it wasn't recorded at the peak, because I saw it go below 2100. I'm guessing it could have gone lower at some time I wasn't staring at the ranking. Unfortunately, there's a lot of competition in the thriller/suspense genre, so I didn't see it hit any Top 100 lists.

I'd reduced the price from $2.99 to $0.99 for the promotion, but who can say whether the lower price helped sales? I'm almost certainly going to buy a sponsorship for Offerings--3 Stories by Mary Anna Evans







, based on the success of this one. It's priced at $1.49. We'll see if the sales are similar.


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## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

MosesSiregarIII said:


> Wait a sec. Didn't you have two books in your sig when I left for my vacation last month? And now there are four? Daniel wrote one while I was away, too. You guys are


hahaha -- I retitled Space Junque to Hero Material, and I haven't taken the SJ cover out yet. Still finishing edits on Blue Amber and Bleeder.

How about you? It's getting close, eh?


----------



## Iwritelotsofbooks (Nov 17, 2010)

LKRigel said:


> hahaha -- I retitled Space Junque to Hero Material, and I haven't taken the SJ cover out yet. Still finishing edits on Blue Amber and Bleeder.
> 
> How about you? It's getting close, eh?


Love the new cover. Have your sales really picked up some changing to a shirtless hunk cover?


----------



## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

LKRigel said:


> hahaha -- I retitled Space Junque to Hero Material, and I haven't taken the SJ cover out yet. Still finishing edits on Blue Amber and Bleeder.
> 
> How about you? It's getting close, eh?


Ah, okay. My world makes a little more sense now. Thanks for splainin' .

Still working, working. Getting closer. I should have my first 75K ready for betas readers within a day or two, so that's a nice mini-milestone. But I've got more than enough to keep me busy for three more months ...


----------



## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

MosesSiregarIII said:


> Ah, okay. My world makes a little more sense now. Thanks for splainin' .
> 
> Still working, working. Getting closer. I should have my first 75K ready for betas readers within a day or two, so that's a nice mini-milestone. But I've got more than enough to keep me busy for three more months ...


Fantastic!

It's going to be an EVENT when The Black God's War comes out.


----------



## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

LKRigel said:


> Fantastic!
> 
> It's going to be an EVENT when The Black God's War comes out.


That Moses' slow-ass writing self finished a novel 

J/k. Thanks!


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## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

Congratulations to KND sponsor Karen Cantwell! Her novel TAKE THE MONKEYS AND RUN has cracked the top 100 bestsellers overall in the Kindle Store and is also in the top 50 on the Movers+ Shakers list!
http://amzn.to/ebKI6P

Cheers,
Steve


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Windwalker said:


> Congratulations to KND sponsor Karen Cantwell! Her novel TAKE THE MONKEYS AND RUN has cracked the top 100 bestsellers overall in the Kindle Store and is also in the top 50 on the Movers+ Shakers list!
> http://amzn.to/ebKI6P
> 
> Cheers,
> Steve


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## iamstoryteller (Jul 16, 2010)

Windwalker said:


> Congratulations to KND sponsor Karen Cantwell! Her novel TAKE THE MONKEYS AND RUN has cracked the top 100 bestsellers overall in the Kindle Store and is also in the top 50 on the Movers+ Shakers list!
> http://amzn.to/ebKI6P
> 
> Cheers,
> Steve


That is fabulous! I for one am always looking for comedic books and that the protag is Boomer aged sealed the deal ~ I just added to the numbers. Thanks for bringing the book to our attention, Steve.

Sharon


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

I'm up at bat with the ebook of the day. Woke up to several sales this morning, ranked around 72K. Listen To Your Heart is now 4,376. For some reason, it's not showing any category ranking.


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## iamstoryteller (Jul 16, 2010)

That is fabulous, Gertie, and so early in the day! Keep it up!

Sharon


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## Sybil Nelson (Jun 24, 2010)

Congrats, Gertie!

I was really pleased with my KND day. I sold 60 copies of Ain't No Sunshine. I'm a little more worried about my day for Priscilla the Great. I'm not sure if a younger book will do well.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

A girl takes a three hour nap and what does she find when she wakes up?

#2,411 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

    * #84 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Historical Fiction
    * #97 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Historical Romance
    * #100 in Books > Romance > Historical

I'm going back to sleep.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Sybil Nelson said:


> Congrats, Gertie!
> 
> I was really pleased with my KND day. I sold 60 copies of Ain't No Sunshine. I'm a little more worried about my day for Priscilla the Great. I'm not sure if a younger book will do well.


Fingers crossed for you, Sybil.



iamstoryteller said:


> That is fabulous, Gertie, and so early in the day! Keep it up!
> 
> Sharon


thanks, Sharon.


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## J.M Pierce (May 13, 2010)

Go get 'em, Margaret! Yeah!


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

J.M. Pierce said:


> Go get 'em, Margaret! Yeah!


Many thanks, J.M.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

#2,085 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

    * #78 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Historical Fiction
    * #88 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Historical Romance
    * #91 in Books > Romance > Historical

Still moving up. And I've sold a couple more than usual in the UK.

All my sales have gone up in the last few days and are continuing to go up. I think part of that is residual sales from my banner ad on Syria Says.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Latest rankings.

#1,541 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

    * #67 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Historical Fiction
    * #68 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Historical Romance
    * #69 in Books > Romance > Historical


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## iamstoryteller (Jul 16, 2010)

Wow! That is impressive. Hope you break the 1000 mark, now that would be perfect!

Best, Sharon


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

It's slowed down a bit, but there are still West Coast overnight sales. I just might make crack 1K.


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## David Greene (Oct 16, 2010)

Once again I can testify to the effectiveness of advertising at Kindle Nation Daily.  

I have an eBook of the day ad running today, and it has already paid for itself--increasing sales by more than 40 units today, and putting me in the top 100 of Historical Fiction once again.

Thanks, Steve, for your great service.

I also see that Kindle Nation Daily is currently ranked #52 in "movers and shakers" (ranked at 249 just now).  So that means lots of new subscribers, I presume.


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## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

Sybil Nelson said:


> Congrats, Gertie! I was really pleased with my KND day. I sold 60 copies of Ain't No Sunshine. I'm a little more worried about my day for Priscilla the Great. I'm not sure if a younger book will do well.


Congratulations on your great day with _*Ain't No Sunshine*_, Sybil! And by the way, we will soon be launching a *Kindle Kids Corner* at http://kids.kindlenationdaily.com/ with a very cool group of partners -- kids and their teachers -- so maybe we can find a way to give Priscilla the Great a push even if the launch doesn't occur until after your day.

Cheers,
Steve


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## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

David Greene said:


> I also see that Kindle Nation Daily is currently ranked #52 in "movers and shakers" (ranked at 249 just now).


Thanks for the heads up, David. I've been so busy keeping tabs on sponsors' books that I totally missed that! And by the way, congrats on the continued success of Unmentionables.

Cheers,
Steve


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## DDScott (Aug 13, 2010)

TGIF, All!!!

I can sure vouch for Kindle Nation Daily Success!!!

I did the Silver Sponsorship for my #1 Amazon Bestselling On-Writing Book *MUSE THERAPY: UNLEASHING YOUR INNER SYBIL  * on 1/28 and 1/29.

*I saw a sales rank increase of 6437%...and no, that's not a typo!!! LOL! I went from a sales rank pre-bump of 118,066 to a peak post bump rank of 1,806!!! Beyond fabulous, right?!*

In real sales numbers, I sold approx 77 books in 48 hours. I blogged the entire experience at my *WG2E* site - The Writer's Guide to Epublishing.

I'm also thrilled to be doing a Platinum Sponsorship in May for THUG GUARD - Book One of my new romcom-cozy series The Cozy "Cash" Mysteries - which is a continuation of my romcom Bootscootin' Books Series but with a cozy mystery twist.

In addition, I'm doing a Gold Sponsorship for my Christmas Anthology in December.

In a nutshell, I luuuvvv KND, and Stephen Windwalker too!

As a new Indie Epub Author, it's sooo important to continue to find new audiences and KND does just that in a big way!!!


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## Mel Comley (Oct 13, 2010)

Wow DD, that's a real success story, congratulations.

Mel


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Congrats, DD. Well done.


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## Jeff Sherratt Novelist (Feb 9, 2011)

Way to go DD! That is amazing. I have my first Kindle Nation ad running in a couple of days. I hope I see the same CRAZY GOOD explosive growth numbers that you have seen.


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## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

DDScott said:


> *I saw a sales rank increase of 6437%...and no, that's not a typo!!! LOL! I went from a sales rank pre-bump of 118,066 to a peak post bump rank of 1,806!!! Beyond fabulous, right?!* In real sales numbers, I sold approx 77 books in 48 hours. I blogged the entire experience at my *WG2E* site - The Writer's Guide to Epublishing.


Thanks, DD! And congratulations!

And congrats as well to Helen Smith for _*Three Sisters*_ and Brenda Sedore for _*A Snake in Paradise*_ each of which soared into the top 750 in the Kindle Store with their sponsorships the past couple of days.

Cheers,
Steve


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## Imogen Rose (Mar 22, 2010)

Awesome, DD and way to go, Helen!


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## DDScott (Aug 13, 2010)

melcom said:


> Wow DD, that's a real success story, congratulations.
> 
> Mel


Thanks bunches, Mel! Stephen Windwalker is my new, Go-To, Find-Fabulous-Readers Guy!!!


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## DDScott (Aug 13, 2010)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> Congrats, DD. Well done.


Thanks sooo much, Gertie! The entire Kindle Nation Daily Experience is just beyond fabulous!!!


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## DDScott (Aug 13, 2010)

Jeff Sherratt said:


> Way to go DD! That is amazing. I have my first Kindle Nation ad running in a couple of days. I hope I see the same CRAZY GOOD explosive growth numbers that you have seen.


And way to go, Jeff!!! I just saw your Detour book on my KND Kindle subscription...and bought it!!!

Btw, if you're not subscribing to KND as a blog on your Kindle, try it! It's a fabulous way to find all these fabulous books then just one-click-buy.

Good luck, Jeff!!!


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## DDScott (Aug 13, 2010)

Windwalker said:


> Thanks, DD! And congratulations!
> 
> And congrats as well to Helen Smith for _*Three Sisters*_ and Brenda Sedore for _*A Snake in Paradise*_ each of which soared into the top 750 in the Kindle Store with their sponsorships the past couple of days.
> 
> ...


You betchya, Stephen, and thank you!!!

And cyber toasts to Helen and Brenda too!!! You go, Girls!!!


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## JL Bryan (Aug 10, 2010)

Oh, hey, it's this thread.

My KND sponsorship for Haunted E-book (the excerpt sponsorship) just went out...The book is currently #66,907 Paid in Kindle Store so I'll see if that changes by morning...


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## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

Go JL go!


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Good luck!


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

JL Bryan said:


> Oh, hey, it's this thread.
> 
> My KND sponsorship for Haunted E-book (the excerpt sponsorship) just went out...The book is currently #66,907 Paid in Kindle Store so I'll see if that changes by morning...


This is cracking me up (the second line):

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #68,768 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Lifestyle & Home > Home & Garden > Crafts & Hobbies > Printmaking


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## JL Bryan (Aug 10, 2010)

Moses - I have a weird sense of humor 

OK, currently at #5,314 in Kindle paid, which is a great improvement.  We'll see if it gets better..

UPDATE: Now it's at #2,996 and climbing...

UPDATE AGAIN: Well, it wasn't climbing, it was peaking.  Not too bad from where it started, though!


----------



## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

JL Bryan said:


> UPDATE: Now it's at #2,996 and climbing...


Congratulations, Jeffrey, and also to Helen Smith, Anna Mara, Julia Buckley, and John Yunker for nice showings the past few days! Given how much money Big Six publishers are now spending on marketing efforts to get their Kindle titles into the Top 5,000, it's even more impressive to see how well indie authors are doing. It's been a bit of a hectic week here -- http://kindlehomepage.blogspot.com/2011/03/windwalker-recovers.html -- but we did finally get our March sponsorship results spreadsheet posted alongside those from December, January, and February. There are links to all four months in one place on *our sponsorship info page* at http://kindlehomepage.blogspot.com/p/sponsor-kindle-nation-daily-free-book.html.

Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to my own KindleBoards sponsorship next week!

Cheers,
Steve

*Update:* Thanks to David Greene for pointing out a dead link among our sponsorship results page listings - it's fixed now, so that anyone who is interested can see how every sponsorship has fared going back to December 1.


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## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

JL Bryan said:


> Moses - I have a weird sense of humor
> 
> OK, currently at #5,314 in Kindle paid, which is a great improvement. We'll see if it gets better..
> 
> ...


You did a little better than that, Jeff. My tracking service caught you at a peak of 2,861 - nothing to sneeze at!

The Haunted E-book by JL Bryan
Format: eBook Released: December 31, 2010
Publisher: JLBryanbooks.com List price: 2.99
ISBN: B004HO5WYY 
Amazon page
date/time Amazon rank

Mar. 2, 2011 at 10:56 p.m. 66,907
Mar. 3, 2011 at 5:43 a.m. 4,752
Mar. 3, 2011 at 7:25 a.m. 4,861
Mar. 3, 2011 at 9:10 a.m.  5,314
Mar. 3, 2011 at 10:38 a.m. 4,746
Mar. 3, 2011 at 12:17 p.m. 3,687
Mar. 3, 2011 at 1:36 p.m. 2,957
Mar. 3, 2011 at 2:15 p.m. 3,258
Mar. 3, 2011 at 4:13 p.m. 2,861

It's been a nice start to March so far -- 11 of our first 17 sponsors this month have peaked in the top 3,000, and 7 of those 11 have made it into the top 2,000. My conclusion is that we do best when I am in the hospital ;-)

Cheers,
Steve
https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?hl=en&hl=en&key=0AlfzLsx6vYzodEhLWFJJcWVYeUpHVkpNSUlqODdGSlE&output=html


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## Sybil Nelson (Jun 24, 2010)

Windwalker said:


> Congratulations on your great day with _*Ain't No Sunshine*_, Sybil! And by the way, we will soon be launching a *Kindle Kids Corner* at http://kids.kindlenationdaily.com/ with a very cool group of partners -- kids and their teachers -- so maybe we can find a way to give Priscilla the Great a push even if the launch doesn't occur until after your day.
> 
> Cheers,
> Steve


Thanks, Steve. Yeah, my day for Priscilla the Great isn't going to well right now.


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## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

Sybil Nelson said:


> Thanks, Steve. Yeah, my day for Priscilla the Great isn't going to well right now.


Easy there! It just went up, and sales ranks take 2-3 hours to update! Check back in around 2 pm Eastern.

Cheers,
Steve


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## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

Sybil Nelson said:


> Thanks, Steve. Yeah, my day for Priscilla the Great isn't going to well right now.


And don't forget, even if you don't get a ton of sales right away, there are a LOT of people who sample and then buy later on. 

BTW, I'm up today, too, and I'm looking forward to increasing my readership.


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## Sybil Nelson (Jun 24, 2010)

I spoke too soon! My ranking is now under 10k!


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## JCPhelps (Jul 1, 2010)

I wanted to add my input about KND sponsorships.  They are definitely worth it!  I hope to use Steve's services again, soon.

My books have been selling slowly since February but the day of my sponsorship the rank for the first in the series jumped to #773!  That's the best ranking I've ever had.  It's dropping again now, but I'm still well above where I was before my sponsorship.  Also, I've seen a jump in sales for my other two in the series.  

Even had I not made a huge jump in sales, I am very happy with the exposure.

~JC~


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## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

Sybil Nelson said:


> I spoke too soon! My ranking is now under 10k!


And now it's #4,404, which is not a bad start.

But even better, our web developer whiz has just finished her work and Priscilla the Great is now featured as the very first eBook of the Day at our newly launched Kindle Kids' Corner -- http://kids.kindlenationdaily.com/

We've been working with teachers and kids to develop this site over the past few weeks and I'm excited that it has become a reality  ... and that such a great 5-star read is our first eBook o' the Day for the younger set!

Cheers,
Steve


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## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

Catching up to you, Sybil, I'm rank #4,548


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## DDScott (Aug 13, 2010)

Windwalker said:


> And now it's #4,404, which is not a bad start.
> 
> But even better, our web developer whiz has just finished her work and Priscilla the Great is now featured as the very first eBook of the Day at our newly launched Kindle Kids' Corner -- http://kids.kindlenationdaily.com/
> 
> ...


KND For Kids...fabulous addition, Stephen!!!

My 7 year old nephew will be thrilled as he got a Kindle for Christmas and is luuuvvving it!!! My sister will be tickled too as she's planning on filling that thing for their 18 hour drive to Florida next week for Spring Break! LOL!!!

You and KND rock, Stephen!!!


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## DDScott (Aug 13, 2010)

JCPhelps said:


> I wanted to add my input about KND sponsorships. They are definitely worth it! I hope to use Steve's services again, soon.
> 
> My books have been selling slowly since February but the day of my sponsorship the rank for the first in the series jumped to #773! That's the best ranking I've ever had. It's dropping again now, but I'm still well above where I was before my sponsorship. Also, I've seen a jump in sales for my other two in the series.
> 
> ...


Not only am I a huge, huge KND supporter -

I was a sponsor in January for my on-writing book *MUSE THERAPY: UNLEASHING YOUR INNER SYBIL* and will sponsor again in May and June for my new Cozy Cash Mystery Series debut plus then again in December for my Christmas Anthology -

but...I also found you and your fabulous Alexis Stanton Chronicles on KND, J.C.!!!

I'm even blogging about finding you tomorrow on one of my grogs *The Naked Hero.*


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## JCPhelps (Jul 1, 2010)

DDScott said:


> but...I also found you and your fabulous Alexis Stanton Chronicles on KND, J.C.!!!
> 
> I'm even blogging about finding you tomorrow on one of my grogs *The Naked Hero.*


Thanks DD! I'll definitely check it out.

~JC~


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## Sybil Nelson (Jun 24, 2010)

Stephen and KND are AMAZING! I'm gonna try to buy another sponsorship for my book coming out in May. Thanks!


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## Blodwyn (Oct 13, 2010)

I think Mr. Windwalker and KND are magic. Seriously. Here are my mid-day results:

# Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #2,751 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

    * #2 in Books > Teens > School & Sports > Fiction
    * #54 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fantasy > Contemporary
    * #79 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Contemporary

I am working on another book and there is no way I won't use this service again.


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## EverythingIndie (Mar 9, 2011)

What kinds of sponsorships are you guys using? And what's your return of investment looking like? I know this'll vary case-by-case, but I'm launching my first 'big' title in the next couple of days and I'm seriously considering it, but it's a 99-center and I'm wondering if the $249 gold sponsorship will recoup itself in sales with lower royalties.


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## LiteraryGrrrl (Jan 24, 2011)

Blodwyn said:


> I think Mr. Windwalker and KND are magic. Seriously. Here are my mid-day results:
> 
> # Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #2,751 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
> 
> ...


WOW. 

Huge congrats!
Shana


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## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

NicholasJAmbrose said:


> What kinds of sponsorships are you guys using? And what's your return of investment looking like? I know this'll vary case-by-case, but I'm launching my first 'big' title in the next couple of days and I'm seriously considering it, but it's a 99-center and I'm wondering if the $249 gold sponsorship will recoup itself in sales with lower royalties.


Nicholas, hope you don't mind my butting in here, but it always makes me nervous when an author is thinking in terms of a sponsorshop "paying for itself" all at once. Although we're proud to give good exposure and connect good books with lots of great readers, it's all about the exposure and building an audience over time, often for several books or a series. The presentation of the book in the Kindle Store -- cover, title, reviews, description, sample, etc. -- are hugely important.

That being said, if you want to take a look at how different kinds of sponsorships have done at different price points, etc., our sponsorship info page at http://kindlehomepage.blogspot.com/p/sponsor-kindle-nation-daily-free-book.html has links to public, totally transparent spreadsheets with all our sponsors' results over the past 3 1/2 months.

Cheers,
Steve

And, btw, cheers to Elizabeth, too!


----------



## EverythingIndie (Mar 9, 2011)

Windwalker said:


> Nicholas, hope you don't mind my butting in here, but it always makes me nervous when an author is thinking in terms of a sponsorshop "paying for itself" all at once. Although we're proud to give good exposure and connect good books with lots of great readers, it's all about the exposure and building an audience over time, often for several books or a series. The presentation of the book in the Kindle Store -- cover, title, reviews, description, sample, etc. -- are hugely important.
> 
> That being said, if you want to take a look at how different kinds of sponsorships have done at different price points, etc., our sponsorship info page at http://kindlehomepage.blogspot.com/p/sponsor-kindle-nation-daily-free-book.html has links to public, totally transparent spreadsheets with all our sponsors' results over the past 3 1/2 months.
> 
> ...


That's alright, glad for the feedback! That's a very good point, I wasn't thinking in long-term sales (*smacks forehead*). I'm still curious though. I have a mind for facts and figures, so I'd still like to hear from authors who have tried sponsorships, the sponsorships they've tried, and their short- and long-term effects.


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## Jon Olson (Dec 10, 2010)

Victorine said:


> But I'll take enough of a boost from a KND ad to put me on the radar for Kindle users. If the ad really does get seen and noticed by Kindle users. If it worked for others, I'm willing to try it.
> 
> That's all I'm saying.
> 
> Vicki


And you're not on the radar already? I'm doing whatever you do.


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## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

Jon Olson said:


> And you're not on the radar already? I'm doing whatever you do.


Well, Victorine's post was from last July, and she's had the wind at her back for a while now! Kudos to Victorine for cracking the USA Today bestseller list this week! That's especially impressive with just one book out there -- but it is a real testament to a gorgeous cover, great title and description and reviews, and very savvy pricing.

Steve


----------



## Jon Olson (Dec 10, 2010)

Windwalker said:


> Well, Victorine's post was from last July, and she's had the wind at her back for a while now! Kudos to Victorine for cracking the USA Today bestseller list this week! That's especially impressive with just one book out there -- but it is a real testament to a gorgeous cover, great title and description and reviews, and very savvy pricing.
> 
> Steve


OK. Thanks. I do tend to overlook the little things.


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## Blodwyn (Oct 13, 2010)

Thanks for the good wishes!

That's how I'm viewing this - It's a long term investment. People read the book, tell others about it, Amazon gets you in its recommendation scheme, and word gets out over time. 
I have noticed that many of the people posting great numbers in here had a KND sponsorship. It's a wonderful system. And I'm loving being an independent author. Right now, because of things like this, I'm working on my next book that I will publish myself. What I'm not doing: drafting queries, synopses, etc. for agents.


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## LiteraryGrrrl (Jan 24, 2011)

This is really inspiring. 
I'm thinking I might want to make this investment in the future...

Shana


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

NicholasJAmbrose said:


> What kinds of sponsorships are you guys using? And what's your return of investment looking like? I know this'll vary case-by-case, but I'm launching my first 'big' title in the next couple of days and I'm seriously considering it, but it's a 99-center and I'm wondering if the $249 gold sponsorship will recoup itself in sales with lower royalties.


I did Option 1 for a $2.99 book and more than recouped my investment over the next week. Sales went up and stayed up for quite some time.

I did Option 6 (I think but it's the least expensive option) for a 99 cent book. This book had not been selling at all at $2.99. I didn't care if I made my money back. The idea was to get the new 99 cent price out there. The ranking on this book went up over 4,000% so I accomplished my purpose.


----------



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

I'm in line for the Gold Sponsorship so I'll let you guys know how I make out. I don't expect to earn back anything like what I'm spending on it but like Blondwyn said, I see it as a long term investment.


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## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

Big congratulations to Imogen Rose this morning! Faustine, the first novel in her Bonfire Chronicles trilogy, is #5 on the Kindle Movers & Shakers list!

Cheers,
Steve


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## Imogen Rose (Mar 22, 2010)

Windwalker said:


> Big congratulations to Imogen Rose this morning! Faustine, the first novel in her Bonfire Chronicles trilogy, is #5 on the Kindle Movers & Shakers list!
> 
> Cheers,
> Steve


Thanks, Steve!!


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Congratulations, Imogen! That's great.


----------



## JulianneMacLean (Feb 5, 2011)

I bought an ad, too, for $139.  I have no idea what it will accomplish, but it runs in April, and I will report back on the results that day, because you KNOW I'll be watching the ranking.


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## dmburnett (Feb 4, 2011)

I did a sponsorship back in January, I think it was $59.00 or something. It worked really well. I did make enough sales to earn back my investment. Since my book, Ghost Country, was a literary novel it was a hard sell anyway, but KND worked great. Back then my book was $2.99, since then I've dropped the price to .99. I purchased the $29.00 option as well and that should come up this weekend. I'm hoping with the lower price to see even more results.

For my next novel, a contemporary romance, I plan to again use KND as well as advertising here on the boards. I'm thinking the results will even be better in a category other than straight literary.


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## Paul Clayton (Sep 12, 2009)

Kindle Nation Daily - Is a sponsorship worth it? --- well, heck yeah!  And I intend to put that to the test again, soon.


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## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

Congrats to 7 Dragons' Notepad for Kindle -- http://bit.ly/eLXVHC -- and Scott Nicholson's "Speed Dating for the Dead" - http://bit.ly/flQ3vm -- which are currently #1 and #14, respectively, on the Kindle Movers + Shakers list!

Cheers,
Steve
http://www.kindlenationdaily.com/


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Windwalker said:


> Congrats to 7 Dragons' Notepad for Kindle -- http://bit.ly/eLXVHC -- and Scott Nicholson's "Speed Dating for the Dead" - http://bit.ly/flQ3vm -- which are currently #1 and #14, respectively, on the Kindle Movers + Shakers list!
> 
> Cheers,
> Steve
> http://www.kindlenationdaily.com/


Nice! I loved Speed Dating for the Dead.


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## DDScott (Aug 13, 2010)

Here are some fabulous numbers both short-term and a few months out to show y'all what my KND Sponsorship did for my sales:

http://thewritersguidetoepublishing.com/my-ebook-sales-a-500-increase-in-3-months

http://thewritersguidetoepublishing.com/wg2es-real-numbers-pushed-to-sales-nirvana-by-kindle-nation-daily

My next Sponsorship, at the Platinum Level, will be starting in May for my new Cozy Cash Mysteries debut title THUG GUARD.


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## Kevin Lynn helmick (Mar 16, 2011)

I'm intrested in this as well, been looking around for a little cheap advertising and would like to hear some feedback.


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## Donna White Glaser (Jan 12, 2011)

So, I take it, DD, that you found it worthwhile? I found this thread via your Writer's Guide To E-Publishing article on posting to Kindle Boards. I would have commented there, but I think they're turned off. I really found your article helpful and have been able to (finally) get involved here. Addictive indeed!


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## David Derrico (Nov 18, 2009)

Well, I'm up for my second KND sponsorship today &#8230; I had one back in January on my first novel, _Right Ascension_, and discussed the results earlier in this thread. They were good enough that I tried a second sponsorship, this time for my humorous novel _The Twiller_. I'm very interested to see if it works to the same extent on a different kind of novel, which I think might not be in as popular a genre as my first two, and hasn't sold as well. So I'm hoping the KND sponsorship gives it a little boost&#8230;

http://kindlenationdaily.com/?p=1663

Unfortunately, it seems like Amazon's rankings are stuck right now, but I was pleased to see that I have actually sold a few copies already since the sponsorship went live.


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## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

Congratulations to novelist Rachel Howzell! Her 5-star novel _*The View From Here*_, our eBook of the Day and now just 99 cents, is #5 on the Kindle Movers & Shakers list and #334 overall in the Kindle Store! *http://bit.ly/etriKP*

Cheers,
Steve
http://kindlenationdaily.com/?page_id=614

PS: Inquiring authors want to know: "How do you find the Kindle Movers + Shakers List?" It's at http://www.amazon.com/gp/movers-and-shakers/digital-text/?tag=kbpst-20

_/ Updated with site affiliate tag - Admin._


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## Glenn Bullion (Sep 28, 2010)

Question for those that have done KND.

If you had multiple books, did they get more sales as well?

Obviously, I'm hoping for "Wow, Demonspawn is cool.  What else has he done?"


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## Laura Ruby (Feb 22, 2011)

Complete newbie here.  Does anyone know if Kindle Kid's Corner works the same way Kindle Nation sponsorship does?  And do you sign up at the same place?

Thanks (and apologies in advance for any stupid questions I might ask!)

-- Laura


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## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

Laura Ruby said:


> Complete newbie here. Does anyone know if Kindle Kid's Corner works the same way Kindle Nation sponsorship does?


Hi Laura,

Not a stupid question at all, but as of yet we haven't set up sponsorships at all on Kindle Kids' Corner. We're still working with schools and teachers to build it, and there will be some fun announcements in the future. The best way to be be in the loop for future developments is probably to become a fan at the new Kindle Kids' Corner Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/KindleKidsCorner

Cheers,
Steve
http://kindlenationdaily.com/?page_id=614


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## Laura Ruby (Feb 22, 2011)

Okay, thanks! (The Kids' Corner looks great, by the way).

-- Laura


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Steve, I signed up two of my full-length novels for your 99 cent page. Can you give me an idea of when they'll be posted? I'm probably not going to keep them at 99 cents but of course, I'm not going to raise the price until a week or so after you post them.


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## RM Prioleau (Mar 18, 2011)

So which site that people have paid for worked better for them? KND or Pixel of Ink?


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## Cristian YoungMiller (Mar 3, 2011)

Steve, 
Do you have any examples of spiritual books on any of your sponsorship results page? I couldn't find any. I'm considering advertising my book 'The First Day After Life'. Spiritual books don't have a huge audience, but they are loyal.


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## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

Cristian YoungMiller said:


> Steve,
> Do you have any examples of spiritual books on any of your sponsorship results page?


Hi Cristian

I just tweeted this spreadsheet: *Kindle Nation Sponsorship Results - Nonfiction (Over 90% of our sponsors are fiction, but here's a look at NF results) http://bit.ly/hAKYob*

Most of these, as you say, are smaller niches, but perhaps you'll find something helpful in these results dating back to 12.1.2011, which are not limited to Spiritual. I suppose it is fair to say that our posts and sponsorships tend to "train" our readership toward an affinity for fiction, but the counterpoint may be that fans of other kinds of books lurk and pounce on the things they are looking for when they come along. After all, it only takes 1% of our readership to give a book a very nice bump. I suspect most of our readers have pluralistic tastes and many are likely to become venturesome in the presence of a nicely presented book at an appealing price.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,
Steve
*http://kindlenationdaily.com/?page_id=614*


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## DDScott (Aug 13, 2010)

Mysterygirl said:


> So, I take it, DD, that you found it worthwhile? I found this thread via your Writer's Guide To E-Publishing article on posting to Kindle Boards. I would have commented there, but I think they're turned off. I really found your article helpful and have been able to (finally) get involved here. Addictive indeed!


Waving at you, Donna! And cheers to you finding Kindle Nation Daily via WG2E!!!

As Steve Windwalker of KND will tell you, yes, I'm a huge, huge KND fan!

Not only did KND take my non-fiction, on-writing book MUSE THERAPY: UNLEASHING YOUR INNER SYBIL all the way to a #1 Amazon Bestseller Ranking for all Writing Books, but thanks to KND choosing my romantic comedy BOOTSCOOTIN' BLAHNIKS as one of their Bargain Book Picks last week, I sold 300+ Bootscootin' Books last week. (***Note: Last week, I was also a Pixel of Ink Bargain Book Pick...so between PoI and KND, I was on a major roll!***)

And even though PoI is free, I'm doing KND Sponsorships all year long!

You'll see THUG GUARD -book one of my new, Cozy Cash Mysteries - the end of May on KND...and in June too, I think. Then, in December, you'll see my Christmas Anthology as well.

KND works!!!


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## RM Prioleau (Mar 18, 2011)

DDScott said:


> Waving at you, Donna! And cheers to you finding Kindle Nation Daily via WG2E!!!
> 
> As Steve Windwalker of KND will tell you, yes, I'm a huge, huge KND fan!
> 
> ...


Have your books been on PoI before? If so, did you get the same kind of results like you've gotten with KND?


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## Mark Adair (Dec 4, 2010)

Hey guys, just notifed by KindlenNation that The Father's Child is the Kindle ebook of the Day! Please spread the word!

#Kindle eBook of the Day #TheFathersChild - John Truman vs The New Dawn. @markadairauthor http://bit.ly/AdairTFC #suspense #thriller PLZ RT


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## Justin Alexander (Feb 19, 2011)

DDScott said:


> http://thewritersguidetoepublishing.com/my-ebook-sales-a-500-increase-in-3-months
> http://thewritersguidetoepublishing.com/wg2es-real-numbers-pushed-to-sales-nirvana-by-kindle-nation-daily


People may want to note that the later post confirms that the projections of the earlier post were incorrect.

Sounds like lots of people had great success with KND. My own experience was less positive. The genre of the book was misidentified in the KND blurb, the preview started with the Table of Contents instead of the proper starting position (making it less appealing at first viewing), and the entry in their results spreadsheet remains incomplete and incorrectly dated.

In the two weeks immediately prior to the sponsorship, we were selling 5.14 copies per day. In the two weeks prior to that we were selling 3.91 copies per day. On the day of the sponsorship itself we sold 10 copies. On the day after the sponsorship we sold 6 copies. In the two weeks following that date, we sold 6.15 copies per day.

In other words, the KND sponsorship appears to be responsible for 4-5 sales on the day of the sponsorship itself and had absolutely no impact on long-term sales. If this had any impact on sales for other books in the series, it was so slight as to be undetectable.

Our conclusion from all this was a pretty firm "not worth it".

But obviously other people are having success, so don't take this as an absolute discouragement. But in a thread about "Is sponsorship worth it?" I thought it might be useful to look at the other side of the experience.


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## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

Hi Justin,

It's pretty clear that what we have here is a failure to communicate! I regret that you felt you had a negative experience with Kindle Nation Daily. I wouldn't ordinarily respond to something like this here in a public forum, but I wanted you to know that in early and mid-January we sent you four emails trying to communicate about your sponsorship and didn't get a response to any of them. I also tried sending a personal message to you earlier today via KindleBoards, without response.

All we can do is provide exposure, and yes, it works pretty well for most of our sponsors. I suppose if it worked for all of our sponsors it would be a sign that there's something magical going on here, but there's not. Usually when a book doesn't do well there are some things that we can point to that are explanatory. I looked over your post, our post about your book, and the book's Kindle page, and here's what I see:

* It seems inaccurate and misleading to say that we misidentified the genre of the book. We described the book as a "a medieval mystery for all ages," taking a cue from the fact that your presentation of the book on Amazon leads with a School Library Journal review that classifies the book as "YA," and we provided a great deal of positive information and reviews about the book in our post at *http://kindlehomepage.blogspot.com/2011/01/our-kindle-nation-ebook-of-day-margaret.html*.
* The presentation of the preview -- and whether it begins with a cover image, text, a TOC or something else -- is entirely a matter between an author or publisher and Amazon. Someone at your end has formatted your book so that the preview begins with an unappealing display of the Table of Contents, but there is nothing we can do about that.
* It's true that the data on your book in our spreadsheet was incorrectly dated (until this evening) and incomplete. Although it accurately reflects that your book jumped up to #4,114 in the sales rankings, I was out sick part of the week in question and it's a very rare case where I never made a note of the book's sales ranking before the sponsorship ran. If you have that information and want to share it with me I will fill in the blank field on the spreadsheet. I could have estimated what I thought the ranking might have been -- it's about #40,000 as I type this -- but I try to avoid doing that.
* Extrapolating from what I see when I look at the book's Kindle page now, I'd guess the combination of a 3.5 star rating (if that's what it was at the time) and the overall look of the book's cover image wouldn't have lured a lot of Kindle Nation readers to check it out, and it appears from our records that about 3% of those who clicked on our links actually bought the book. There's a lot of text on the cover that is illegible on the Kindle page, and an image that could be, well, more dynamic. I read enough of the book, prior to the sponsorship, to know that it's a much more engaging book than the cover image or lack of any 5-star reviews suggests.

When I look at the numbers you posted here, it looks as if you actually experienced about 20 to 30 sales as a result of the sponsorship rather than 4 or 5, but clearly you sold a lot fewer than most of our sponsors, and fewer than you would have liked. I'm constantly trying to assess our readers' tastes, and I think they change from time to time, but it seems that -- in spite of the excellent exposure your book received on Kindle Nation, it just didn't hit the sweet spot for as many readers as you might have hoped. I greatly prefer to over-deliver and work pretty hard to achieve that result, but unfortunately there are things that are out of my control ... or perhaps I should say fortunately.

I wish you all the best in the future for all your books.

Cheers,
Steve
*http://kindlenationdaily.com/?page_id=614*


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## MonkeyScribe (Jan 27, 2011)

I have a hard time telling exactly how much my KND sponsorship helped, as my ad for The Righteous hit on April 20, right in the middle of the book's rapid climb in the rankings, but I was delighted with how good the ad looked and would happily work with KND again.

Here is the ad, for an example of what great work they do. http://tinyurl.com/3jo978g


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## Windwalker (Nov 2, 2008)

Mark Adair said:


> Hey guys, just notifed by KindlenNation that The Father's Child is the Kindle ebook of the Day! Please spread the word!
> 
> #Kindle eBook of the Day #TheFathersChild - John Truman vs The New Dawn. @markadairauthor http://bit.ly/AdairTFC #suspense #thriller PLZ RT


Nice going, Mark! As of 9 pm Eastern you're at

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #747 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

#5 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers > Technothrillers
#6 in Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers > Technothrillers
#20 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Romance > Romantic Suspense

I know you were as high as #647 earlier after starting the day at 21,967, but I may have missed your peak because Betty and I went to a play this afternoon.

Cheers,
Steve


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## destill (Oct 5, 2010)

My experiences with KND have all been positive.  Yes, all of my books have benefited when one title is featured on their site.  Sales normally rise across the board, often for several days. I've been advertising with KND since last fall.

Steve Windwalker is a master (in my opinion) at writing teasers too.  (I'd love to hire him to write my next book's description!)

On the rare occasions when something went a bit off schedule from my plans, Steve was quick to notify me and offer solutions. I've found him to be more than fair. 

Typically, I see a bump of anywhere from 50 to 75 sales on a KND sponsorship day. My sponsorship for Stilettos, yesterday, didn't do quite as well as some have in the past. After about 4:00 p.m., sales slowed considerably. I attribute this to: news coverages of tornado devastation (doesn't exactly foster a mood for humor), continued horrific weather in much of the nation, and last night's American Idol finale. Some things are simply beyond anyone's control.


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## DDScott (Aug 13, 2010)

Good Evening, All!

THUG GUARD - Book One of my new, Cozy Cash Mysteries - is making its Kindle Nation Daily Debut today!!!

http://kindlenationdaily.com/2011/05/knd-kindle-free-book-alert-thursday-may-26-ten-10-brand-new-freebies-this-morning-plus-think-the-rachel-zoe-project-meets-bond-james-bond-and-a-madoff-style-ponzi-scheming-king-and-you

I'm beyond over the moon to be back at KND!!!

This is my second paid sponsorship...plus I was wayyy lucky enough to have KND choose my BOOTSCOOTIN' BLAHNIKS as both a Mother's Day Bargain Book and Bargain Book Pick #6!!! Ohhh yeahhh!!!

Waving atchya, KND Readers and Fans!

And you know how much I think you rock, Steve Windwalker!!!

THUG GUARD started the morning at a sales rank of #14,679...now, it's at #1,308 and has also made the following Bestseller Lists:

#41 Kindle -Ebooks - Humor

#43 Books - Entertainment - Humor

#78 Kindle - Ebooks - Fiction - Genre Fiction - Mystery & Thriller - Mystery - Women Sleuths

Anyhoo...welcome to my new, Cozy Cash Mysteries...where all your fave Bootscootin' Books Characters are gettin' "cozy"...as in Cozy Mystery cozy...and where your Bootscootin' Mom Squad has now morphed into a blue-haired version of Charlie's Angels.

Happy Reading and Thank U, KND!!!

P.S. Also, BOOTSCOOTIN' BLAHNIKS has gotten a great sales surge too today!!!


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## Sally C (Mar 31, 2011)

I'm doing it on 10th June, and hoping for good results! Will check back and tell y'all how I got on.


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## DDScott (Aug 13, 2010)

RM Prioleau said:


> Have your books been on PoI before? If so, did you get the same kind of results like you've gotten with KND?


Yes, RM, my books have been on PoI...and I had fantabulous results there too!

My experience...from what I'm hearing from my readers and fans...is that they are luuuvvvin' both PoI and KND, and most of my readers and fans follow both sites! They're tellin' me too that when they see a book on both sites, then it's definitely an auto-buy, in the event it was a maybe from either seeing it first on one or the other site.


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## RM Prioleau (Mar 18, 2011)

Thanks for that! 
I was sooo ready to submit to PoI this past week but found out the submissions don't start until June 30th :/ I had 5 reviews and a 4-star average too like the requirements specified. Unfortunately now, my last customer review bumped it down to 3.8, so now I'll never be able to do it 

I appreciate your info, though!


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## Eileen (Sep 24, 2010)

I'm featured today as eBook of the day and yes, totally worth it!!

As of right now, I'm in the #2 spot for Kindle, Ghosts


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## RM Prioleau (Mar 18, 2011)

Congrats, Eileen!


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## Eileen (Sep 24, 2010)

RM Prioleau said:


> Congrats, Eileen!


Thank you!! Right now, I'm at Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,055 I'm so hoping I make it into the 900's. I keep hearing that Amazon will help promote your book more if it breaks into the 900's. I'm not sure if that's true, though.


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## Sara Pierce (May 15, 2011)

Wow. So I was looking into advertising and clicked on the KND option. Holy CRAP!!! Some of those packages are over $400 now!! That just, just...

Yowzas. Is it worth it still?!


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## Lisa Lim (Mar 16, 2011)

My KND sponsorship went live today - http://bit.ly/pfm1bD

My ranking is usually in 2000s, now it's in the 1000's.

I'd say my ENT sponsorship helped boost my rankings the most, with my ENT sponsorship, my ranking was in the 500s. Sadly, it only lasted a day.


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## Rex Jameson (Mar 8, 2011)

Lisa Lim said:


> My KND sponsorship went live today - http://bit.ly/pfm1bD
> 
> My ranking is usually in 2000s, now it's in the 1000's.
> 
> I'd say my ENT sponsorship helped boost my rankings the most, with my ENT sponsorship, my ranking was in the 500s. Sadly, it only lasted a day.


You're still on their front page and at the top. It may actually go up to the 500s by the time this is all over. Good luck!!


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## Lisa Lim (Mar 16, 2011)

RexJameson said:


> You're still on their front page and at the top. It may actually go up to the 500s by the time this is all over. Good luck!!


Rex, thanks for staying positive for me  Did you sign up for a KND sponsorship too?


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## LCEvans (Mar 29, 2009)

I've done very well with my KND sponsorships. Wishing you the best, Lisa.


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## Rex Jameson (Mar 8, 2011)

Lisa Lim said:


> Rex, thanks for staying positive for me  Did you sign up for a KND sponsorship too?


Sure did. Mine happens in mid-December. KND and PoE are definitely good places to advertise based on KB testimonials. Good luck on sales!!!


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## Iowagirl (Jul 17, 2011)

Hi everyone,

I just found this thread and I wondered if anyone could give me advice on what they think the best sponsorship option is (or what has worked best for you). I'd like to keep the cost under $200, and I don't want to wait 4-5 months. Has anyone had good luck with option A or option D?

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs013/1102437388337/archive/1107514630537.html#SponsorshipOptions

I would love to hear your thoughts. I know a Kindle Nation Daily ad would really increase exposure for my book - I'm just not sure which option to choose.

Thanks,

Tracey


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## David Kazzie (Sep 16, 2010)

Didn't know whether to start a new thread or not on this topic since it's been so long since someone posted on this particular thread. 

My KND sponsorship is running today. I bought the $60 Kindle Daily Deal ad, which makes my book the sponsor for the KDD. I need to sell 30 books to make up the cost of the ad (I guess if I really want to get technical, probably 40 books to cover the taxes on the income and net $60).

The ad looks really sharp, and it looks like good exposure. I think it went up around 6:00 a.m. 

I'll post tomorrow with my result in case other people are debating whether to buy an ad.


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## Guest (Feb 27, 2012)

David Kazzie said:


> My KND sponsorship is running today. I bought the $60 Kindle Daily Deal ad, which makes my book the sponsor for the KDD.


I didn't even know that was an option. Pretty soon there'll be sponsorships for other sponsorships.


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## David Kazzie (Sep 16, 2010)

foreverjuly said:


> I didn't even know that was an option. Pretty soon there'll be sponsorships for other sponsorships.


 

I chose it because it was the cheapest -- I didn't want to spend too much right out of the box. When I booked the ad in late December (before I had even joined KDP Select), it looked like the KND ad packages had started to lose their effectiveness compared to 2010 and early 2011 -- unfortunately, it looks like that trend has continued into 2012.

The nice thing about this ad is that you get pretty good exposure for relatively little money.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained, I guess.


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## 41419 (Apr 4, 2011)

I tried that sponsorship in December and sold maybe 6 books extra. This is what I reckon:

* As you are paired with the KDD, the readers will be extraordinarily price-sensitive. I think only a 99c book could fly.

* If your book is a radically different genre than the KDD, you are screwed (I think my how to was compared with Christmas shorts).

If you can get by those obstacles, you may get it too work for you, but if you are selling at $2.99 (or higher), this one is to be avoided, IMO.


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## David Kazzie (Sep 16, 2010)

dgaughran said:


> I tried that sponsorship in December and sold maybe 6 books extra. This is what I reckon:
> 
> * As you are paired with the KDD, the readers will be extraordinarily price-sensitive. I think only a 99c book could fly.
> 
> ...


Luckily, I am paired with a similar genre book.

I am selling mine at $2.99. I thought about changing the price to match the low price of the deal, but I decided against it.


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## Guest (Feb 27, 2012)

dgaughran said:


> I tried that sponsorship in December and sold maybe 6 books extra. This is what I reckon:
> 
> * As you are paired with the KDD, the readers will be extraordinarily price-sensitive. I think only a 99c book could fly.
> 
> ...


6 books... 

I kind of wish there was a list of all of the different advertising options (the legitimate ones, not the ones that perpetually spring up overnight) and the general opinion on their performance. That would be helpful.


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## 41419 (Apr 4, 2011)

For anyone considering any KND sponsorship, they have copious information on their site here (going back over a year) - - which shows how each book performed on the various sponsorships. Look at the commonalities between those that did well (and those that didn't) and base your decision on that data.

There appears to be big variances based on number of review, genre, price, and sponsorship chosen.

I was flying blind a little as mine was a how to. It had over 50 five star reviews at the time, but I knew that kind of book would be a roll of the dice. I got far, far better results on eReaderIQ for $50 (but then that site didn't really do well for my historical fiction).


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## David Kazzie (Sep 16, 2010)

OK, here are the results of my KND ad. 

A little context: My ad went live around 6:00 a.m. on their site. It appeared on their Facebook page and in their evening e-mail digest. 

In the 24 hours or so after the went live, I sold 17 books and had about 3 borrows. This was roughly double my average daily numbers for the previous week. 

I began the day ranked around 7,300. I peaked as high as 4,200 yesterday, the highest I'd been in more than a week. 

My genre ranking climbed about 10 spots and hovered between 35 and 40. 

Sidenote: A week ago, I decided to scheduled another Free promo, which will be tomorrow. I realize that some of these buyers may refund the book so they can get it for free. But I'm also hoping that people who saw the ad will take a chance on it when it's free once they see it a second time. Perhaps the wiser move would've been to have an ad run after the Free promo, during the payload bounce. But I couldn't line everything up in time, as the ad was booked 2 months ago. 

Anyway, thought others might find the info useful. Now to start sweating bullets about tomorrow's free promo.


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## Ernie Lindsey (Jul 6, 2010)

I'm holding out hope that sales are delayed on my reports, because otherwise, I don't think I could've had a worse sponsorship today.  I'll reserve total judgment for at least 24 hours to see if any numbers shake out.  But, I chose the $179.99 SSP-TP after hours (days) of pouring over the results from the past (and trying to convince my wife) and deciding that particular one had gotten the best results from their spreadsheet data.  I've waited months with baited breath for my day to arrive.

How many copies have I sold so far today of The Two Crosses down there in the sig?

One.

A single copy.  And truth be told, I'm not even sure that wasn't from a couple of Facebook ads I was running this morning.

Heck, maybe it just wasn't the right avenue for my book, because it's worked for others.  Even if it just sucked for my particular book, I still say they're great people and super-easy to work with.  

Is it just the book itself?  It has a good cover, good reviews.  Is it a bad description?  Is it because religion is a theme, even though it's not Christian Fiction? 

I'll come back and give an ETA update in case something clicks over and 20-30-50 sales show up overnight, but on some level, I think I may be ready to throw in the towel on this one and move on to finishing the next book.


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## Guest (Mar 7, 2012)

Ernie Lindsey said:


> I'm holding out hope that sales are delayed on my reports, because otherwise, I don't think I could've had a worse sponsorship today. I'll reserve total judgment for at least 24 hours to see if any numbers shake out. But, I chose the $179.99 SSP-TP after hours (days) of pouring over the results from the past (and trying to convince my wife) and deciding that particular one had gotten the best results from their spreadsheet data. I've waited months with baited breath for my day to arrive.
> 
> How many copies have I sold so far today of The Two Crosses down there in the sig?
> 
> ...


Wow, and I've been feeling sort of bad lately telling people that KND is not really the way to go, but that is just an abomination. Yeah, Steve's easy to work with, but for almost $200 that's not going to cut it when the results are so paltry. I'm really sorry to hear about that, Ernie, and I'm even sorrier to say that getting a dozen or twenty sales from this seems to be the best anyone could hope for.


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## Susan Kaye Quinn (Aug 8, 2011)

I had a similarly disappointing response with my recent KND ad - partly because it wasn't in the email digest (at least that's my operating theory). From mid-Feb to beg-March I've had three ads: KND, POI, KFD (Kindle Fire Department). KND gave me a few sales over the norm, but didn't boost my sales out of the "noise" for a regular day. POI gave me OUTSTANDING results and briefly got me into the top 100 of all books on Amazon (and easily paid back the ad). KFD was the best ROI of all - low price (although they just raised prices), great return (easily paying back the ad), and best of all...you can actually GET the ads (not closed to submissions until June, like POI). 

If you're looking for a great ROI on your ad, check out KFD. 

p.s. my book was a young adult science fiction novel, on sale for the ad times for 99cents (normally 2.99). YMMV


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## B.A. Spangler (Jan 25, 2012)

My KND ad ran yesterday.
It went up around 10:00 EST yesterday and was gone by 7:00 am this morning (maybe sooner) … was hoping to get a full 24 hour. I don't think it mattered anyway.

My ranking fell back by a thousand.
My positions on the Popular List didn't budge.
I sold a handful and had only 2 borrows. 

Wasted money. Bigger issue is that I have two more scheduled. One late March and then again late April.


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## Ernie Lindsey (Jul 6, 2010)

Yeah, I ran a KFD sponsorship back in early Feb and got a good little bump out of it, but probably would've gotten better if I'd had my cover and blurb straightened out properly first.

I think aside from being disappointed, I'm embarrassed. Not trying to turn this into a woe-is-me party, but I've been unemployed for over a year now, and under those circumstances, ~$200 is a big chunk of money! I wrestled with the decision for over a week and begged and wrangled and bargained with my wife to convince her that _this was going to be worth it_. When she gets home, I get to tell her that so far, I've had two sales, and 1 borrow. About $6 earned back. "Good news, honey! I only wasted $173!"

Reading back through the thread, it sounds like I'm not the only one, but man, they don't seem this bad.

Wrong time to give up wine for Lent!


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## NathanWrann (May 5, 2011)

Ernie Lindsey said:


> Yeah, I ran a KFD sponsorship back in early Feb and got a good little bump out of it, but probably would've gotten better if I'd had my cover and blurb straightened out properly first.
> 
> I think aside from being disappointed, I'm embarrassed. Not trying to turn this into a woe-is-me party, but I've been unemployed for over a year now, and under those circumstances, ~$200 is a big chunk of money! I wrestled with the decision for over a week and begged and wrangled and bargained with my wife to convince her that _this was going to be worth it_. When she gets home, I get to tell her that so far, I've had two sales, and 1 borrow. About $6 earned back. "Good news, honey! I only wasted $173!"
> 
> ...


Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I think you had the right idea up above where you said it was time to start finishing up the next book.


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## Katie Salidas (Mar 21, 2010)

Just a question. I'm not trying to sound "sour grapes" about this, but my book was the Kindle Nation "short" today (http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/1197607/dfca4d02cc/543981021/364149bbce/ ) and had no noticeable bump in sales what so ever. Now, I have to say I am promoting a later book in a series of books, so that might have something to do with it. I just wondered if any of you had experiences like this. Could it be that because it is not a standalone or book 1 that the results are skewed?


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## D.A. Boulter (Jun 11, 2010)

Katie Salidas said:


> Just a question. I'm not trying to sound "sour grapes" about this, but my book was the Kindle Nation "short" today (http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/1197607/dfca4d02cc/543981021/364149bbce/ ) and had no noticeable bump in sales what so ever. Now, I have to say I am promoting a later book in a series of books, so that might have something to do with it. I just wondered if any of you had experiences like this. Could it be that because it is not a standalone or book 1 that the results are skewed?


I don't know about the KND shorts, but I had no bump from my two sponsorship attempts. That's from about 18 and 21 months ago. I had a total of 3 sales for 2 ads. So, your experience is not exactly unknown.


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## EpubWorld (Dec 30, 2011)

Yeah, KND is really bad. And unfortunately I have a sponsorship coming up in June. You might be asking why I would do that... But I must've been the last person to buy an ad when they were still good, and at the time they had a 10-month waiting for the sponsorship option I wanted. So yeah, I spent a lot of money 10 months ago to reserve this spot... That is not going to bring anything. Well, well. If a miracle happens and I see any sale from it, I will be sure to report.


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## Guest (May 15, 2012)

EpubWorld said:


> Yeah, KND is really bad. And unfortunately I have a sponsorship coming up in June. You might be asking why I would do that... But I must've been the last person to buy an ad when they were still good, and at the time they had a 10-month waiting for the sponsorship option I wanted. So yeah, I spent a lot of money 10 months ago to reserve this spot... That is not going to bring anything. Well, well. If a miracle happens and I see any sale from it, I will be sure to report.


If you feel that way, send an email to request a refund. There's nothing saying you have to go through with it, and I certainly wouldn't if I were in your shoes. They would have absolutely no justification denying you one.


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## marshacanham (Jul 30, 2010)

This thread is fascinating. I clicked on the first page and saw the 2010 date and the prices...and the enthusiasm...then clicked every fifth page or so  to the end where the prices have skyrocketed and the results have plummetted.  I bought a few ads last June, and I think I paid around $59, and the results were well worth it.  I bought an ad early this year at about three times the price and should have gone out for a good dinner instead.


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## 39179 (Mar 16, 2011)

I think it's safe to say that these days a KND sponsorship is about as effective as a KB Book of the Day spot (!), with the latter being way, way less expensive. If you're going to throw money away, you might as well keep it in the family, right?


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## Debra Burroughs (Feb 17, 2011)

I know this thread is for Kindle Nation Daily, but I was wondering if anyone was having better luck on eReader News Today than they were on KND. They filled up sponsorship spots for the whole year in a couple of days in January and mine is coming up in June. I'm hoping for better results than KND. 

Can anyone tell me their experience with ENT vs KND?


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## Guest (May 15, 2012)

Debra Burroughs said:


> I know this thread is for Kindle Nation Daily, but I was wondering if anyone was having better luck on eReader News Today than they were on KND. They filled up sponsorship spots for the whole year in a couple of days in January and mine is coming up in June. I'm hoping for better results than KND.
> 
> Can anyone tell me their experience with ENT vs KND?


The difference between ENT and KND is like the difference between a nuclear submarine and a website incapable of selling books.



marshacanham said:


> This thread is fascinating. I clicked on the first page and saw the 2010 date and the prices...and the enthusiasm...then clicked every fifth page or so to the end where the prices have skyrocketed and the results have plummetted. I bought a few ads last June, and I think I paid around $59, and the results were well worth it. I bought an ad early this year at about three times the price and should have gone out for a good dinner instead.


Yes, I think a lot of authors get trapped that way. They only read the first page of a thread somewhere and end up flushing away a couple hundred dollars.


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## 39179 (Mar 16, 2011)

It was the difference between night and day in my experience. ENT and POI can still generate strong results. Of course, genre can play a factor in the level of success of any given ad, but they can both still shift the units no matter what they put up there.


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## Debra Burroughs (Feb 17, 2011)

Andrew Biss said:


> It was the difference between night and day in my experience. ENT and POI can still generate strong results. Of course, genre can play a factor in the level of success of any given ad, but they can both still shift the units no matter what they put up there.


So glad to hear that! Thanks guys for weighing in.


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