# KDP Select 5 day free promo for scifi novel



## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

Hey guys, 

I'm slowly getting close to finishing the sequel to Mindguard, which I plan to publish sometime late June/ early July. Meanwhile, since Mindguard is still in Select, I thought I'd use the opportunity to gain some momentum (and hopefully some more reviews) with a 5 day free promo in May. I've done Countdown Deals so far but never a free promo, so I'm not really sure how to go about it. I thought perhaps some of you could suggest some good websites for promoting free books, especially SciFi novels. 
I'd like to keep the budget under 50$, since the book will be free and I have no other books out yet, so I won't be making any money. 

So far, I submitted Mindguard to ENT and I'm still waiting for their answer (if accepted, it would be around 20$ but well worth it from what I hear). I asked Mark from scifi365.net if he'd be interested in running my book a third time (on the basis that we never did a free promo and this would be the first one after Mindguard being chosen their Book of the Year) and I'm still waiting for his answer too. I also thought about BookBarbarian. They featured me on my 0.99$ promo half a year ago, when they were just starting out and still in beta. Can't remember how many sales that produced but it's irrelevant since they've (apparently) come a long way since then. 

Other than that I'm not sure which other mailing lists I should submit to. Any help/ advice would be appreciated and rewarded with a free copy of Mindguard


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## unkownwriter (Jun 22, 2011)

To use your free promo days, go to your Bookshelf, and click on the Promote and Advertise link. Choose the Free Book Promotion option. There's information available there to tell you more. I believe you can name your promotion, but I'm not sure. I ran some free days but I didn't bother with anything other than setting the dates.

Someone on the boards had a long list of promotion sites which I though I'd linked to, but I can't find it. I probably just copied and pasted. You might be able to find it by searching the forums. I've never done any paid or free promos so I can't recommend anything personally.


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## unkownwriter (Jun 22, 2011)

Did a quick web search and found these:

http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,203174.msg2834822.html#msg2834822 (not the thread I was thinking of, but several places to look into)

http://www.kboards.com/index.php?topic=161795.0 (still not the one I was thinking of, but a place to start)

http://www.sarkemedia.com/free-kindle-book-promotion/ (quite a few links here, also some stuff about Facebook and hashtags to use)

That should get you started.


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## S. Elliot Brandis (Dec 9, 2013)

You'll find that some websites (small and big) will also pick you up, without submitting. The first time I ran a free promo I got picked up by Pixel of Ink, which probably did more than any of my paid spots.

I'm running a free promo at the moment at I've got ENT, FKBT, The Fussy Librarian, Choosy Bookworm, Bknights, Book Basset, and Freebooksy lined up. A range of prices and a range of reaches.


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

Hey guys, 

Thank you so much for the help.   I managed to schedule the promo from May 1st to May 5th. So far, I've booked BKnights for the first day and The Book Barbarian (dedicated to scifi/fantasy) for the second. 

I've contacted scifi365.net, ENT, The Fussy Librarian and Choosy Bookworm and am awaiting their confirmation. 

I found it a bit strange that some sites don't use the "invoice" system, but rather you pay up front and then they refund you if you get rejected. That sounds a bit backwards but hey... their site, their rules. I don't expect there to be any trouble with the refund, even if they choose not to feature me. 

Thanks again for the help, guys. As per KBoards tradition I'll post the results and numbers as the promo advances. Meanwhile, I'm looking to get in touch with some more of these websites.


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## PearlEarringLady (Feb 28, 2014)

Here's my current list of free and cheap sites that either I've used or others have recommended:

Free: Ebooklister; BettyBookFreak (free for now, will be $25+, has new release spot); The Midlist (free but curated, 20+ reviews); 
Buck Books (X promote); IndieBookBargainsUK
$5: Flurries of Words; Sweet Free Books (5+ reviews over all Amazons or new release); Booktastik
$8: eBookBargainsUK (£5+); ChoosyBookworm (8+ reviews or new release if author featured before); BookBarbarian (10+ reviews)
$9: The Fussy Librarian ($9 for epic fantasy; 10+ reviews over all Amazons; new releases if 50 reviews for previous book!)
$10: People Reads; Awesomegang; EbookSoda (8+ reviews or new release); Robin Reads
$15: Bargain eBook Hunter; Pixelscroll

Good luck with it, and let us know how it goes!


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

PaulineMRoss said:


> Here's my current list of free and cheap sites that either I've used or others have recommended:
> 
> Free: Ebooklister; BettyBookFreak (free for now, will be $25+, has new release spot); The Midlist (free but curated, 20+ reviews);
> Buck Books (X promote); IndieBookBargainsUK
> ...


That's awesome! Thank you Pauline.  I'll definitely keep you guys posted. I'm really curious to see how it goes since I haven't had a free promo before. My biggest fear is that it'll be a dud and I'll only give away 20 books or so and be depressed throughout summer.  Hopefully not. I wonder if the Book of the Year thing (which I heavily advertise, even in the blurb) is going to be a factor that might get people to download it. It might be cool to compare the final numbers with other scifi authors and see how much this type of accolade could work to our advantage.


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## PearlEarringLady (Feb 28, 2014)

Andrei Cherascu said:


> My biggest fear is that it'll be a dud and I'll only give away 20 books or so and be depressed throughout summer.


I don't see that happening! My first free promo, with only Bknights to helps things along, shifted 800 copies. The second, with ENT and the like, shifted 4,400 copies. With a decently planned promo, stand by to watch the graph soar!

One thing to consider: you don't need to use the 5 free days all at once. You could have 3 days in May and the other 2 days when the next book comes out. Just a thought.


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

PaulineMRoss said:


> I don't see that happening! My first free promo, with only Bknights to helps things along, shifted 800 copies. The second, with ENT and the like, shifted 4,400 copies. With a decently planned promo, stand by to watch the graph soar!
> 
> One thing to consider: you don't need to use the 5 free days all at once. You could have 3 days in May and the other 2 days when the next book comes out. Just a thought.


Thanks for sharing the numbers and for the advice  The initial plan was to use the free days when I published the sequel (which was supposed to happen in May). Unfortunately, because of some recent health issues I'm behind with work and it seems it'll only be finished by late June/ early July. Because my current Select enrollment period ends on May 30th, I didn't want to lose the free days so I thought I might use them as an opportunity to create some momentum for when I do publish the sequel. Then I plan to use the 5 free days for Mindguard (June-September enrollment period) and couple them with a Kindle Countdown Deal for the sequel and hopefully draw some good numbers.


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## SunshineOnMe (Jan 11, 2014)

I didn't know you could split your free days up either. Oops!  I just used them like a countdown.  

Good luck Andrei!


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Andrei, I'd suggest using C. Gockel's amazing spreadsheet of promo sites for free books: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RuBvSzJuy5jFg4-58EkkQ0G1OIuXzjN54CW-_CavdCA/edit#gid=0

Ideally you want to set the free run up well ahead of time, so that you can get as much promotional coverage as possible. And make sure to have a good mailing list pitch in the book, possibly mentioning the imminent arrival of Book 2. Good luck!


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## RN_Wright (Jan 7, 2014)

Just did an Amazon 5-day free with Bknights semi-coordinated. 200 copies downloaded. The next episode I'll use just 2 days. About 150 of the downloads happened on one day.


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

Guys, thanks for all the info and the help. So far, The Fussy Librarian (16$) has also confirmed, so I'm just waiting for an answer from scifi365.net, ENT and Choosy Bookworm. 

Becca, that list is incredibly helpful, thank you SO much. Also, C. Gockel, thanks for taking the time to create it. The KBoards gang is the best. Hopefully I'll be able to give back to KBoards soon enough (for now at least in the form of promo numbers).


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

I just noticed that the Free Promo doesn't specify the marketplace (the Kindle Countdown Deal promo lets you choose .com and/or .co.uk). Does that mean the book becomes free on all Amazon shops (.de, .fr, .jp etc. ) or just Amazon.com?

Meanwhile, almost everything is in place. I'll let you know when I have confirmation from all promo sites and then once the numbers start rolling in.


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

Can anyone help me out with my dilemma? (see previous post)


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## SunshineOnMe (Jan 11, 2014)

that's a good question! I think it's just at Amazon, but I'm not positive on that.  Looking forward to reading your book!


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

The listing dates are set in place and the promo is a little over one week away. Thank you so much all for your help and the words of encouragement. I'm really looking forward to it  

I've renamed the thread and will post the results in here as per KBoards custom. Here is what it looks like for now (the confirmed listings)

May 1st

BKnights (KBoards Special) (5$)
Betty Book Freak (FREE)
KBoards Bargain Kindle EBooks (20$)
Booklover's Heaven (FREE)
Many Books (FREE)
EBooksHabit (FREE)

Total units downloaded: 1224

May 2nd

Book Barbarian (8$)
Pretty-Hot.com, Book Reader Magazine & Discount Book Man (thank you, Vinny!)

May 3rd

Awesome Gang (10$)
Sweetfreebooks (5$)

May 4th 

The Fussy Librarian (16$)
Choosy Bookworm (8$)

May 5th

Fiverr gig: I will promote Your Free Book among 120 FB KINDLE readers Groups (Merlin George 001)

I've also submitted to the following FREE sites, but received no confirmation so the listings may or may not happen:

ebooklister
ebookshabit
the ereadercafe
indiebookoftheday
freebooksy
itswritenow
onehundredfreebooks

Meanwhile, The Midlist passed with the comment "We're building an audience on The Midlist for your content, but we're not there yet" and scifi365.net said it's too early to feature it again. 

I'm still waiting to hear from ENT but so far that's the setup. Wish me luck!


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## ThePete (Oct 10, 2013)

Just a quick thanks to everyone offering advice. This is why I love Kboards. I thought I knew it all and had _the _comprehensive list of promo sites already... but I was wrong. Learned a lot here.

If I can contribute anything it would be don't forget Facebook pages/groups. Especially those that have nothing to do with ebooks. I don't mean toss up "buy my book" messages on the sidebar, but contact the admins of groups with themes relevant to your work and ask them if they'd be willing to pin the post. You'll be surprised how often page admins, who are desperately starved for value-adding content, say "Sure, why not." The key is to demonstrate some relevance to their audience.


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## ThunderHawk2 (Dec 22, 2014)

I'm in a similar situation to the OP. I have a tight advertising budget - though I'm not on KDP select; rather I'm trying to make a book permafree - and I just wanted to say that I found this thread very helpful! I'll probably use the lists here to put together a promo schedule.

By the way, I imagine there's an inconvenient waiting list, but I keep thinking that the big KB Featured Book ad up here on Kboards ($35) would be a pretty good way to promote. You can request a specific date.


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

Just got the really bad news that ENT declined my book. I feel like complete sh*t right now because I have the impression this will seriously mess up my promo. You know, all the rejections I got from BookBub sucked and made me feel bad (as I'm sure a lot of you know - some of us have been here over and over again) but at least there was always that feeling that "Hey, it's Bookbub, the holy grail of the freelance writer". I know ENT are the biggest after BB but I seriously didn't expect to be rejected. This really sucks and I don't even know what to expect from the promo now. Sorry to be a downer guys, I just found out a few minutes ago and there really is no other place to vent. I seriously don't want to burden the wife or the rabbit with this.


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## PearlEarringLady (Feb 28, 2014)

Andrei, that's really sad news! I've heard of ENT rejecting other people, too, so you're not alone. Wayne Stinnett once said that ENT is *almost* a certainty IF you give them enough notice, so most likely they just couldn't fit you in on the day.

Looking at your schedule, you actually have a really good spread of sites. I wouldn't worry too much about ENT, I think you're going to do just fine without it (especially if some of those free submissions come through - FreeBooksy and OHFB are both great sites, so fingers crossed you get one of those).


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

I'm sorry to hear that, Andrei.  I suspect Pauline is right about timing being the issue.


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## ThePete (Oct 10, 2013)

Andrei Cherascu said:


> Just got the really bad news that ENT declined my book. I feel like complete sh*t right now because I have the impression this will seriously mess up my promo. You know, all the rejections I got from BookBub sucked and made me feel bad


Don't take it so hard. Most of the time a book's rejection is due to a lack of space. It's just like when hunting for a job and not getting a call back. Nothing personal, but there were a 1,000 applicants and only slot. Doesn't mean you aren't qualified.

As a personal example, I was rejected by ENT and accepted by Bookbub on the same day. Within hours of one another. It's all about space. Don't read too much into it.


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

Thanks for the support, guys. It really means a lot. I just got a bit tired of rejections, you know? A year ago it was literary agents. Now it's BookBub, and when it's not them it's ENT apparenty. Sometimes it's just a bit much, that's all. But you're right, it might be the timing. I only started setting up the promo two weeks in advance, so that might be a factor. At least I hope it is.



ThePete said:


> Don't take it so hard. Most of the time book's due to a lack of space. It's just like when hunting for a job and not getting a call back. Nothing personal, As a personal example, I was rejected by ENT and accepted by Bookbub on the same day. Within hours of one another. It's all about space. Don't read too much into it.


Thank you, brother! This example actually helped a lot. Sometimes it's hard to remember that you're not the center of the literary universe. It's good to be reminded of the (apparent) randomness of the whole process.I guess all I can do now is just wait and hope the other listings will produce at least marginally decent results.


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## Salvador Mercer (Jan 1, 2015)

PaulineMRoss said:


> Andrei, that's really sad news! I've heard of ENT rejecting other people, too, so you're not alone. Wayne Stinnett once said that ENT is *almost* a certainty IF you give them enough notice, so most likely they just couldn't fit you in on the day.
> 
> Looking at your schedule, you actually have a really good spread of sites. I wouldn't worry too much about ENT, I think you're going to do just fine without it (especially if some of those free submissions come through - FreeBooksy and OHFB are both great sites, so fingers crossed you get one of those).


Hi,

I want to second what Pauline said that Wayne said (now that is hearsay for sure!). I was accepted by ENT (promo with them is active today) and I submitted from 3 weeks to 4 weeks before giving them a huge date range to work with. I have only 1 book out and at the time I had NO reviews. Not a single one despite my book being out for over a month. Then, once I was accepted by ENT, I organized my mini promo for the week before so that it ended with the ENT blast. Of course I've been lucky and got 4 reviews since that time, but I think the ENT situation has more to do with an open slot and less to do with your actual book. I'm sure they won't promote a crap book, but I'm seconding the fact that to get ENT I think you need to work on their schedule first and not yours.

Just my own personal experience of a whopping 1 promo so take it with a grain of salt.

Regards and best of luck on the promo!
SM


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

Salvador Mercer said:


> Hi,
> 
> I want to second what Pauline said that Wayne said (now that is hearsay for sure!). I was accepted by ENT (promo with them is active today) and I submitted from 3 weeks to 4 weeks before giving them a huge date range to work with. I have only 1 book out and at the time I had NO reviews. Not a single one despite my book being out for over a month. Then, once I was accepted by ENT, I organized my mini promo for the week before so that it ended with the ENT blast. Of course I've been lucky and got 4 reviews since that time, but I think the ENT situation has more to do with an open slot and less to do with your actual book. I'm sure they won't promote a crap book, but I'm seconding the fact that to get ENT I think you need to work on their schedule first and not yours.
> 
> ...


Hi Salvador,

Thank you so much. It's really helpful when others share their experience. I guess I waited too long before contacting them. I tried to schedule my promo around them but when they didn't get back I went ahead and contacted some of the other sites. The problem was that I wanted to do the promo in May so that I wouldn't waste the KDP Select free days and time was running out (I would have set it up sooner but I kept waiting on a BookBub reply only to have them reject me too). As a writer, I'm used to rejections by now, I just didn
't really expect this one because I know they don't reject books all that often. It's very frustrating, especially since they don't really explain the reason for the rejection, like BookBub do. Since Mindguard was chosen book of the year back in December I kind of got over that dread of "is my book good enough". But getting any rejection is still a slap in the face, no matter how impervious you think you are.  I'm planning another free promo mid-July when I launch he sequel, so I'll write to ENT two months in advance. If they reject me then, I'll start worrying.

Anyway, let's hope the promo is not an absolute disaster. I have very little information on what to expect from any of these mailing lists so it's making me kind of nervous, but maybe it's not a complete and total loss yet. I'll post the numbers when I have them.

Good luck on your own promo, my friend!


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## Vinny OHare (May 3, 2013)

Andrei

Sorry to see you got turned down by ENT. Since you advertise with Awesomegang often I will arrange to give you featured spots on Pretty-hot.com Bookreadermagazine.com and DiscountBookMan.com for free! You just tell me the date and I will arrange to have it set up. I hate seeing a well thought out promo with a whole in it. Lets set it up via email.  Hit me up vinny (at)Awesomegang.com


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

Vinny OHare said:


> Andrei
> 
> Sorry to see you got turned down by ENT. Since you advertise with Awesomegang often I will arrange to give you featured spots on Pretty-hot.com Bookreadermagazine.com and DiscountBookMan.com for free! You just tell me the date and I will arrange to have it set up. I hate seeing a well thought out promo with a whole in it. Lets set it up via email. Hit me up vinny (at)Awesomegang.com


Vinny,

Thank you so much, my friend. I appreciate it immensely and am very grateful. I'm sending you the e-mail right now.


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## Salvador Mercer (Jan 1, 2015)

Andrei Cherascu said:


> Hi Salvador,
> 
> Thank you so much. It's really helpful when others share their experience. I guess I waited too long before contacting them. I tried to schedule my promo around them but when they didn't get back I went ahead and contacted some of the other sites. The problem was that I wanted to do the promo in May so that I wouldn't waste the KDP Select free days and time was running out (I would have set it up sooner but I kept waiting on a BookBub reply only to have them reject me too). As a writer, I'm used to rejections by now, I just didn
> 't really expect this one because I know they don't reject books all that often. It's very frustrating, especially since they don't really explain the reason for the rejection, like BookBub do. Since Mindguard was chosen book of the year back in December I kind of got over that dread of "is my book good enough". But getting any rejection is still a slap in the face, no matter how impervious you think you are.  I'm planning another free promo mid-July when I launch he sequel, so I'll write to ENT two months in advance. If they reject me then, I'll start worrying.
> ...


Good deal. NOW, however, you have no excuses LOL. Set that bad boy up well in advance. I don't know who Vinnie is from Awesome Gang but this is the second promo thread where I've seen him working hard for Kboard authors. That is always a good thing.

Keep your thread updated. I just updated mine and I'm just outside the first page on 3 subcategories in the twenties for my book so I'd say it's going well.

Enjoy your weekend!
SM


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

Salvador Mercer said:


> Good deal. NOW, however, you have no excuses LOL. Set that bad boy up well in advance. I don't know who Vinnie is from Awesome Gang but this is the second promo thread where I've seen him working hard for Kboard authors. That is always a good thing.
> 
> Keep your thread updated. I just updated mine and I'm just outside the first page on 3 subcategories in the twenties for my book so I'd say it's going well.
> 
> ...


Vinny runs Awesome Gang as well as other e-book promo websites. He really works hard to help indie writers. I've worked with him before and he always goes above and beyond to make sure everything turns out great.

Hope your free promo did well, brother. Wish me luck for the week-end


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## ThePete (Oct 10, 2013)

> Vinny runs Awesome Gang as well as other e-book promo websites. He really works hard to help indie writers. I've worked with him before and he always goes above and beyond to make sure everything turns out great.


I have to second that. In an advertising world dominated by automation and sleazy "internet marketers," it's a breath of fresh air working with Vinny. He's exceptionally hands on and helpful.


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## Vinny OHare (May 3, 2013)

ThePete said:


> I have to second that. In an advertising world dominated by automation and sleazy "internet marketers," it's a breath of fresh air working with Vinny. He's exceptionally hands on and helpful.


Thanks guys, much appreciated. As you can imagine it isn't often we get to hear some praise as we sit on the computer working. You have made my day.


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## Maia Sepp Ross (May 10, 2013)

Andrei Cherascu said:


> Vinny runs Awesome Gang as well as other e-book promo websites. He really works hard to help indie writers. I've worked with him before and he always goes above and beyond to make sure everything turns out great.


I really have to agree with that. I've definitely seen him go above and beyond to help out indies.

Andrei, don't let a rejection from ENT get you down. Some sites just need a longer lead time. Plus, your options will go up once you get just a few more reviews. Good luck.


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## WrittenWordMediaTeam (Oct 23, 2012)

Hi Andrei,

We have editorial (free) submissions on Freebooksy, if you want to submit your book to us but don't want to buy a feature - http://www.freebooksy.com/editorial-submissions

I sent your name to our content manager (Chloe) so she'll look out for you book


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

Freebooksy_Taylor said:


> Hi Andrei,
> 
> We have editorial (free) submissions on Freebooksy, if you want to submit your book to us but don't want to buy a feature - http://www.freebooksy.com/editorial-submissions
> 
> I sent your name to our content manager (Chloe) so she'll look out for you book


Hi Taylor,

Thank you, that is so great of you. I think in the whirlwind that has been the last few weeks (with planning this promo and pulling hard to finish the sequel by the end of May) I must have omitted FreeBooksy.

I would love to purchase a guaranteed feature but unfortunately don't have the funds for it right now, (since it's a free promo and I only have one book out so I won't be making a return) and 80$ was everything I could afford to pay for it at this moment. But I'll definitely submit for a free listing and if Mindguard gets featured and all goes well, I'll purchase a guaranteed feature in July (when The Vintages is out and I'll run my next free promo for Mindguard).

I'm submitting Mindguard right now. Thank you again for mentioning me to your content manager. I appreciate it a lot.


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

Freebooksy_Taylor said:


> Hi Andrei,
> 
> We have editorial (free) submissions on Freebooksy, if you want to submit your book to us but don't want to buy a feature - http://www.freebooksy.com/editorial-submissions
> 
> I sent your name to our content manager (Chloe) so she'll look out for you book


Taylor, looking at a list of book sites I think I might have actually submitted it to Free Booksy after all. I realized that after just having submitted it again, so I hope that's not a problem. Sorry about the double-submission if that was the case.


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

Hey guys... it started a few hours ago... wish me luck! Right now I'm at 165 units downloaded and #38 in Techno-thrillers. I'll post the complete numbers after the promo is over.


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## Joe Mynhardt (Apr 26, 2015)

Andrei Cherascu said:


> Hey guys... it started a few hours ago... wish me luck! Right now I'm at 165 units downloaded and #38 in Techno-thrillers. I'll post the complete numbers after the promo is over.


Good luck, Andrei. I'll keep an eye on this thread.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Good luck!


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## Salvador Mercer (Jan 1, 2015)

Best of luck!  Keep us posted, we're rooting for you!


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

Hey guys, thank you so much for all the support. Here are the stats for the very first day of my first ever free promo:

Total units downloaded: 1224

#148 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
#2 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Galactic Empire
#3 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers > Technothrillers

Since I haven't had a free promo before I have no way of knowing whether that's a good number or not (perhaps some of you can clue me in on that) but it certainly feels like one. All I can think about right now is that 1224 people are in possession of my book and some of them might actually read it it certainly feels great 

I'd like to share some feedback on *Betty Book Freak*. Theirs was the first listing that went out and contained Mindguard and there was a slight problem. For some reason, the cover of my book wouldn't load for me. It just showed the image thumbnail. All the others loaded just fine. The link worked but the image didn't display on mine. Tried it on two browsers over two PC's (mine and my wife's laptop) and got the same issue. I contacted Betty and she got back to me in a very timely manner. Apparently, on their end, everything checked out and the cover displayed just fine (she sent me screenshots to prove it). However, we spent the next few hours corresponding as she tried to fix the problem, tried to use another image and the likes. The problem didn't get fixed on my end, though I suspect it might have something to do with my gmail account. Betty, however, was *completely professional*, *very open to communication* and did everything she could to solve the problem. Because of that I'll definitely use their service again.

So, today I have: Book Barbarian, Pretty-Hot.com, Bookreader Magazine, Discount Book Man and Ebooklister again. Let's see how it goes!


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## Salvador Mercer (Jan 1, 2015)

Andrei Cherascu said:


> Hey guys, thank you so much for all the support. Here are the stats for the very first day of my first ever free promo:
> 
> Total units downloaded: 1224
> 
> ...


Those are good numbers compared to mine. My first FREE run in early March w/out any promotion I had only 76 downloads. The second one a couple of weeks ago using only Booksbutterfly I had 475 so for me your 1,224 is fantastic!

Keep your post updated and good luck today.


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## Vinny OHare (May 3, 2013)

Down to 133 in free store. 

Stayed up late to make sure all went well with your listings today. Already threw some extra social, will probably blast again at the end of the day.  Lets get this in top 100 today.


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## KReadnour (Jul 8, 2014)

Andrei Cherascu said:


> Hey guys, thank you so much for all the support. Here are the stats for the very first day of my first ever free promo:
> 
> Total units downloaded: 1224
> 
> ...


Awesome start! Good luck with the rest of your promotion.


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

Vinny OHare said:


> Down to 133 in free store.
> 
> Stayed up late to make sure all went well with your listings today. Already threw some extra social, will probably blast again at the end of the day. Lets get this in top 100 today.


Thank you so much, brother! I'm in your debt. 300 downloads today and still a long way to go, so it's looking pretty good!



Salvador Mercer said:


> Those are good numbers compared to mine. My first FREE run in early March w/out any promotion I had only 76 downloads. The second one a couple of weeks ago using only Booksbutterfly I had 475 so for me your 1,224 is fantastic!
> 
> Keep your post updated and good luck today.


Thank you for sharing the numbers. 475 using only one service isn't bad at all. I used seven different services which probably account for the high number.



KReadnour said:


> Awesome start! Good luck with the rest of your promotion.


Thank you


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## Vinny OHare (May 3, 2013)

Wasn't expecting it to drop under 100 so early in the day but you are at 98 now.


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## Salvador Mercer (Jan 1, 2015)

Vinny OHare said:


> Wasn't expecting it to drop under 100 so early in the day but you are at 98 now.


Down to 87 now but who's keeping track? Hehe


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## edwardgtalbot (Apr 28, 2010)

Thanks for sharing your info! Technothrillers are up my alley, so you just got at least one more free download


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## PearlEarringLady (Feb 28, 2014)

Great results, Andrei!


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## Julz (Oct 30, 2014)

What an incredible start!! Congratulations


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## A Woman&#039;s Place Is In The Rebellion (Apr 28, 2011)

Noticed a familiar cover at #15 science fiction & fantasy - congrats!


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

Hey guys,

It's Sunday morning where I live and I ust woke up to find Mindguard with the following rank (at a total 1672 downloads):

#87 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Galactic Empire
#2 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers > Technothrillers

I'm really excited about this because I didn't expect these numbers. I feel like they're really good for a scifi book. I've got three days to go and am super psyched now, so I'll keep posting 

I hope this thread is helpful for people who - like myself - might be inclined to panic if they get rejected by BookBub* and* ENT. Here's the proof that all isn't lost and that there are many other effective listings out there.



Vinny OHare said:


> Wasn't expecting it to drop under 100 so early in the day but you are at 98 now.


Holding steady at 87 for now. This is unreal! Thank you so much for your help with this. I'm looking forward to the AwesomeGang listing today!



edwardgtalbot said:


> Thanks for sharing your info! Technothrillers are up my alley, so you just got at least one more free download


Awesome, brother! Hope you'll enjoy it. I was a bit scared at first to place it in the techno-thriller category because its main focus isnt on technology, but rather the workings of telepathy and all the things it implies. I was advised to place it under technothrilers by a friend on the basis of the book's pacing and overall narative construction. I hope it makes a technothrillers fan happy 



Augusta Blythe said:


> Noticed a familiar cover at #15 science fiction & fantasy - congrats!


Thank you! It feels completely surreal.  I remember when I sold a book on the Amazon mexico website and it instantly shot Mindguard into the top 100, ahead of A Game of Thrones ) Made a screenshot and showed it to my friends. I got a ton of congratulations before leting them know the truth.



Nicknacks said:


> Nearly choked on my pop when I read the bit about a knife-wielding hooker!


That's slowly becoming the defining story of my life )


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## Vinny OHare (May 3, 2013)

The lowest I saw it at today was 83  It was bouncing around a lot today. I saw it at 99 then 103 then 83 and now 87.


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

Vinny OHare said:


> The lowest I saw it at today was 83  It was bouncing around a lot today. I saw it at 99 then 103 then 83 and now 87.


Meanwhile, it's at 86 ) I think the lower you go the more it's bound to change. So cool that it made it to 83  I didn't see that as it was probably during the night for me.


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## KReadnour (Jul 8, 2014)

Happy to read how well yesterday went for you. I figured it was going nicely since I kept seeing your book when I checked mine.    I took a screen shot when your book was at 96 and mine was at 99. I thought it was cool since I recognized your book.


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

KReadnour said:


> Happy to read how well yesterday went for you. I figured it was going nicely since I kept seeing your book when I checked mine.  I took a screen shot when your book was at 96 and mine was at 99. I thought it was cool since I recognized your book.


Kimberly, good luck with your book!  It's always great to recognize a fellow KBoarder in the top 100


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## edwardgtalbot (Apr 28, 2010)

To follow-up on the technothriller question, if you look at the list, you see two sorts of books - Tom Clancy type thrillers and Science Fiction with a focus on technology. Back in the 1980's when I first heard the term it always described Tom Clancy type books, not science fiction.  These days, I think it actually leans a little more towards science fiction. In any case, based on your book description I think it fits in the category just fine.


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## Matt Ryan (Nov 16, 2012)

Grats, Andrei. That's a nice free run. I'm sure you'll get some new reviews and readers as a result. I picked up a copy. 

Bookbub rejected my free run as well


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

Matt Ryan said:


> Grats, Andrei. That's a nice free run. I'm sure you'll get some new reviews and readers as a result. I picked up a copy.
> 
> Bookbub rejected my free run as well


Well, even without BB we've both done pretty ok. I see Rise of the Six is 44 overall... that's a great ranking! Congrats, my friend. Hope the others are doing well too. I used this opportunity to get the whole trilogy. I'm looking forward to reading it. Might have to wait for summer 'cos I'm working round-the-clock on The Vintages but I'll get to it 

Meanwhile, May 3rd saw a total of 886 units downloaded and I'm very happy with that number (though I'm no longer in the top 100). I've got The Fussy Librarian and Choosy Bookworm today, so let's see how that goes. I'll keep you all posted!


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

Hey guys, 

The free promo is now over and I thought I'd post the FINAL numbers and results so you can get all the info in a single post. Ok, here it goes:

May 1st

BKnights (KBoards Special) (5$)
Betty Book Freak (FREE)
KBoards Bargain Kindle EBooks (20$)
Booklover's Heaven (FREE)
Many Books (FREE)
EBooksHabit (FREE)

Total units downloaded: 1224

May 2nd

Book Barbarian (8$)
Pretty-Hot.com, Book Reader Magazine & Discount Book Man (FREE - thank you, Vinny!)

Total units downloaded: 1672 + 1 KU unit

May 3rd

Awesome Gang (10$)
Sweetfreebooks (5$)


Total units downloaded: 886

May 4th 

The Fussy Librarian (16$)
Choosy Bookworm (8$)

Total units downloaded: 1198 + 1 KU unit

May 5th

Fiverr gig: I will promote Your Free Book among 120 FB KINDLE readers Groups (Merlin George 001) (5$)

Total Units downloaded: 593 + 1 KU unit

Total budget: 77$

Total number of downloads: 5573

Like I said before, it's my first experience with a free book promo, so I have little info on numbers and such, but 5573 feels like a good number to me, especially for a scifi book . I hope this thread is helpful to authors looking to plan a free promo, especially as (I think) it shows you can get good results even without Bookbub and ENT. I mentioned that I was a bit down after ENT rejected me, but it seems like everything turned out well in the end. I already got my first review after the promo and I got a fan mail yesterday which is one of the highlights of my writing career.  

Special thanks go out to Vinny O'Hare who went above and beyond for me and to whom I am immensely grateful. Vinny, you are truly awesome!


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## Joe Mynhardt (Apr 26, 2015)

That's brilliant. Congrats. And you spent so little.


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## PearlEarringLady (Feb 28, 2014)

Some great numbers - well done! Thanks for sharing.


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## ZamajK (Jun 8, 2014)

Great job Andrei  hoping for bigger better things next.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## edwardgtalbot (Apr 28, 2010)

Nice job. Make sure you keep us posted about how the paid sales are going now.


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## Vinny OHare (May 3, 2013)

Great job! That is a good amount of books. 

You are very welcome and it was my pleasure helping you.


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

Hey guys,

I thought I'd update this thread with a comment on how things are going two weeks after the promo.

In the mean time, I've set the price for Mindguard at 0.99$ in anticipation of the July release of its sequel,_ The Vintages_.

Ever since the promo and the price change, sales have been consistent as have the KU/KOLL units. It's technically not a lot,mostly 3 to 6 units moved every day but before the promo I hadn't sold a book in weeks and KU units had been virtually non-existent. So I guess I'm slowly building an audience.

I got eight reviews from the promo so far. I was hoping for more but I guess there's still time (the plan is to gain a sufficiently high number of reviews until July so I can qualify for a BookBub). I was very happy to see that feedback for the book has been good. It gave me a lot of energy to work over the past two weeks.  I also got a few sign-ups for my mailing list, but just a handful.

The greatest thing, by far, has been receiving fan mail. I's such a fantastic feeling when people write to me to tell me they loved the book and can't wait for the next. It makes such an incredible difference on the way I approach my work. So this is it, the final chapter in the story of this promo. Hopefully, it will lead to more feedback and greater things down the line. Thank you all for your support! I hope you found this thread useful


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## geronl (May 7, 2015)

Over 5,500 downloads and 8 reviews??

jeesh


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

geronl said:


> Over 5,500 downloads and 8 reviews??
> 
> jeesh


I know. I keep telling myself, however, that it's a 113.000 word book and by no means "easy" reading, so maybe it will take a bit longer for other reviews to pop up, if they do.


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## PearlEarringLady (Feb 28, 2014)

Thanks for the update. It's always good to know how the tail plays out. Glad it's given regular sales a boost. Good luck with the next book!


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

Hey guys, 

Back in May I had a 5 day free promo for Mindguard and used this thread to document it. I'm running another free promo from August 1st to August 5th so I figured I'd use the same thread to document it, instead of opening a new one. If you remember, one of the big "themes" the last time was that I had submitted to ENT too late and they turned me down, so I had to make due without them. 

Well, this time they said YES, so I'm curious to see how that impacts the downloads. Here's the setup I have this time:

August 1 through 3 - It's Write Now (10$) - for 10$ they said they would advertise the book three days in a row, which sounds really good.  

On August 3rd I also have ENT.

On August 4th I have Freebooksy (70$) - this one was a bit expensive but I expect great things. 

Let's hope the promo goes well! It will be the last free one I'll run in a while (unless I get picked by Bookbub for a free run)I'm running it now because The Vintages - the sequel to Mindguard - will be out very soon and I hope to generate some interest in it. The last promo (around 5500) got be around 15 reviews (most of which - one exception - were really good) so I'm hoping to get some more reviews out of this one. Wish me luck! 

The frustrating thing is that something's come up and I will be out of town with no internet tomorrow. I'll only be back on Sunday, so I can't check how the downloads are going until then. Someone please let me know if it hits the top 100 while I'm away


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## edwardgtalbot (Apr 28, 2010)

Best of luck on it. I'd consider spending $5 on bknights if you can - that is the best bang for the buck of any place except bookbub.


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

Hey Edward, 

Thanks, man. I've already used BKnights for every last free promo I ran. I figured the Digital Book Spot audience is sick of my book already ) I wanted this time to use only promo services I haven't used before, that's why I didn't go back to my usual go-to services (i.e BKnights, AwesomeGang).


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## edwardgtalbot (Apr 28, 2010)

Okay, I can see that. I just lucked into a Boolkbub myself and I just last week used a whole bunch of services on the book that got the bookbub so I won't reuse most of them during the bookbub promo.


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

edwardgtalbot said:


> Okay, I can see that. I just lucked into a Boolkbub myself and I just last week used a whole bunch of services on the book that got the bookbub so I won't reuse most of them during the bookbub promo.


That's awesome, man! Good luck with the BB!


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

Just got back in town and checked the downloads for August 1st, which was the first promo day and Mindguard was featured by _It's Write Now_. Unfortunately, the service produced a very disappointing 53 downloads, in spite of the fact that Mindguard was placed first in the e-mail. It's Write Now looks good and I think it could one day be a decent promo service, but at this point I don't feel the 10$ for the guaranteed submission were worth it. Anyway, ENT is up tomorrow (nothing today - I wanted to see what happens on a free day if I use no promo service) so I'm excited about that.


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

My ENT promo ran yesterday so I thought I'd update the thread. Total downloads for the day: 903 

It's not a bad number, though I have got admit I expected more. However, I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I ran the free promo in May and part of the interested ENT audience might have already picked up a copy. Still got Freebooksy today, so I'm looking forward to it.


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## PearlEarringLady (Feb 28, 2014)

A lot of people have reported lower-than-expected results from promos these last few weeks. Just the dreaded summer slump, I expect.


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## edwardgtalbot (Apr 28, 2010)

Andrei Cherascu said:


> My ENT promo ran yesterday so I thought I'd update the thread. Total downloads for the day: 903


Honestly I think that's a very good number for ENT. I'd take it six days a week and twice on sundays. Freebooksy *should* be even better.

I think sometimes when we do promos with a lot of different promo sites, we forget about the cumulative effect. This time you're doing very few. If you get over 2000 downloads from what amounts to two sites after freebooksy, you have to call it a win.


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

PaulineMRoss said:


> A lot of people have reported lower-than-expected results from promos these last few weeks. Just the dreaded summer slump, I expect.


I had heard about that. I was debating whether I should have the free promo but I figured it might get some traction for the upcoming sequel (give people a little time to get familiar with the universe, so to speak).



edwardgtalbot said:


> Honestly I think that's a very good number for ENT. I'd take it six days a week and twice on sundays. Freebooksy *should* be even better.
> 
> I think sometimes when we do promos with a lot of different promo sites, we forget about the cumulative effect. This time you're doing very few. If you get over 2000 downloads from what amounts to two sites after freebooksy, you have to call it a win.


You're probably right. Last time I had used a great number of sites and coupled them (I think) rather effectively. This time I just wanted to go with two big ones (ENT and Freebooksy) so i can get a bit of a feel for how they perform.

Here's the final "score":

It's Write Now didn't really do well at all. I had 53 units on August 1st and 56 on August 2nd. Like I said, the mailing list has time to grow and it seems to be going in the right direction but for now it's not worth the 10$ for a guaranteed listing.

August 3rd (& ENT) brought me 903 units while August 4th (Freebooksy) got me 923 units and August 5th (with no promos lined up) got me an added 443 units. I'm happy with the numbers but I can't say I was really blown away by ENT and Freebooksy (especially with the latter, that cost 75$). However, I'm aware that there are other factors at play (summer slump, the free promo I ran in May, and in the case of Freebooksy also the fact that it ran after ENT - I have to assume that there is a shared audience)

Still, it's a total of 2378, so I'm happy. Adding to this the numbers from the last promo it's a total of 7951 downloads for this year, so it should get me decent exposure by the time I launch The Vintages. (and hopefully some more reviews too). This is the last free promo I plan to run for Mindguard for a long time (unless I get picked up by BB) so all the numbers are in one thread. I hope it will be helpful to other SF authors as well


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## edwardgtalbot (Apr 28, 2010)

Andrei Cherascu said:


> August 3rd (& ENT) brought me 903 units while August 4th (Freebooksy) got me 923 units and August 5th (with no promos lined up) got me an added 443 units. I'm happy with the numbers but I can't say I was really blown away by ENT and Freebooksy (especially with the latter, that cost 75$). However, I'm aware that there are other factors at play (summer slump, the free promo I ran in May, and in the case of Freebooksy also the fact that it ran after ENT - I have to assume that there is a shared audience)


Honestly I think maybe your expectations were slightly high. 903 units for the price of ENT is great. 923 for $75 on freebooksy is good too. Yes, freebooksy sometimes delivers more. But i think it's very important to read the promotion threads and interpret the numbers yourself. If you see either a service far outperforming what most people get, or it's on day 3 or 4 of a promo or later and/or stacked with other smaller sites - you have to give a lot less weight to the validity of those results. So 1000 or so for freebooksy doesn't seem all that far off.

Anyway, solid promo!


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