# Successful USA Today strategy / Bookbub promotion (With updated results)



## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

Hello all,

Over the last two years I've learned a hell of a lot from Kindle Boards, and I thought that I would try to give something back. So here is my USA Today bestseller strategy for the week of May 4 -- May 10. I don't know if I'll reach it, but I'm going to give it my all. (Spoiler, the results are in, check them out at the bottom of this post)

I was recently accepted for a Bookbub deal of my Epic Fantasy Bundle, Whill of Agora Books 1-4. I will be discounting the $9.99 bundle to .99 from May 4-11. I was apprehensive about offering up the bundle at such a cheap price, and decided that if Bookbub accepted it I would use the momentum to try to hit the USA Today top 150. I recently hit it with a group of other authors with the bundle FIERCE (#94), and learned so much from the experience that I think I might have a shot. Given what I know, I think that I will need between 7,000 -- 10,000 sales on amazon for the week, and at least 500 on Barnes & Noble to qualify (Depending on mother's day sales spikes).

Below is a list of the 27 or so sites that I've contacted. My budget for this endeavor is $1,000.

Mon, May 4
1.	Bookbub - $380
2.	Fussy librarian - $8
3.	Manybooks - $20
4.	Discount Books Daily - $30 (4th -- 6th)
Tues, May 5
1.	Ebook Habits - $10
2.	Awesomegang - $10
3.	Digital Book Today - $30
Wed, May 6
1.	Free Booksy - $40
2.	Kindle Boards - $35
3.	Booklovers Heaven -- Free
4.	Ebook Hounds - $28
Thurs, May7
1.	Booktastic - $10
2.	Book Sends - $50
3.	Ebook Soda - $10
Fri, May 8
1.	eReader Cafe - $25
2.	Kindle Book Review - $25
3.	E-Book Hunter - $22.50 (8th & 9th)
4.	Pixlescroll - $22.50 (8th & 9th)
Sat May 9
1.	E-book hunter
2.	Pixlescroll
3.	Kindle Nation Daily - $150 (9th -- 11th)
Sun May 10
1.	Sweet Free Books - $5
2.	Kindle Nation Daily
Below are the sites running the promotion all week
1.	Reading Deal.com - $10
2.	Choosey Bookworm - $20
3.	People Reads - $15
4.	New Free Kindle Books -- free
5.	Kindle Book Promo - $25
6.	Read Freely -- free
7.	Book Goodies - $20

I've also got a few promotion lined up on Fiverr

I came in a little over budget with this one, at about $1,050, which is the biggest promotion I've ever done. At .35 profit per sale on Amazon and .53 for all Draft 2 Digital venues, I'm going to have to sell a little over 3,000 copies to break even, but I don't think that will be a problem.

The week kicks off with the Bookbub ad (today), which I predict will launch the book into the Amazon top 30 by May 5th. I've been keeping an eye on all the Fantasy bundles that Bookbub has been running, and each one has begun the next day in the top 30. I think I might have a slight advantage here, as I have four books in the bundle and not 3...we'll see. Assuming that Bookbub gets the bundle to the top 30, the hope is that the algorithms coupled with all the sites promoting throughout the week will keep it there (or at least in the top 100). The week ends with the other powerhouse, Kindle Nation Daily running their facebook triple play promo Saturday and Sunday.

Well, that's about it. I'll be posting throughout the week with updated sales figures and rankings.

I hope this thread helps other Indies with similar campaigns. Have a great day!  

*Results* The Whill of Agora Bundle hit #144 on the USA Today Bestseller list on 5-14-15 for the week of 5-4-15 - 5-10-15.


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## Starstruck (Nov 1, 2013)

I wish you the best of luck!  I'll be watching this thread.


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## jd_ruthers_85 (Mar 25, 2015)

Good luck with this!

Can I ask if you saw any uptick in sales since you put the_ "From USA Today bestselling author Michael James Ploof" _on your copies?


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

I'm very curious to see how this goes. Thanks for sharing the data with us!


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

jd_ruthers_85 said:


> Good luck with this!
> 
> Can I ask if you saw any uptick in sales since you put the_ "From USA Today bestselling author Michael James Ploof" _on your copies?


I can't say for sure, since we hit the list a month ago, and sales are up across the board because of all the people who have bought book 1 through the Bundle.


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## ThunderHawk2 (Dec 22, 2014)

I'm very interested in your strategy and I'll definitely be watching this thread like a hawk. Good luck!


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## TexasGirl (Dec 21, 2011)

As you go into this, make sure your back matter is exactly as you want it -- this will be a big moment to get new newsletter subscribers, or to start them on a series if you have one. You can send them to your Author Central page to see what you have. Think about your first call to action after "The End" as it's super important. Use it well!


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

TexasGirl said:


> As you go into this, make sure your back matter is exactly as you want it -- this will be a big moment to get new newsletter subscribers, or to start them on a series if you have one. You can send them to your Author Central page to see what you have. Think about your first call to action after "The End" as it's super important. Use it well!


Excellent advise. At the end of the bundle is a letter to the reader thanking them for their time and directing them to my mailing list. I offer a free eBook for new subscribers. I have also inserted the first chapter of another series in the same world.


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## C. Gockel (Jan 28, 2014)

I'm going to buy your bundle, just as a thank you for this thread.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

Update: 

Starting rank - #9,953 on Amazon, and #50,744 on Barnes and Noble. I will update ranking when practical.

The Bookbub email just went out at 12:45 PM eastern time, and so far 587 downloads on Amazon. So far so good...


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

C. Gockel said:


> I'm going to buy your bundle, just as a thank you for this thread.


Thank you, I appreciate it. I hope I gain some useful information for you.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

By the way, I almost shot myself in the foot...

I changed over the price on Draft 2 Digital on Saturday evening. This morning the price still hadn't changed on Barnes & Noble and Bookbub informed me that they wouldn't be able to add the B&N link. Without it, my hopes of USA Today are gone... Luckily, B&N updated it shortly after Bookbub's email, and I contacted them with the attached links. Bookbub was very helpful, and were able to add the link before the email went out.

Phew...

Note: Barnes & Noble isn't open on weekends. If you have a deal on Monday, be safe and change your price Friday afternoon.


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## Julz (Oct 30, 2014)

Thanks so much for sharing!! Glad everything with Barnes and Noble worked out


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## AJStewart (May 10, 2014)

7,000-10,000 sales seems like a lot based on Bookbub's projections. Did you find with your previous set that because it was a box set and a deeper discount that your sales numbers were better than a single book?
It looks like a great line up so good luck with it.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

AJStewart said:


> 7,000-10,000 sales seems like a lot based on Bookbub's projections. Did you find with your previous set that because it was a box set and a deeper discount that your sales numbers were better than a single book?
> It looks like a great line up so good luck with it.


The other bundle was multi-author, which Bookbub doesn't run unless it is a collection of short stories. I personally have never done a bundle with Bookbub until now. I've been watching the other bundles, however, and have noticed that they sell better than single books.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

*Update:*

Four hours since Bookbub mailer.

5 new mailing list subscribers.

Amazon sales - *1,671*
I won't know about Barnes and Noble and the other ones until tomorrow.

Amazon rank was 9,953, and is now 6,687. (They will update this more often as the sales pile up. Low ranks are updated less often than high ranks.)

Barnes & Noble rank was over 50,000, and is now *#52*, which is a very good sign.

So far, awesome. I think that locking down 2,500 sales today on Amazon will be doable with these numbers.


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## Megan D (Feb 3, 2015)

Love these threads, wishing you great success and thank you for sharing.


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## AJStewart (May 10, 2014)

I see you are #29 on B&N now. That's awesome.


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## RubyMadden (Jun 11, 2014)

Thanks so much for sharing your marketing/ad strategy and results. It looks like you're doing very well already! Should be a fun week for you.


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## A.A (Mar 30, 2012)

Very impressive!! Thanks for sharing. The big publishers have been doing big promotions forever to get their books high in the lists (the books that they decide to promote) and indie publishers have to think big, too 

Just in case anyone misses the bit about B&N, I've bolded it below. So important to get all the stores synched for promotions. I've shot myself in the foot a couple of times before! 



Michaelploof said:


> By the way, I almost shot myself in the foot...
> 
> I changed over the price on Draft 2 Digital on Saturday evening. This morning the price still hadn't changed on Barnes & Noble and Bookbub informed me that they wouldn't be able to add the B&N link. Without it, my hopes of USA Today are gone... Luckily, B&N updated it shortly after Bookbub's email, and I contacted them with the attached links. Bookbub was very helpful, and were able to add the link before the email went out.
> 
> ...


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## Christine Kersey (Feb 13, 2011)

Good luck with this. It's fun to watch your progress.


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## Wansit (Sep 27, 2012)

Wishing you major luck in your run Michael!


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## Salvador Mercer (Jan 1, 2015)

Best of luck.  Posting so I can follow, seems like an epic promotion!


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## Claire Frank (Jul 28, 2014)

Watching with lots of interest and cheering you on!!


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

*Update:*

So Amazon finally kicked in with the ranking, moving from the 6,000s to *#125* This includes, of course, the much needed #1 spots in various fantasy categories.

Barnes and Noble - *#15* - This surprised the heckle and jeckle out of me.

Amazon sales so far today, all marketplaces - *2,241*

Thanks all for the encouragement. I feel very grateful to be able to share this experience.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

*UPDATE:*

BArnes & Noble #11


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## SunshineOnMe (Jan 11, 2014)

Woohooo! Congratulations! Love your covers btw.


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## AJ_Powers (Apr 13, 2011)

Fantastic numbers, man! Good job, and thanks for sharing this information. Good stuff!


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## AYClaudy (Oct 2, 2014)

I love this and am watching with much excitement! 

Great line up. Thank you for sharing!!


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## Joseph J Bailey (Jun 28, 2013)

I am really interested in seeing how all the promos link up.

Hopefully the Bookbub momentum will continue through and help push your other promotions!

Unless I missed it, you may want to consider Book Barbarian for future fantasy related promos as well.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

*Update*

Amazon rank finally kicked in. The Bundle hit #79 and is now #66 - this was expected.

What I didn't expect, was Barnes & Noble. The bundle is currently #10 overall.

Kobo too is surprising. I can't seem to find a way to see overall rank, but when I search fantasy on KOBO I run into the Bundle.

This is the part where the algarythmes really help. Get to the top somehow, and you get free promotion for a time.

More updates soon...


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## AJ_Powers (Apr 13, 2011)

Sweet! Keep it up!


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

The book bundle clawed its way to the top, ducking below the mamoth Game of Thrones, and skippying Harry Potter in the head. The Whill of Agora bundle knew that they would soon recoup, and rain devastation on his ranking. But now was his time...

Sorry, fantasy writer here.

#9 on B&N

2,700 sales so far on Amazon.

And of course...May the 4th be with you.


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## Salvador Mercer (Jan 1, 2015)

Wow!

I'm loving the vicarious life of my fellow authors on bookbub.  Hoping one day to catch it myself.

Post the update and final numbers when the orbital ride is over hehe.  Ethan on deck for tomorrow!

Great news and thanks for sharing!

Regards,
SM


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

*Something many people are probably wondering...*

Sales on other books:

Afterworld (Separate world and different sub-genre) - 1 sale all day. No difference.

Talon (Same world, 200 years before) - 5 sales all day so far - same.
Sea Queen (Talon sequel) - same.

As for subscribers - 13 for the day. Not bad considering I started seriously building my list a year ago and have 320 subscribers.

*Get mail chimp now if you haven't.*

The sooner the better.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

Salvador Mercer said:


> Wow!
> 
> I'm loving the vicarious life of my fellow authors on bookbub. Hoping one day to catch it myself.
> 
> ...


Thanks. Love the cover, BTW.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

MeganBryce said:


> Just to give you an idea of BN numbers, I hit #5 last week with my Bookbub and it was just over 500 sales.


Excellent, then I've got B&N in the bag. Thanks for the reference! I've been trying to break into the other venues for two years, I'll take 500. To me, Barnes & Noble is like Amazon 5 years ago. If you gain an audience now, you'll be in good shape in 5 years.


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## CJArcher (Jan 22, 2011)

You're #1 in the Sci Fi & Fantasy category at iBooks US too (#41 in whole store). Congrats!


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

CJArcher said:


> You're #1 in the Sci Fi & Fantasy category at iBooks US too (#41 in whole store). Congrats!


Awesome! Thanks, I haven't been able to figure out how to see that overall rank.


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## tommy gun (May 3, 2015)

This is awesome!  I am hoping you pass all your goals!


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

*Update:*

Amazon Rank - #50

Amazon sales - (Since Bookbub email) 2,750

Not to mention all the other sites involved today. Even though I just mentioned them...never really understood the 'not to mention' saying.


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## KReadnour (Jul 8, 2014)

Congrats! What a wonderful first day! I'm anxious to see how this all plays out. Thanks for sharing and good luck with the rest of your promo.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

KReadnour said:


> Congrats! What a wonderful first day! I'm anxious to see how this all plays out. Thanks for sharing and good luck with the rest of your promo.


Where are you guys getting the awesome progress bars


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## Mark Tyson (Sep 22, 2014)

Michaelploof said:


> *Update:*
> 
> Amazon Rank - #50
> 
> ...


Awesome! Makes me want to shake my fists and yell BOOOOKKBBUUBB! like Kirk to Khan! (they have yet to accept me in case you missed the reference.)


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## Anna_ (Jan 18, 2015)

I also bought your bundle as a big thank you for this thread. Good luck!


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## delly_xo (Oct 29, 2014)

I got it too! This is amazing, congrats!!!


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## A. N. Other Author (Oct 11, 2014)

This is really impressive. Add my congrats to the pile. I really do want to hit the bookbub trail but I want to up my catalogue before do. At least two in each of my series, preferably three.


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## RomanceAuthor (Aug 18, 2014)

Michael, these are excellent numbers, but if you want to hit the USA Today, I have one piece of advice: facebook ads!!!

The other sites you have listed will bring you in sales, but not the type you need to hit USA Today. I did that experiment last year (albeit not with a bundle) and fell flat on my face. I had ads with about 90% of the sites you have on your list.

Search for Mark Dawson's thread on FB ads and do some right away. You'll need a decent budget (I am thinking 2-3k), you will make decent sales, but you will make a loss (it's impossible to make a profit with a 0.99 price point with facebook ads). But you'll have a decent shot of getting on the USA Today.


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## Vinny OHare (May 3, 2013)

Just wanted to drop by and wish you luck. I just sent out some extra social media post your way across all the Awesomegang social accounts.


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## m.a. petterson (Sep 11, 2013)

Just bought your bundle. Good luck.


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## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

Your results are so encouraging! #25 on Amazon now. 

Thank you for sharing this information with us. Getting onto a bestseller list is one of those little mysteries that eludes most of us. 

Bookmarking this thread and will share your box set on my Facebook page!


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

*Update:*

Good morning! Yesterday was a great first day.

Amazon sales - 2,962 
Barnes & Noble - 903
Apple - 490
Kobo - 138

I also picked up 20 new subscribers, and got a cool screenshot of me and George R.R.Martin on the Fantasy Author top 100. 

*Rankings*
Currently #6 on Barnes and Noble, and #27 on Amazon.
I'd hoped to break the Amazon top 20, but hey, I'll take it.

Sales so far today on Amazon - 344

Total so far all venues - 4,837
Goal - 7,000 - 10,000

A few other fun stats.

Amazon Author Rank
#91 Overall (See top 100 authors)
#5 in Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy
#6 in Books > Teens
#7 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy
#8 in Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy
#9 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy

I'll update some more later tonight.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

Vinny OHare said:


> Just wanted to drop by and wish you luck. I just sent out some extra social media post your way across all the Awesomegang social accounts.


Thanks!


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

Sue Donym said:


> Just bought your bundle. Good luck.


Thanks!


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

sarahdalton said:


> Your results are so encouraging! #25 on Amazon now.
> 
> Thank you for sharing this information with us. Getting onto a bestseller list is one of those little mysteries that eludes most of us.
> 
> Bookmarking this thread and will share your box set on my Facebook page!


Thank you for sharing.


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## Deke (May 18, 2013)

Thanks for the tips. I have a Bookbub next Sunday on Andy I and the idea of dropping the price on Andy II is intriguing…as is booking a bunch of other promos.


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## Wolfpack (Jun 20, 2013)

I purchased as well, Good luck.


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## Ethan Jones (Jan 20, 2012)

All the best with it, and thanks for sharing your strategy.
I'm copying it and will study it for my next big promo campaign.
All the best and God bless,
Ethan


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## TexasGirl (Dec 21, 2011)

Based on the numbers we've been seeing the last few weeks, you are on target to hit. Sales are a little low overall right now, so that makes it a little easier to make the cut. A sub 6000 sales book hit at 125 a few weeks ago. Compare that to December, when 9000 wasn't enough to hit.

I didn't use Facebook ads to help my last USA. I like making money! But I've hit USA five times, so there was no point spending money to get the bragging rights I already had. You have them already too with the bundle, so weigh that before dropping a lot of money on FB.


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## Not Here Anymore (May 16, 2012)

TexasGirl said:


> Based on the numbers we've been seeing the last few weeks, you are on target to hit. Sales are a little low overall right now, so that makes it a little easier to make the cut. A sub 6000 sales book hit at 125 a few weeks ago. Compare that to December, when 9000 wasn't enough to hit.


Is there a way to find out how many actual copies are sold for books on the lists? The lists don't publish the actual sales numbers, right? Are people extrapolating from Amazon ranks--making a best guess of sales needed to hit? I'd love to know which weeks are the "slow" weeks or lower sales weeks. I've heard Feb is a good time to try for the lists Curious minds want to know...well, this curious mind wants to know.


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## IreneP (Jun 19, 2012)

Awesome numbers! Good luck with the rest of the week!


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## LG Castillo (Jun 28, 2012)

Michaelploof said:


> *UPDATE:*
> 
> BArnes & Noble #11


Congratulations!!!


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

Mark Tyson said:


> Awesome! Makes me want to shake my fists and yell BOOOOKKBBUUBB! like Kirk to Khan! (they have yet to accept me in case you missed the reference.)


They ran me last year in may and July, and since then I have literally submitted more than 70 times. Keep trying.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

Sara Rosett said:


> Is there a way to find out how many actual copies are sold for books on the lists? The lists don't publish the actual sales numbers, right? Are people extrapolating from Amazon ranks--making a best guess of sales needed to hit? I'd love to know which weeks are the "slow" weeks or lower sales weeks. I've heard Feb is a good time to try for the lists Curious minds want to know...well, this curious mind wants to know.


 There are book tracking websites out there, but I wouldn't know what best to use.


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## BillSmithBooksDotCom (Nov 4, 2012)

Michael:

Best of luck!!! 

Plan on picking up both your collection and Fierce tomorrow on Kobo (buying from them because I can download the files direct to my PC on Linux).


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

*UPDATE:*

Today was decent, the bundle's Amazon rank held at #27 for most of the day. Sales were about 1/4 as much as yesterday, but of course, that is to be expected the day after BB.

*Rankings*

Amazon is currently at #33.
Barnes & Noble - #14.

Amazon sales so far for the (revenge of the) 5Th - 701

I was hoping to hit 1,000 sales today on Amazon. There are five hours left, so we'll see what happens.


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## Vinny OHare (May 3, 2013)

Just sent out another social blast to 11 accounts


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## Christine Kersey (Feb 13, 2011)

I picked up a copy! I want to see you go all the way


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## TElleryHodges (Jan 9, 2015)

This is just food for thought, I'm hoping to plan a similar promo soon. My strategy lay out would likely look a lot like yours, but I came across this article recently and its got me thinking that the big guns in the middle of the promotion might have some merit.

http://waynestinnett.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-perfect-amazon-book-promotion.html.

His observations about manipulating the amazon Algorithms do reflect what I see when I analyze my sales rank vs my sales numbers. Anyone else tried this? It would be nice to know if it is as insightful as it seems.


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## AssanaBanana (Feb 1, 2014)

This is great info, thanks! It looks like your book is kicking butt still. I'll have to check back to see how it goes the rest of the week. 

How long did it take to schedule your Bookbub ad once they'd gotten back to you that you were in?

I'd buy your bundle, but I don't think you want my smutty also-boughts mucking up yours.


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## Keith Soares (Jan 9, 2014)

So Wayne Stinnett just had his thread about BookBub, and I followed that closely. Now there's Michael. Both doing amazing things...

...but amazingly, in the opposite way. Wayne lays out a specific plan where you build up to a BookBub. Michael hit that on Day One. I've done the same, and in fact have a BookBub hitting on 5/16 where I put other promos behind it. Once I read Wayne's thread and blog post, I reconfigured a bit to front-weight some things before the BookBub...

Still, it will be interesting to see how this all goes. Wayne's science seems sound. I'm sure that other, random options work, too. 

I'll post when my promo comes up in a week and a half to see if I confirm either plan, or just muddy the waters further.

K.

PS Congrats, Michael!


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

JessePearle said:


> This is great info, thanks! It looks like your book is kicking butt still. I'll have to check back to see how it goes the rest of the week.
> 
> How long did it take to schedule your Bookbub ad once they'd gotten back to you that you were in?
> 
> I'd buy your bundle, but I don't think you want my smutty also-boughts mucking up yours.


Well, I always apply to Bookbub and say my days are flexible, so they told me when the promo would run.
My goal, if I got accepted, was to make a run for USA Today, and they consider sales from Mon - Sun. I told BB that I was flexable, but I would prefer a Monday or tuesday for that very reason.


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## Andie (Jan 24, 2014)

Good luck! Books sound great so I grabbed a copy. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## dmburnett (Feb 4, 2011)

Good luck! I'll be following along!


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## Paul K (Jan 11, 2014)

Very exciting! Looks to be going well.


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## RomanceAuthor (Aug 18, 2014)

TexasGirl said:


> A sub 6000 sales book hit at 125 a few weeks ago. Compare that to December, when 9000 wasn't enough to hit.


Oh, I take back what I said then. 6000ish should be feasible without additional ads. I was going by the sales I had (about 8000) in January to hit the list.


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## PhoenixS (Apr 5, 2011)

Megg Jensen's DRAGONLANDS trilogy just hit #111 on USA Today. 

A great box presentation that got all sticky on its own after a BB run with no planned supporting ads. 

She gave me permission to share it was about 6500 sales across Amazon, BN and iBooks (US venues only, of course).


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

*Update:*

Some new numbers for you.

Yesterday
Barnes & Noble - 205
Apple - 112

Today
Amazon sales - 235
Amazon rank - #92 (Was hoping to stay in the top 100 all week)
The Bundle is still #1 in Epic fantasy and other fantasy categories, so that's good.

Barnes & Noble ranking - #82 (Went to #80 after this post. Which means it at least isn't nosediving.)

*Totals*

Amazon sales US - 3,069
Amazon U.K - 753
Amazon CA - 122
Barnes & Noble - 853
Apple - 432
Kobo - 210
Google Play - 114
5,553

Subtracting the UK and Canada leaves 4,678 sales that are usable by USA Today's standards.

Today is day #3, so I've got another four days to get as close to 6,000 as possible. I've got a good line-up for the weekend, with Pixlescroll, E-Reader Cafe, Ebook Hunter, Kindle Book review, and finally, Kindle Nation Daily. They should be able to drive the rest of the sales needed.

I hope all that makes sense.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

Phoenix Sullivan said:


> Megg Jensen's DRAGONLANDS trilogy just hit #111 on USA Today.
> 
> A great box presentation that got all sticky on its own after a BB run with no planned supporting ads.
> 
> She gave me permission to share it was about 6500 sales across Amazon, BN and iBooks (US venues only, of course).


Thanks for the info. I was watching that trilogy last week. It is still doing pretty good. 6,500 sales for #111 is a good sign. I would assume #150 came in somewhere over 5,500.


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## crusoe (May 6, 2015)

Wow, Michael. You sure know how to plan a promotion! And such tenacity, too. Hopefully it won't take 70 times before _The Truth Beyond the Sky_ gets accepted to BB. I haven't tried yet, but considering it's got 40+ reviews and rates highly, I think I've got a good shot.

It's so fun to follow along! Keep us in the loop!


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## PhoenixS (Apr 5, 2011)

************


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## Wayne Stinnett (Feb 5, 2014)

Michaelploof said:


> *Update:*
> 
> Good morning! Yesterday was a great first day.
> 
> ...


Incredible numbers, man! But, had you placed some of that advertising before the BookBub ad, the historical sales part of the algorithm would have been tickled and your rank would have been much higher. Your rank of #27 with nearly 3000 sales in one day, should have been at least #10 with some front loading. My BB promo ten days ago, resulted in a peak rank of #16, but with only 2340 sales on BookBub day. The 500 sales over the two days leading up to BB gave more weight to subsequent sales for ranking.

Some really staggering sales numbers, though. Best of luck hitting the NYT, man.


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## PhoenixS (Apr 5, 2011)

************


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## ThunderHawk2 (Dec 22, 2014)

I've got a question for the folks who are pondering the difference between frontloading ads before Bookbub and placing ads after: has anyone tried going half and half? I mean, if you have $1000 in ads like the OP and placing $500 before and $500 after, couldn't that both give you an elongated sales tail and the higher peak rank?


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## Ethan Jones (Jan 20, 2012)

Good question.
I'd like to know the answer to that as well.
Thanks,
Ethan


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## Wayne Stinnett (Feb 5, 2014)

Phoenix Sullivan said:


> But he isn't chasing rank. He's chasing the USA Today list (and he's not gonna hit the NYT - we all recognize that) and chasing maximum sales over the entire week across multiple venues. Different strategy.
> 
> The recommendation algos also don't seem to care if you hit #30 or #10 in the store. *If* the #10 book falls fast and the #30 maintains longer, the #30 will be favored later and over a longer time, which will help to lengthen its tail. I'd rather hit #30 and sell 10,000 copies over the next month than hit #10 and only sell 5,000.
> 
> The first question I always ask folk who are looking to put together a marketing plan is what their goal is. There's no one-size-fits-all plan that I've found.


If? Why would you presuppose that a higher ranking book will fall faster, when the opposite is more often than not the reality. A higher rank is more visible. You have to click to page two to find the #30 book, but #10 is right there on the front page. Greater visibility equals more sales, in most cases. You can get sales through advertising, or visibility, or both. My consensus is only that gaining a higher rank will sell more books. How many more? One? A hundred? A thousand? What's it matter? It will sell more. As to the ultimate goal of his plan? Whether it's to rank in the USA Today, NYT, WSJ, or the Key West Citizen, means selling more books. Building up to the peak rank slow yields a higher rank. Higher rank sells more books. More sales in the older hours of the algorithm mean the future sales carry slightly more weight. Future sales weighted better means a slower decline and longer visibility. When that's coupled with more ads and more sales throughout the week, visibility holds. Not every sale during a promo is from an advertisement.


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## TexasGirl (Dec 21, 2011)

Sara Rosett said:


> Is there a way to find out how many actual copies are sold for books on the lists? The lists don't publish the actual sales numbers, right? Are people extrapolating from Amazon ranks--making a best guess of sales needed to hit? I'd love to know which weeks are the "slow" weeks or lower sales weeks. I've heard Feb is a good time to try for the lists Curious minds want to know...well, this curious mind wants to know.


My numbers come from hitting the list five times. There are groups where we share numbers when we hit. USA varies by about 4000 books between peak and low for hitting in the 100-150 spots. NYT varies wildly -- a 20K spread -- because it is curated.

Some of it is seasonal, but a lot of it is not. It's what Big 5 books came out. As a general rule, Oct-Dec are the hardest to hit. The rest are mostly the same.

ETA: Checked my spreadsheet.
Months I've hit: January, February twice, April twice, October.
Oh, that is six. I've hit six times since Oct. 2013. Three this year.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

*Update 5-7-15*

Amazon sales so far today - 195
B&N yesterday - 93
Apple yesterday - 51
Kobo yesterday - 22

Amazon current rank - 163 (Still #1 in many of my fantasy categories)
B&N current rank - 106

New subscribers to mailing list - 45

B&N rank seems pretty steady in the low 100s, and Amazon has been fluctuating around 150, which is a good sign. I hope Kindle Nation Daily can keep it there or even raise it, but in the past I've thought they were a little lackluster.

I believe the running total of usable downloads is at 5,039.

Thanks all for the well wishes and encouragement. I'm currently cramming to get my May 19th pre-order ready, so if I don't respond to a question or comment it isn't because I'm ignoring you. Just too busy to keep up.


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## PhoenixS (Apr 5, 2011)

Wayne Stinnett said:


> If? Why would you presuppose that a higher ranking book will fall faster, when the opposite is more often than not the reality. A higher rank is more visible. You have to click to page two to find the #30 book, but #10 is right there on the front page. Greater visibility equals more sales, in most cases. You can get sales through advertising, or visibility, or both. My consensus is only that gaining a higher rank will sell more books. How many more? One? A hundred? A thousand? What's it matter? It will sell more. As to the ultimate goal of his plan? Whether it's to rank in the USA Today, NYT , WSJ, or the Key West Citizen, means selling more books. Building up to the peak rank slow yields a higher rank. Higher rank sells more books. More sales in the older hours of the algorithm mean the future sales carry slightly more weight. Future sales weighted better means a slower decline and longer visibility. When that's coupled with more ads and more sales throughout the week, visibility holds. Not every sale during a promo is from an advertisement.


But your own book sales don't bear that out. They hit high then free fall, no matter when you reprice, right? And no, a book that hits a higher rank will not necessarily sell more. I happened to be stalking another book on the same day of your last BookBub ad. That book was BB priced at 2.99 and hit #27. It's still in the #300s today, even after going back to full price days ago and with no additional advertising. Your book hit higher and sold more copies on BB day; that book, however, has sold more copies overall, even if you count from 5 days before the ad to encompass all your pre-BB sales to today. More visibility *just because a book hit at a higher rank *didn't lead to more sales, even with the same promotion. There are other means to visibility on Amazon. That's the kind of strategy and tail I'm talking about.

*shrug* Until you see the different sales curves for yourself with your own books, you're probably not going to understand the difference in behavior between books that stick in the Top 100 or even the Top 500 and books that don't sustain. Data analysis is not a pure numbers game. It's also looking at behaviors and trending and peering into the white spaces where there isn't any hard data to be had. Like with the ghost borrow effect on rank that you argued against yet now seem to embrace.

Meanwhile, there's *one sure-fire strategy *out there that out-trumps anything you or I could ever devise. Catch the same ephemeral lightning that Megg's title did and just ride the rocket 

[ETA: Yes, of course, more visibility does lead to more sales than not having any visibility. When I use the term "more" above, I'm talking about more in optimized terms, not just onesies or twosies more.]


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## Ethan Jones (Jan 20, 2012)

So, Phoenix, in order for someone to hit the USA today list, what's the best strategy?
PM if you prefer.
Thanks,
Ethan


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## Wayne Stinnett (Feb 5, 2014)

Phoenix, I don't promote to get on the USA Today list. I'm in Select, so that's a non-starter. My promotions are to produce revenue only. The book you were stalking on that day, did it have a lot of ads over many days, like the OP is doing? Perhaps that author was chasing USA, as well. For me, BookBub was the last ad, so yeah, it began to drop the next day, but didn't fall past #500 for four days.


----------



## Not Here Anymore (May 16, 2012)

TexasGirl said:


> My numbers come from hitting the list five times. There are groups where we share numbers when we hit. USA varies by about 4000 books between peak and low for hitting in the 100-150 spots. NYT varies wildly -- a 20K spread -- because it is curated.
> 
> Some of it is seasonal, but a lot of it is not. It's what Big 5 books came out. As a general rule, Oct-Dec are the hardest to hit. The rest are mostly the same.
> 
> ...


Thanks Phoenix and TexasGirl for the info. Appreciate it. And congrats on hitting the list six times, TexasGirl. That's great!


----------



## The Deposed King (Mar 18, 2014)

Very cool info.




The Deposed King


----------



## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

*Update 5-8-15*

*Amazon*
Mon - 2363
Tues - 551
Wed - 267
Thurs - 238
Fri - 204
3,624

*Amazon UK*
Mon - 499
Tues - 188
Wed - 70
Thurs - 51
Fri - 40
848

*Amazon CA*

Mon - 91
Tues - 23
Wed - 18
Thurs - 10
Fri - 15
157

B&N Mon - Thurs - 1,034
Apple Mon - Thurs -536
Kobo Mon - Thurs - 252

Total all venues - 6,450
Total venues reporting to USA Today - 5,446

So far so good. Kindle Nation Daily starts on Saturday, we'll see how that goes.


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## Nic Saint (Mar 31, 2014)

Thanks for the info Michael. Very interesting stuff. Good luck!


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## rjbucchia (May 9, 2015)

I've had excellent results with Bookbub but I've also tried most of the other promotion sites you list with very little success. Book Sends is the only one I'd recommend as I usually do okay considering the price they charge. I'd be interested to know if you think any sites other than Bookbub have been helpful.


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## EricDallaire (May 9, 2015)

This is a fantastic summary of how to do a promotion right. Inspiring. Thanks for sharing!


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## PhoenixS (Apr 5, 2011)

************


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## ktown (Apr 20, 2015)

Congrats on the sales. I've been following this and am rooting you on.



Wayne Stinnett said:


> Incredible numbers, man! But, had you placed some of that advertising before the BookBub ad, the historical sales part of the algorithm would have been tickled and your rank would have been much higher.


I get the concept, but don't understand what sort of ad you'd be running. An ad saying it will be on sale? Or just a regular ad that would bring readers to your page? Have never done this and am learning.


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## Wayne Stinnett (Feb 5, 2014)

ktown said:


> Congrats on the sales. I've been following this and am rooting you on.
> 
> I get the concept, but don't understand what sort of ad you'd be running. An ad saying it will be on sale? Or just a regular ad that would bring readers to your page? Have never done this and am learning.


Reduce the price a few days before the BookBub ad and place smaller ads strategically ahead of it.


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## Wayne Stinnett (Feb 5, 2014)

Phoenix Sullivan said:


> As mentioned, the stalked book had no additional advertising. And as I look back on our BB runs, most books that hit in the Top 100 with no other ad support and do the traditional BB dive have taken at least 4 days to fall on the wrong side of #500. That's seems to be the typical degradation rate for titles not destined to stick, and I consider that a fast plummet. I don't believe you're necessarily optimizing _revenue_ with your strategy, though. I think hitting highest rank, optimizing number of units sold and optimizing revenue are three very distinct goals, usually requiring different strategies to accomplish. No one goal is better than another, of course, and some authors may want to try for each goal at least once. The OP is chasing the USAT list, so that's the strategy being concentrated on for this thread.


By "stalked book", is it a safe assumption you don't personally know the author? If so, how do you know there was no other advertising? So, how would you suggest I go about "optimizing revenue" to get my books to rank like yours?


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## Guest (May 10, 2015)

Thanks a lot for sharing this. Best of luck with getting on the USA Today list.


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## AYClaudy (Oct 2, 2014)

really curious about kindle nation daily results.

I've never used them due to the price tag, and I haven't heard much about others using them either.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

AYClaudy said:


> really curious about kindle nation daily results.
> 
> I've never used them due to the price tag, and I haven't heard much about others using them either.


I'll touch on that soon, but so far, I've seen a small rise in sales since they started their promo yesterday.

Update coming tonight.


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

Don't keep us in suspense!  I'll be asleep your time tonight.


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## Megan D (Feb 3, 2015)

AYClaudy said:


> really curious about kindle nation daily results.
> 
> I've never used them due to the price tag, and I haven't heard much about others using them either.


Me too, to all of the above!


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## A past poster (Oct 23, 2013)

Megan D said:


> Me too, to all of the above!





Michaelploof said:


> I'll touch on that soon, but so far, I've seen a small rise in sales since they started their promo yesterday.
> 
> Update coming tonight.


I've been following this and it's been amazing to watch! You've done fabulously well. When you've recovered, I hope you will share which promo sites were effective and which sites were disappointing. We all write in different genres, and some sites are better for certain genres than other sites. We can learn from each other. Every bit of information helps.


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## GeneDoucette (Oct 14, 2014)

Phoenix Sullivan said:


> As mentioned, the stalked book had no additional advertising. And as I look back on our BB runs, most books that hit in the Top 100 with no other ad support and do the traditional BB dive have taken at least 4 days to fall on the wrong side of #500. That's seems to be the typical degradation rate for titles not destined to stick, and I consider that a fast plummet.


I have a BB promo coming up on 5/27 with a lot of lead-up advertising. I found this extremely interesting.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

Thanks everyone. 

I didn't have time to get all the data together tonight, since I'm in the middle of Novel Surgery at the moment with my editor to get my most recent WIP in shape. But I will make time tomorrow to summarize everything.

I won't really be able to tell you what worked and what didn't, since I have no way of knowing specifically where buys linked from. But I can tell you that obviously Bookbub was huge, and KDN seemed to keep sales steady through the weekend.

From past experience I can say with surety that when looking at a site and its effectiveness, you must 1) Look at their Alexa ranking. 2) Look at their cost (Obviously a site that is free is less effective than Bookbub). 3) See how many facebook likes they have. 4) How many subscribers do they have.

Another thing to remember is longevity and customer imprinting. Whether a site gets readers to your books right off is not the point. You want as many people to see your name and your books as possible, as often as possible, eventually, if they see it enough, they just might buy it.

Another note* This was a promo for .99. In my experience, a paid promo is very different from a free promo. Many of the sites listed at the beginning of this thread do both paid and free, and the results per dollar are much more impressive for a free promotion.  When I did a Bookbub promotion for Whill of Agora #1 last summer I had 28,000 downloads. Without Bookbub, the most I've been able to give away was 8,600. My wife ran that one, and we ran ads with 30+ sites. That right there shows you the power of Bookbub. 28,000 free downloads with one site vs 8,000 free downloads with 30+ sites.

But I digress...

I will have a full report tomorrow, and share all my numbers and maybe a few screenshots. Until the tally is in, I would guess that I have better than a 50% shot of having made it on the USA Today top 150. But we will have to wait until Thursday to know for sure...


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

GeneDoucette said:


> I have a BB promo coming up on 5/27 with a lot of lead-up advertising. I found this extremely interesting.


Congrats!


----------



## GeneDoucette (Oct 14, 2014)

Michaelploof said:


> Congrats!


thanks! I'm breaking it down here: http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,214125.0.html

The lead time is a lot longer so the promos are more spread out. I have no idea if this will work...


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## Guest (May 11, 2015)

Looking forward to this: I've been following this and it's been amazing to watch! You've done fabulously well. When you've recovered, I hope you will share which promo sites were effective and which sites were disappointing.


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## Antara Mann (Nov 24, 2014)

I just don't get how did you obtain an ad from manybooks when they promote only freebies?
Great effort and outstanding results.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

*Update 5-11-15*

So here are the final numbers for the week long promotion.

New subscribers (so far) - 57

Amazon US - 4,073
Amazon UK - 953
Amazon CA - 173

Barnes & Noble - 1,144
Apple - 609
Kobo - 295
Google - 146

Total sales through all channels - *7,393*
Total sales toward USA Today - *6,121*

Earnings - $3,216.14
Total cost - $1,100
Total profit - $2,116.14

The above mentioned profit is for the week of the promotion. As with any promotion, benefits will be reaped for a long time to come.

I came in just over my goal of 6,000 downloads, but since I can't tell through Draft 2 Digital how may of those sales were outside the US, those numbers may be off by a few hundred or so.

The Whill of Agora bundle reached a high rank of #25 on Amazon, and #6 on Barnes and Noble. It also held the #1 spot in Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Sword & Sorcery, Coming of Age, Anthologies and Short Stories, and many other sub categories for 3-4 days. I also reached a high Author rank of #6 in Fantasy #92 overall.

As far as which sites were most effective, anyone's guess is as good as mine since I'm not privy to that sort of information from the venues. But of course, Bookbub was the biggest player and drove most of the sales. I did notice an increase in sales on Saturday and Sunday when Kindle Nation Daily ran their promo.

Thanks to everyone who rooted me on during this promotion, it was a lot of fun. I hope the information helps others formulate a successful promotion in the future.

Now we wait until Thursday to see if the bundle made it. I will post the results as soon as I get them.


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## delly_xo (Oct 29, 2014)

Fingers crossed!!!!


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## Megan D (Feb 3, 2015)

Really well done and good luck for Thurs!


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## geronl (May 7, 2015)

Nothing was going on with my e-book either, I mean nada, so I lowered it to 99 cents too.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

geronl said:


> Nothing was going on with my e-book either, I mean nada, so I lowered it to 99 cents too.


The four books have sold well over the last two years, enough so that I could take the big leap and have been writing full time for nearly two years, but the last one I put out in the series was a year ago. Sometime around December, when I started book five in the series (yet unpublished) my wife suggested I make the four into a bundle. I had been seeing the success of many bundles in my regular hauntings of bookbub and the Amazon charts, and figured I might as well take advantage of the recent trend.
As I mentioned earlier, I was apprehensive about selling four books whose prices totaled $18 for .99, and determined that if Bookbub accepted it for a .99 promotion, we might as well try for USA Today, (I hit it in April with Terah Edun, KJ Colt, and many others with the Bundle FIERCE) so I had a good idea how to do it.
I've yet to see if I made it, but already I consider it a success. I've gained 7,000 new readers, which is far more important than the profit. With a new Legends of Agora book being released on May 19Th, and Book 5 in the series, Kingdoms in Chaos coming out this summer, part of the strategy behind This was gaining fresh readers. By the time they are done reading the bundle they will be primed for book 5, along with the 9,000 who have gotten that far in the series.
I estimate that out of the 7,000 people who bought the bundle, perhaps 30-40% will read it by the end of summer, and of those (judging by my reader retention in this series) 75-80% will enjoy it and move on to others in my branded Legends of Agora universe. So roughly 2,500. Give or take five hundred.


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## geronl (May 7, 2015)

Your covers are really nice. Although judging by the thumbnail the people look small, or maybe they have a big world.


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

So B&N sales were in the no. 2 slot -- is that typical for you?


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

Augusta Blythe said:


> So B&N sales were in the no. 2 slot -- is that typical for you?


Well, I just took my books out of KDP Select in January, so I'm just now breaking into the other venues. But I believe that Banres and Noble is 2nd to Amazon for most people, followed by Apple, Kobo, and Google.


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## Pamela Kay Noble Brown (Mar 3, 2011)

Amazingly well-planned strategy.  Congratulations on your results to far. Wishing you the best with USA Today.


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

Michaelploof said:


> Well, I just took my books out of KDP Select in January, so I'm just now breaking into the other venues. But I believe that Banres and Noble is 2nd to Amazon for most people, followed by Apple, Kobo, and Google.


Apple is a solid second for me and I thought that was more typical. Hmmm. Maybe it depends on genre.


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## Salvador Mercer (Jan 1, 2015)

Augusta Blythe said:


> Apple is a solid second for me and I thought that was more typical. Hmmm. Maybe it depends on genre.


NOT scientific, but I read in more than one post or place that B&N does much better for the Fantasy genre than say other genres. Just adding on some hearsay


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## Chris Dietzel (Apr 2, 2013)

I really enjoyed reading about your strategy and planning with all of this. It will go a long way in helping me plan in the future. Congratulations on the success.


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## TexasGirl (Dec 21, 2011)

The USA Today list will be visible this evening. Fingers crossed for you!


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

TexasGirl said:


> The USA Today list will be visible this evening. Fingers crossed for you!


Thanks!


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## Salvador Mercer (Jan 1, 2015)

TexasGirl said:


> The USA Today list will be visible this evening. Fingers crossed for you!


::holding breath::


----------



## dragontucker (Jul 18, 2014)

Wow awesome share! You give me hope sir  BTW....how do you hit the USA best sellers list? So basically if you rank in the top #100 paid in the kindle store you have a chance to rank or what?


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## Ethan Jones (Jan 20, 2012)

Waiting for the results and praying you make it.
God bless,
Ethan


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## Annabel Chant (Feb 24, 2015)

Good luck, Michael. Fingers crossed for you


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## geronl (May 7, 2015)

This should be interesting, I need to go get popcorn


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## Salvador Mercer (Jan 1, 2015)

geronl said:


> This should be interesting, I need to go get popcorn


Screw the popcorn! I'm breaking out some Stoli with sugar and lemon wedges


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## PhoenixS (Apr 5, 2011)

************


----------



## Christine Kersey (Feb 13, 2011)

Phoenix Sullivan said:


> Looks like the Whill of Agora box hit #144


That's awesome! Congrats!


----------



## Maia Sepp Ross (May 10, 2013)

Oh, fabulous! I've been following this thread. Congrats to you!


----------



## C. Rysalis (Feb 26, 2015)

Big congrats!


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## delly_xo (Oct 29, 2014)

CONGRATS!


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## Salvador Mercer (Jan 1, 2015)

Phoenix Sullivan said:


> Looks like the Whill of Agora box hit #144


Yes it did! Wow, wonderful way to set an objective then pursue it with a well thought out plan. Job well done!


----------



## Andie (Jan 24, 2014)

Yay, congrats!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

Phoenix Sullivan said:


> Looks like the Whill of Agora box hit #144


Thanks everyone! 

I just noticed that a few minutes ago. They don't have the list updated on their site yet, but I found here, http://books.usatoday.com/usatodaybooks.pdf.

Well, I hope that this thread helps other authors achieve similar goals. Being that I hit #144 I'm guessing that if I had only gone with Bookbub I might not of made it. But I definitely wouldn't have made it without them. I think that having them run the promotion on a Monday helped a lot, since it gave me a big boost right off, and helped the sales to stay over 500 a day through the week. if the promotion had started later in the week I'm not sure if I could have gotten the sales.

Now I can scratch that one off the bucket list.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

Salvador Mercer said:


> Yes it did! Wow, wonderful way to set an objective then pursue it with a well thought out plan. Job well done!


Thank!


----------



## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

Phoenix Sullivan said:


> Looks like the Whill of Agora box hit #144


Thanks Phoenix


----------



## ToniD (May 3, 2011)

Very cool--congrats!


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## dragontucker (Jul 18, 2014)

So since you made the USA Today best sellers list will that give you more sales?


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## CJArcher (Jan 22, 2011)

Congratulations! That's awesome.


----------



## RuthNestvold (Jan 4, 2012)

Wow, excellent results! And thanks for sharing. Always cool to read these kinds of stories.


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## Robert Bidinotto (Mar 3, 2011)

Thanks for sharing your method and data, and a hearty congratulations on your success.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

dragontucker said:


> So since you made the USA Today best sellers list will that give you more sales?


Well, that is the hope. Every little thing counts, and the badge can't hurt. Consumers dig credentials. Sales have been steady around 200 a day since Sunday, so we'll see how this next week goes. I raised the price on Monday to $4.99, halfway between .99 and 9.99 (reg Price), and have seen steady sales, however Amazon instantly discounted it to $3.82. Weird.


----------



## DC Swain (Feb 24, 2013)

Congrats!!!



Michaelploof said:


> Well, that is the hope. Every little thing counts, and the badge can't hurt. Consumers dig credentials. Sales have been steady around 200 a day since Sunday, so we'll see how this next week goes. I raised the price on Monday to $4.99, halfway between .99 and 9.99 (reg Price), and have seen steady sales, however Amazon instantly discounted it to $3.82. Weird.


Sounds to me like a price match, most likely to Google - did you remember to add a premium to your GP price so it matches with Amazon? (as per TK's GP mega-thread)


----------



## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

dcswain said:


> Congrats!!!
> 
> Sounds to me like a price match, most likely to Google - did you remember to add a premium to your GP price so it matches with Amazon? (as per TK's GP mega-thread)


Ahh, that is probably it. I've only been on Google for a few months, didn't know anything about that. THANKS! I'll look into it.


----------



## DC Swain (Feb 24, 2013)

Michaelploof said:


> Ahh, that is probably it. I've only been on Google for a few months, didn't know anything about that. THANKS! I'll look into it.


No worries - check out the first post in this thread: http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,167655.0.html

Looks like you should be listed at $6.48 to be priced at $4.99

If you're listed at $4.99, you end up priced at $3.82 (sound familiar? )


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## LG Castillo (Jun 28, 2012)

woo, hoo! Congratulations!!


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Wonderful! Congrats, and here's to a looooong tail.


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## Wolfpack (Jun 20, 2013)

Well played Sir.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

dcswain said:


> No worries - check out the first post in this thread: http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,167655.0.html
> 
> Looks like you should be listed at $6.48 to be priced at $4.99
> 
> If you're listed at $4.99, you end up priced at $3.82 (sound familiar? )


Awesome, thanks. I looked it up on Google and, Bingo, $3.82. (Now I know why some of my other books are discounted by Amazon). I really appreciate the heads up. This is why I love Kindle Boards.


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## Gator (Sep 28, 2012)

Awesome!  Congrats!


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## 72117 (Sep 1, 2013)

So happy for you! This was fun to follow!


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

Congrats - that's excellent!  Thanks for letting us share the ride.


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## PearlEarringLady (Feb 28, 2014)

Congrats, Michael! Lovely to see what can be achieved with careful planning. Thanks for sharing.


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## Mark at Marble City (Aug 17, 2013)

Just got up this side of the pond to see your success. Well played!


----------



## Lydniz (May 2, 2013)

Congratulations!


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## B.A. Spangler (Jan 25, 2012)

Been watching since your campaign started - Congrats.


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## sunnycoast (Sep 10, 2010)

Great post.

Congrats on the success.


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## KaiW (Mar 11, 2014)

Fantastic, many congrats! I also hit the list with the help of Bookbub earlier this year, though it was kind of accidental as my ad ran on a Sunday (end of eligible sales week) but 7k plus sales on that one day were enough to get me there - 144 too as far as I recall. Still I was kicking myself afterwards that I didn't have the following week's sales included as tally ended up in the region of 11k which would've got me higher. Ah well.... 
Congrats again!


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## geronl (May 7, 2015)

Apparently Sundays are when a lot of people are book buying online. lol


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## I&#039;m a Little Teapot (Apr 10, 2014)

Congratulations!


----------



## C. Gockel (Jan 28, 2014)

Congratulations! Thank you for sharing here.


----------



## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

Congratulations, Michael!


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## Annabel Chant (Feb 24, 2015)

Congratulations, Michael, and thanks for sharing! Was really hoping you'd make it - it's been an exciting ride to follow - very inspiring


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## Ethan Jones (Jan 20, 2012)

Congratulations, Michael.
I'm going to try and replicate your results in my next promo campaign.
Thanks for sharing your strategy with us.
God bless,
Ethan


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate all the encouragement and great advice.


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## Marie Long (Jan 11, 2014)

Congratulations on making the list! 
Question: So making a list isn't dependent on how much $$$ you earn from sales, it's just how many books you sell period? Except for free books?


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## allison.sipe (May 14, 2015)

Congrats Michael! You got some amazing results! 

On a smaller budget, which promos do you think are a must do?


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## mexall (May 15, 2015)

Wow! This is inspiring to a writer just starting out. I'm getting my feet wet with a Bookbub "free" promotion just in UK to keep costs down, but I can tell I need to think bigger! Congratulations, and thanks for sharing this info.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

Marie Long said:


> Congratulations on making the list!
> Question: So making a list isn't dependent on how much $$$ you earn from sales, it's just how many books you sell period? Except for free books?


From what I understand the list is dependent on units sold, not money earned. And no, free books do not count. You cannot have the book only available through one venue either. You need a combination of Amazon, and Barnes & Noble/Apple.
That is partially why I came out of Select and took a chance at replacing borrows by breaking into the other venues. Borrows were down to about 500 a month anyway, so I figured why not.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

allison.sipe said:


> Congrats Michael! You got some amazing results!
> 
> On a smaller budget, which promos do you think are a must do?


Well, obviously Bookbub, if you can get accepted. Aside from that I guess Kindle Nation Daily. They have a pretty high Alexa Ranking. But on a small budget I would go with a free book promotion. We gave away about 8,000 eBooks a few months ago without Bookbub on a budget of a few hundred.


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## Vinny OHare (May 3, 2013)

Congrats on your successful promo! Glad to be a small part of it.

I saw you mentioned Alexa rankings a few times in the thread and just wanted to say don't let that be a metric that is written in stone. Awesomegang current rank is 264k Worldwide and 125k. It use to be like 150k or so until I went in and claimed the site as an owner. Two days after I did that Awesome Alexa ranking went into the mid 250k which is where it has been bouncing around ever since. Since I claimed the site our traffic has increased 4 or 5 times so it makes the stats laughable. It also says we get 38% traffic from the Philipines 3835 ranking which is funny since my analytics says thats like >1%.

I could send a newsletter tomorrow and tell everyone on my newsletter list to install the Alexa toolbar and watch the stats soar but why bother.  Is it a good resource to see if a site is new and has no rankings maybe, but I wouldn't put any real credit towards the stats.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

Vinny OHare said:


> Congrats on your successful promo! Glad to be a small part of it.
> 
> I saw you mentioned Alexa rankings a few times in the thread and just wanted to say don't let that be a metric that is written in stone. Awesomegang current rank is 264k Worldwide and 125k. It use to be like 150k or so until I went in and claimed the site as an owner. Two days after I did that Awesome Alexa ranking went into the mid 250k which is where it has been bouncing around ever since. Since I claimed the site our traffic has increased 4 or 5 times so it makes the stats laughable. It also says we get 38% traffic from the Philipines 3835 ranking which is funny since my analytics says thats like >1%.
> 
> I could send a newsletter tomorrow and tell everyone on my newsletter list to install the Alexa toolbar and watch the stats soar but why bother. Is it a good resource to see if a site is new and has no rankings maybe, but I wouldn't put any real credit towards the stats.


Thanks Vinny,

I only use the Alexa ranking as a reference, but due to your information, I will reconsider how much gravity I give those numbers. And thank you for all you did during my run. I've worked with awesome gang many times and look forward to doing so in the future. As I mentioned before, Bookbub alone could not have gotten me to the USA Today bestsellers list. The other sites sent the sales that put it over the threshold, and I'm sure yours was one of them. Us Indies can always use all the help we can get, and I appreciate all you do for us.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

*Update 5-19-15 (2 Weeks since Promo)*

Hello all,

So I thought I would offer up an update that many of you might find interesting. Unlike many of the authors who have run Bookbub deals for their bundles at .99, I have not kept my price there. I just couldn't do it. The discount was already more than 90%, and we all have to pay the bills.

On Tuesday May 12 I raised the price of the bundle to $4.99 while it was still ranked in the top 500 and I was getting 250 - 300 sales a day. I had planned this all along, hoping that I could get a descent number of sales while the bundle slid back down the charts.

Well, here are the results before and since then.

These are results for Amazon only, US, CA, and UK.

May 3rd, day before promo, price $9.99 - 39 sales.
May 4th - BB day - price .99 - 2,962 
May 5th - 773
May 6th - 363
May 7th - 304
May 8th - 269
May 9th - 284 - UP
May 10th - 291 - UP
May 11th - 297 - UP
May 12th - 172 - Price raised to $4.99, but reduced to $3.82 because of price match by Amazon.
May 13th - 107
May 14th - 79 - DOWN
May 15th - 84 - UP
May 16th - 87 - UP
May 17th - 78 - DOWN - Price raised by Amazon to $4.99 after I took care of price match.
May 18th - 169 - WAY UP - Keep in mind, this is at $4.99.

I'm not sure why sales are up so much today. I noticed that Megg Jensen's are as well, and this _might_ have something to do with it. Our bundles are linked together through the first page of our 'Also Boughts', and I noticed that she had also seen a spike in sales. Her bundle - which was featured in Bookbub a few weeks before mine - went from a ranking of around 950 to #390 today. Maybe today was just a good day for fantasy, who knows?

*A note on that*
When you run a Bookbub deal, your "Also Boughts" get tweaked big time, and link up with other books that Bookbub has run. Also boughts are very important, and you want to be linked up with books that are selling well, as they gain more exposure.

I have also gained more than 90 new subscribers to my mailing list, which had 337 after roughly 13 months, (I've also seen a twofold increase a month by offering a free book if they sign up. They choose the book and format when filling out the subscription page.)

I previously stated that I had made somewhere around $2,000 profit from this promotion. Below are the updated numbers.

May 4 - 18
Amazon - $2,900
Amazon UK - $500
Amazon CA - $114
Barnes & Noble - $807
Apple - $424
KOBO - $239
TOTAL - $4,840
Expenses - $1,100
Profit - $3,840

With this in mind, I think that perhaps I could have sank $500 = $1,000 into facebook ads. Though my wife might have killed me.

Consider also that roughly $1,700 of the profit has come since I raised my price to $4.99, with $440 of it coming from yesterday's sales alone. (Fingers crossed it keeps up, I'll be able to pay last years taxes...That's a whole other thread entirely).

So in closing, I think that if anyone else is considering this strategy (With a Bundle, and Bookbub), they can rest assured that raising the price to $4.99 once the promo is done will make them some descent money on the tail end. If you're going for new readers mainly, you may want to stick with .99 for a few weeks. I was shooting for somewhere in the middle.
Here are the numbers in that regard.

Amazon sales from May 6th - 11th - 1,808. Profit - $650
Amazon sales from May 12 - 18th - 700. Profit - $1,700
1,100 less readers, $1,000 more in profit. (However, I do think that people who paid $4.99 are more likely to read the book sooner than those who paid .99)

So there you have it. I hope this helps with the Indie plans for world domination. 

Until next time, may your keyboard sing, and may writer's block be a stranger.


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## geronl (May 7, 2015)

congrats and those results are interesting


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

One more thing,

I've been quite busy with Blackthorn Rising and might have missed a few questions. If I missed yours, please feel free to ask it again and I'll do my best to answer.


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## PearlEarringLady (Feb 28, 2014)

Fascinating numbers, Michael, thanks for sharing. It's almost more interesting, I find, to see what happens AFTER the promo ends. Most of these threads stop there, which is a shame.


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## Antara Mann (Nov 24, 2014)

Thanks for sharing all this Michael,
Bu the way, by all those sales, if you offer in all you books readers magnets, you'll triple the number of your subscriber, promised. And FB ads work very well for box sets for price value of 6.99 u to 9.99 and you earn extra commission from the Amazon affiliate links. Something to consider.


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## Wayne Stinnett (Feb 5, 2014)

Michaelploof said:


> I'm not sure why sales are up so much today. I noticed that Megg Jensen's are as well, and this _might_ have something to do with it. Our bundles are linked together through the first page of our 'Also Boughts', and I noticed that she had also seen a spike in sales. Her bundle - which was featured in Bookbub a few weeks before mine - went from a ranking of around 950 to #390 today. Maybe today was just a good day for fantasy, who knows?


Might have been an overall good sales day on Amazon. Ten days ago, I raised the price on my new release to $4.99 and it suffered only a 10% decline in sales. Until yesterday. Sales yesterday for that title topped 60, when it had been averaging 32.1 since I raised the price. The rank increase doesn't reflect that though. It climbed from a high of #3240 for the previous day to a peak yesterday of only #2754. Sixty sales should have moved it higher, unless everyone in that rank range was enjoying a good sales day.



> *A note on that*
> When you run a Bookbub deal, your "Also Boughts" get tweaked big time, and link up with other books that Bookbub has run. Also boughts are very important, and you want to be linked up with books that are selling well, as they gain more exposure.


Until recently, I hadn't really paid much attention to what other books were in the ad with mine and in the same genre. This got me wondering about something that's nagged me for nearly a year. So, I went digging. Yeah, I save the BookBub emails in a separate file. Last August was my best ever month and I had a BookBub ad on 8/1. It was for my newly released prequel, Fallen Out, published only two months before the promo. My book was listed first in the Action/Adventure subscriber email and I'd always wondered why it did so well and now I have another clue. The second book in the ad that day was by a popular mystery writer published through Harper Collins. It was discounted to $1.99 from $9.99. I was still learning about all the different aspects to marketing and didn't know much about also boughts. Another piece of the puzzle.

Your results were really good. A well thought out plan, executed with thought and hitting the goal you set out. Congrats. And thanks for the followup.


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## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

Michael, really sorry if anyone else has asked this, I've tried to keep up with the thread - did you buy an ISBN for your box set? I've heard a few different things about whether ISBNs are needed for the USA Today to collate sales for their bestseller lists. 

Congratulations! You put hard work into this and deserve it. Thank you for sharing, it has given me some hope that one of my box sets might get there.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

sarahdalton said:
 

> Michael, really sorry if anyone else has asked this, I've tried to keep up with the thread - did you buy an ISBN for your box set? I've heard a few different things about whether ISBNs are needed for the USA Today to collate sales for their bestseller lists.
> 
> Congratulations! You put hard work into this and deserve it. Thank you for sharing, it has given me some hope that one of my box sets might get there.


No, I didn't buy an ISBN for the box set, and it seems USA Today didn't care.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

Wayne Stinnett said:


> Might have been an overall good sales day on Amazon. Ten days ago, I raised the price on my new release to $4.99 and it suffered only a 10% decline in sales. Until yesterday. Sales yesterday for that title topped 60, when it had been averaging 32.1 since I raised the price. The rank increase doesn't reflect that though. It climbed from a high of #3240 for the previous day to a peak yesterday of only #2754. Sixty sales should have moved it higher, unless everyone in that rank range was enjoying a good sales day.
> 
> Until recently, I hadn't really paid much attention to what other books were in the ad with mine and in the same genre. This got me wondering about something that's nagged me for nearly a year. So, I went digging. Yeah, I save the BookBub emails in a separate file. Last August was my best ever month and I had a BookBub ad on 8/1. It was for my newly released prequel, Fallen Out, published only two months before the promo. My book was listed first in the Action/Adventure subscriber email and I'd always wondered why it did so well and now I have another clue. The second book in the ad that day was by a popular mystery writer published through Harper Collins. It was discounted to $1.99 from $9.99. I was still learning about all the different aspects to marketing and didn't know much about also boughts. Another piece of the puzzle.
> 
> Your results were really good. A well thought out plan, executed with thought and hitting the goal you set out. Congrats. And thanks for the followup.


Thanks Wayne.


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## Lizzie G (Oct 12, 2012)

This thread was such a fun ride with my morning cup of tea! Thanks and congrats!


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## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

Michaelploof said:


> No, I didn't buy an ISBN for the box set, and it seems USA Today didn't care.


Good to know, thanks!


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## Vinny OHare (May 3, 2013)

Michaelploof said:


> Thanks Vinny,
> 
> I only use the Alexa ranking as a reference, but due to your information, I will reconsider how much gravity I give those numbers. And thank you for all you did during my run. I've worked with awesome gang many times and look forward to doing so in the future. As I mentioned before, Bookbub alone could not have gotten me to the USA Today bestsellers list. The other sites sent the sales that put it over the threshold, and I'm sure yours was one of them. Us Indies can always use all the help we can get, and I appreciate all you do for us.


I figured I would try to build up and do a test on Alexa stats so I did what I said I was going to do and change the Alexa ranking. I used Pretty-hot since Alexa has never liked that site. It always sat around 1,300,000










As you can see I chopped the Alexa in half.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

So, one of my other books in my Branded Legends of Agora world has been picked up by Bookbub for a FREE promotion. Talon has been turned down by BB at least a half dozen times, but now they have accepted it, which is awesome, because the sequel to that book has just barely made back its $3,000 production cost and it was released 6 months ago. I guess we can add that to the USA Today benefit list. I do not doubt that their decision to run the book had something to do with the bundle's success. If all goes well, I will be able to give away 25,000 or so copies of Talon on June 23, which will result in at least 2,500 sales of its sequel, Sea Queen (Figuring roughly 10% here due to freebie). I also assume that the promo will result in about 150 new reviews over the following months. I might create a new thread for that one, or I may just add it to this one, seeming as it is a residual of the USA Today promo.

At any rate, I'll be sure to post those results as well, and my additional free promo sites. I know that without BB I can give away over 8,000 books, so with them, I might be able to top 30,000. We shall see.


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## AJ_Powers (Apr 13, 2011)

Wow, that's quite an honor. Well done, sir.


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## Eskimo (Dec 31, 2013)

Michael,

Congratulations --fantastic results! And a very interesting analysis in this thread, too. I've also been debating whether or not to take my books out of Select.  The ability to go wide and get broad exposure to thousands of new readers is very appealing. Getting listed in USA Today is amazing. But the drawbacks give me some pause.

Even going wide, Amazon still pulled in the largest chunk of revenue for you ($3,400 in Amazon US / UK vs. $1,470 for B&N, Apple, and Kobo). If you had stayed in Select and maintained the same sales (unlikely perhaps, given the USA Today exposure, but bear with me for a moment), your Amazon revenue would be $6,800 because you'd earn 70% royalties, rather than 35%. That extra $3,400 more than offsets the $1,470 you'd lose by not being able to go into non-Amazon sites. I know, if... if ... if...

This also presupposes BookBub would accept you with just being available an Amazon. They do indicate that a wider distribution enhances your chances of being accepted.

The other issue here is the inability to go free on Amazon without being in Select -- unless you go perma-free (someone please correct me if I'm mistaken here). And my experience has been that free has a longer tail than 99 cents and can lead to more sales down the road.

I guess from my perspective, staying in Select works best if you have a limited number of books, or a limited budget. I know at some point I'll have to take the plunge and wean myself off the Select drug. The question is when.

Any thoughts as to how many books you should have in your backlist before you make that move?


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## PhoenixS (Apr 5, 2011)

************


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

Phoenix, if there is ever a Take A K'Boarder to Work Day, I hope you will take me.


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## Salvador Mercer (Jan 1, 2015)

Augusta Blythe said:


> Phoenix, if there is ever a Take A K'Boarder to Work Day, I hope you will take me.


I already signed up, #1 on the list


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

David Chill said:


> Michael,
> 
> Congratulations --fantastic results! And a very interesting analysis in this thread, too. I've also been debating whether or not to take my books out of Select. The ability to go wide and get broad exposure to thousands of new readers is very appealing. Getting listed in USA Today is amazing. But the drawbacks give me some pause.
> 
> ...


To touch on the revenue, I hadn't really weighed the difference. This bundle promotion wasn't so much about making money as it was gaining new readers and subscribers.

I didn't decide to go wide when I hit a certain number of books in my backlist. I've been trying to break into the other venues on and off for three years with no success. Breaking into the others is like starting over. In my experience, just because your books are doing well on Amazon doesn't necessarily mean that they will do well elsewhere. In my opinion, you need a good reason/plan to go wide. For me, that was the FIERCE bundle. I knew that we would sell thousands through the other venues, and I would finally have a good chance to break in, luckily, I was right. Just to give you an example, I had Whill of Agora book 1 free for most of February on all venues, and I only had seven FREE downloads on draft to digital that month. Fast forward to after the Fierce bundle and I SOLD many more for $2.99 than I gave away for FREE. It's all about exposure and having a reason to go wide.

The FIERCE bundle, coupled with the Whill of Agora Bundle Bookbub promo, as well as the upcoming TALON free BB promo, will help me solidify a place on the other venues. And although Select has some great perks, and helped me to get where I am today, I'm glad I decided to go wide. To reiterate, I think that anyone planning to go wide needs to have a good plan to do so, or else you won't make up the difference of the Borrows.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

*Update 5-28-15*

It has been more than three weeks since the big promotion, and here are some updated numbers.

Bundle is still at $4.99

Draft to Digital (B&N, Apple, KOBO) - 2,172 sales for the month.
Amazon(all regions) - 5,399 for the month

Total bundle downloads - 7,571

The bundle is hovering around #2,500 in the rankings

Revenue is currently at $9,000+

I've gained over 150 new subscribers.

Bookbub has also accepted TALON for a free promotion on June 23.

I'm about to bust out my FREE promotion sites list and begin submitting, I'll update this thread with the full list eventually.


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## Antara Mann (Nov 24, 2014)

Great, looking forward to it!


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

I started a new thread for the TALON free promo. Here's the link. http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,216929.0.html


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## Eva Lefoy (Jan 25, 2014)

Any thoughts on why one book in a series of 8 sells better than the others? Is it always the cover? We have a sale going on right now but the best seller is #2 and not the latest one #8. 

We don't have a BB ad..... some day!


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

Eva Lefoy said:


> Any thoughts on why one book in a series of 8 sells better than the others? Is it always the cover? We have a sale going on right now but the best seller is #2 and not the latest one #8.
> 
> We don't have a BB ad..... some day!


That is weird. One would assume that the best selling book in a series would be #1.


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## TElleryHodges (Jan 9, 2015)

Michaelploof said:


> That is weird. One would assume that the best selling book in a series would be #1.


Just going out on a limb... perhaps the first book gets pirated more often? Then people like it and want to pay for the sequels.


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## Marilyn Peake (Aug 8, 2011)

Congratulations! How fantastic that you made the USA Today Best-Seller List!


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

Marilyn Peake said:


> Congratulations! How fantastic that you made the USA Today Best-Seller List!


Thanks, it was a fun ride. The tail was awesome. The bundle is now $6.99 and selling as steady as it was at $4.99 at around 35 a day. Not bad considering that the promotion was in what, May?


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## C. Gockel (Jan 28, 2014)

Thank you so much for this. I'm thinking of creating a bundle of my first four in series and going for the list ... maybe after first release of my next trilogy. Did you do any Facebook advertising by any chance?


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## blubarry (Feb 27, 2015)

Any thoughts on timing of when to release the bundle of say the first 3-4 books of a 7 book series? They're still selling well, and I worry that the bundle will poach sales from the singles, dropping their ranking, but I think I'll have better luck getting Bookbub ads with a bundle. Have you seen any issues with that?


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

C. Gockel said:


> Thank you so much for this. I'm thinking of creating a bundle of my first four in series and going for the list ... maybe after first release of my next trilogy. Did you do any Facebook advertising by any chance?


I might have boosted a few posts for around $25-$50 bucks, but it didn't send as much traffic as even the smallest promo website.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

blubarry said:


> Any thoughts on timing of when to release the bundle of say the first 3-4 books of a 7 book series? They're still selling well, and I worry that the bundle will poach sales from the singles, dropping their ranking, but I think I'll have better luck getting Bookbub ads with a bundle. Have you seen any issues with that?


When to release the bundle? Depends. I did so because I wanted to boost sales...any sales. Part 4 of the book had been released a year before, so they had cooled down a lot. I think at the time I was selling maybe a few hundred a piece per month. I needed to give the series a boost, and a free promo of book one was getting turned down every month by BB. I submitted to have the bundle reduced from $9.99 to $2.99 and they turned it down. I tried again at .99 and they bit.

As for causing the singles to slip - most likely. But you are still selling the books. Their ranking will slip, but the bundle ranking will rise. Kind of a wash. I have just released book 5 of that series and it has boosted not only the bundle, but also the singles as well. I also put book #1 at .99 and told readers in the Book #5 blurb. Since Book #5 went right up the charts upon release I knew that a lot of new people would be seeing the series for the first time, and while they wouldn't be buying book 5, they might be interested in trying out book 1 for cheap. The strategy has worked quite well. Book #1 went from selling 3-5 a day to selling fifty, and subsequently books 2, 3, &4 have seen similar increases, all while maintaining steady bundle sales. People can now get into my series two ways. 1. buy book one, like it, and continue on. 2. Take a chance with the bundle and buy them all at once. Either way all roads lead to book 5. I am currently writing 6, and will release 7 next year. Then, when they all start to cool down I will rinse and repeat with a book 5-7 bundle.


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## Salvador Mercer (Jan 1, 2015)

This last entry you posted is like gold.  It is very good to see that you were turned down for Bookbub multiple times and finally got them to 'bite', to use your term.  Also sharing how you took a series that was cooling down and reignited interest in it is very helpful to us newer indies, so thanks for sharing.  Good luck with books six and seven!


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## Antara Mann (Nov 24, 2014)

Salvador Mercer said:


> This last entry you posted is like gold. It is very good to see that you were turned down for Bookbub multiple times and finally got them to 'bite', to use your term. Also sharing how you took a series that was cooling down and reignited interest in it is very helpful to us newer indies, so thanks for sharing. Good luck with books six and seven!


Yes - my thoughts exactly. I will write down your tactics on my notebook.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

It has been six months since my USA TODAY Bookbub promotion and I decided to see is Bookbub would take the bundle again for .99, and...they said yes.

Time to rinse and repeat.

I'm aiming for the USA TODAY list again.

Last time my BB deal began on a Monday, this time is is on a Sunday, so this will be basically the opposite of last time. I will submit to the sites for the week leading up to the big day on Sunday, which will hopefully top me off for the USA Today list.

I will post more details soon. Going to dinner with the fam to celebrate.


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## Salvador Mercer (Jan 1, 2015)

Good luck!  This should be a fun ride.  Also interesting to see how it fares a second time around.


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## Antara Mann (Nov 24, 2014)

Yes, I noted that too! Number 1 in short stories and anthologies. I also payed attention that when you scheduled the first Bookbub and all other promo ads, the boxset wasn't a new release. Some people advise to do a massive promos during the first 30 days cause Amazon pushes books the hardest during the first 30 days cliff. Apparently, your example is that one can sale well even after the first 30 days. Bu then I wonder can a book hit USA Today list even though not a new release?


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## AngelaQuarles (Jun 22, 2014)

Antara Mann said:


> Yes, I noted that too! Number 1 in short stories and anthologies. I also payed attention that when you scheduled the first Bookbub and all other promo ads, the boxset wasn't a new release. Some people advise to do a massive promos during the first 30 days cause Amazon pushes books the hardest during the first 30 days cliff. Apparently, your example is that one can sale well even after the first 30 days. Bu then I wonder can a book hit USA Today list even though not a new release?


It certainly can-- mine hit last week and it had been out for over a year. See this thread: http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,224628.0.html


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## SugarBear57 (Aug 28, 2014)

Thanks for sharing, Angela!


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

Hey guys, sorry about the late post. The promo started Monday, and so far I've had about 400 downloads. That number is a little weak, as you might be thinking. We'll see what happens. Bookbub is Sunday, so it will be interesting to see if I can get enough downloads for the USA TODAY again with this reverse strategy. 

Here is the promo breakdown. 

Bookbub USA TODAY run 11-15-15

Monday, Nov 9th
1.	Kindle Nation Daily eBook of the day - $150
2.	Book Gorilla - Slideover
3.	Ebook soda - $10

Tues, Nov 10
1.	Fussy librarian -- $15
2.	eBook habit - $10
3.	Booksends - $35
4.	Kindle boards - $20
5.	Book Lemur  -$35


Wed, Nov 11
1.	Awesome Gang -$10
2.	Pixelscroll -- $22.50
3.	Bargain eBook hunter - $22.50
4.	Pretty hot - Free

Thurs Nov 12
1.	Bargain Booksy - $40 feature
2.	Discount Book Man -- Free
3.	Free Booksy

Fri Nov 13
1.	Booklovers Heaven -- Free
2.	Ereader cafe -- $25
3.	Sweet free books - $5
4.	My Book Place - Free
Sat Nov 14
1.	Just kindle books - $30
2.	Discount Books Daily -- Pending $75
Sun Nov 15
1.	Bookbub - $500



Entire Week

1.	People reads - $14.99
2.	Many books
3.	Digital Book Today - $60
4.	eBook hounds -- $30
5.	Booktastic -- $10
6.	Reading Deals - $20
7.	Choosey Bookworm - $45
8.	Book Goodies - $5
9.	The midlist 
10.	Read freely 

Total is about $1,200.

I'll post again most likely on Sunday when BB kicks off.


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## AngelaQuarles (Jun 22, 2014)

Good luck Michael!!


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## Lisa Grace (Jul 3, 2011)

Congratulations. Bookmarked.


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## Antara Mann (Nov 24, 2014)

AngelaQuarles said:


> It certainly can-- mine hit last week and it had been out for over a year. See this thread: http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,224628.0.html


Thanks so much for this thread! I was looking for it.


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## SkyScribe (Aug 18, 2014)

I look at that list and can't help but think that you could shave off half the sites and half the cost and still have all of the sales you're going to get.


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## Antara Mann (Nov 24, 2014)

SkyScribe said:


> I look at that list and can't help but think that you could shave off half the sites and half the cost and still have all of the sales you're going to get.


Yes - my thoughts too.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

The week went well, though not as good as last time when Bookbub kicked off the week on a Monday. This time I hit a high of #87 on amazon, which is substantially lower than last time with #27.

Total amazon sales for the week - 2,308 (Note: 1,790 of these sales were on Sunday, BB day.)
Total Draft to Digita sales for the week - 653

Total - 2,961

As you might note, these sales are about half of what I did back in May when the Bookbub promo began on a Monday. It is mostly due to the fact that you continue to get good sales on the days following the BB promo. For instance, I sold around 700 yesterday, but that does not count toward the USA TODAY week.

All in all I'm happy with the Bookbub promotion and expect a nice long tail like last time. I'm raising the price back to $6.99 today.

What I am not happy with, are all the other sites that ran this promotion. Some of them charge upwards of $100, and frankly, it isn't worth it. Here is a breakdown below.

Monday, Nov 9th - *Sales - 143*
1.	Kindle Nation Daily eBook of the day - $150
2.	Book Gorilla - Slideover
3.	Ebook soda - $10

Tues, Nov 10 - *Sales 115*
1.	Fussy librarian -- $15
2.	eBook habit - $10
3.	Booksends - $35
4.	Kindle boards - $20
5.	Book Lemur -$35

Wed, Nov 11 - *Sales - 79*
1.	Awesome Gang -$10
2.	Pixelscroll -- $22.50
3.	Bargain eBook hunter - $22.50
4.	Pretty hot - Free

Thurs Nov 12 - *Sales - 66*
1.	Bargain Booksy - $40 feature
2.	Discount Book Man -- Free
3.	Free Booksy

Fri Nov 13 - *Sales - 52*
1.	Booklovers Heaven -- Free
2.	Ereader cafe -- $25
3.	Sweet free books - $5
4.	My Book Place - Free

Sat Nov 14 - *Sales 63*
1.	Just kindle books - $30
2.	Discount Books Daily -- $75

Sun Nov 15 - *1,790*
1.	Bookbub - $500

As you can see, Bookbub is the only site worth a shiny nickle. In my opinion these other sites are going to have to really make an effort to expand their mailing lists if they hope to remain a viable option. Last time I had Bookbub leading the promotion, so I didn't really know how effective these other sites were...now we know. On another note, however, these sites are better for FREE promotions. I have given away more than 8,000 in a day with a similar list, without bookbub.

So, in closing, if you are going to try for the USA TODAY list with a Bookbub deal, you should try to schedule BB for the beginning or middle of the week.

Cheers!


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## AngelaQuarles (Jun 22, 2014)

Sorry it didn't work out with the list, but here's to the tail!

I agree about either beginning or middle (mine was a Thurs) if you're trying for the list. It seemed like my sales were about 22% of the BB day sales on the following day, and then it was 50% of that for the next day. Nook was a little more graceful fall, as the post BB day sales were half, instead of a quarter, and continued being a half of the previous day after that. I saw it as their "half-life". The only reason my Day 3 post-BB was more than the previous day was because of FB ads.

I guess next would be an experiment to do only a BB ad to see if that makes it? Personally, I might try my FB party again to kick off the week, do FB ads for the whole week and only BB to see what difference it makes. IF we don't have to pay all these smaller places, what a lot less work that would be....


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## Beatriz (Feb 22, 2011)

Michaelploof said:


> *Update:*
> 
> So Amazon finally kicked in with the ranking, moving from the 6,000s to *#125* This includes, of course, the much needed #1 spots in various fantasy categories.
> 
> ...


This proves that you have to invest money to make money and I'm lousy at marketing. I love to write but hate having to promote and invest money (I guess I'm just cheap) smile smile. I'm very happy for you. Did you recover your investment yet?


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

Beatriz said:


> This proves that you have to invest money to make money and I'm lousy at marketing. I love to write but hate having to promote and invest money (I guess I'm just cheap) smile smile. I'm very happy for you. Did you recover your investment yet?


Not sure if I recovered the investment yet. I don't really keep track. I know I will though, the tail on this promotion should be worth upwards of $10,000 over the next few months.


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## Beatriz (Feb 22, 2011)

Michaelploof said:


> Not sure if I recovered the investment yet. I don't really keep track. I know I will though, the tail on this promotion should be worth upwards of $10,000 over the next few months.


Great. I'm pea green with envy.


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## Antara Mann (Nov 24, 2014)

AngelaQuarles said:


> I agree about either beginning or middle (line was a Thurs) if you're trying for the list. It seemed like my sales were about 22% of the BB day sales on the following day, and then it was 50% of that for the next day. Nook was a little more graceful fall, as the post BB day sales were half, instead of a quarter, and continued being a half of the previous day after that. I saw it as their "half-life". The only reason my Day 3 post-BB was more than the previous day was because of FB ads.
> 
> I guess next would be an experiment to do only a BB ad to see if that makes it? Personally, I might try my FB party again to kick off the week, do FB ads for the whole week and only BB to see what difference it makes. IF we don't have to pay all these smaller places, what a lot less work that would be....


I am starting to believe that you have a point, guys. Wayne Stinett was preaching here as well on his blog to put BB on the last and before it the other small advertisers. But your idea seems valid to me. 
About FB ads - why don't you try at full price? This way you'll have the best ROI. I am curious what your FB ad looks like...
Yes, I see diminishing results in those small sites. But Michael, why haven't you booked Book Barbarian, Robin Reads and ENT? I'll bet you'd have much better results with them. And Buck Books are also great and costs only $12!

Cheers


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## KaiW (Mar 11, 2014)

AngelaQuarles said:


> Sorry it didn't work out with the list, but here's to the tail!
> 
> I agree about either beginning or middle (line was a Thurs) if you're trying for the list. It seemed like my sales were about 22% of the BB day sales on the following day, and then it was 50% of that for the next day. Nook was a little more graceful fall, as the post BB day sales were half, instead of a quarter, and continued being a half of the previous day after that. I saw it as their "half-life". The only reason my Day 3 post-BB was more than the previous day was because of FB ads.
> 
> I guess next would be an experiment to do only a BB ad to see if that makes it? Personally, I might try my FB party again to kick off the week, do FB ads for the whole week and only BB to see what difference it makes. IF we don't have to pay all these smaller places, what a lot less work that would be....


Yes, its definitely possible with BB only. I hit with over 7k sales earlier this year on a single ad (mystery category).


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## AngelaQuarles (Jun 22, 2014)

Antara Mann said:


> About FB ads - why don't you try at full price? This way you'll have the best ROI. I am curious what your FB ad looks like...


Actually I am. Immediately after my sale ended, I duped that ad and started it off at $3/day. Now I've worked it up to $10. I just did that shift to $10, so of course that made the performance go down as it learns more, but I'm hoping it'll level out again soon. It's averaging about .05/click and then my best guesstimate is that I'm getting about a 5% conversion rate, so it's costing me about .70 per sale, which for a $4.99 book is totally worth it. But man did it feel weird to trust that and spend that much (to me) a day...

And here's the ad:


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## Antara Mann (Nov 24, 2014)

You can get an idea at how many sales you get if you use your affiliate links. And your ad can lead your target readers to a landing page so they can go to Nook, Apple etc.
Did you find a good targeting? i am not familiar in romance time-travel.


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## AngelaQuarles (Jun 22, 2014)

Antara Mann said:


> You can get an idea at how many sales you get if you use your affiliate links. And your ad can lead your target readers to a landing page so they can go to Nook, Apple etc.
> Did you find a good targeting? i am not familiar in romance time-travel.


Unfortunately I can't track using affiliate, because when I first went indie, I stupidly used a 3rd party link shortener which I put in the back of my books, and I got my affiliate status revoked.

I'm afraid of having an extra layer they'd need to click on to make that sale. Maybe I'll try a side-by-side ad that does that so I can see if it's more effective.

Targeting for time travel romance is easier than some have it, as there are some big names--Diana Gabaldon being the largest.


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## Antara Mann (Nov 24, 2014)

AngelaQuarles said:


> Unfortunately I can't track using affiliate, because when I first went indie, I stupidly used a 3rd party link shortener which I put in the back of my books, and I got my affiliate status revoked.
> 
> I'm afraid of having an extra layer they'd need to click on to make that sale. Maybe I'll try a side-by-side ad that does that so I can see if it's more effective.
> 
> Targeting for time travel romance is easier than some have it, as there are some big names--Diana Gabaldon being the largest.


Sorry to hear that about Amazon Associates. yes, Diana Gabaldon is a good fit (now I remember folks having success with her). Also, one tip I know: when you add more than one interest FB understands it as "or" not "and". I read Jon Loomer's blog posts about FB advertising - he is very proficient. Hope that helps.


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## MichaelLister (May 25, 2014)

Thank you so very much for so generously sharing all this great info. It's all very helpful and inspiring.


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## Michaelploof (Feb 14, 2014)

MichaelLister said:


> Thank you so very much for so generously sharing all this great info. It's all very helpful and inspiring.


No problem, and congrats on hitting the USA and NYT!


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## Michelle Hughes (Dec 12, 2011)

Michaelploof said:


> Thanks everyone, I really appreciate all the encouragement and great advice.


I've shared this on facebook with my book groups, and thank you for sharing how you did it!


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