There can't be a Yes or No answer for this question. Some benefit from it and some do not. However, the five free day promotions can be neither said to be beneficial nor utterly useless.
I bled over the free downloads for my book version 2, wondering if I also had to pay for the delivery costs. (Someone please let me know on this one!).
Let's do some simple arithmetic. I had about 120 downloads! Yes, that's quite poor for a free download :) I know! However, I have taken the esoteric spiritual route. It's kind of supernatural with philosophy as Hinduism usually is. What surprised me was that about 75% of the downloads were from the US, followed by the UK and Germany.
Meanwhile, a sale happened for the book version 1, from somewhere outside of the US, through the amazon.com marketplace. I guess that paid for it, if I had to pay for the delivery costs! I priced the book at $2.99 then.
So, 120 x $2.99 = $358.8
In Indian Rupees, this is:
$358.8 x 66 = Rs. 23680.8
A newbie software engineer gets paid this figure each month. In India, any man in a decent job gets paid this figure every month. For frugal writers like me (or us), I can live a month, a couple of months or three to four months, with this money. Or I could have paid 7 months of my very small personal loan EMI.
Not that, this should matter but I am just showing what the size of this money means to me or even to us, writers. 120:1 was the conversion, which could also have come from some other source.
However, being extremely optimistic, I would not think that I lost anything. Though it feels like a trade secret, I will reveal something.
Free is no loss at all
Sometimes, we price our books at $0.99. So, the loss, when priced at $2.99 doesn't actually exist. What if we calculate the loss with the same book at 99c?
I wasn't comfortable with the 35% royalty option at such a low price. So, I took to the 70% option again along with enrolling in KDP Select. This is important.
Gear Up for KU/KENP
I consider Kindle Unlimited (KU) or KENP (Kindle Edition Normalized Pages Read) as important. I had once had 639 pages read on a single day for my standalone book. I also learned that this would not repeat. However, this encouraged me to make my other version of the same book available for KDP Select, KU and KENP.
So, in the next few days, I would expect KU/KENP page reads or pages read than sales. I would not be too hard and fast toward sales. I would be happy with my book being read and paid in return.
Similarly, I took the five day free promotion option to keep some activity going. This is what you do, when you are going flat out. You need some goodwill, reputation and your name or book should be known at least to a few.
Sell Future Books through Free Downloads
The second version actually had 120 downloads because of the first version, which accounted for a free download of only 50. I think the same readers who downloaded the first version did download the second version, as I have seen that those who paid and purchased one version bought the second version as well. Both the versions show up against each other at "The Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought".
I also understand the readers, what they want, etc. I would say most writers are still learning the formatting for eBooks or for Amazon. I am one! I missed sales because I did not set preview pages though Amazon warned me about it more than twice.
Learn the E-Format
From the conventional Preface, Foreword, etc. we are jumping straight into the narrative or the meat of the writing, right from the first word! We do not want to miss readers. Do we? That's what the devices and the formats support! This is why my second version turned out to be a better read than my first version, though there are miles to go still. I am going for two other books and hope to publish them this week!
Love Yourself
All said and done, I do this because I love it. It's so much fun! Pays for your passions too! I love it! Just within a couple of days after your first book or even less, you learn how you must write your second one! The learning goes on infinitely. Marketing your books is also fun! Don't try to push the sale immediately over the roof! Just keep taking marketing efforts, as though you are just browsing to pass time!
For me, the free promotion is the best tool to feel good about yourself, to test yourself or to learn a trick or two! This can go a long way in taking yourself forward! Kindle Countdown Promotion Deal would be great, if it were open to all marketplaces than only the US and the UK! I love this digital eBook, Kindle book, selling experience. And the writing? That's the best thing! Get paid for what you do! No matter how little, remember, you are getting paid for doing what you love!
I would think I would just be very optimistic to go free or reduce price, etc. just to get my book out there and to build from there. I also remember that I am building from scratch! So, every effort does help! At least, about 1000 people know me from all over the world! This is really a great thing to happen! So, just be happy about it and never worry about things! Do not think about what you are losing! Let karma bring back your share that you lost through your free downloads!
So, please share your thoughts too! What are your thoughts on the five day free promotions on Amazon Kindle KDP Select? Is the Amazon KDP Select free promotion profit or loss?
Love yourself!
See you (in the comments)
DK
I bled over the free downloads for my book version 2, wondering if I also had to pay for the delivery costs. (Someone please let me know on this one!).
Let's do some simple arithmetic. I had about 120 downloads! Yes, that's quite poor for a free download :) I know! However, I have taken the esoteric spiritual route. It's kind of supernatural with philosophy as Hinduism usually is. What surprised me was that about 75% of the downloads were from the US, followed by the UK and Germany.
Meanwhile, a sale happened for the book version 1, from somewhere outside of the US, through the amazon.com marketplace. I guess that paid for it, if I had to pay for the delivery costs! I priced the book at $2.99 then.
So, 120 x $2.99 = $358.8
In Indian Rupees, this is:
$358.8 x 66 = Rs. 23680.8
A newbie software engineer gets paid this figure each month. In India, any man in a decent job gets paid this figure every month. For frugal writers like me (or us), I can live a month, a couple of months or three to four months, with this money. Or I could have paid 7 months of my very small personal loan EMI.
Not that, this should matter but I am just showing what the size of this money means to me or even to us, writers. 120:1 was the conversion, which could also have come from some other source.
However, being extremely optimistic, I would not think that I lost anything. Though it feels like a trade secret, I will reveal something.
Free is no loss at all
Sometimes, we price our books at $0.99. So, the loss, when priced at $2.99 doesn't actually exist. What if we calculate the loss with the same book at 99c?
I wasn't comfortable with the 35% royalty option at such a low price. So, I took to the 70% option again along with enrolling in KDP Select. This is important.
Gear Up for KU/KENP
I consider Kindle Unlimited (KU) or KENP (Kindle Edition Normalized Pages Read) as important. I had once had 639 pages read on a single day for my standalone book. I also learned that this would not repeat. However, this encouraged me to make my other version of the same book available for KDP Select, KU and KENP.
So, in the next few days, I would expect KU/KENP page reads or pages read than sales. I would not be too hard and fast toward sales. I would be happy with my book being read and paid in return.
Similarly, I took the five day free promotion option to keep some activity going. This is what you do, when you are going flat out. You need some goodwill, reputation and your name or book should be known at least to a few.
Sell Future Books through Free Downloads
The second version actually had 120 downloads because of the first version, which accounted for a free download of only 50. I think the same readers who downloaded the first version did download the second version, as I have seen that those who paid and purchased one version bought the second version as well. Both the versions show up against each other at "The Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought".
I also understand the readers, what they want, etc. I would say most writers are still learning the formatting for eBooks or for Amazon. I am one! I missed sales because I did not set preview pages though Amazon warned me about it more than twice.
Learn the E-Format
From the conventional Preface, Foreword, etc. we are jumping straight into the narrative or the meat of the writing, right from the first word! We do not want to miss readers. Do we? That's what the devices and the formats support! This is why my second version turned out to be a better read than my first version, though there are miles to go still. I am going for two other books and hope to publish them this week!
Love Yourself
All said and done, I do this because I love it. It's so much fun! Pays for your passions too! I love it! Just within a couple of days after your first book or even less, you learn how you must write your second one! The learning goes on infinitely. Marketing your books is also fun! Don't try to push the sale immediately over the roof! Just keep taking marketing efforts, as though you are just browsing to pass time!
For me, the free promotion is the best tool to feel good about yourself, to test yourself or to learn a trick or two! This can go a long way in taking yourself forward! Kindle Countdown Promotion Deal would be great, if it were open to all marketplaces than only the US and the UK! I love this digital eBook, Kindle book, selling experience. And the writing? That's the best thing! Get paid for what you do! No matter how little, remember, you are getting paid for doing what you love!
I would think I would just be very optimistic to go free or reduce price, etc. just to get my book out there and to build from there. I also remember that I am building from scratch! So, every effort does help! At least, about 1000 people know me from all over the world! This is really a great thing to happen! So, just be happy about it and never worry about things! Do not think about what you are losing! Let karma bring back your share that you lost through your free downloads!
So, please share your thoughts too! What are your thoughts on the five day free promotions on Amazon Kindle KDP Select? Is the Amazon KDP Select free promotion profit or loss?
Love yourself!
See you (in the comments)
DK
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