Does it work to put your book for free on
Amazon? Is it a good idea to belong to a group when your book goes free?
This is what happened to me. In March I
joined the Indie Book Collective Lucky Days Free Par-tay along with many other
authors. One of the requirements to be involved in this promotion was that I
had to put my book "My
Cheeky Angel" into the Select program on Amazon. In this way I could
manage my promotion for those exact days.
IBC is the brainchild of best-selling
author Carolyn McCray. She is brilliant
at what she does…and that is to guide the group through all the steps we needed
to take in order to have a successful par-tay. She explained these steps in a
series of Webinars where she gave us advice on our categories and covers, how
to set up our book descriptions on Amazon and the best way to present the inner
workings of our book like reviews, advertising our other work, etc. both in the
front matter and the back.
Before the par-tay in March started, My
Cheeky Angel was ranking around #240,500. Once she explained how to set my
categories properly, within a few days the book had dropped to #140,000. I was
shocked, and right then I decided I had made a good choice to be involved with
this group. As the days drew closer, her committee of hard-working, very
dedicated people had all of us busy setting up cross-promotion for the others
in the par-tay and social media blurbs for twitter and facebook, etc.
On the big day, we all came free, and the
website she'd designed came live. I watched in amazement as the downloads for
my book went crazy. It was fantastic. Then the ranking dropped and on my best
day I hit #552 in the free books and was #1 in two different categories and #2
in another. I walked around in shock for days…nothing I could do for myself
would have ever gotten me these numbers. And I knew it!
*Amazon does allow for the free downloads
to affect the ranking once your book is off the free slot, but not on a one to
one basis. It's changing all the time, and the last I'd heard (just a
supposition mind you) that every 50 free downloads would be the same a one book
sold.*
Once the Par-tay ended I waited with bated
breath to see what would occur. And I'm happy to say that the book levelled off
for quite some time at around the #5,000 mark and then sadly, it began to climb
back up. The last I looked, it was approximately #53,000.
But…I'm
ecstatic to say that I'm now involved in the next par-tay which is happening in
two days. Can't wait to see what ensues with my new release "His
Devious Angel" which is the second in the Angels with Attitudes
series. The first novella of my Vicarage Bench Series, "She's
Me" will be available also.
I'll
report back on what happens as far as the numbers go…but right now She's Me is
ranking at #117,244 and Devious Angel is sitting at #82,810. If you're
interested to track it with me, you can watch each day of the par-tay and see
for yourself what a difference it'll make.
p.s. Crossed fingers, good wishes and prayers are all gladly
accepted!
Better yet…download the book!
Xo Mimi
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Thanks for the information, Mimi! I believe I belong to the same loop you do, and although I can't do the free thing this time, I'd be willing the next time. It's so exciting to see those numbers drop, but when they go back up, it's frustrating. Nevertheless, we forge ahead and write more great books. Good luck with yours.
ReplyDeleteI also signed up for the newsletter. Thanks for the tip!