Kindle Select - How often are you going FREE?

[cblewgolf]

Just wondering what the general consensus is on going Free.  I've seen a few people on the Mega thread say they've already used up their free days on multiple campaigns. 

So, how often are you going free with 1 book, or plan to go free?
I'm thinking 6 weeks between Free sessions at a minimum.

[Millard]

I haven't done it yet, but I'm thinking I'll give it a go for the first time this week.

[D a l y a]

I figure I have 5 opportunities every 90 days, so I am spreading them out and using them all.  They've done nothing but good for me, because I'm a new author and I don't do much other marketing.

If a campaign is going exceedingly well, I'll quickly add a second day to the current promo.

I think this freebie thing is working well for now, like the 99cent thing worked well a year or more ago.  At this rate, soon we'll have to pay people to take our books by 2014.  Ay ay ay!  It's the end of the world as we know it.  Get your books out now while you still can. :-)

[PAWilson]

I used mine this way

December 24 - hoping to get people to load onto those kindles they bought for gifts

Jan 28 and 29 - My birthday weekend

Feb 28 and 29 - Leap days

My book comes off the KDP select mid march and I'm currently assessing whether to renew it or not. Sales have not been high enough to make the decision clear. And no borrows to-date.

I've tried to find new ways to promote the free period each time.

December - I tweeted and facebooked
Jan - I added in notices on Kindleboards and Google+d
Feb - I'll add in posting on pixelofink and ereadernews today. And any others I find in the meantime.

[KayBratt]

I've been struggling with this question recently. I've only used 2 days of my 5 free days for each of my books. However, they are selling quite well so I have been reluctant to put them free again. If they were selling poorly, I'd for sure use my other days. But I also don't want to flood the 'free book sites' with Kay Bratt promos. Grrr....I may run out of time before I decide!

[jmoralee]

I was considering making one of the my books free on KDP Select this month – but my first experience of it has been disappointing.

During my first promotional period, which lasted four days, spread out over December and January, my free book was downloaded by under a hundred people.  Only 14 people downloaded it one day.

I learnt afterwards that many freebie websites will not list free books if they don’t already have several 5-star ratings – which seems to encourage fake reviews.

It means new books with no reviews don’t even get a chance of being read and rated by genuine readers because they don’t appear on those websites.

[cblewgolf]

@jmoralee - When The Lost Journal went free, I had 0 reviews but amassed over 8000 downloads in 2 days.  No idea how.

@kaybratt - Are you staying in Select?  If so, I wouldn't worry about losing the 3 days if you're selling well.  You'll have 5 more when your 90 days are up.

I've used 2 as well for all 3 of my books, but they all renew on different dates.  I think I'm stickin with 6 weeks, so technically I can have a freebie every 2 weeks or so.

[KayBratt]

@kaybratt - Are you staying in Select?  If so, I wouldn't worry about losing the 3 days if you're selling well.  You'll have 5 more when your 90 days are up.

Yep, I'm a KDP Lifer.

[cblewgolf]

Yep, I'm a KDP Lifer.

I think I agree....

[D a l y a]

I've been struggling with this question recently. I've only used 2 days of my 5 free days for each of my books. However, they are selling quite well so I have been reluctant to put them free again. If they were selling poorly, I'd for sure use my other days. But I also don't want to flood the 'free book sites' with Kay Bratt promos. Grrr....I may run out of time before I decide!

I did a spreadsheet and talked it over with my husband while we looked at the numbers.  (He is a gamer; he is amazing at strategy.)  When we looked at it from a math standpoint instead of from emotion, it made sense to use all 5 days.  I also worried about wearing out interest.  I mean ... how many people own Kindles and want to read my books?  But that's not a good way of thinking about it, because emotionally, we're not able to comprehend how big the market is and how many Kindles are out there.

[KayBratt]

Does anyone know if there is a way to find out when you enrolled your book in KDP? I can't find it and cannot remember.

[amiblackwelder]

Just wondering what the general consensus is on going Free.  I've seen a few people on the Mega thread say they've already used up their free days on multiple campaigns. 

So, how often are you going free with 1 book, or plan to go free?
I'm thinking 6 weeks between Free sessions at a minimum.

I separated all my shorts and added my other works and also have two accounts for my publishing and author account and so was able to have something free each day through Dec, Jan and now Feb...then I go off of select and see if I want to try again. Something free each day for 3 months makes it good for me in terms of visibility.

My sells have really picked up since Dec. Now I have a consistent selling streak so far this month of about 30 plus books a day.

[ErikHyrkas]

Does anyone know if there is a way to find out when you enrolled your book in KDP? I can't find it and cannot remember.

Kay,

Bookshelf >> "title name" >> enrollment details

Enrollment details is near the top, close to where you schedule promos.

Erik

[Dallas Haley]

I did a spreadsheet and talked it over with my husband while we looked at the numbers.  (He is a gamer; he is amazing at strategy.)  When we looked at it from a math standpoint instead of from emotion, it made sense to use all 5 days.  I also worried about wearing out interest.  I mean ... how many people own Kindles and want to read my books?  But that's not a good way of thinking about it, because emotionally, we're not able to comprehend how big the market is and how many Kindles are out there.

This is what I did. 5 days gets you as high up on the Free ranking list as possible, versus letting it fall and then using a couple more days.

[KayBratt]

Kay,

Bookshelf >> "title name" >> enrollment details

Enrollment details is near the top, close to where you schedule promos.Erik

Thanks, Erik!

[jmoralee]

@jmoralee - When The Lost Journal went free, I had 0 reviews but amassed over 8000 downloads in 2 days.  No idea how.

That's impressive!  I hope it boosted sales afterwards!

I'd like to know if the name of the promo campaign matters.  I don't even know where it appears on the Amazon website - so does something generic like "Free Book" work or does it have to include the name of the book being given away?

[RuthNestvold]

I'm new to this, so I will be quite curious what others' experiences are. When I put Yseult up free for two days, I had a huge jump in sales afterwards, but after about two weeks it petered out. Now I'm selling about 1 copy a day. (800+ downloads while it was free.)

My freebie for Never Ever After isn't quite as impressive as for Yseult (4600 downloads and counting) but I have gotten up to #4 in fantasy and #4 in fairy tales / mythology. This is the last day for the freebie, btw, so if you like revionist fairy tales and legends, grab yourself a copy!

I'd been hoping, however, that going free on the short stories would spur sales of Yseult a little, and that hasn't happened at all. Well, I've only just started in this business, and some of the success stories I've read didn't really get going until the author had been selling ebooks for months.

[Guardian]

I haven't done it yet, but my next title will be "only KDP select" title, so I'll be curious for the results as well.