When I enrolled Women of the Way: Embracing the Camino in the KDP Select program, I could choose to promote the book by using the Kindle Countdown Deal, a “time-bound promotional discounting for your book while earning royalties,” or the Free Book Promotion where readers worldwide can get the book free for a limited time.
I have many “free” books on my Kindle. Someday I will read them. But I always read the books that I buy first, even if I only paid a nominal amount. Like me, many people tend to value something they paid for over something free. Since I want people to read the book, not just download it, I choose to put is on sale using the Kindle Countdown Deal.
On his blog, Erin Wall shows the difference in the perceived value of his book by a person who received a free copy over the one who paid for it. He writes:
- the person who bought it thought it was one of the best ebooks they ever purchased.
- the person who won a free copy thought it was dry, above their head, and has 0 respect for copyright, offering to trade it
Many authors feel giving a book away is strategic, especially as a hook to a series. For me, this only works when I already know and like the author. Otherwise, the “free” offer does not compel me to download the book. What does pique my curiosity are the accompanying synopsis, commentary, blurb, and cover.
Author and blogger, Joanna Penn shared the following publicly:
“After yet another author I admire recommended perma-free for the first book in the series, I have put Pentecost on free. It’s currently #29 overall in US free and #345 in UK – and I didn’t even tell anyone 🙂http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004JHYA6A/ It’s had over 6500 downloads in last 24 hours, but I have yet to see an uptick in sales of other books. Some people are saying it’s a 1% read-through, so I’ll be interested to see what happens. I’ll certainly be reporting on it once I have some more stats.”
I am looking forward to Ms. Penn’s conclusion. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the sale.
References
- The Difference Between Selling Something and Giving it Away
- Going Perma Free: My Recollections After 100,000 Downloads of My ebook
- KDP Select Terms and Conditions
Have you enrolled your book in KDP Select? If so, which promo did you chose and what were the results I am also interested if you are enticed by a free offer? And if so, do you read the book? Please comment.
