Goodbye, Free Promo. Hello, $0.99 Promo!

Recently, I have noticed that my free promos are not doing as well as they once were.  When I first started publishing, I would run a 1-day free promo and, if the book was a good topic, I could expect to get the free ranking down below #1,000 free or even close to #500.  If that were the case, I would end my free promo early (8 or 9pm EST) and when I woke up the next morning, my book would be doing well in the paid rankings.

Now, it takes 2 or even 3 days of free promos to do the same, but the book needs to get WELL below #1,000 free and probably closer to #300.  If that book’s promo is ended early, it MIGHT do well the next morning, or it might not.

I think the change is due to the vast number of books that are now published on Amazon.  Plus, I think Amazon has changed their algorithms so that spikes in purchases (like you would see following a free promo) don’t make as much difference as they used to, and regular, consistent sales have a greater effect on paid rank.

Plus, there is always a risk that you will lose your existing paid ranking by putting your book on free promo.  If your book is ranking #60,000 paid and you put it on free promo, but your promo does not do well (could be summer vacations, weekends, wrong day of the week, anything really…) then your paid ranking the next day could be worse than the original #60,000 paid.

Finally, there is the issue of the new KU borrows.  Although it is too soon to know how much we will actually get paid per page read, I am fairly certain my income will drop, at least until things get sorted out.  I haven’t decided whether or not to pull my books from KDP Select yet, as I am waiting for the first month’s payments to make a decision.

In the meantime, and for all of these reasons, I am going to focus on $0.99 promotions for my books.

Currently, my books are all priced at $2.99, except for a couple.  I am thinking of doing a “once-a-month” $0.99 promo on each book, or at least 1 book in each niche or topic-area.

Here are the ways I can think of to promote $0.99 book promos:

• Facebook events
• Facebook ads (although I think these would be better for collections and bundles)
• paid promotions through sites such as Fiverr
• more expensive paid promotions through sites such as BookBub
• book and blog tours
• unpaid promotions through sites such as AskDavid, BuckBooks, and ReadCheaply, and
• email marketing to your list, advising of the $0.99 sale.

Here is my plan:

• Check out all of the sites I currently send notification of my free promos to and see if they accept $0.99 promos
• Make a list of all of the sites that accept $0.99 promos
• Try out a couple of Fiverr gigs
• Create an action plan for my monthly $0.99 promos

I also believe in having the largest “digital footprint” possible for my books.  In this regard, I will ensure that each book is posted on:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• YouTube
• Pinterest
• Goodreads
• Listopia lists (at least five)

Once I have an action plan, I’ll let you know.  Please feel free to comment with your own ideas, if there is something you disagree with, or something I missed.  Thanks!

Happy marketing!

Barb