Power of Free: A Continuing Debate

In a sea of freebies available through from authors through Amazon KDP Select and online sites that curate the listings of available free e-books for their visitors, it's becoming increasingly difficult for authors to leverage the power of giveaways. How can we, rather our titles, stand out?

In almost three years of of self-publishing, I've offered a few freebies to grow an audience and encourage readership, and discussed the pros and cons HERE and HERE. The latest is for Sultana on the two-year anniversary of its publication via four channels; Amazon.com, Kobo, iTunes and Smashwords. This giveaway ends in five days, so get a copy before the offer expires. The goal is to boost interest in the series leading up to the third book, which comes out later this year. Since February 10, there have been 19,012 downloads of the title on Amazon, 2,319 on iTunes and maybe 120 via Smashwords; haven't paid as much attention to the latter. Kobo doesn't provide information on freebies downloaded, but the total tally is around 21,451 downloads in almost two weeks. I view this figure in a variety of ways; some will like the title and want more, or never read it, or just added another free book to their growing list. It's 21.5K people I didn't influence before the title was free.

If you're considering offering freebies, be prepared for the following:

• You won't be entirely able to control pricing updates, particularly if you're not enrolled in KDP Select or channels where you can easily edit the price. 
• You can't control when or if Amazon decides to price match, based on a  freebie offered elsewhere. Outside of KDP Select, experience suggests it takes up to a week for Amazon to offer a title for free and up to two weeks to revert to the original price. Why do you care if Amazon price matches? Because they have the most impact in the e-book market. For now.  
• You can't assume freebies will gain you additional reviews or sales of your other books; mine typically do, especially last year at this time when I offered Sultana for free and saw the boost in sales of Sultana's Legacy. Not so much now. Experience suggests going free works best when you have a series; I would never suggest it to an author who has only one book available, and slightly on par, if you write stand-alone books. 
• You must accept that some people hoard free books which they will (1) never read (2) never review  (3) trash with one-star reviews because it's not a genre they normally read (4) truly, only downloaded the title because it was free.  

So, what can you control?      

It still starts with the book. If you've written and edited the best book you could, you've laid the groundwork for lots of interest in your freebie. It might surprise you to know, but I think Sultana's Legacy is the stronger of the initial books in my series; Sultana sets up the relationships and conflicts to come, but the consequences that follow in the sequel make it richer and more poignant. But it's not one readers automatically gravitate to after they've read the first book. Interesting, but what do I know? I'm just the writer.

What happens if you haven't produced your best work? Be prepared for those one-star reviews. No amount of planning and promotion is going to help you if everyone thinks the book is a dud. Remember, you can lessen scathing comments by offering up your best work. Mistakes happen, which most except the truly unforgiving trolls will overlook in favor of a good story. Don't feed the trolls by giving them a half-baked book they can devour and spit back at you.  

Setting up distribution channels. You can determine when to make a book available for free via certain channels. For authors still enrolled in KDP Select, one of the benefits is having the power of free at your fingertips are at least for five days in your KDP dashboard. What about the rest of us?

Since removing my titles from KDP Select, this has meant relying on making a title free through Smashwords and its distribution channels. An action that more often than not led to wasted time, tremendous effort and nightmares in general, as certain channels took forever to alter the pricing. In the meanwhile, I'm sitting on my hands waiting for Amazon to price match - here's how it happened this time. I set the title free on Feb. 10. Sales during the week boosted it to the top 100 on Kindle in the Biographical category. Just as it's taking off, Amazon price matched. Figures.

Did you know that if you make your book available directly through Kobo, you can set the price as zero? You do now. Even better, there's now Draft2Digital, which lets you upload a title and distribute via Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo and Amazon (I haven't verified the latter due to my direct uploading to KDP). Even better, using Draft2Digital, you can alter your price to free AND see the number of downloads. Draft2Digital is still in its infancy and doesn't have access (as yet) to Sony, Diesel, Page Foundry, Axis 360 or Blio as Smashwords does. If you're like me and selling next to nothing on these sites, it may not matter. What does, if your title is going free or reverting to the normal price, is the ability to edit and see a change reflected in a business day. Keep an eye on Draft2Digital.  

Planning promotion. Another area you can influence is the number of sites that feature and promote your freebie. You aren't planning to do it all via your website, blog, social media outlets and newsletter, right? Word-of-mouth is key in building momentum for your freebie, especially when you want your title to stand out among the rest. The good news is that most if not all of these sites have Twitter and Facebook accounts that will gain your title more exposure. Experience shows there are tons more sites that will feature your title if it's free on Amazon than any other distribution channel AND there are many that expect you to pay for promoting your free title.

Yup, you read that right - expect to pay something to promote your free title. Seems strange to pay someone to promote what you're giving away, doesn't it? Doesn't mean you have to do it. Your title just won't be featured of those sites that ask for payment. The largest are E-Reader News Today (ENT) and Pixel of Ink (PoI), but BookBub is growing. So are their prices. BookBub did a free spotlight for me so I could test drive their abilities. Otherwise, I wouldn't necessarily want to pay a couple hundred to promote. I'm keeping an eye on them though.

These sites often operate as affiliates and earn commissions off of the traffic they deliver to the online retailers. Most affiliate sites book slots early and often. Here are a few you can approach that have little to no cost associated with featuring a freebie. Also, they don't just highlight Kindle titles.

AddictedtoEbooks.com: free titles on Kindle, but with links to distribution channels at Barnes and Noble, iTunes, Kobo and Smashwords
AskDavid.com:  free titles on Kindle
Epubdeals.com: free and bargain titles on Kobo
Ereaderperks.com: free titles on Kindle, Kobo and Nook
Trindiebooks.com: free titles on Kobo

Some sites indicate they don't take erotica. The two that I found, Free Erotica and Spicy Romance are either defunct or closed for submissions.

Interestingly, Amazon fired off an email to these sites and others participating in its Amazon Associates program that suggests sites which heavily promote freebies will see negative consequences. This might mean those sites would have less ads featuring freebies and more paid books, AND increase the likelihood of authors paying to promote. Personally, I like the latter scenario better than paying to promote a freebie. Author David Gaughran dissects the email in part HERE.

The debate remains whether free is a viable strategy for growing readership. As I've outlined above, there are ways to make it profitable but no guarantees. The takeaway from this post should be about the planning; (1) write a great book worth reading, (2) schedule distribution via channels where you can control the pricing and (3) promote the title as much as you can, through paid and free means. Your mileage may vary, but those three factors within your control will help you expand your reach as an author.      

Guest Post: Love Request by Tara Chevrestt

Today, I’m so delighted to welcome a guest post from author Tara Chevrestt.

Book Release, Kindle Freebie, & Grand Giveaway!

Love Request /Tara Chevrestt

I’m pleased to share with you my latest release, Love Request. This one is special to me because it’s not only the first romance I penned, but it features a “hearing-impaired” heroine, like myself.

I say “hearing –impaired” because really, there’s nothing wrong with Ciara. She’s not damaged or in need of repair. She just can’t hear as well as others.

As a reader, I grew tired of all the women in romance novels being perfect. In real life, many of us have disabilities—and they are disabilities others can’t see. And worse, they are disabilities others can’t understand, and a lot of times what people don’t understand becomes something they fear…and belittle.

This is where the bullying comes in. You see, this is more than just a romance novel. Open its pages, hit that Kindle “next page” button, and find out for yourself. Learn. Be enlightened. Relate.

Want to sample it first? No problem. Available on Kindle and FREE for the next five days, is a humorous Valentine short story, Mating Instinct.

You’ll find the first chapter of Love Request at the end.

Thank you, readers, for celebrating this special time with me. Happy Valentine’s Day! In honor of you, I’m giving away a print copy of Love Request, a plush dog, a lipstick for that special date, and 5 pheromone-soaked chocolate incense sticks! WARNING: Be careful if dogs are in the vicinity.

Blurb:

When Ciara Littleton finally joins Facebook to socialize without the limits her hearing impairment gives her, she looks up a childhood friend on a whim. In sending him that first message, she ignites the memories of a crush from twenty years ago. Can a simple friend request fix all that stands between them and maybe even lead to something more?

Hunter's plate is full. A recent divorce, a pregnant sister, and now, he realizes he's in love with a woman who lives states away. Can he overcome the boundaries of Internet romance to make this desire turn into something real, or will adversity and distance be their undoing?

This book was formerly titled A Facebook Affair and has been revised with a new ending.

Love Request has been named a LASR Best Book and is now up for vote on Best Book of 2012 Poll. You can cast a vote here. I’m so excited and so grateful!

Blurb for Mating Instinct:

This is exactly what you need!

It’s Valentine’s Day and when Ariel receives a package of incense in the mail from her Pagan friend and mentor, she isn’t sure what to make of the enclosed note. Sure, she has some issues, but who doesn’t?

When the smoke releases its magic, Ariel gets an evening of surprise humor and romance, and it is indeed exactly what she needs.

Links:

Love Request on Amazon

Mating Instinct FREE

Tara Chevrestt is a deaf woman, former aviation mechanic, writer, and an editor. She is most passionate about planes, motorcycles, dogs, and above all, reading. That led to her love of writing. Between her writing and her editing, which allows her to be home with her little canine kids, she believes she has the greatest job in the world. She is very happily married.

Her theme is Strong is Sexy. She shares a website with her naughty pen name: http://tarachevrestt.weebly.com/index.html and they have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tara-Chevrestt-Sonia-Hightower/218383211513877.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sultana & Sultana's Legacy FREE

Starting today, I'm offering TWO Goodreads giveaways that will run all month long, each for three paperback copies of Sultana and Sultana's Legacy. It's my way of celebrating the completion of the latest book in my series on Moorish Spain. Winners will be chosen by Goodreads at random and I'll provide each with a signed paperback copy of one of the books.


You can enter the drawing by clicking the links below. Good luck!  

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Sultana's Legacy

by Lisa J. Yarde

Giveaway ends November 30, 2011.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Sultana

by Lisa J. Yarde

Giveaway ends November 30, 2011.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Want to download the e-book copies of Sultana and Sultana's Legacy for FREE now? All you have to do is pay me with a Tweet. Yes, you read that correctly. Go to my website and click the Historical Fiction link, or copy and paste the following link into your browser, http://www.lisajyarde.com/p/historical-fiction.html. Choose from Sultana, Sultana's Legacy, or get them both. All you have to do is click on the Pay With a Tweet button next to your selection. The application connects to your Twitter account and asks you to send the Tweet to your followers. You can modify the text of the tweet, but you can't alter the link to my site. After you've Tweeted, you'll be redirected to Media Fire, where you can get the Kindle and / or Nook copies of the ebook of your choice.    

Happy Release Month!

 

Paperback

Woohoo! Yeah! I finally have both the paperback and ebook versions of Sultana available for sale at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com and Smashwords (Amazon.co.uk and Barnes and Noble.com still have only the ebook as of this post). If I told you how long it's taken me, from the date my research began to finally having this book for sale, it would be a tale of some interesting rejection letters - recall something about "a positive portrayal of Muslim society will never sell post 9/11"- followed by the trials of getting and losing two agents, and a hard-won sale that just wasn't meant to be. I could tell you, but I would have to change the names to protect the not-so-innocent. Or, I could give you all the names and places, but then I would have to kill you. On second thought, how about I never tell you? Instead, I'm just going to celebrate all month long.

Ebook

First, at my website starting tomorrow (April 1, but not an April Fool's joke) I'm giving away five Kindle copies (INTERNATIONAL) and two paperbacks (US and CANADA only) of Sultana. Winners will be asked to review the book on Amazon. What do you have to do to win? Email me at lyarde11751 at verizon dot com and tell me why you want to win this book. Winners will be announced at the end of April. On April 7-11, I'll be at History and Women, with the new Sultana trailer, an excerpt and your chance to win two paperbacks (US and CANADA only) or two Kindle copies. Please leave a comment to be included in the giveaway. Then April 21, I'll be at Unusual Historicals with an excerpt of Sultana and your chance to win one paperback (US and CANADA only) or one Kindle copy. Please also leave a comment to be included in the giveaway. 

For the international giveaways of Kindle copies, you need: A Kindle OR any of the Kindle applications for Windows PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Android or Windows Phone7.


Now that Sultana is done, surely I must be planning to relax, right? Yeah right. In addition to promoting it, I'm hard at work on the sequel, Sultana's Legacy. The next book begins fifteen years after the events of Sultana. It is brutal and bloody - starts off with a child's throat being cut. I was so worried the first chapter might turn people that I sent it in panic mode to another writer, who said as dark imagery goes, it was fine. I can only hope so because it goes downhill for my protagonists after that. Would you believe all that tragedy actually happened? I hope readers come to understand that and gain an appreciation for the suffering my characters endured. In the meantime, I'm editing steadily the manuscript; I'm about halfway through and hope to find beta readers at the end of spring. Then it's back to my cover artist. As with Sultana, I've decided to go with another Orientalist painting for the cover. I need a somewhat mature figure who looks somewhat sad or contemplative. Early possibilities include Ange Tissier's Algerian Woman and Her Slave

I'm also considering Jean Francois Portael's Femme Orientale.

Both subjects meet the criteria because they capture an older, moodier woman and there are dark undertones in the background that suit the themes of Sultana's Legacy. Also, both resemble the subject I chose for the cover of Sultana, although the earlier painting (Jewish Girl of Tangiers) was done by Charles Landelle. I'm thinking of a fall release for this book, September to November.  Off to make it happen.

Goodreads Book Giveaway: On Falcon's Wings

Goodreads Book Giveaway

On Falcon's Wings

by Lisa J. Yarde

Giveaway ends September 17, 2010.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

What do you have to do to potentially win one of five, FREE copies, you ask?

-Click the link above now until September 17, 2010.
-Open to US and Canadian residents only (sorry to any other International Goodreads members, but the cost of shipping is often more than the cost of the book).
-Enter your information and you could be selected.

Good luck!

Book giveaway: Win a free copy of On Falcon's Wings

Win a free copy of On Falcon's Wings, Lisa Yarde's debut novel, of a love torn apart by the events at Hastings in 1066. Visit the Historical Novel Review blogspot (http://historicalnovelreview.blogspot.com/) August 21-22, 2010 and leave your comment to win a signed copy. Canadian and U.S. residents only.