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Kindle Countdown Deals

edited December 2013 in Writing
Has anyone promoted their e-book with Kindle Countdown Deals (the new sales tool from Amazon) yet?

I've just reduced 'A Writer on Writing - Advice to make You A Success' to half price (99p) for the next 7 days. Not sure what to expect from it.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Writer-Writing-Advice-Make-Success-ebook/dp/B00C0GBRS6/

It's also reduced in the US:

http://www.amazon.com/Writer-Writing-Advice-Make-Success-ebook/dp/B00C0GBRS6/

Comments

  • Fingers crossed for you.
  • Haven't tried it yet. Be interested to see how you get on and how it compares to giveaways.
  • Me too. Please post the results as it would be interested to see how it compares. :)
  • Approximately half-way through and slightly disappointing so far. This could be because I haven't done much marketing, just my blog, here, Facebook and a couple of other forums - and all the people that I reach this way have probably had the book for free during earlier promotions. However, the downloads that I've had obviously have the benefit of generating royalties and I like to think that because people have actually paid for the book they are more likely to read it rather than just leave it languishing on their Kindle.
    My conclusion so far is that if I were bringing out a new book, I would do one free promo (to get on the 'Customers who also bought' lists) and any future promos would be Countdown Deals - but only if the book is long enough to warrant the £1.99 minimum price for the Countdown Promo.

    So there's still a couple of days to grab this book for 99p - and I'm very unlikely to offer if it for free in the future.
  • I have wondered how long it takes for sales to drop off. I haven't sold great numbers but sales have been fairly steady and similar each month (so only about 1 a week) but then I haven't done huge amounts of marketing. I also have mainly stuck to the groups of people with the same illness and facebook. I have sent out some press releases for one of my books but not really the other if I am honest and I know I should have done more. Sales have increased slightly after the giveaways although I have still given away more than I've sold. While part of the pleasure is people enjoying the books the royalties are also useful and hoped for so more promoting is needed.

    Thank you Sallyj for keeping us posted. It is useful to know how other people have felt these offers have worked. I have done the free giveaways but haven't tried the countdown yet. Don't know whether I will bother or not. Perhaps I'll try it in the new year. :)
  • I'm now into the last 12 hours of the Kindle Countdown Deal and have decided that I prefer it to giving books away for free.
    In September I had a free promotion and there were 80 downloads in the UK and 338 in the US. I didn't notice any rise in sales/reviews afterwards.This week I've had 16 discounted sales in the UK and 2 in the US. A lot fewer downloads but psychologically it feels better that I'm not just giving away my book for free.
    I will probably do this again in a few months but try and orchestrate a better marketing strategy to let people know that it's discounted.

    In the meantime, you have the rest of today (Sat) to download the book for only 99p (half price) - it'd be great to get a few more down loads before the promotion ends:
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Writer-Writing-Advice-Make-Success-ebook/dp/B00C0GBRS6/

    There's some lovely reviews on the Amazon page, including a few by fellow TB'ers - thanks guys!
  • It sounds like it could be a successful tool. Debbie Young's also reviewed your book and she would be a useful contact to nurture.
  • [quote=sallyj]all the people that I reach this way have probably had the book for free during earlier promotions. [/quote] That's the trouble with most promotions, I suspect.
  • [quote=Baggy Books]It sounds like it could be a successful tool. Debbie Young's also reviewed your book and she would be a useful contact to nurture.[/quote]

    Yes, you're right Baggy - Debbie is a very knowledgeable person.
  • Phots Moll - I think the time probably comes when it's necessary to spend money on advertising in order to reach a wider audience. It's a matter of deciding how and when to take that risk.
  • But I'd suggest you plan it out so you can get the most effect for the costs.
  • Debbie Young's book would probably be a good investment - much of her advice involves exploiting free marketing ideas.

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_12?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=debbie+young+sell+your+books&sprefix=debbie+young%2Cstripbooks%2C282&rh=n%3A266239%2Ck%3Adebbie+young+sell+your+books
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