tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285913204707798277.post4131994281527294779..comments2023-08-08T02:21:47.042-07:00Comments on The Writing Bomb: Winning in Amazon's KDP Select Program: PART 2Jeff Benningtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01846791553554124991noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285913204707798277.post-62589405827562662872013-04-25T17:45:57.774-07:002013-04-25T17:45:57.774-07:00Thanks, Chris. Glad to see I'm not just blowin...Thanks, Chris. Glad to see I'm not just blowing smoke.... but one of the key things to remember is that a GREAT book will do much better, and you have written GREAT books. Congrats all the way around.Jeff Benningtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01846791553554124991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285913204707798277.post-89284825662283288482013-04-25T17:42:51.236-07:002013-04-25T17:42:51.236-07:00You're welcome! Thanks for reading.You're welcome! Thanks for reading.Jeff Benningtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01846791553554124991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285913204707798277.post-92030622260733795912013-04-06T06:15:55.391-07:002013-04-06T06:15:55.391-07:00Thank you Jeff for your information and time.Marke...Thank you Jeff for your information and time.Marketing is a minefield for the first time author.Thanks again.Audrey Nicholsonhttp://www.audreynicholson.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285913204707798277.post-73886818404147161932012-11-28T18:32:55.908-08:002012-11-28T18:32:55.908-08:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285913204707798277.post-27198005261337566312012-11-27T07:12:09.841-08:002012-11-27T07:12:09.841-08:00Jeff: Very valuable. Thanks a lot.
danniehill: too...Jeff: Very valuable. Thanks a lot.<br />danniehill: too become? fist book? the error were? that frist book? that holds reads? Barry Knisterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03191575373788669991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285913204707798277.post-44347340157564328342012-11-26T14:46:10.485-08:002012-11-26T14:46:10.485-08:00Jeff,
I enjoyed your articles on KDP Select and c...Jeff,<br /><br />I enjoyed your articles on KDP Select and can personally attest to the effectiveness of the KDP Select program.<br /><br />I currently have both of my Dakota Stevens mystery titles, A REAL PIECE OF WORK and THE RICH ARE DIFFERENT, in the program, and with modest self-promotion I'm consistently selling an average of about 100 copies per month (between both titles) with another 50 or so borrows.<br /><br />Obviously, one of the reasons for the sales is the fact that both books are highly rated, but I'm convinced that KDP Select is also helping.<br /><br />Back in February, I did a 2-day free promotion of A REAL PIECE OF WORK (my only title at the time), and here are the results:<br /><br />Free Downloads: 27,430<br /><br />Reached #1 in Literary Fiction (free) and #5 in Mystery (free). In Top 100 of all books (can't remember exact number).<br /><br />In the days after the promotion:<br /><br />Paid Downloads (at $4.99 book price): 3,810<br /><br />Borrows: 565<br /><br />I can't remember what ranking the book achieved during the post-promotion sales days, but it was high, I remember that.<br /><br />More recently (last week), I did another free promotion of A REAL PIECE OF WORK, giving away 9,369 copies, and while I haven't had even close to the sales I achieved in February, the giveaway did raise my rankings considerably and raised my visibility. I've also seen a spillover effect, where people who got A REAL PIECE OF WORK for free went ahead and *bought* the second book in the series. We're only talking about 50-60 buys of the second book so far, but that beats a sharp stick in the eye, right? :)<br /><br />Anyway, all of this is my way of supporting your arguments, Jeff, for the KDP Select program. Here are a few tips that I suggest to maximize the effectiveness of your free promotions:<br /><br />* Make sure you register your promotion with the various boards of free Kindle books ahead of time.<br />* Be strategic about what day(s) you run your promotion (generally you want to end before the weekend, which is prime-time for sales).<br />* Tweet, FB and blog about your giveaway on the day(s) it's running.<br />* Help others with their promotions.<br /><br />The last thing that I'll say in support of KDP Select, and the free promotions in particular, is that it increases your review count considerably.<br /><br />Before my first free promotion of A REAL PIECE OF WORK, the book was highly rated, but had only ~25 reviews. Compare that to 9 months later, when I ran the second promotion, and the book had 125 reviews.<br /><br />If you've written a good book, a number of those readers who get the book for free will turn around and write positive reviews.<br /><br />Overall, I think KDP Select is excellent for the author trying to build an audience, but when that author has several titles under his/her belt and a growing audience, it might be time to open up to other sales platforms/distributors (e.g., Smashwords).<br /><br />If anyone has any further questions about KDP Select and the results of my promotions, feel free to contact me by email. My email address is on my blog, under the "About Chris Orcutt" page.<br /><br />I hope what I've written here has been of service to some people.<br /><br />Thanks,<br /><br />Chris Orcutt<br /><br />Chris Orcutthttp://www.orcutt.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285913204707798277.post-79043103730554886342012-11-07T06:06:38.869-08:002012-11-07T06:06:38.869-08:00Thank you, Victoria.Thank you, Victoria.Jeff Benningtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01846791553554124991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285913204707798277.post-24023700414668217322012-11-07T06:06:22.794-08:002012-11-07T06:06:22.794-08:00You are welcome.You are welcome.Jeff Benningtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01846791553554124991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285913204707798277.post-75498436004599862992012-11-07T06:06:06.248-08:002012-11-07T06:06:06.248-08:00Hi John. That may be true for some, but I think th...Hi John. That may be true for some, but I think the program works for growing an audience and for increasing sales for all of my books. With 5 titles now, I have even more opportunities to grow my audience and sell more books with each promotion because inevitably, a free book draws readers to my other books and print versions as well. I do not run my first book in the Creepy series for free indefinitely. Why should I? It is one of my best sellers. Targeting your free promotional days works much better, and allows you to get payed on the other 85 days of your 90-day commitment. <br /><br />But hey, this is only my opinion. Thanks for visiting, and your comment.Jeff Benningtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01846791553554124991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285913204707798277.post-35402711604974207022012-11-07T06:02:31.181-08:002012-11-07T06:02:31.181-08:00Thank you so much!Thank you so much!Jeff Benningtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01846791553554124991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285913204707798277.post-976422983201246772012-11-07T06:02:05.707-08:002012-11-07T06:02:05.707-08:00Thanks, Anthony. But no, you will never see that.Thanks, Anthony. But no, you will never see that.Jeff Benningtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01846791553554124991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285913204707798277.post-85682096790683759382012-11-07T06:01:40.272-08:002012-11-07T06:01:40.272-08:00Thank you, Laura. Thank you, Laura. Jeff Benningtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01846791553554124991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285913204707798277.post-49353888311580555092012-11-01T14:18:22.060-07:002012-11-01T14:18:22.060-07:00Love this series Jeff. I'm a big fan of KDP Se...Love this series Jeff. I'm a big fan of KDP Select too, but all too often encounter unconvinced authors not understanding the bigger picture of what it can do for them. You hit the nail on the head! Laura Pep Wuhttp://www.30daybooks.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285913204707798277.post-80356735870579660542012-10-28T08:10:39.232-07:002012-10-28T08:10:39.232-07:00Jeff,
As usual a great follow up post to an excel...Jeff,<br /><br />As usual a great follow up post to an excellent first post. Great job. BTW when do we get to see the iPhone autocorrect version of your reply?Digital Book Todayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04152541456872089659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285913204707798277.post-2233257812299889672012-10-27T20:27:11.821-07:002012-10-27T20:27:11.821-07:00What a great series, Jeff! I have a much better gr...What a great series, Jeff! I have a much better grasp of how to do it right. I do agree that too become known a writer must write more than one or two books that are good stories and edited. I've read a few series where the fist book has a good plot and story, but the error were too numerous to count. It's that frist book that holds reads so it must be professional.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285913204707798277.post-81106586055183302052012-10-27T15:24:30.526-07:002012-10-27T15:24:30.526-07:00KDP Select is VERY effective if you make the first...KDP Select is VERY effective if you make the first book in a series free. I used it to publicise the 'A Vested Interest' series and got eight times the number of sales for the other books as I had in the previous two years! I'm not convinced of it's effectiveness for a new author with a single book though. In theory you stand a better chance of getting reviews but that's still a very low chance.<br /><br />After a year with Select I moved all but one book out of the program - that one being a stand alone but linked paranormal romance. <br /><br />Instead of Select I used Smashwords and made the first book in the series free there. Smashwords distributes to other sales outlets so it became free on Nook, Kobo and iBooks. It took several months for Amazon.com to catch on and 'price match' but now our first book in the series is free on Amazon.com all the time. For the last month it's been listed every day in the top 10 free technothrillers. The result is our sales are steadily climbing for the other books. Our book is NOT free in Amazon.co.uk though and sales there, which far outshone Amazon.com sales when I used Select, are very low. It seems Amazon.co.uk won't price match unless people who have bought the book return it and use the 'tell us about a lower price' link.John Chapmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06575901336277340191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285913204707798277.post-375018443088586162012-10-27T08:00:15.937-07:002012-10-27T08:00:15.937-07:00Very helpful. Thanks Jeff!Very helpful. Thanks Jeff!Pamela Fagan Hutchinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00400007405575728478noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285913204707798277.post-88949001307059209212012-10-27T07:26:05.392-07:002012-10-27T07:26:05.392-07:00Another great post.Another great post.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00859109777005545304noreply@blogger.com