I love this idea!

Vindicated · Sep 27, 2012

So, it looks like a lot of people are detailing their journey in self-publishing. I'd love to add my own experience, in case it helps someone.

First, my book is a short erotica (30k words) with non-sparkly vamps and my own take on incubuses. I'm terrible at explaining so here is the description to give you an idea of the work:

What would happen if you were forced to marry your best friend?

Lily's about to find out. Even though her parents are wading through a messy divorce, they insist that she marry her best friend Mason. But why?

She searches for the reason behind their insistence that she marry Mason and learns a deeply buried family secret. A century ago, her ancestors saved her Fiance's family from execution; and in return, he is to protect her from retribution.

Lily has caught the eye of a dangerous demon and learns Mason has a dark secret. Is she strong enough to save herself?

So, I published June 24, 2012 via KDP select. I gave it away free the first day as a new release promo. Gave away 800 copies. Sold 6 the rest of the month.

July-sold 7 copies, did another give away-67 copies.

Aug-sold 12 copies

Sept-sold 3 copies, did another giveaway-70 copies.

I have done no promotion besides free giveaways. I am off kdp select and am considering other sales channels.

(I've done no promo because I made the mistake of telling a family member I write erotica and they have treated me like a monster ever since.)

*Shrugs*

I can keep updating, book two is due to come out in a week or two. (Well, 'novella' two. I hadn't planned making a second, but hey, stuff happens.)

Thanks for listening!

merrihiatt · Sep 27, 2012

I look forward to following your journey. Welcome to AW!

Maryn · Sep 27, 2012

You monster! (That's kidding. Sheesh, some people, huh?) I wish you continued sales. Stop on by the Erotica board any time you've got a moment.

Maryn, pleased to meet you

Vindicated · Sep 27, 2012

Maryn said:
You monster! (That's kidding. Sheesh, some people, huh?) I wish you continued sales. Stop on by the Erotica board any time you've got a moment.

Maryn, pleased to meet you

I'm not upset really, it's more that I don't want to make other people uncomfortable. I think things of an erotic nature are part of the 'human condition' and nothing to be ashamed of.

Thank you! I have a feeling I'll fit in here.

sarahdalton · Sep 27, 2012

Hey, cheers for the post.

I bet you get better sales when you have more than one book on Select.

I've just started a series of YA and my sales have been similar to yours except I'm not using Select and am doing bits of promo.

But it's interesting to learn about your experience with select. I'm thinking of writing some short stories of a more adult nature under a pseudonym and doing the same thing. I think I'm going to wait until I have at least 3 to publish at the same time. Hopefully that will generate a few more sales.

Good luck with it!

Vindicated · Sep 27, 2012

sarahdalton said:
Hey, cheers for the post.

I bet you get better sales when you have more than one book on Select.

I've just started a series of YA and my sales have been similar to yours except I'm not using Select and am doing bits of promo.

But it's interesting to learn about your experience with select. I'm thinking of writing some short stories of a more adult nature under a pseudonym and doing the same thing. I think I'm going to wait until I have at least 3 to publish at the same time. Hopefully that will generate a few more sales.

Good luck with it!

Well, now I'm off select, and am about to bump back to the new release board with a second (And soon, third) title. I am looking at allromance and smashwords, considering nook and still digging for other places to distribute.

It really seems multiple titles help sell, so long as you release them over time, not all at once. (That's what I've read, anyway.)

Rubay H. · Sep 27, 2012

Good luck! I'll be watching your updates with interest!

bearilou · Sep 28, 2012

YAY! Another traveling companion! :hooray:

Barbara R. · Sep 28, 2012

I'm puzzled by all these give-aways. Nothing personal, Vindicated, I don't mean to pick on you or anyone, but I just don't understand the validation in giving one's book away for free. Isn't it like standing on a street corner handing stuff to passers-by? How does that show that the stuff you're giving away has value?

And yet lots of people do it, so clearly I'm missing something.

LBlankenship · Sep 28, 2012

Barbara R. said:
I'm puzzled by all these give-aways. Nothing personal, Vindicated, I don't mean to pick on you or anyone, but I just don't understand the validation in giving one's book away for free. Isn't it like standing on a street corner handing stuff to passers-by? How does that show that the stuff you're giving away has value?

People who get a free copy of your book, read it, and like it, may very well tell a friend or two about it -- and those two people might go and buy your book.

It's a way to get over that hump of "nobody knows if I'm any good, so why would they pay for my book". You're proving your book has value because someone read the freebie and liked it.

Thus, giveaways usually come with requests that the readers post reviews.

Plus, people like free stuff and when they come to sign up for the giveaway you have a chance to show them your blurb and cover art. They may buy it even if they don't win.

TroyJackson · Sep 28, 2012

Barbara R. said:
I'm puzzled by all these give-aways. Nothing personal, Vindicated, I don't mean to pick on you or anyone, but I just don't understand the validation in giving one's book away for free. Isn't it like standing on a street corner handing stuff to passers-by? How does that show that the stuff you're giving away has value?

And yet lots of people do it, so clearly I'm missing something.

Yeah, if you're a brand new author, like me, no one knows who you are or even what your book is about! So why would they spend $$ (even 99 cents) on a complete unknown? Sure, there are a few out there that do (bless them!), but most won't. That's why we new authors need to get our names out there FIRST, and hope it catches fire enough where if and when you do put a price on it, people won't mind as much.

stranger · Sep 28, 2012

Barbara R. said:
I'm puzzled by all these give-aways. Nothing personal, Vindicated, I don't mean to pick on you or anyone, but I just don't understand the validation in giving one's book away for free. Isn't it like standing on a street corner handing stuff to passers-by? How does that show that the stuff you're giving away has value?

And yet lots of people do it, so clearly I'm missing something.

Also, Amazon ranks the books based on popularity. This includes both sales and freeloads. So if you can get thousands of downloads when it's free you'll be more visible on Amazon. This often results in many sales in the weeks following all the freeloads. This can create a snowball effect and even if not at least you'll have created a good number of sales based on giving your book away.

AnneGlynn · Sep 28, 2012

V., it's always a mistake to tell family members you write erotica. Tell them you write smut, instead.

It confuses 'em.

Old Hack · Sep 28, 2012

Giving your books away for free can also spread the word that it isn't very good, so do be careful.

And doesn't Amazon reset all your stats once the book goes back to being paid-for? So all that visibility you gain is only temporary, and only lasts for as long as your book is free, and you're still competing against all the other free books out there. Of which there are many.

I'm not trying to be sneery here, just pointing out the problems I see. I hope you'll all be able to show me how these things aren't really problems, and that I'm getting it all wrong.

stranger · Sep 28, 2012

Old Hack said:
Giving your books away for free can also spread the word that it isn't very good, so do be careful.

And doesn't Amazon reset all your stats once the book goes back to being paid-for? So all that visibility you gain is only temporary, and only lasts for as long as your book is free, and you're still competing against all the other free books out there. Of which there are many.

I'm not trying to be sneery here, just pointing out the problems I see. I hope you'll all be able to show me how these things aren't really problems, and that I'm getting it all wrong.

Well if your book isn't good then it won't be successful whatever you do, so you aren't exactly harming it's chances by being free. You do however, get the problem that people who wouldn't normally read that type of book picking it up because it's free and you get a bad review because of that.

Amazon doesn't reset your stats after it goes back paid again. The number of freeloads count towards how visible your book is for a whole month later. People with good freeloads, say 10,000, often report over a thousand sales in the month following and then their sales die off once the effect has died off (30 days later). Amazon changed their algorithms a few months ago and this has reduced the effect of freeloads but people still get sales from it.

Vindicated · Sep 28, 2012

Barbara R. said:
I'm puzzled by all these give-aways. Nothing personal, Vindicated, I don't mean to pick on you or anyone, but I just don't understand the validation in giving one's book away for free. Isn't it like standing on a street corner handing stuff to passers-by? How does that show that the stuff you're giving away has value?

And yet lots of people do it, so clearly I'm missing something.

Nearly a thousand people gave my work a try because it was free. Playing the odds, lets say half don't read it. So 500 people read it-- of those 500, lets say 400 don't even like it due to my writing style, the story, the fact that it's perhaps a 'tired' subject, whatever. That leaves me with 100 people who 'like' it. (These numbers are made up, of course, to prove my point.)
Of those hundred, lets say half would be willing to pick up something else I've written. 50 readers who may or may not decide to read most or even everything I write.
Sure, *maybe* some of them would have bought the work, but to me it seems a reasonable promo, much like a manufacturer's coupon to try a new brand of shampoo for free, it may gain me some following.
*shrugs* I'm new to all of this, but business is an old hat to me. That's what this is, it's business. Sure, I love my job, but 'sales' (Reduced or free price, not selling the material) is part of being a business.

If I get a free shampoo I love, hell yes I'll check out their conditioner, their style mousse, their anti-frizz serum. In this manner, I hope they 'try' my one book and read other things I release. I don't assume free=worthless, so I guess I expect others to feel the same way.

Vindicated · Sep 28, 2012

Old Hack said:
Giving your books away for free can also spread the word that it isn't very good, so do be careful.

And doesn't Amazon reset all your stats once the book goes back to being paid-for? So all that visibility you gain is only temporary, and only lasts for as long as your book is free, and you're still competing against all the other free books out there. Of which there are many.

I'm not trying to be sneery here, just pointing out the problems I see. I hope you'll all be able to show me how these things aren't really problems, and that I'm getting it all wrong.

I'm not sure how you mean the first statement. Are you saying IF the work is bad people will find out because I give it away? Or that the work must suck because it is free?

*scratches head* Either way, the work will speak for itself, of course, but I broke it down in an earlier post about products being given for free in an attempt to turn people onto a 'new brand' which is how I view myself.

Great thought, though. I'd not really considered being thought less of for doing free promos.

Vindicated · Sep 28, 2012

AnneGlynn said:
V., it's always a mistake to tell family members you write erotica. Tell them you write smut, instead.

It confuses 'em.

I see what you did there.

Best advice I've heard since I started!

Vindicated · Sep 28, 2012

TroyJackson said:
Yeah, if you're a brand new author, like me, no one knows who you are or even what your book is about! So why would they spend $$ (even 99 cents) on a complete unknown? Sure, there are a few out there that do (bless them!), but most won't. That's why we new authors need to get our names out there FIRST, and hope it catches fire enough where if and when you do put a price on it, people won't mind as much.

This.

Katie Elle · Sep 28, 2012

From what I've seen, the best use for freebies is to drive the sales of other books, particularly in a series or serial. People are having very good luck (ie, NY Times bestseller list luck) in erotica with serials in which the first book is discounted to 99 cents and given away to drive sales of remaining volumes.

It used to be you could do giveaways and it would push your sales rank up, but as old hack said, this has either been separated out or discounted so heavily it might as well have been.

Vindicated · Sep 28, 2012

Katie Elle said:
From what I've seen, the best use for freebies is to drive the sales of other books, particularly in a series or serial. People are having very good luck (ie, NY Times bestseller list luck) in erotica with serials in which the first book is discounted to 99 cents and given away to drive sales of remaining volumes.

It used to be you could do giveaways and it would push your sales rank up, but as old hack said, this has either been separated out or discounted so heavily it might as well have been.

My giveaway had the most impact while I was still on the new release board.
"Free new releases" is a well-searched term. (Or so I've read via kindleboards, I don't know how accurate that is, but it makes sense.) So top of the "new releases" and free. Catch people's eye.

J. Tanner · Sep 28, 2012

Free was incredibly effective marketing from Dec 2011-Feb 2012 on Amazon. Since the change, it's been modestly effective. It's not so much about gaining readers (who knows what percentage of freebies ever get read) or getting reviews (these can go either way regardless of quality) as it is about getting your book seeded through Amazon's recommendation engine and lists, which are among the most effective marketing tools available.

For other vendors it only seems to be worthwhile at all if you've got the first book in a series free.

Barbara R. · Sep 28, 2012

stranger said:
Also, Amazon ranks the books based on popularity. This includes both sales and freeloads. So if you can get thousands of downloads when it's free you'll be more visible on Amazon. This often results in many sales in the weeks following all the freeloads. This can create a snowball effect and even if not at least you'll have created a good number of sales based on giving your book away.

So basically it's all about gaming Amazon to get exposure, at the expense of giving away thousands of free copies? I know free downloads don't cost the writer, except to the extent that some people who might have bought his book get it for free, but you'd have to sell an awful lot afterward for that to make sense, ISTM; and when you average it all out you might find that you're selling books for 2 cents. I'm not being contentious, just trying to understand the economics of it.

I do know it's worked well for established writers. Diana Gabaldon did a give-away some time ago and the numbers she gave away, though large, were far less than the jump in actual sales that followed, of the other books as well as the one she gave away; so that makes sense to me. But is that snowball effect the pattern for most self-published writers, or do most give away far more than they sell?

Barbara R. · Sep 28, 2012

LBlankenship said:
People who get a free copy of your book, read it, and like it, may very well tell a friend or two about it -- and those two people might go and buy your book.

It's a way to get over that hump of "nobody knows if I'm any good, so why would they pay for my book". You're proving your book has value because someone read the freebie and liked it.

Thus, giveaways usually come with requests that the readers post reviews.

Plus, people like free stuff and when they come to sign up for the giveaway you have a chance to show them your blurb and cover art. They may buy it even if they don't win.

It makes sense as a form of handselling, only once removed: you have to hope other people will be so enthusiastic that they'll do the selling. As a former literary agent who spent half her career convincing writers that no, they should not give their work away for free, this tactic makes me uneasy. But I realize that for self-published writers of fiction in particular, marketing options are limited.

Barbara R. · Sep 28, 2012

TroyJackson said:
Yeah, if you're a brand new author, like me, no one knows who you are or even what your book is about! So why would they spend $$ (even 99 cents) on a complete unknown? Sure, there are a few out there that do (bless them!), but most won't. That's why we new authors need to get our names out there FIRST, and hope it catches fire enough where if and when you do put a price on it, people won't mind as much.

Good luck with your new book. I hope the giveaway works well for you.

I love this idea!

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Writing! Writing! Writing!

Not Any More

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Except when I'm not

DenturePunk writer

Old Hand in the Biz

VPXV 4EVA

practical experience, FTW

If you don't try, you can't fail

Such a nasty woman

practical experience, FTW

Except when I'm not

Except when I'm not

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Old Hand in the Biz

Old Hand in the Biz

Old Hand in the Biz