A KDP Select Giveaway Promotion Suprise
Due to the fact that my 90-day KDP Select period was expiring soon, and my day job exploded with excess demands on my time, I ran a KDP Select giveaway for my epic fantasy adventure Mirrors & Mist on June 2, 2015. Because I was so swamped at work, I didn't do any promotion for this event. Zero. Zip. Nada.
If you recall, I posted results from my first Amazon giveaway for Mirrors & Mist on May 14 and 15, where I promoted the event on my blog, Google+, Facebook, Twitter, and two dozen websites. My first-day results for my promoted event were 129 units on Amazon. So how did the un-promoted giveaway do? On June 2, the no-fanfare giveaway totaled 130 books, or one more than the giveaway I spent several hours (possibly more) promoting.
So does this mean I wasted my time filling out all those online forms and posting and tweeting like crazy? I'm afraid it might. Other than the day of the week the event was held (Thursday versus Tuesday), all other factors are the same as far as I can tell. I have heard that Tuesday is the best day to hold your KDP giveaway, but I haven't actually seen any data that backs this up. Certainly my second giveaway could be interpreted to support Tuesday as being a good day to give away books.
I also ran a second un-promoted giveaway on Sunday, June 7 (since my 90 days expires June 11). This 'under the radar' giveaway totaled a whopping 18 e-books--a big drop-off from 130. Was this event too close to the last one (only 5 days apart)? Or maybe Sunday is a bad day for giveaways? Or a combination of both, plus other factors? I don't know. I've got one more free day left this period, so I'm using it on Thursday, June 11, which is the last day of this 90-day period. I'll let you know how it goes.
The market is dynamic, and what works today may flop tomorrow, but this is one little peek into how the Amazon KDP Select market performed for book two of an indie epic fantasy trilogy. And all of this evaluation hinges on the assumption that giving away books for free is a successful technique to increase sales.
My plan for my next 90-day KDP Select period is to use a paid promotion and compare the results. Do you have an experience with KDP Select you'd be willing to share? I'm interested in what others are encountering with their promotional efforts.
If you recall, I posted results from my first Amazon giveaway for Mirrors & Mist on May 14 and 15, where I promoted the event on my blog, Google+, Facebook, Twitter, and two dozen websites. My first-day results for my promoted event were 129 units on Amazon. So how did the un-promoted giveaway do? On June 2, the no-fanfare giveaway totaled 130 books, or one more than the giveaway I spent several hours (possibly more) promoting.
So does this mean I wasted my time filling out all those online forms and posting and tweeting like crazy? I'm afraid it might. Other than the day of the week the event was held (Thursday versus Tuesday), all other factors are the same as far as I can tell. I have heard that Tuesday is the best day to hold your KDP giveaway, but I haven't actually seen any data that backs this up. Certainly my second giveaway could be interpreted to support Tuesday as being a good day to give away books.
I also ran a second un-promoted giveaway on Sunday, June 7 (since my 90 days expires June 11). This 'under the radar' giveaway totaled a whopping 18 e-books--a big drop-off from 130. Was this event too close to the last one (only 5 days apart)? Or maybe Sunday is a bad day for giveaways? Or a combination of both, plus other factors? I don't know. I've got one more free day left this period, so I'm using it on Thursday, June 11, which is the last day of this 90-day period. I'll let you know how it goes.
The market is dynamic, and what works today may flop tomorrow, but this is one little peek into how the Amazon KDP Select market performed for book two of an indie epic fantasy trilogy. And all of this evaluation hinges on the assumption that giving away books for free is a successful technique to increase sales.
My plan for my next 90-day KDP Select period is to use a paid promotion and compare the results. Do you have an experience with KDP Select you'd be willing to share? I'm interested in what others are encountering with their promotional efforts.
This is a screenshot of my KDP Select report for the two giveaways
Author Update: Progress on Warlock & Wyrm, Book III of The Oxbow Kingdom Trilogy sits at 15,810 words, which is only about 8,000 words in the last month. Considering the last two weeks have been insanely hectic, I hope to crush these numbers by the next update.
Author Update: Progress on Warlock & Wyrm, Book III of The Oxbow Kingdom Trilogy sits at 15,810 words, which is only about 8,000 words in the last month. Considering the last two weeks have been insanely hectic, I hope to crush these numbers by the next update.
Comments
Post a Comment