There is no doubt that if you are reading this blog you have noticed that there is a HUGE market right now for free eBooks. An author has taken months of their time and encompassed their talent to write a book...and they are giving it away. Yep, that's what you're seeing and I am one of those guilty parties.
The Executive's Decision went free in November of 2011. Why did I do that with my best book to date? Why would I put a book out there with only one other book in the series out? Why not? I saw the trend. I needed an audience. What was a few day?
Um...everything has its lessons! IF you make your book free on Smashwords toward the end of the week and your book is in their premium catalog it will be sent out to the many distribution sites that use Smashwords. What that means is your book, which was free on Smashwords, will now be free on many many many more sites! (BTW this is not the good part of my story...this is the part where I went, OMG!!!)
Panic. Backtrack. I had only hoped for a few days after Thanksgiving. C'mon, I had a plan. Now my book is out there for free everywhere. But wait. Its now on bestsellers lists on little sites. Okay, okay, I got it fixed back to paid, but now that so many free copies have gone out the second book is starting to sell like mad! Oh look, even not on free now the book is selling in paid bestseller status. WHAT IS THAT? I got my third book in the series up in time to do a presale and it has gone bestseller in presale? Oh yes, that is what happened.
So now I have bestseller status. I have ten emails a day coming in asking when the next book is going to be out.
Hmmm, maybe free will keep selling everything else.
So I bite the bullet. The Executive's Decision has gone free, perma free. Amazon has picked it up as a free matched book. Awesome! And so begins all the sales of the other books.
Will this happen on every free book? No. And the reason is it still has to be a good book. I have thousands (yep, I said thousands) of reviews. Some hate it. Free books are raked over the coals. Be prepared for that. Again, if you've read my blog you know I don't read reviews. But readers do and even the horrible ones make someone want to read it just for the "is it that bad" factor. And for free, what do they have to lose. But a bad book is a bad book and it will not move other books. So don't just write something you'd only give for free. Make sure it is of "sale" quality.
Do I recommend if you're just starting out to do this? Yes and no. This is what I mean.
Do Not spend all your time writing a free book. Amass a collection. If you're writing a series, when you have a few under your belt, give away book one.
If your free book is your only book you're doing yourself a disservice. The point is to drive business to the next books.
How about short stories or novellas? Yes this can work, but again, the focus is on a free book to hook readers to the author so they will buy more. Make sure you have something to back it up.
How about that Kindle Prime days offer or Book Bub? Use the tools you can. I don't like making my books exclusive to Kindle. I do VERY well on iTunes directly. But, when you're playing with this the Kindle Prime is a good place to feel it out. Not only will they help boost you a bit, lots of sites have built themselves on offering free advertising or prime placement for a nominal fee for free Kindle books. If you're looking for bang for your buck...go Book Bub. Be aware they have some strict rules. You have to have so many reviews and such and they don't take everyone. But if you're lucky enough to be picked up you will see your numbers soar! (A run can cost from $20 to $600, be prepared.)
Free books. I say it is a win win situation for the self-pubbed (or small/independent published.) Free still needs to mean quality and it means a lot of promotional work. But if you have more books, your writing is consistent, and you can handle some critics...then it just might be the way to go.
And just a note. The Executive's decision is still free after all this time. I have 14 books out currently and it helps to open the door to all of those sales. During my BookBub days I had over 100,000 downloads on my first run and over 60,000 on my second (and it trickles down.) So do you have a book--I mean a few? Give it a try. You might not have to work for free after all.
Showing posts with label Monday Marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Monday Marketing. Show all posts
Monday, October 21, 2013
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Monday Marketing: Let's Talk Swag: What works...what's a waste of your time
Let's Talk Swag: What works...what's a waste of your time and money?
Admit it. We love swag. We all pick it up. FREE? Oh, yeah! If you go to a convention you get a bag full of great stuff! We want it all. A bookmark. A pen. A jar lid opener...you name it. Now ask yourself, what do you do with it when you get it home?
In today's digital age business cards are, I think, almost a lost art. But don't be without one. Vistaprint definitely makes overpriced business cards a thing of the past. And that's good because you're going to collect those cards, take them back to your computer, and enter the info before throwing the cards away. However, don't ever be caught without business cards!
Bookmarks are an authors staple, but give some hard thought to them before you spend your hard earned money. How many people read paper books anymore. OH, there is a place for them. And if you have your books in stores then yes, you should have bookmarks there for them pass out when they sell physical books. They had a place in a swag bag too, but my suggestion is that even on the bookmarks give the consumer links to your eBooks, just in case.
How about those cute candies! Aren't those a nice treat when you have a swag bag? Open it up. Pop it in your mouth while you look at your loot and throw the wrapper away. Advertising dollars enjoyed and ignored as I pondered everyone else's items and had momentary enjoyment from the advertisement itself...but why keep a candy wrapper?
I'm a lover of a good sticky note pad! Now a good note pad has lots of room for me to write my note on even if it has the name of an author. But really, if the information on the pad is too big, eh, I'm not going to remember to keep it handy. Alas, I'll find it in the back of the drawer or in the trash. But done right, they will be on everything I have and probably get sent to others too.
Postcards. They're kind of like a big business card, only they don't fit in your wallet. I'll admit, I'm in the air on postcards. I think they are awesome if you have a free book, as I do, and you could sign the card and hand them out at signings. Or if you only do eBooks, this is still a great way to be personable, sign the card, and give the information on your eBook to the consumer. But, as a rule of thumb, what use is a postcard if you don't mail it? Think about making them share-able so others might mail them...maybe.
My all time favorite is a pen! Oh yes...a pen! I don't care how many pens you have you always need a pen. If you're going to invest in a pen, invest in a good one! People don't want to use a stick pen only two times to find out that Sally Smith Jones, author of Dirt is Good buys cheap pens and they are in the trash fast. They want a reliable pen they can jot down all their notes with. In my opinion this is one of your best buys!
The grocery bag. Cheesy, maybe. Useful, most assuredly. I have a big collection of these bags for my groceries and I know each bag! Why? Because everyday I use them either at the store or just hauling things from here to there in my day to day life. Another great buy.
Admit it. Whether you drink coffee or not a coffee mug is a good thing. Ceramic or travel, people like their coffee and they always need a mug. And you can go beyond that. A drink cup is as useful. As I sit here I see in my view a travel coffee mug (Okay, that one is a 5 Prince Publishing mug, but I use it everyday), I have a special drink in the cup I got from the orthodontist, and my water is in a Bellagio water bottle. Hmmmm, you can guarantee I think of those places everyday. AND when I can't quickly find the orthodontist's number I know it's on the orange cup I use everyday.
Kitchen gadgets are good too. We all use bottle openers, jar openers, chip clips...you name it.
Really, when you're thinking swag think useful. Before you spend your hard earned money--and authors know it is Hard-earned!--think of the usefulness of the item you're just going to give away. Will they enjoy it for a moment or a lifetime? Will they remember you? Now that is the key!
Happy Swag!
Bernadette Marie
For a complete list of Monday Marketing topics and their links please click here.
Admit it. We love swag. We all pick it up. FREE? Oh, yeah! If you go to a convention you get a bag full of great stuff! We want it all. A bookmark. A pen. A jar lid opener...you name it. Now ask yourself, what do you do with it when you get it home?
In today's digital age business cards are, I think, almost a lost art. But don't be without one. Vistaprint definitely makes overpriced business cards a thing of the past. And that's good because you're going to collect those cards, take them back to your computer, and enter the info before throwing the cards away. However, don't ever be caught without business cards!
Bookmarks are an authors staple, but give some hard thought to them before you spend your hard earned money. How many people read paper books anymore. OH, there is a place for them. And if you have your books in stores then yes, you should have bookmarks there for them pass out when they sell physical books. They had a place in a swag bag too, but my suggestion is that even on the bookmarks give the consumer links to your eBooks, just in case.
How about those cute candies! Aren't those a nice treat when you have a swag bag? Open it up. Pop it in your mouth while you look at your loot and throw the wrapper away. Advertising dollars enjoyed and ignored as I pondered everyone else's items and had momentary enjoyment from the advertisement itself...but why keep a candy wrapper?
I'm a lover of a good sticky note pad! Now a good note pad has lots of room for me to write my note on even if it has the name of an author. But really, if the information on the pad is too big, eh, I'm not going to remember to keep it handy. Alas, I'll find it in the back of the drawer or in the trash. But done right, they will be on everything I have and probably get sent to others too.
Postcards. They're kind of like a big business card, only they don't fit in your wallet. I'll admit, I'm in the air on postcards. I think they are awesome if you have a free book, as I do, and you could sign the card and hand them out at signings. Or if you only do eBooks, this is still a great way to be personable, sign the card, and give the information on your eBook to the consumer. But, as a rule of thumb, what use is a postcard if you don't mail it? Think about making them share-able so others might mail them...maybe.
My all time favorite is a pen! Oh yes...a pen! I don't care how many pens you have you always need a pen. If you're going to invest in a pen, invest in a good one! People don't want to use a stick pen only two times to find out that Sally Smith Jones, author of Dirt is Good buys cheap pens and they are in the trash fast. They want a reliable pen they can jot down all their notes with. In my opinion this is one of your best buys!
The grocery bag. Cheesy, maybe. Useful, most assuredly. I have a big collection of these bags for my groceries and I know each bag! Why? Because everyday I use them either at the store or just hauling things from here to there in my day to day life. Another great buy.
Admit it. Whether you drink coffee or not a coffee mug is a good thing. Ceramic or travel, people like their coffee and they always need a mug. And you can go beyond that. A drink cup is as useful. As I sit here I see in my view a travel coffee mug (Okay, that one is a 5 Prince Publishing mug, but I use it everyday), I have a special drink in the cup I got from the orthodontist, and my water is in a Bellagio water bottle. Hmmmm, you can guarantee I think of those places everyday. AND when I can't quickly find the orthodontist's number I know it's on the orange cup I use everyday.
Kitchen gadgets are good too. We all use bottle openers, jar openers, chip clips...you name it.
Really, when you're thinking swag think useful. Before you spend your hard earned money--and authors know it is Hard-earned!--think of the usefulness of the item you're just going to give away. Will they enjoy it for a moment or a lifetime? Will they remember you? Now that is the key!
Happy Swag!
Bernadette Marie
For a complete list of Monday Marketing topics and their links please click here.
Bestselling Author Bernadette Marie is known for building families readers want to be part of. Her series The Keller Family has graced bestseller charts since its release in 2011, along with her other series and single title books. The married mother of five sons promises Happily Ever After always…and says she can write it, because she lives it.
When not writing, Bernadette Marie is shuffling her sons to their many events—mostly hockey—and enjoying the beautiful views of the Colorado Rocky Mountains from her front step. She is also an accomplished martial artist with a second degree black belt in Tang Soo Do.
A chronic entrepreneur, Bernadette Marie opened her own publishing house in 2011, 5 Prince Publishing, so that she could publish the books she liked to write and help make the dreams of other aspiring authors come true too.
Bernadette Marie began writing at the age of thirteen and submitted her first manuscript at sixteen. Just as any aspiring author has learned, the publishing world is full of rejection. So how does an author find readers and allies before they have a book? Self-promotion! Bernadette Marie shares her experiences in building a name for herself before her first book was ever published.
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