Amazon
Best Sellers in Fantasy Series
Top 100 Free
December 15, 2012
1. Forged by Greed (The Forged Series) Angela Orlowski-Peart
4.4 out of 5 stars (25)
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Free
Julie Cassar
4.8 out of 5 stars (104)
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Free
3. Wicked Sense (The Singularity Series, #1)
Fabio Bueno
4.5 out of 5 stars (31)
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Free
4. Neverlove (Shadow Jumpers)
Angela Brown
4.9 out of 5 stars (8)
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Free
5. The Soulkeepers (The Soulkeepers Series)
G. P. Ching 4.3 out of 5 stars (290)
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Free
6. Givin' Up The Ghost (An Indigo Eady Paranormal Mystery)
Gwen Gardner
4.7 out of 5 stars (3)
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Free
Turns out, giving your book away for free pushes it further up the list, however fleeting.
Here are some of the deets for Givin' Up The Ghost:
Downloads
US 1093
UK 66
DE 15
ES 1
CA 2
1177 Total downloads for 12/14 - 12/15.
This was a definite improvement over the Black Friday freebie when I had 679 downloads for two days. But the Gifts Aren't Only From Santa event was a bit more high profile, and it helps when you've teamed up and are promoting each others books as well.
I have to say it - I suck at promoting. I find it really hard to promote / push / pimp myself. I'd be the vacuum cleaner saleswoman at your door saying, "You don't want to buy this vacuum, do you?" Honestly, I'm better behind the scenes. Give me something to organize and lists to make and things to check off. You know, books to write, that sort of thing.
But I have seen a direct correlation between those who are really good at promoting themselves and sales.
So what happened after the promotion?
The day after the promotion, on 12/16, I went down to #281,289 in the Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store.
On 12/17, I sold 2 ebooks and my ranking went back up to 79,162 in the Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store.
And now I'm back up to 148,236. Probably more by now. But I had started out over 400,000.
I'm thinking none of the numbers makes sense, but hoping that the giveaways get my book more exposure.
GoodReads
I had a giveaway on GoodReads of two autographed prints books. It's really fun to watch the number of people entering to win my book go up everyday. (They want my book!!! WooHoo!!!). It's over now, and here are the details:
Entered to Win: 969
Added to TBR: 499
PIP Newsletter
Coming in 2013
Because Angela Brown and I don't have enough to do
(Sarcasm? Why no, what makes you think that?), we're starting a
Partners in ParanormYA newsletter.
You can sign up using the link in my sidebar to find out the
latest news and other awesome stuff we're up to.
If you enjoyed our blog tour, you'll enjoy our newsletter!
(Sarcasm? Why no, what makes you think that?), we're starting a
Partners in ParanormYA newsletter.
You can sign up using the link in my sidebar to find out the
latest news and other awesome stuff we're up to.
If you enjoyed our blog tour, you'll enjoy our newsletter!
*****
How do you feel about promoting?
How much is too much?
I'm a great horn tooter for others but I SUCK royally when it comes to myself. I'm trying to work on this by working at doing more with Twitter. I have yet to set up an actual "author page" on Facebook because, well, then I have to ask all the people who've friended me to now come "like" me somewhere else. Yeah, me and promoting are having a bit of a tug of tides.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to working together on the PIP newsletter. Exciting things to come :-)
I hear ya, Angela. I'm much better at promoting others. I've barely started learning about Twitter. I just learned about using hashtags and scheduling - it's kind of cool, really. But still, I feel like I should go to my FB page and apologize to everyone for pushing my book.
DeleteThe newletter will be fun!
I stink at it, too, Gwen. :( Too much is probably when you forsake your writing and/or drive people crazy ... though I'm not sure either is avoidable if you actually want to market effectively. So who knows?
ReplyDeleteI'm doing an organized blog tour for the 1st time in February, and hope it nets some exposure for my work. I probably need to tweet more about my stuff, but just can't bring myself to do it. I'm living in this dream world of, "if I write good things, people will find me eventually". And no, I don't think it's realistic.
Haha, EJ, you and I are living in the same dream world. I was thinking, "Write it and they will come." You know, like field of dreams, lol?
DeleteAlso, I'd love to host you on your tour. I'll stop by or email you:)
Downloaded Givin up the Ghost. Read it and loved it.
ReplyDeleteOh Rachna, you totally made my day! Thank you so much *hugs*
DeleteI had actually borrowed the book just before the free promotion began. So I too bought a copy and I'm glad you got so high on the free kindle books list. This just proves that collaboration works. And I'm no promoting pro either but when the time comes I'm going to try my best and pimp the hell out of my books. Best of luck to the both of us.
ReplyDeleteSheena, so you're the one who borrowed! LOL, that's awesome. Thanks so much for buying it, too.
DeleteCongratulations on a successful promotion! Awesome to see and recognize so many books and authors.
ReplyDeleteThanks Julie, it is really cool to see friends on that list :)
DeleteCongratulations!!! You guys did good.
ReplyDeleteI suck at promoting as well. I hate pushing my books.
Thanks Alex, I'm pleased with the results.
DeleteCongratulations! That's awesome. I think those numbers are good. I'm horrible at promoting too. I think tweets every hour promoting a book is too much. I've seen writers do it too.
ReplyDeleteChristine, I agree that every hour is too much. I cringe at every two hours, too.
DeleteHa! I'm your twin vacuum cleaner salesperson. I hate mentioning my own book, afraid people will think I'm annoying.
ReplyDeleteLaura, lol, twin vacuum cleaner salepersons unite! And yeah, I'd hate for people to think I'm annoying.
DeleteCongrats, Gwen! To Angela, too. Glad you're doing so well. Promoting is hard. Having a freebie do the work is much easier. I think so anyway.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mary. Getting pushed up in the ranks is awesome, and at least it gets some exposure that it wouldn't have otherwise.
DeleteAll the numbers make my head spin, but I know it's something I'll have to pay attention to one day.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your numbers, Gwen! May they ever be rising. :D
They make my head spin, too, Stina, and they really make no sense at all.
DeleteI learn best by doing, so I just jump in and do what feels right. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. I cross the 'nots' off my list and move on to the next item. It's a necessary evil, I think.
ReplyDeleteCarol, that's pretty much how I do it too. Just feeling my way through it all.
DeleteSelf-promotion is not something I'm looking forward to. Awesome that you had that many downloads in just a couple of days.
ReplyDeleteTonja, it is awesome to see all the downloads. Hopefully I'll get some reviews out of it, too!
DeleteI just finished my second draft, and am waiting to get it back from my critique group. I dread the self-promotion part. I'm not good at that either, it seems so vain. Yet, it is a necessary evil in today's market.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the insightful, and honest, post.
Jenn, it is a necessary evil if you're self-pubbing. Something to consider when going into it...
DeleteGood luck with the giveaway. I'm gathering December is not a good month to release or promote a book. Just too much busyness going on. I've found the beginning of summer os a good time. May through early July.
ReplyDeleteStephen, the promo went well as a Christmas giveaway, but the time involved when you have other Christmas things going on can be hectic!
DeleteThere's power in numbers! You guys multiplied your efforts and the results show.
ReplyDeleteOh, I know what you mean about promoting. I one time had a job selling kitchen knives. I only sold a few to family and all the other places I was trying to talk them out of buying the knives somehow. It was terrible.
ReplyDeleteJust think, though, that there are more people who have your book now. They'll read it and then you can gain more fans. It's about exposure, so your next book sells too.
Yep, I'm not a fan of promoting either. I'm hoping that one day I'll write THE book which will speak for itself and sell itself, lol.
ReplyDelete