I've been offering The New Author for free as an e-book for the past few weeks as part of my haphazard marketing strategy. This isn't a KDP Select freebie, it's a price-matched affair. The New Author freebie has resulted in several thousand downloads on Amazon US and UK (and possibly Barnes & Noble etc but who knows with the slow Smashwords reporting). A few free downloads have occurred on Amazon DE and ES where it's also gone free. Has it stimulated sales of my novels? Difficult to say but things are a bit quiet on that front for me as for many other indie authors. What has surprised me is the Amazon paperback sales of The New Author which have consistently beaten my novel e-book sales during this 'experiment'. (I hesitate to call it an experiment because, like I said, I'm like a flag in the wind when it comes to pricing strategy. Maybe I should increase my novel prices? Hey, yeah. See what I mean?)
Another by-product of this 'freeness' is the fairly continuous presence of The New Author in top ten genre rankings alongside paid books and established freebie must-haves like Smashwords Style Guide and Write Good or Die. It's a rare event for me to get into a genre listing (although Peril did manage to get into a UK Drama listing this week) and I'm enjoying the vainglory of The New Author achieving that in a niche genre that requires just a few dozen downloads a day for a listing.
Reviews are starting to appear, as well, and a particularly interesting blog review turned up yesterday from one Michael N. Marcus. He loved The New Author but thinks I'm throwing money away by giving it for free and here's his blog post on the subject: http://www.bookmakingblog.com/2012/12/can-you-get-something-for-nothing-yes.html
So, whadya think? Should I put The New Author e-book back to priced? Is it the dumbest marketing strategy you ever heard? Am I flushing money down the toilet in a fit of genre-listing narcissim, 'cos nobody will buy my novels on the back of a piece of non-fiction?
Let me know and I'll email you a free e-copy of ... oh, wait a minute, that's what got me into this fix in the first place!
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I don't know the answer Ruby, and I'm not sure many people do, but I will say,if you can judge a book by the cover, it looks like a fab book!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Louise ;-) Jane Dixon-Smith did it for me.
DeleteOne of the best books on writing - social networking and epublishing I've ever read! Well written and thought-provoking - should definitely have a price tag!
ReplyDeleteThanks Susan. It seems to be boosting paperback sales.
DeleteAs an indie writer/publisher of nonfiction, I've found that giving away my books (or even just one) does not get the readers to buy my other books, even when part of a series. I did find, though, that I had a lot more "sales" when I gave them away then when I charged for them. So, I guess it depends on whether it's more important to get the information/story to the public, or to make a living from your writing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, Tricia. You've made a good point there. An author has to consider if they want to earn, to be read or to be validated.
DeleteHello Ruby,
ReplyDeleteI am still a complete neophyte to publishing so I don't have a clear opinion regarding providing your readers with a free ebook. But I can tell you that the offer is tantalizing enough to keep me looking at your various pages (twitter, Amazon, website) 10 times longer than I would have had I just noticed your work in the onrush of morning information, and I am now familiar with the name Ruby_Barnes.
I'm a visual artist and have been advised to create internet material (instructions, blog, youtube videos) to offer as free enticements simply to be more firmly fixed in the attention of my visitors, and I think this is good advice. In this way, a free ebook could function as a very attractive and memorable business card - one that quite probably will be referred to and passed around. I actually create various things (magnets, calendars, notecards, small prints) to offer as thank-you, or simply no-strings-attached gifts. There may be no immediate rewards for me, but, I have had clients save something like this for a year or two before coming to the studio to select a painting.
Wishing you the best, Anne
annebevan.com
www.facebook.com/AnneBevanStudio
wncpainter@aol.com
Thanks Anne. Good feedback!
DeleteI'm thinking of writing a prequel to one of my novels and making that free too. You're right, good things come to those who wait.
Great cover, Ruby! You've already reaped the benefit of the freebie thing, so price it and sell it! I keep my own eBooks at US$2.99 to keep them attractive, but I just paid US$14.99 for a fantasy anthology GRR Martin edited, so if I'm any indication, there's more room in eBook pricing. I have also found that people that pay for books are more likely to leave reviews(publicity copies not included).
ReplyDeleteGood advice, Richard. Now, if Amazon will just put it back to priced ...
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