Three Days Later

Here’s the free download numbers, then, for the promotion that ran Wednesday (as of 9:30 AM EST this morning):

• Amazon: 35089
• Apple: 4266
• B&N: 2656
• Kobo: 0 (!)

Follow-on sales have either... started? Or people are picking them up just to have the set before they start reading? Not sure.

• Rose Point (Book 2, all vendors): 152
• Laisrathera (Book 3, all vendors): 88
• A Rose Point Holiday (Book 4, all vendors): 56

This is e-books only. Print books haven’t moved at all: I’ve sold one copy of Earthrise in print this week. But when we flip to audio, different story, no doubt thanks to Amazon’s “get this book, add the audiobook for only $1.99” deal.

• Earthrise (sales, not downloads): 516
• Rose Point: 6
• Laisrathera: 1
• A Rose Point Holiday: 2

In addition to all this, Earthrise got two new (5 star!) reviews yesterday.

My sales ranking fell from #2 on the entire free store to #9 on Thursday, and it hovered around #9-10 until late Friday, when it finally started dropping quickly. It’s at #29 now.

It is early days yet, or at least, I thought it was. My assumption was that a promotion on free downloads wouldn’t really have an effect on revenue for at least a month, to give some of those people time to read and decide if they liked it. I’m still going to continue assuming that, unless my revenue keeps growing. But here are some takeaways for now:

• This is a huge promotion and it’s a total waste of time unless you’re pushing the first book in a series that’s either already complete or has a lot of books in it already. Once people finish the free book, they’ve got to have something to move onto, and it can’t be a weak pull like “oh, I guess the author’s written other stuff sort of like this.” The exception to this (my guess) is if you’re already a big name and you can sell your newest book at a discount and expect people to snap it up.
• I would also never waste a promotion like this on a book without an audio edition. That $1.99 free add-on is apparently hugely enticing, and it gave me a completely unexpected source of revenue off a free download.
• You have got to stay on top of the backmatter in your books. All my series books have a blurb for the next book in the back to keep people moving. You have to think of people's attention as a train you can pass to subsequent destinations as quickly and painlessly as possible. No stops allowed!

These are all observations I’ve made based on my initial response to this (“OH WOW I NEED TO TRY TO SCHEDULE MORE OF THESE!”) followed by, “Huh, but given how infrequently you have a chance to run them, I can’t afford to waste any of my slots on things that won’t be worth it.” I don’t think I have another book in my catalog I’d consider putting forth at this point. Either the series are too young (the romances) or they're missing editions (the epic fantasy) or they're too niche (things like Spots).

So, that’s where we are (or were, at 9:30 this morning. It’s now after noon and I see I’ve sold some more books). I’ll keep an eye on it and tell you how it goes over the next few weeks. Or maybe you all will spot the new reviews before I do! :)