Writer Wednesday: Marketing Results for Kindle Countdown Promotion

The Akasha Chronicles, by Natalie Wright

For this Writer Wednesday, I want to share with you the results for my recent five-day Kindle Countdown promotion. If you're like me, you don't have unlimited funds to spend on advertising. Most of us need to spend our marketing dollars wisely. So many sites make big promises and grand claims. But which book promotion sites work? What's worth the money?

I don't have definitive answers to these questions, and what works/doesn't work for me may work/not work for you. But I'll share what I've learned from a recent promo in the hopes that it will help you when deciding how to handle your next promotion. NOTE: I'm sharing my real numbers. Some of you may sell this many or more books regularly without a promotion. If so, kudos to you! But I'm guessing (based on statistics) that many of you reading this post will find that your sales are similar to mine. I'm also guessing that whatever your level of sales, you can extrapolate my results to estimate what your own experience may be by using these same services.

In this post I'll focus on my experience with the Kindle Countdown deal option available to KDP Select authors. My Akasha Chronicles boxed set is exclusive to Amazon so I have run my Countdown deals promos with this book. It's typically priced at $6.99 (already a great bargain for three books!), so discounting it to 99 cents is a serious discount.

I ran my first countdown deal in April. At that time I sold about sixty books in a five-day promo period. That was decent and more than I typically sell in a whole month (my sales are averaging about 20-30 books a month this year on Amazon without running promotions). At that time, I paid for a Kindle Nation Daily ad - I chose the KF-KND option. Based on my experience from April, I decided two things. First, it is better to have multiple 99 cent days rather than only a day then raise the price in increments. Second, the KF-KND option on Kindle Nation Daily wasn't a very good option (the add cost me $99 and raised less than $30).

For my recent Kindle Countdown deal, I decided to price the book at 99 cents for five straight days. I took a gamble and set the deal days to run over the July 4th holiday. I know that people buy, buy, buy books during the week from Christmas to New Year, but I had no idea if people would be interested in/paying attention to book deals over July 4th. But my experience with it, as I'll detail below, was pretty good and I'd promo again during that period of time in the future.

I went back to Kindle Nation Daily (KND) and paid for an ad to run on July 2. I chose the KDD option this time (check out their site to compare the options). The result? I had 91 sales that day and reached the top 20 on the Young Adult Fantasy/Science Fiction charts and broke into the top 2000 overall. Though the numbers were good, keep in mind that because the book was priced at 99 cents, I made about 57 cents per book, so the ad did not pay for itself. BUT, it boosted sales over the next two days during which I had no ads/promos running. So total sales from July 2-July 4 was 123 books and total earnings was $71. I came close to paying for the KND ad. It's possible that KND ad may result in more sales for books in a different genre, such as thriller/horror or romance (very popular genres for Kindle books). Overall I was happy with the results of the ad and it got my promo off to a good start. Bottom Line: I can recommend KND generally and the KDD option has worked best, for me, of any of the other options I've paid for in the past.

I also tried two new promo sites during may last Kindle Countdown deal. I'm not sure how I learned about Book Basset, but I checked it out and thought it looked like a good option. I paid $21.99 for a one-day featured author spot that occurred on July 5th. Result? I sold 53 books that day and earned about $30, so this add not only paid for itself but made me a little scratch. Bottom Line: I HIGHLY recommend Book Basset as an affordable option for promoting your free books or countdown deals. I will definitely use this one again.

The other promotion I paid for was Just Kindle Books. The fee was only $15 so I figured "Why not?" My promo ran on July 6. I sold 10 books that day. The results were not stellar, but I sold more books that day than the next two days of the deal without any promos. Bottom Line: Just Kindle Books is a cost-effective way to promote free books and countdown deals.

All in all, I am pleased with the results of my most recent Countdown Deal. I sold close to 200 books worldwide in five days. I stayed in the top 100 on the YA Fantasy/Sci Fi chart that entire period. The net financial result is that made $1.39 in excess of costs! So financially let's call it a break even. In the world of book marketing and promotion, a break even for promoting a steeply discounted book is a pretty good result. I'll take it.

But more important than the financial result, I got good exposure (and hopefully gained new fans of my work). As Hugh Howey and others have said, this is a marathon and not a sprint. We need to look more to the long-term than day-to-day results. So discounting a book and getting exposure is a good thing and one that is not easily quantified. (But seeing yourself hit the top of a chart is just plain fun!)

I plan to do another Kindle Countdown deal in the week between Christmas and New Year. I'll likely try a few new things again as well as go back to what worked this time. I'll keep you posted.

How about you? Have you done Kindle Countdown deals? What has worked for you to promote your deal? What hasn't worked well?

Writer Wednesday: Is Social Media Marketing Enough?

In the old days, a writer wouldn't have a published novel until she spent years sending manuscripts to agents and editors, and then wait for months or even years to get rejected only to start the process over again (and again, and again - you get the picture) until finally they either gave up the whole damned thing or got published.

Then the writer would wait many more months or years for the book to finally make its way out of the large publishing house machine and appear on bookshelves in bookstores. At last!

And then, in order to get readers to notice the title, the writer would drive her car or board a plane to travel across the country to book signings. Maybe she would get lucky and fifty or so people would show up. But more often than not, a dozen or fewer intrepid readers came to meet the author and get a book or two signed.

I'm not telling you this based on my own personal experience, but rather based upon the stories from writers who weathered the road to publication in "the old days".

I'm an Indie, aka "self-published". I have never sent a manuscript to an agent or editor. When my first novel, Emily's House, was in a condition that I thought was ready to query, I chose instead to self-publish it.

And it was around that time (Spring, 2011) that I began to research how in the hell I was going to spread the word about my work. Traditional book tours are a no-go for self-published authors. Most large bookstores (okay, Barnes & Noble 'cause they're pretty much the only big bookseller left) will not schedule a book signing for an author whose book cannot be returned (i.e. the authors' books aren't ordered from warehouse where they can be returned if they don't sell).

From the first days of the Indie Revolution, Indie Authors have relied on social media and Internet marketing campaigns to spread the word about their work. J.A. Konrath in his Newbie Guide to Publishing Blog speaks against the old ways of doing book business (and if aren't familiar with his blog, I highly recommend it - tons of useful information). He's a veteran of both traditional, old-school publishing and a highly successful Indie. Konrath and others have spoken negatively about traditional book tours and attending festivals and fairs as a waste of time, preferring instead virtual tours.

I have neither the breadth of experience nor the commercial success of J.A. Konrath. But the experience that I've had so far shows me that no amount of Internet marketing or social media campaigning will make up for in-person writer to reader contact.

In-person human contact makes a far larger and more lasting impression than a blog post, Facebook status update or Tweet. Period.

I've been connecting with readers through social media for about two years now. And I do not deny the power and efficiency of the Internet to spread our message. I'm not claiming that you should replace your social media marketing plan with an all in-person campaign. I have done and will continue to use virtual tours as a mainstay of my book marketing.

But I do recommend that you augment your Internet marketing with some in-person marketing as well. Contact your local independent bookstores to arrange for book signings when you have new releases. Get a booth at a local book fair or book festival. If the cost is high, share the space with another Indie author who publishes books in the same genre.

This March, I shared a booth with author Janine Caldwell at the Tucson Festival of Books (TFOB). It was the first time either of us had participated as an exhibitor at a book fair. We both write young adult fiction and decided to give it a try.

The TFOB is one of the five largest in the country (in terms of attendance). We expected between 100,00-150,000 to show up.

The weather gods were not kind to us. It was two days of cold, wet and windy.
Despite the weather, I had a very successful festival. I had close to 100 books on hand and feared that I'd end up taking most of them home. Instead, I SOLD OUT!

Selling almost a hundred books in two days - that's a good sales weekend.

But the real success is not in the number of copies sold. The true measure of the success of that weekend is what happened after.

First, online sales were boosted. The months of March and April of this year were the best sales months I've had since January, 2012. I had no other promotions going, so I know that it was my appearance at the festival that accounts for the rise in sales. So not only did I sell a lot of books in those two days, but all the fliers and bookmarks I handed out resulted in higher than usual online sales.

Second, I made personal connections with readers. And if you write for young people (children, middle grade and teen), it can be difficult to connect with readers.

I saw middle-grade girls hug their copy of Emily's House to their chest and beam with excitement about reading an epic girl adventure. The truth is, there aren't many books being written for girls that age that have strong girl protagonists going on epic journeys. Emily's House is like Percy Jackson for girls. And they are eager and hungry for it. Another example of traditional publishing not recognizing (and thus not filling) a need.

This one-to-one experience with readers invigorated me. It gave me a shot in the arm of the juice required to keep me going.

Why do you write? And why do you publish?

For me, I write first and foremost because of my own internal need to create. But I publish because I want to share the ideas, thoughts, and questions evoked in my writing with others.

Seeing readers excited to read your story - you cannot get that through a Facebook page. The light in their eyes doesn't come through an e-mail or blog comment. You can only experience that by meeting them, talking to them, and genuinely hoping that they enjoy the ride that your story takes them on.

Whether in-person or across the ether, it's all about connection. I have never felt more genuinely connected to readers than I did those two days of the TFOB.

I came away from my TFOB experience with an addiction to book fairs! I'll be back at TFOB next year with at least one more title (maybe two). I'm looking forward to catching up with some friends I made this year and to meeting new ones.

And then I'll push off to three or four more next year. I've heard L.A. is nice in April . . .

Manic Monday: 3 Truths About Self-Publishing

Last week, I saw a blog post titled: "How I got a big advance from a big publisher and self-published anyway," by Penelope Trunk. Intriguing title. I took the bait and clicked through to read the post.

Essentially Ms. Trunk wrote a non-fiction book about how to achieve happiness. She sold the book to a large publisher, got a "lot of money" for an advance (paid in full). According to her blog post, things began to go sour about three months before publication when she was contacted by the marketing department. 

She was, apparently, unimpressed with the first call. "Their call was just about giving me a list of what I was going to do to publicize the book." 

Hold it right there. Was she surprised by this? This didn't fit with her expectation?

When I went to my first writer's conference in 2009, I distinctly recall hearing from panels - and in individual conversations with authors - that the publishing house expects that the author will do the majority of marketing of their book. If you hang out with writers on Twitter, or anywhere else where writer-folk gather, you will hear a constant chorus of how publishing houses do NOT put significant money or time into marketing the books of first-time authors. Everyone knows (or should know) that your book won't get a significant (or any) marketing budget unless you've previously had a best-seller.

In fact, even as far back as 2009 at that writer's conference, I began wondering why writers needed publishing houses. I mean, they aren't going to market my book. They're not likely to do much editing of my book (I've been advised repeatedly to hire a freelance editor before I even query).

If they don't edit and they don't market, it really begs the question: What do they do? And why give up 90-96% of the royalties?

When I was finished my first book, I had a choice to make. Self-publish or begin the query process. Knowing that it would like to take 3-5 years to see my book in print if I went the traditional publishing route (IF I ever saw it in print), I decided to self-publish.

I don't regret that decision and I'm quite pleased with the success of my first book, Emily's House. But Ms. Trunk's blog post got me to thinking about some truths about self-publishing and how she may have discounted the advantages to having a big publisher on board. Which begets another question: Are there still advantages to being traditionally published?

Some thoughts. First, BIG PUBLISHER STILL SELL THE VAST, VAST, VAST, VAST MAJORITY OF ALL BOOKS SOLD. PERIOD.

Indie and self-published books still make up a tiny fraction of overall sales.

Amanda Hocking, Uber Self-Publisher

J.A. Konrath

If you have been lulled into thinking that you, an army of one, without a publishing house behind you, are going to shoot up the bestseller list, you are more than likely going to be sorely disappointed. Last year we watched Amanda Hocking sell over a million copies of her self-published books. J.A. Konrath talked about making $60,000 per month on his self-published books (but also cautioned writers to focus on writing more books rather than just jumping onto the self-publishing bandwagon). Writers worldwide collectively said "hell yeah" and stopped querying and started publishing on their own.

I'm on of them. And I'm glad I did and I'll continue to self-publish.

But come on, lets have a reality check. My opinion (feel free to differ in the comments if you have experienced otherwise): if you have never been published by a publishing house, you should continue to try to get a contract.

Why?

Here are some truths:

1. Selling books is about discoverability. So long as there are brick and mortar stores, if you're books aren't in them, you are losing a facet of discoverability.  When you walk into your local Barnes & Noble, a publishers PAID to have their books on the table or end-caps. If you are a self-published author, your book isn't even in the local Barnes & Noble. It certainly is NOT on an end-cap or table. Having your book in the bookstore is not just about vanity. Books on shelves and book-signings in stores are about sales. If you're self-pubbed, you won't have either of these things.

Tables full of books at a Barnes & Noble

2. Reviews sell books. Lots of reviews from influential people sell a lot of books. If you are self-published, it is unlikely that popular reviewers with lots of influence will even look at your book. That's a fact. You may get lovely reviews from lesser known reviewers who are still willing to read self-pubbed books. But most popular reviewers long ago gave up on self-pubbed. Why? Because for every gem, they had to wade through nine clunkers. That's a fact. Traditionally published books will be more likely to get reviewed by influential reviewers and bloggers. It will not be turned away by reviewers simply because of who published it.

3. Traditionally published books SELL BETTER. In the top 100 on Amazon, any day, any time, there may be two - perhaps even five - self-published books that have made it into the top 100 (my review of the list this morning showed no self-pubbed books in the top 60). THAT STILL MEANS THAT 95-98 percent of the top 100 are traditionally published. You will get an occasional Fifty Shades of Grey: Book One of the Fifty Shades Trilogy, or The Mill River Recluse, or Switched (Trylle Trilogy) (originally self-pubbed, but now published by St. Martin's Griffin). But the vast majority of books making it onto the bestseller list are from large publishers.

Why is that so? I believe there are two reasons.

First, see numbers one & two above. Large publishers have the distribution channels to get books on every shelf, everywhere. Virtual and real. When it comes to discoverability and availability, traditional publishers still have self-pubbers beat.

Second, and this may ruffle feathers, but traditionally published books are (generally) better reads. I'm sorry, but this is true. I download and read about ten book samples a week. I only download samples of books that a friend has recommended, or that I've read the cover blurb, and/or seen reviews, and/or buzz, and I think it's a book up my alley.

For traditionally published books, I'll buy about 50-60% of the time. This means that from the sample I read, I'm hooked enough on the premise and feel the writing is strong enough that I'm willing to pay the (usually) $6-$10 to buy the book.

For self-published titles, I hit the buy button less than 5% of the time. Most of the time, I'm sucked in by the premise and think it sounds like a great story. But my choice not to buy is generally because the writing fell short, either in the first pages or by the end of the sample. And usually, these books are priced at 99 cents to $2.99. I won't even download a whole book that's free if I can't get through the sample.

Now there are exceptions - self-pubbed or small press books that are as good - or better - than traditionally published books (like Keir, by Pippa Jay, one of my recent favorites which I'll review here on my blog soon). But the truth is, you have to wade through a lot of not-so-hot books to get to those gems.

Look, I self-published my first book, Emily's House (The Akasha Chronicles), and I'll self-publish the rest of that trilogy and perhaps other books. I've been quite happy with the results of my first publishing adventure, and I believe that a self-published author can achieve fabulous sales.

But I think that it is grossly inaccurate to assume, with an unchecked ego, that a self-pubber can do better without a big publisher. Folks like J.A. Konrath and Barry Eisler both had traditionally published books in their back-list before embarking on their self-publishing journey. They already had a fan base, folks ready to purchase their books, regardless of the publisher.

Let's face it, whether we have one of the Big 6 backing us up, or we're on our own, the writer is going to do the heavy lifting when it comes to marketing the book. But when your book bears the publishing house imprimatur, the author has marketing avenues that aren't even open to self-published writers.

That is why I'll seek a publishing contract for my next series of books while continuing to self-publish. It is my belief, (I could be wrong), that working both avenues will produce better results than going down only one road.

What do you think? Am I full of bull? Do you think self-publishing is the way to go and screw traditional publishing? Or do you think self-publishing is for amateurs and only traditionally published authors can be considered pros? What are your thoughts on the publishing houses?