Yup, enormous thanks to all of you who downloaded Sprite Night while it was on promotion – it made it to the #1 position in one of its US categories, and as high as #4 in the other – [pause for author to grin maniacally].
And here’s the proof:
Or in prettier format:
Now I know it seems like a bit of a cheat to call it a ‘bestseller’, when it was actually free, but hey, it’s my first #1 on Amazon, so perhaps you can forgive me that little conceit?
Not quite as stellar results on the UK site, but still very pleasing, as the categories are far larger – no ‘short read’ categories here; in contention with full length works:
Numbers
The all-important bit. This was my first time running a free promotion, and I had no real idea what to expect. I’ve seen people throwing around huge figures in the thousands – usually when they pay for a BookBub ad. I wasn’t prepared to spend that sort of extortionate money, even if they would have taken a short story (which they wouldn’t), so I set out to do a promo without spending any pennies. I didn’t quite succeed, but I spent a total of $11.50, so it didn’t break the bank!
Downloads – still not finalised, but at last count, just topping 400.
Many sites don’t take short stories, but I found a surprising goodly number that did:
http://askdavid.com/free-ebook-promotion
http://bookangel.co.uk/submit-your-book/
http://contentmo.com/submit-your-free-ebook-promo/
http://www.ebooklister.net/submit.php
http://ebooksaddict.com/submissions/
http://www.freeebooksdaily.com/
http://www.frugal-freebies.com/p/submit-freebie.html
http://igniteyourbook.com/congratulations/
http://www.freebookclub.org/kindle-books
ALL the above were FREE to advertise with. I filled out forms for twice as many sites, and a few more may have taken it, but they don’t provide confirmation, and I didn’t have time to check them all, so I can’t be certain.
The two PAID sites I went with were:
http://snickslist.com/books/ at $1.50 for 3 days, its a steal!
http://www.booksbutterfly.com/order/freebookslots/ this site asks for payment in respect of how many downloads the get you: $5 per 100 downloads, and I paid $10 up front. It is even guaranteed – they refund you if they don’t produce the goods – fabulous!
And off the back of this, I’m already seeing an uptick in sales of all my books – again, not huge yet, but the promo only finishes tonight, and I’ve made back the (tiny) bit of money I spent and a bit more already.
Have you found any other free sites to promote your free works? Do share…
deborahjay 
Congrats Deb. Thanks for sharing your results and promo sites with us. There seems to be so many writers snuffing at putting our books on free, but I’m with you; every once in awhile we have to bite the bullet because it draws in more readers. 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks Deb. I firmly believe in the benefits of doing free pomos, but to really reap the benefits you need to have lots of books out there for readers to come back and buy at full price. I will be doing this again, for certain (it doesn’t hurt so much when its a short story as a whole book), I just need more books finished, so that’s what I’m going to do now.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Don’t I hear you! Good luck writing my friend. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Congratulations, Deborah! Way to go!! I’m very happy for you.
As for the whole controversy over the free issue, I think it depends on where you are with a book, myself. I did several with Wake-Robin Ridge, the last of which sent 6,000 free copies out! I know there are some who give away many more than that, but for me, that was just staggering. And I’m now rethinking the point at which giving away more copies of the same book no longer nets you enough reviews or publicity to make it worthwhile. I’m considering a permanent price drop on that first book, instead.
But there is no doubt in my mind that a free promo can really get things jump-started for you, if it translates into good reviews, so here’s hoping you get PLENTY of them!! Good luck!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Marcia, I have a definite plan for free and priced promotions, my main focus though, is to get my next book finished! That’s what I need now – more material out there to make it really worth promoting.
LikeLike
Reblogged this on The Write Stuff and commented:
Congratultions to Deborah Jay! Nicely done, Deb!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Marcia 😀
LikeLike
Huge c.o.n.g.r.a.t.u.l.a.t.i.o.n.s. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
THANK YOU 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
You are welcome! 🙂
LikeLike