To free or not to free - Part 2
In a few hours, my first-ever free book promotion will be over. I must admit I was very sceptical and didn't know if this promotion would be of any benefit to me. I also was worried that nobody would download my book, even when it was free, and the effect this would have on my motivation as a new self-publisher author.
This promotion was a last minute decision 24 hours before it started, so I didn't have a great lead-up to it. I listed it with as many free ebook sites as possible, but couldn't say how many of the emails and forms I filled in actually made it onto those sites. I did the same with Facebook, posting the link or asking for the link to be posted.
The only thing I have a clear idea of what happened was what I did on Twitter. And I think it was the Twitter 'campaign' that was the most successful because I gained lots of new followers and retweets.
It was exciting to watch the number of downloads go up over time, and to see which marketplaces they came from. I am happy that over 650 people have downloaded my book so far, with a few hours to go.
Even if the cynic in me says that a number of those people will not read it (I know because I've downloaded free books, and never read them), it is still exciting to know that somewhere out there in the big world, somebody is bound to be reading "Teaching Tori" right now.
Maybe somebody somewhere is tucked under their blanket and reading about Lana, the girl in Tori's class. Or somebody somewhere is sitting in their sofa by the fire, pining for Tom alongside Tori who has realised that she has made a big mistake. Or somebody somewhere is learning a little bit about Maori culture.
And this is why I started writing in the first place. Because I wanted to share my stories.
Hopefully, I will gain a few new readers who will come back for my next book. If only 1% of the downloaders leave a review, that would be 6 new reviews - I would be quite happy with that.
(So far I've had one new review - thanks Janelle Kahele
If you happen to be one of the 649 others who have downloaded the book, have you considered heading over to Amazon to write a brief review?
So would I do this promotion again? Definitely. Just to see the numbers go up within a few minutes on the first day was so exciting.
And whether it pays off in terms of reviews, watch this space.
This promotion was a last minute decision 24 hours before it started, so I didn't have a great lead-up to it. I listed it with as many free ebook sites as possible, but couldn't say how many of the emails and forms I filled in actually made it onto those sites. I did the same with Facebook, posting the link or asking for the link to be posted.
The only thing I have a clear idea of what happened was what I did on Twitter. And I think it was the Twitter 'campaign' that was the most successful because I gained lots of new followers and retweets.
It was exciting to watch the number of downloads go up over time, and to see which marketplaces they came from. I am happy that over 650 people have downloaded my book so far, with a few hours to go.
Even if the cynic in me says that a number of those people will not read it (I know because I've downloaded free books, and never read them), it is still exciting to know that somewhere out there in the big world, somebody is bound to be reading "Teaching Tori" right now.
Maybe somebody somewhere is tucked under their blanket and reading about Lana, the girl in Tori's class. Or somebody somewhere is sitting in their sofa by the fire, pining for Tom alongside Tori who has realised that she has made a big mistake. Or somebody somewhere is learning a little bit about Maori culture.
And this is why I started writing in the first place. Because I wanted to share my stories.
Hopefully, I will gain a few new readers who will come back for my next book. If only 1% of the downloaders leave a review, that would be 6 new reviews - I would be quite happy with that.
(So far I've had one new review - thanks Janelle Kahele
If you happen to be one of the 649 others who have downloaded the book, have you considered heading over to Amazon to write a brief review?
So would I do this promotion again? Definitely. Just to see the numbers go up within a few minutes on the first day was so exciting.
And whether it pays off in terms of reviews, watch this space.
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