Kindle book giveaways hurting sales even of unrelated books

Falling in line seems to be like sheep. There is always a leader that others follow. Just be sure the leader knows where he/she is going.

As for freebies, I haven't changed my opinion about that. In industry, price is an indicator of value. I could give numerous examples of how product sales increased when the price was increased. I believe that something for nothing is worth nothing. Using a limited number of items as promo is not the same thing.

People value what they pay for. If they buy a book, they will read it.
Just my opinion of course. An author works hard and spends many hours to write a book. Why should they not be compensated? If the book is not to be deemed worthwhile, then why write it?

First time authors want to see their name in print and are excited about getting published. That is understandable. They are also gullible and vulnerable to scams. One should learn from mistakes. Making the same mistake repeatedly doesn't change the result.

I used to discount my books for book signings. No more. I sell just as many at $14.95 as at $12.00 so why take a loss? If a person wants the book, a few dollars won't make a difference. They won't make a difference if they don't want it.

There are three ways to get people to buy your books. None of them work.

I used Kindle Select and giveaways for my mysteries. I made a few bucks on lending, but the giveaways had no appreciable effect. The idea is that people who get a free book will read and review it. Didn't happen. And that their enjoyment of the free book will encourage them to buy the others. Didn't happen.

The down side to Select, is that it gives Amazon exclusive right to the book. You can't put it up on Kobo, Pubit, or Apple's iBookStore. You can't list it with Smashwords or Draft2Digital.
The only conventional wisdom that makes any sense is to build your catalogue. Write more books. If ever one of them catches on, readers might explore the others.

And the only absolute necessity is that you write good books. I've downloaded a lot of free contemporary self-published mysteries from the Kindel store, looking for tips on what other writers are doing. With one exception, those books suck. They are boring, predictable, and loaded with errors.

That one exception is Hugh Howey's free Wool - Part 1. Once I finished it, I immediately bought the Omnibus edition. The strategy works for Hugh because he's written a truly great series of books.

But for the most part, free books on Amazon are the self-publisher's version of the commercial publishers' and agents' slush piles. Except that consumers instead of interns are your unwitting gatekeepers. And they are coming to resent it, and they are tending to avoid self-published books as a consequence.

Al Stevens wrote:

There are three ways to get people to buy your books. None of them work.

Not for everyone ... but they do for some.

Al Stevens wrote:

I used Kindle Select and giveaways for my mysteries. I made a few bucks on lending, but the giveaways had no appreciable effect. The idea is that people who get a free book will read and review it. Didn't happen. And that their enjoyment of the free book will encourage them to buy the others. Didn't happen.

So what does this tell you about your books?

Al Stevens wrote:

that makes any sense is to build your catalogue. Write more books. If ever one of them catches on, readers might explore the others.

Which is what I did.

Al Stevens wrote:

And the only absolute necessity is that you write good books. I've downloaded a lot of free contemporary self-published mysteries from the Kindel store, looking for tips on what other writers are doing. With one exception, those books suck. They are boring, predictable, and loaded with errors.

There wouldn't be any "bestsellers" if everyone could write a "bestseller" -- the word would be redundant.

Al Stevens wrote:

That one exception is Hugh Howey's free Wool - Part 1. Once I finished it, I immediately bought the Omnibus edition. The strategy works for Hugh because he's written a truly great series of books.

Which proves the rule: good books sell.

Al Stevens wrote:

But for the most part, free books on Amazon are the self-publisher's version of the commercial publishers' and agents' slush piles. Except that consumers instead of interns are your unwitting gatekeepers. And they are coming to resent it, and they are tending to avoid self-published books as a consequence.

Readers know best. Conan Doyle tried to kill off Sherlock Holmes, but his readers demanded a resurrection!

4/15/2013
I've given free books on Smashwords for a period of
time, didn't help, so I'm back to regular sales $3.99 ea.
so far so good a few hundred downloads....5 books sold.
Cheers..Joe..

I don't know Raymond Bean, but I've been friends with Jeff Rivera since 2005. He interviewed the self-published author on his blog:

http://jeffrivera.com/raymondbean/

In response to Jeff's question: Out of all the things you tried to promote your books, what has worked and what would you never bother doing again?, Raymond replied: "Great question! I’ve found that giving books away is a great tool. Giving away paper copies to libraries and classes has been an amazing way to spread word of mouth.
"I don’t know that there’s a promo I wouldn’t try again. What may have failed miserably in the past might just be the perfect promo now."

I found the last sentence particularly encouraging. Success is earned and built on endeavour: try something, if it doesn't work, try something else, and if that doesn't work try the first thing again to see if the climate has changed. Experiment, work hard and eventually you might break through.

Jeff also interviewed Wool author Hugh Howey:

http://jeffrivera.com/wool-author-hugh-howey-on-how-to-land-a-film-deal-for-your-self-published-book/

4/16/2013
Shelagh..
I just made for "FREE," for five days all five of my
books on Smashwords. Last month sales were 420 Downloads on
all books plus 7 books sold. So let's see if this excites the public ?
Cheers..Joe..

Joe,

Hope it works well for you.

Shelagh, great interview you linked. I had to LOL at the following. Wonder who he's talking about?

"The worst, though, was a writing forum I used to participate on. It had
(and continues to maintain) a strong bias against self-publishing. Back
before I had any of this success, I asked what people on that forum
thought about landing an agent by proving oneself with self-published
sales. I was jeered and called a fool for suggesting that agents would
dare scour the bestselling lists for self-published authors. “As if
agents have the time,” they said. When I wondered aloud whether it
wasn’t better to self-publish and allow readers to pick the winners
rather than gatekeepers, it was insinuated that only poor writers would
do this and solely to justify their inability to publish elsewhere. Even
though these trends are now well-established with hundreds of other
self-published authors, a forum designed to lend advice is still giving
horrible advice. This saddens me far more than a form rejection. I think
it should sadden everyone more than the form rejections."

We know the forum. We have popped in there. My belief is that success comes from talent, luck and hard work in any order or singly.

We've debated "success" here and looked at it esoterically. However, reality is, most of us would love to sell a million books and have a contract for a book a year that sells nearly as well. We'd all love our books made into a television series and a movie and more. That's success for an author. All that esoteric stuff is fine and dandy but it doesn't pay bills. If you don't make enough as an author to pay bills, that's artistic and noble, but not financial success.

I agree to try it all. If I could figure out how, I'd give away ebooks free. However, that's the downside of a "real" publisher. My publisher picks what will be $.99 and free - and so far it's nothing I've published with them. If you are self-published, you can do as you wish.

I'm still reading self-published books that badly needed professional editors - even those by vanity presses that had "editors." There's something about self-publishing that allows the author to cling to every useless word and backstory like gold instead of doing a thorough edit and chopping. I understand it; I am the same. Once I've chugged out the words, I hate to see them hit the chopping block. I want to gather them up and use them somewhere else - as though they have a second life.

I've downloaded a ton of free ebooks that I haven't the time nor desire to read. I keep thinking I will - but when I open one I am instantly bored and give up the idea. They all seem to lack that "something" that holds my attention and won't let me put a story down.

E. Don Harpe wrote a short story in an anthology. I have read and cried through that story a hundred times, "The Killing Frost.". It's a poignant story about the south during the depression, full of pain and prejudice and love and hate. He managed to put them all is a few words that were efficiently powerful. Many of the stories lacked that same power though they were by talented authors.

DK. Good post.

If I don't get hooked on a story in the first few pages, I stop reading. The exception would be historical novels where an intro and/or background info is essential to following the story. Knowing the author makes a difference.

I agree that there are many excellent books by unknown authors. I have a special author on this forum. I have read and re-read his books. If he continues to write, I expect that someday his work will be recognized. I won't mention his name, but his initials are DJS. Of course, if asked, I will reveal all.

Aw, dear me, can't think of a writer's forum that would dash someone's dreams. How cruel is that? Maybe they thought that Howey was trying to pull the wool over their eyes.

As in, "My mind is made up; please don't try to confuse me with facts."

Shelagh wrote:

So what does this tell you about your books?

Nothing about books. Lots about Kindle Select and free offerings.

Shelagh wrote:

There wouldn't be any "bestsellers" if everyone could write a "bestseller" -- the word would be redundant.

"Bestseller" and "good book" are not necessarily the same thing.

Shelagh wrote:

Which proves the rule: good books sell.

That point is pointless because it ignores a couple essential data points, which are: Bad books sell; good books flop; etc.

Shelagh wrote:

Readers know best.

Which explains "The Bridges of Madison County?"

Quote :

As in, "My mind is made up; please don't try to confuse me with facts."

I was witness to that pillorying, and kept out of it. It was merciless. They are still doing it. A favorite quote from them to anyone with an unconventional opinion is, "You don't know what you are talking about."

Get me started.

Quote :

That point is pointless because it ignores a couple essential data points, which are: Bad books sell; good books flop; etc.

I define bad and good differently. If something sells a lot, clearly it has value. If something doesn't sell, clearly it doesn't have value. Or at least recognized value, which is basically the same thing. To me, value=good. No value=bad. So if a book sells a lot, it must be good. Yes, I'm that simple. I understand there are other factors such as marketing involved. My statement assumes all factors being equal.

On writers boards, I've seen people criticizing Twilight; it was junk, boring, badly written, blah blah. If it was junk, boring and badly written, it wouldn't have sold so many copies, now, would it have? It was written for preteens, and preteens are the ones who drove its sales. The criticizing adults read it with adult requirements for style and entertainment. They don't seem to get that it wasn't written for them.

Quote :

I was witness to that pillorying, and kept out of it. It was merciless. They are still doing it. A favorite quote from them to anyone with an unconventional opinion is, "You don't know what you are talking about."

Get me started.

What's that saying, he who laughs last, laughs loudest?

LC wrote:

If it was junk, boring and badly written, it wouldn't have sold so many copies, now, would it have?

I'd leave out "badly written." I'm wading through a Tom Clancy bestseller now because he's going to address a government topic that interests me. I hope it isn't way down in the book. The writing is what you'd expect from a freshman creative writing class. The bottom half of the class. Expository dialogue, flowery attributive tags, the occasional dangling participle, and so on. But it sold a lot, so it must have value. Wouldn't you like to separate literary value and commercial value?

Edgar Allan Poe and Oscar Wilde died broke. Did their work have value?

LC wrote:

What's that saying, he who laughs last, laughs loudest?

To paraphrase an old bromide, Hugh Howey is laughing all the way to the bank.

See, Elsie? Now you got me started.

More about KDP Select and free offerings::

http://mlouisalocke.com/2013/03/18/dont-panic-kdp-select-still-works-you-just-might-have-to-work-it-a-little-differently/

Quote :

Edgar Allan Poe and Oscar Wilde died broke. Did their work have value?

At that time, NO! Tastes change. Another saying: "He was ahead of his time." lol
Applies to art, too. Vincent Van Gogh also died broke.

I'm behind my time. I wrote the 7th edition of the book in my signature ten years ago. (The 1st edition was in 1990.) Now it's an e-book and is still paying most of the mortgage. Is it a "good" book? Not according to some amazon reviewers who were obviously not ready for the subject. (They complained that I used big words.)

It's all subjective.

Al Stevens wrote:

Is it a "good" book?

C++

Individual reviews don't mean anything. Only sales matter and there's nothing subjective about those. A book that has sold as much as yours is obviously a good book. I've got a bunch of neg comments on my trade book. Meanwhile, like yours, it's been in print since 1989 and the publisher wants a 7th edition.

Can't please everyone so you've got to please yourself. lol

And a series of little books, together called "The Whale," were unpopular while their author lived, but were later republished as Moby Dick.

Does the value change, or does our perception of value shift over time?

Does being read, in and of itself, change the inherent worth?

And, in the long run, does it matter?

Quote :

The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Awaits alike th' inevitable hour:-
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.

Nor you, ye Proud, impute to these the fault
If Memory o'er their tomb no trophies raise,
Where through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault
The pealing anthem swells the note of praise.

Can storied urn or animated bust
Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?
Can Honour's voice provoke the silent dust,
Or Flattery soothe the dull cold ear of Death?

Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid
Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire;
Hands, that the rod of empire might have sway'd,
Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre:

But Knowledge to their eyes her ample page,
Rich with the spoils of time, did ne'er unroll;
Chill Penury repress'd their noble rage,
And froze the genial current of the soul.

Full many a gem of purest ray serene
The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear:
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.

Some village-Hampden, that with dauntless breast
The little tyrant of his fields withstood,
Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest,
Some Cromwell, guiltless of his country's blood.

Don't get me wrong, getting paid for the work we put into a project is a very very good thing when it happens, but not getting paid does not necessarily devalue the work and time put into it.

Quote :

Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife,
Their sober wishes never learn'd to stray;
Along the cool sequester'd vale of life
They kept the noiseless tenour of their way.

Yet e'en these bones from insult to protect
Some frail memorial still erected nigh,
With uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture deck'd,
Implores the passing tribute of a sigh.

from "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard;" Thomas Gray(1716-1771)

just Annie's reflections