In my last post, I discussed
the Kindle Free Promotion days for my first novel, Eyelash. I had studied several
accounts by other authors about the pros and cons of participating in this type
of promotion, and I have to be perfectly honest here—this experience seriously
generated very high and equally low emotions.
Best Advice-When
you read the information on enrolling a book in KDP Select, digest it
carefully. Review the FAQ section and then decide whether or not you really
want to travel down this road. Don’t be confused by the sample numbers given.
It is questionable whether or not this experience will be a big money-maker for you unless
tons of people borrow your book on Amazon Prime.
The Results-I
set my free promotion for Eyelash to
run on Kindle on 8/15 and 8/16/12. In
advance, I sent the information out to every site that I could access to help
promote the free days. I was astounded as I saw the download
numbers rolling in during the first day. After 2,000 free downloads, I asked my
husband if he thought the total would reach 2,500. He was certain that it would.
By the end of the promotion,
there were 13,181 downloads! Eyelash
was #14 on the Kindle Best Seller List for Overall Fiction (free) at 9:21 p.m.
on 8/16/12, #14 for all Kindle e-books (free) at 10:29 p.m., and #4 in
Religious Fiction-Romance (free) at 5:45 p.m. I snapped screen shots from the
Kindle Best Seller list so I could always look back and see what my eyes could
hardly believe!
The good, the bad and the ugly:
The Good-Obviously,
I was thrilled because of the great response and tremendous exposure to new
readers. It absolutely translated into additional sales and interest in Never Say Perfect, my second novel.
Sales for Eyelash dramatically
increased once the promo period ended and the book was no longer free.
I had read that it was good
to choose an older title to offer for the free promo days because it would lead
to sales of one’s newer publications. This is definitely true. I'd like to offer a gigantic thank you to those who were nice enough to download during the promotion and also to help spread the word to others.
The Bad-Eyelash was my very first novel—my kindergarten-like literary experiment and a project I had published for the pure fun of
it. I simply wrote it and had a blast without really knowing and understanding
certain necessary pointers. We live in an age of desire for instant gratification,
and when I wrote Eyelash, I seriously
didn’t understand the importance of grabbing the reader on the first page or
chapter or two. I was an advocate of the slow buildup, but have since learned
that this approach generally will not keep the reader interested.
In writing my second novel, I
studied from many resources that one must seize the reader and keep them
spellbound to the end. Great improvements in this area were achieved in Never Say Perfect. As I write Never Say Hopeless, I am concentrating
on this same aspect and also in remembering that the reader doesn’t want to be
inundated with information that doesn’t aid the story in its progress. What I
may see as entertaining little vignettes within the main story could also be
viewed as useless drivel to some readers. There is a learning curve involved in most new endeavors--a painful fact.
The Ugly-I
thought I was prepared for reading negative reviews from people who may be
anti-Christian fiction or perhaps just didn’t “get” my humor or my first
attempt at writing. Part of my problem is that I don’t have a mean bone in my
body. If I don’t like something but, with a gun held to my head, am forced to
comment, I try to find a polite way of expressing my thoughts. This is not the
case with some folks out there in Readerland.
I am fully cognizant of the
fact that one book does not generally please every reader. We all have
different tastes, likes, dislikes and preferences in how a book progresses. As
writers, we eventually have to face the fact that some people will simply hate
our work; however, it’s nice if they keep that thought to themselves and don’t
attempt to malign the book and author to others via nasty Amazon reviews. It takes solid,
impenetrable skin to read those reviews and not feel sadness. We just want everyone
to like the products that we have slaved over, even if we know this is asking
the impossible.
Conclusion-Will I enroll Never Say Perfect on Kindle Select and
run a free promotion in the future? It is, after all, a better book in every way, but I’m
not sure. The jury is still out on this. Perhaps when Never Say Hopeless is
published, I’ll be brave enough to cast NSP
out into the waters of scrutiny to the critical masses for free for a couple of
days. I’ll have to evaluate the thickness of my skin at that time. In the
interim, I’m making Never Say
Hopeless the most amazing story it can possibly be! With God’s help, we
press forward and strive to learn new ways to excel and to glorify Him. Although I know I can't please every reader with every book, my goal is to continue producing material to which many people (probably baby boomer generation women) can relate in some way, to offer hope and inspiration and a temporary escape from any difficulties that may be dampening their spirits. I am thankful for those who loved Eyelash, and I am also overwhelmed by the amazing response to 7 Easy Steps to Memoir Writing: Build a Priceless Legacy One Story at a Time!, a book that helps in memoir writing, based on wearing my Certified Lifewriting Instructor hat. Thank you to everyone who has responded so positively to this publication and shared it with others. You are awesome readers!
Great News-Watch for new, exciting blog
posts featuring Anne Holmes of the National Association of Baby Boomer Women
and Bob Soukup, a Florida senior citizen whose legs display his family history
in the form of tattoos. There will be several fascinating interviews posted in the near future. Stop by and see us soon, and may God bless you as you
travel life’s roller coaster paths!
