How to Promote YOUR book on Amazon discussion

My novel Post Pattern saw a good response to the "free days" promo few weeks ago, and achieved a nice bump in sales when the price went off the free promotion. Sales have now come back to earth, and are very modest again.

The novel was published in February and I listed the retail price at $5.95. I'm thinking of dropping it to $2.99, mostly because that seems to be what similar e-books in the mystery genre are selling at.

I plan to do another free promotion, and am wondering if anyone had thoughts as to the best time to drop the price. Right before the promo? Right after? Wait a week or two to take advantage of the bump in sales that normally comes following the free giveaway? Do it right now and not bother to wait?

Am curious about what others have experienced. This marketing process is a bit bewildering to me.

Thanks.

I've heard that keeping the price low for a few days after a free promo can increase sales. Haven't tried though.

If you're thinking that your original price wasn't the best though, I'd probably change it right away. If price is what is keeping people from downloading it, then might as well do it soon.

My first book, I did as a .99 cent download on Amazon and Barnes and Noble and it sold over 15,000 copies. My next book, I had more confidence, and priced it at $1.99 and it barely moved. I moved it to .99 cents and the sales jumped. My third book was a bigger book (the first two were lengthy novellas) and so I priced it at $2.99 and it moved at a snails pace. I tried it at $1.99 and it still wasn't moving. I priced it at .99 cents and I've sold almost 500 copies so far this month. Readers want inexpensive eBooks...sad but true.

Samantha wrote: "My first book, I did as a .99 cent download on Amazon and Barnes and Noble and it sold over 15,000 copies. My next book, I had more confidence, and priced it at $1.99 and it barely moved. I moved..."

Well, that's inspiring! My book, A Symphony of Cicadas, has sold one measly eBook this month. I had it at $3.99. I'm going to reduce it to .99 to see what happens. Wish me luck!

Samantha wrote: "My first book, I did as a .99 cent download on Amazon and Barnes and Noble and it sold over 15,000 copies. My next book, I had more confidence, and priced it at $1.99 and it barely moved. I moved..."

Did you do any promotion on any of these items, Samantha? I've had .99p books on and they didn't sell any better than at the more expensive price. I'm wondering what you did that was different? Thanks!

Honestly, I haven't done much except promote on Facebook, Twitter and my blog. I don't have a marketing budget so anything I do has to cost next to nothing. With the first book I think it was more about timing - I wrote a Christmas romance and released it in late November.

Samantha wrote: "Honestly, I haven't done much except promote on Facebook, Twitter and my blog. I don't have a marketing budget so anything I do has to cost next to nothing. With the first book I think it was more..."

Ah, the Christmas factor probably helped. It's very hit and miss, isn't it? Smashwords Mark Coker has done a survey which says $3 to $3.99 is the highest seller overall, and .99c was quite low. Really seems to be no rhyme or reason to it. I'm still trying to find promo things that work. I'm finding Bookpinning.com seems to generate a couple of sales.

I've found that books priced at 99c don't really sell unless you make it clear that it's a temporary special offer. If readers think that is the usual price, it definitely puts them off.

For me $2.99 seems to work best, although I am experimenting with prices up to $3.99.

Samantha wrote: "Honestly, I haven't done much except promote on Facebook, Twitter and my blog. I don't have a marketing budget so anything I do has to cost next to nothing. With the first book I think it was more..."

I've found Facebook and Twitter to be a waste of time, although letting some of the free Kindle book Twitter feeds know in advance about freebie offers is well worthwhile. Google+ has been okay, but I find that posts on relevant book blogs seems to be the best way to go.

I'm guessing with Facebook and Twitter that unless you have 100,000+ followers they're just not going to produce sales.

This is a great discussion! I've read conflicting advice from "gurus" and it's good to hear how authors are struggling with this in the trenches.

I originally had my Kindle price at $2.99 (advice from one guru) but after reading another's advice I dropped it to 99 cents during the Free Promotion days and left it that way.

The reasoning I followed (from guru #2) was that you need to take advantage of the momentum generated by the free promotion and increased visibility on Amazon right after your promotion. By increasing your initial book sales, it gets your more attention my Amazon's own promotions ("Other people who bought this book also bought..." and "Hot New Releases").

My book is non-fiction about playing guitar, so it's probably a lot different to promote than a novel, but it has been good, I think to keep the price at 99 cents for a time. I got a big laugh out of seeing my book at the #1 spot for "free" books in my sub-category, right alongside Billy Ray Cyrus' new book for a day or two! (My wife didn't think it was as funny as I did...)

In any event, I agree also with the advice that you should say somewhere that this is a "special promotional price" when you put it at 99 cents. I read that too from a "guru". My only problem is that I tried to change my description twice to do this and the change never took. I wondered if Amazon doesn't like this... or maybe just a glitch..

That's my two cents... (anybody need change?)

Don Sansone
7 Keys to Becoming a Better Guitar Player

My books just didn't move at $2.99 no matter when I did the free promo or how I marketed. Currently I have five titles all priced @ .99 each and as of last night I've sold almost 800 books in May. I guess it's really hit and miss. I write contemporary romances and I know as a reader, I buy .99 cent books the most.

I find that encouraging, Samantha... Thanks! I'd love to hit 800 books in 8 days! or anything close to it!

Don wrote: "I find that encouraging, Samantha... Thanks! I'd love to hit 800 books in 8 days! or anything close to it!"

Thanks, Don! I know other authors who can price higher and I don't know how they do it. I've read some of them and they aren't great and their covers aren't great. There's no rhyme or reason and it can be frustrating. Stick with it! It can happen!

I have read previously that the romance market expects lower prices, but then the average length of a romance it lower than my genre (science fiction).

I've found, for my books, that another advantage of a higher usual price is that offers and freebies look much more attractive as the reader perceives are much more valuable saving.

Don wrote: "I find that encouraging, Samantha... Thanks! I'd love to hit 800 books in 8 days! or anything close to it!"

Me too!
I think my best yet is about 30-35 books in 8 days.

Sounds like the only "magic formula" involves "trial and error"... ;-)

Don wrote: "Sounds like the only "magic formula" involves "trial and error"... ;-)"

EXACTLY!!!

Samantha wrote: "Don wrote: "Sounds like the only "magic formula" involves "trial and error"... ;-)"

EXACTLY!!!"

LOL... I'm your newest fan! Thanks again...

Don wrote: "This is a great discussion! I've read conflicting advice from "gurus" and it's good to hear how authors are struggling with this in the trenches.

I originally had my Kindle price at $2.99 (advice ..."

Even with fiction, genre makes a difference, I think. I'm in a niche with historical romance, and it's finding the readers that seems to be the problem.

Even with fiction, genre makes a difference, I think. I'm in a niche with historical romance, and it's finding the readers that seems to be the problem.

Agreed. I'm going to have to figure out how to wiggle my genre, description, etc to find readers. I just lowered the price to my book, A Symphony of Cicadas, to 99 cents on Amazon. And while it's only been one day, I've sold just 2 more - and that was after promoting it all over the internet.

Fascinating to hear all the different experiences! I think genre definitely makes a difference. Might have to try it some time.

I also hear on the grapevine that Bookbub ads are a sure-fire winner and make sales. But they are also expensive and picky - you have to have reviews, for example. They are successful, so they can afford to call the tune. I'm going to use them soon as I qualify and can afford it.

I'll have to check out BookBub... I learn a lot around here!
Case in point, just bought Crissi's book for 99 cents. I can skip the soda machine today to pay for it, and skip the calories as well!
Looking forward to reading it... and I just experienced as a consumer how dropping the price changes your perception on purchasing...

You know what amazes me about the .99 cent books? I cannot even get my friends to buy them just to help me out! It's .99 cents!!! Anyone else get frustrated when friends/family won't buy your books?

Samantha wrote: "You know what amazes me about the .99 cent books? I cannot even get my friends to buy them just to help me out! It's .99 cents!!! Anyone else get frustrated when friends/family won't buy your bo..."
I had sort of the opposite reaction. I had a free promo day setup and I got the word out to friends and family to do me the favor of downloading the book and give it a like or a review if they enjoyed it. My silly family waited until the day AFTER the promo so I would get the revenue... But I totally understand the frustration...

I don't worry too much about friends and family, though they do buy my books as I tell them when they are out. I really want readers, not family, because readers tell other readers and family are just helping you out. It's nice, but it's not long-term sales build.

I'm putting my books on Bookpinning.com at the mo, which is free, and seems to be generating small sales.

Don, thanks for buying! I hope you love it! I'm going to keep the price at 99 cents and toy with it just to see what happens. I've been experimenting with social media and blogging, and even purchased Facebook ads. They give more views, but still not as many buys. Perhaps a change in the description, though I'm struggling with how to entice readers without giving away plot twists.

Crissi wrote: "Don, thanks for buying! I hope you love it! I'm going to keep the price at 99 cents and toy with it just to see what happens. I've been experimenting with social media and blogging, and even purcha..."

That's got to be tough for a good novel... how to entice without giving it away. I almost hate to go see humorous movies anymore cause they've already given away the best jokes in the trailers!
If you could be so kind, let me know how the Facebook ads work out for you. It'd be nice to hear it from someone who's done it, and not just what they try to sell you... :-)

Facebook ads have worked ok. It did help to push my fan page further than just my fans, enticing a few more likes. And it was an ego boost to see that thousands of people saw my post in their newsfeed. But those views didn't necessarily mean clicks. I got a few more than normal, but nothing substantial. However, I still think, if used properly, it's a good tool. And it's relatively cheap. Some weeks I spend $5. This week I spent $20 for more push. In that time I received about 10 more likes, a few clicks, and over 10,000 views. But honestly, I think THIS board helped more than those ads. :-). Goes to show that human interaction beats out everything else to get the ball rolling.

I have mine at 2.99, the absolute minimum to still get the higher royalty. I don't want to drop it more, but I need sales.

Ahmed wrote: "I have mine at 2.99, the absolute minimum to still get the higher royalty. I don't want to drop it more, but I need sales."

I felt the same way. But I realized that keeping it at the higher cost was not giving me any revenue either. By dropping it, you are enticing others to buy it, which brings you up in the sales ranking, which gives your book more visibility to potential buyers. In theory, you should be able to bump it back up to $2.99 once the sales start to "roll in". That is, if it works. :-)

Crissi wrote: "Facebook ads have worked ok. It did help to push my fan page further than just my fans, enticing a few more likes. And it was an ego boost to see that thousands of people saw my post in their newsf..."

Really, really, helpful! Thank you!

This is a really helpful discussion. Sales for my romantic travel mystery Missing in Egypt aren't great either at $2.99 so I might try it at $0.99 for a while and see if it helps. Good to know others are struggling! I find it easier to promote the print version.

http://www.amazon.com/Missing-in-Egyp...

I had quite a lot of page likes from my Facebook ads, but not many book sales. I posted about it on my blog, with graphs! It is hard to pin sales to a specific promotion though.

Ok... Just to throw a wrench in the discussion, here's guru #3 (on my list, anyway, in chronological order only). Melissa says don't lower to 99 cents... More food for thought.
http://www.worldliterarycafe.com/cont...

Thanks to all for your thought and comments over the past week. After much angst and deliberation, I decided to lower Post Pattern from $5.95 to $2.99.

I think this will allow me more opportunities to promote the book, and position it competitively against similar mysteries. It strikes me that the ones who can command more money are often from established authors.

It does pain me a bit to lower the price, part of it is emotional. I spent such a long time working on this novel that I'd like to charge what I think it's worth. But the market is the one that dictates what sells, so I bit the bullet and dropped the price. Time will tell if I made the right decision. I keep thinking back to what William Goldman once said about Hollywood -- Nobody Knows Anything.

Will check in next month and let you know how things go.

I read with interest all your comments. The same works for one and gives abysmal results for another. There are so many factors at play that make finding the Higgs Boson an easy enterprise.

In reality, as David says, "Nobody Knows Anything".

http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_...

Dumb question: If I want to lower the price of my book, Bones in the Wash, from $2.99 to $.99 for a week, do I just do it in the pricing part of KDP? Obviously I need to promote it as well, but beyond that, is there anything else I need to do? I'm not KDP Select.

http://bonesinthewash.com

I've never gone down to 99 cents but I assume that yes, you would just lower it in the pricing section, then raise it back a week later.

The big downside is that if you're not in Select your royalties drop from 70% to 35%, meaning you go from earning over $2 per book to 34 cents. Hopefully you will make that revenue up in volume.

Thanks, I understand the royalty change. My goal is to get the word out more widely, not to make more money.

I am interested in getting my kindles out there instead of making money too John. I am interested in getting reviews to. HOnest reviews.

If your goal is to get reviews, consider making it free for a few days using Select. If you get picked up by one of the big sites, Pixel Of Ink or eReader News Today, you will get thousands of downloads -- and over the next month or two, you will get a lot of reviews. Even using a collection of smaller sites can get you hundreds of downloads.

One thing you may want to consider doing here is to put a note at the end of the book thanking the person for reading your work, and asking them to post a review online. I did this and now have over 80 reviews for Post Pattern and over 60 for Fade Route.

Thank you David. I'm a complete novice in this online universe. Like many authors listed on this most helpful and excellent Goodreads blog, I am interested in getting my kindle version out to the general public, especially those that enjoy science fiction. I recently reduced the price of the kindle version of my science fiction adventure novel (Alien Birthright) to 0.99 cents http://www.amazon.com/Alien-Birthrigh.... Thanks for the excellent advice.

I have a question for the authors who have published to amazon. I've read a lot of the posts here but I'm still left wondering because everyone's situation is different. So I figure if I give numbers, genre, etc, maybe... just maybe someone will have some experience with this type of situation.

So I'm on the last day (day 3 ) of my book promo. So far my book has hit #1 in 5 categories and #67 in all of the kindle store. Over 3,000 copies have been downloaded so far and day 3 isn't over yet. I'm trying to calculate my next move. My book is non-fiction (Parenting/Discipline) and I want to price the book right so it will make a lot of sales as well as put some money in my pocket. What price do you recommend and why? I've been tossing two prices back and forth - $0.99 and $2.99. It's currently priced at $9... by the way, this is my first book, but it feels like my 100th book with all of the writing, re-writing, studying, research, re-designing the cover, etc. I've basically covered almost every aspect I can think of in terms of marketing such as title optimization, niche category, cover design, video trailers, website, PR release, blogs, etc.

So I'm interested to know what you all think?