Free-book promos (and why you need to do one)
Some writers understandably resist the idea of giving their book away for free via a free book promotion. They’ve worked hard on it, maybe even poured their soul into, and now they want to reap the rewards of publishing it. I totally understand. But if you’re one of these people, please read on. Giving the book away is part of a larger strategy that can help you—and all of the books you’ll ever publish—to find some success.
A FREE BOOK PROMO CAN PUT YOU ON THE MAP
If you’re an unknown or debut author, you might want to give the book away for free so that a large number of people become exposed to it.
But, Kim, you're thinking, I already gave my book to all of my street team and to all of the media reviewers I contacted and to anyone else who agreed to take a free book in exchange for a review. In addition, you may have hosted a Goodreads Giveaway, where you dished out up to one hundred digital copies (click here for more on Giveaways).
I understand that it seems like you’ve given away a lot of books. But the fact is, as one of the newly published, you need even more readers than you think. Most likely, you need more reviews, too. To establish yourself as an author, you need a large number of both readers and reviews.
Removing the barriers. The idea is to get people to know and like your book so that they’re eager to discover the books you’ll write in the future. Putting a price tag on your digital book, even if it’s only 99 cents, actually prevents many people from downloading it. If they don’t download it, they won’t read it.
Even hugely popular authors host giveaways and give their books away for free via Kindle Prime, Bookbub promos, and websites like NetGalley in an effort to get readers to open their books. These are authors who are known by huge numbers of people. Best-selling author Taylor Jenkins Reid, for instance, published Malibu Rising in June of 2021, and as far as I know, the book has been a Goodreads Giveaway every month since. Why does her publisher do it? To keep the book visually present, amass reviews, and perpetuate highly sought-after book buzz.
An independent author should expect his rise to success to be a long-term event. He most likely will have to write several books before notoriety and success arrive. Giving away the first is one way to get future books noticed. And, just so you know, writing several books before one becomes known, recognized, and/or popular is not just for independent authors. Most traditionally published authors don’t hit it out of the park with their first book, either. Instead, they gradually build a following as their backlist grows.
Advantages of Kindle Select. If your book is on Amazon and enrolled in Kindle Select, it appears in Kindle Unlimited, and you’re allowed five days of free book promos or a Kindle Countdown deal, per the ninety-day enrollment period. Doing a free book promotion helps you distribute a large number of books to interested readers of your genre, and it won’t cost you anything to distribute them.
Of course, driving the people to your free book offer will cost some money, depending on how you get the word out. Buying e-newsletter promotions like Free Booksy, for example, will cost at least $30 and as much as $170, depending on genre. You can, however, find some websites that will advertise your book for free; that said, the ones I’ve used didn’t result in many downloads or sales. Do some research, and see what you can find. Some of the best newsletters I’ve used are Book Bassett, Book Gorilla, and Bargain Ebook Hunter.
But will they read it? Many readers out there download every free book offered to them. That said, statistics indicate that only 10 to 30 percent of those will actually read it. Many of them may start reading right away. If they like that first chapter, they may end up reading the entire book in a day or a week. If they love the end, they’ll be compelled to leave a review and eagerly await your next title. If your next title is already out there, all the better.
For those who are writing a series, your first book should have a satisfying ending that also poses a question that brings readers back for the second book, which you will NOT give away for free. In this way, you can start earning money.
Even if you don’t have other books yet, you need as many reviews as you can get. If you’ve given the book away for free and someone reads it and leaves a review, that review will be “verified,” and those are the highest-rated reviews you can get.
A FREE BOOK PROMO CAN RESULT IN (SOME) SALES
AND OTHER BENEFITS
The idea is to offer the book for free for a short time and then, after the promotion is over, to offer it for a nominal price and hope the interest in the book continues in the form of a few sales. That means you should keep the price pretty low in the days that follow the free promo. Some people won’t see the e-newsletter the day it arrives in their inbox. If they see it a few days later, and they’re interested in the book, they may pay the 99 cents or $1.99 you ask for. Will they pay $4.99 or higher? They’re bargain hunters, so it’s unlikely.
More excitement in store. There’s more to look forward to as a result of your free promotion. For instance, you may reach No. 1 on the Free Book Best Sellers List on Amazon, or one of the many best seller subcategory lists. That will buy your book some clout that you can boast about in your sales description and other marketing and advertising copy. A large number of downloads will also boost your sales rank on Amazon. Though your paid “sales rank” will not climb nearly as high as your “free book” rank does, the free rank will still affect the sales rank positively.
The better your rank, the more often the algorithm will recommend your book to shoppers.
New readers equals new reviews. In the weeks that follow the free giveaway, readers who review your book will help your ranking as well. The more reviews you get, the better. And they don’t all have to be stellar. If they’re mostly good reviews (4s and 5s with some 3s and a lower percentage of not-greats), it becomes more about quantity than quality. A large number of reviews indicates that a lot of people have purchased your book, and that convinces potential readers to buy it too.
So, as you can see, there are many reasons to give the book away. As a matter of fact, plenty of authors make the first book in their series perma-free in order to convince readers to download, read, and hopefully become invested in the characters and story so that they are compelled to buy the next book—and possibly the next one. Taking away the barrier that prohibits a reader from downloading is one strategy you can use to get them hooked. Try it, and let me know how it goes.
Kim Catanzarite is the author of the award-winning sci-fi thriller series The Jovian Universe. She is a freelance writer and editor for publishers and independent authors, and she teaches copyediting for Writer’s Digest University. She lives on the east coast USA with her husband and daughter.
