Mixed--but better--results with second KDP giveaway.

My second Amazon KDP Select giveaway of Battle Axe is winding down after three consecutive days, and I must say, it's changing my mind about the program. I still don't know if it will boost my reviews or sales, but the activity has blown away that of my previous giveaway over Easter weekend.

Here's what I did differently:
1. Three consecutive days vs. two non-consecutive days (last time I skipped Easter proper).
2. Used only these paid sources:

• Freebooksy.com
• Thedesertgirl on Fiverr.com
• bookblast.co

Here's what I did the same:

1. Picked a holiday weekend

2. All the same Facebook and Twitter sources

But this time, as of 4:30 on the third day of the promotion, I'm looking at 5700 downloads vs. the meager 710 I got the first time around. I hit #2 in the free Kindle store both times in the Humor category, but this time also hit #6 in Suspense. 

My theory is that the paid sources I used this time are indeed more effective (and slightly more expensive), and the three consecutive days allowed more momentum to build vs. the two nonconsecutive days. Also, I have a feeling that Memorial Day itself is a more popular time to download books, as opposed to Easter. And my books definitely qualify as "beach reads."

Lastly, either Amazon got my scheduling wrong, or I was looking at a European calendar when I picked my dates, but the three days started not on Saturday, May 25 as I had hoped, but on Sunday, May 26 and continued through Tuesday, May 28. I imagine if the promotions (both paid and my own) and the scheduling had synced up better, my results would be even more impressive.

I'll report back with after-promotion results. In any case, this has persuaded me to enter Ring of Fire into the KDP program as soon as Battle Axe expires. Giveaways to follow.

Oh, and actual writing? That may happen again someday, too.

Amazon KDP Select Giveaway Part 1: The numbers are in.

As I gear up for another giveaway for Battle Axe--this time for three consecutive days--I wanted to share the results of my previous giveaway, which was two non-consecutive days over Easter weekend.

I spent a lot of time in the preceding months reading blog posts and advice from other KDP participants. I boiled their tips down to a "best of" and that was the extent of my plan. Here's a rundown of the "marketing" I did to announce the giveaway:

The Marketing:

1. Posted on my own Facebook page

2. Sent out periodic tweets from my Twitter account

3. Sent an email blast to relevant people in my address book

4. Created an event on Goodreads and invited my friends

5. Sent a note to the following free websites:

• centsibleereads.com
• authormarketingclub.com
• indiebookoftheday.com
• indiebookpromo.com
• frugal-freebies.com
• freebookdude.com
• theereadercafe.com
• thatbookplace.com
• indiesunlimited.com
• pixelofink.com
• ereadernewstoday.com
• mobileread.com/forums/
• www.kboards.com/
• worldliterarycafe.com

6. Posted to the following free Facebook pages:

• facebook.com/ebooksfreefreefree
• Free Book Reviews
• Authors on the Cheap
• Kindle Promo
• Indie Book Collective
• Digital Ink Spot
• Ebooks FreeFreeFree
• Awesome Gang
• Indie Books List
• Digital Ink Today
• Cents-ible Ereads
• FreeBooksy
• IAuthor
• Reading Kindle
• Indie Kindle
• eReader1 US
• eReader1 UK
• Kindle Finds
• Amazon Kindle

7. Tweeted a note to the following:

@ebookmybook_now

@kindlebookpulse

@kindlebookblast 


@ereaderblast

@kindlenews

‪@RSPLaunchPad

@TweetinURBook

@lunchreadables

@newbookdeal

@eCrimeThrillers

@free_kindle_fic

‪@ebookdealofday

‪@TheDigiReader

‪@eBooksLister

‪@PixelofInk

‪@FreeBookz1

‪@FrogenYozurt

@AuthorNetwork

@IndieAuthorAnon

‪@ImajinBooks

‪@BookDealHunter

@socoolkindle       

@cutekindlebooks

‪@epubhelp

@virtualwriters

@PukkaEpub

@ereadingtrends

@readykindle

@IndieBookTweet

@CritiqueBooks

@IndieBookIBC

‪@KindieBooks

@Superfabbooks

‪@TheStoryPlant

‪@nicenovelkindle

@HotNewReads

@100freebooks

‪@AmazonBookPromo

‪@IndieKindle

@eBookDailyDeals

@novelspot

‪@YourDailyEbooks

‪@B4INIndieBooks

@AuthorsInfo

‪@ebook_infooo

‪@xeqatube

‪@TheIndieMine

‪@dailybookdive

@IndieWriteNet

‪@FLPulpFiction

@laurieisreading

@Super_EBooks

‪@DigitalInkSpot

‪@TweetYourBooks

‪@Whizbuzz

@eReaderBlast

@EBFP

‪@Indie__Authors

‪@eBookFling       

@IPPYAwards

@4FreeEBooks

‪@FreeReadFeed

@kindlefreebook

‪@KindleBookKing

‪@FreebooksUK

@freedailybooks

‪@kindleowners

‪@eBookDiscovery

‪@_best_ebooks

‪@authorsolutions

@TriangleWriter

@kindle_promo

‪@AuthorKarma

@DigitalBkToday

@kindleebooks

@Kindlestuff

@KindleEbooksUK 

@KindleBookKing 

@KindleFreeBook 

@FreeReadFeed

@4FreeKindleBook

@KindleUS

@Kindlefreebies

@KindleUK

@TweetTheBook

@kindlebookpulse

@kindleebooks

@writersRT

@kindlebookblast

@Kindlestuff

@indieauthornews

@kindlenews

@KindleEbooksUK

@FreeEbooksDaily

@KindleBookKing

@KindleFreeBook

@4FreeKindleBook

@DigitalBkToday

@kindle_promo

@higherread

@genreundergroun

8. Paid a nominal amount to be listed on these paid websites:

• bargainbookhunter.com 
• flurriesofwords.blogspot.com
• bookgoodies.com
• ebookshabit.com
• freeebooksdaily.com
• freebooks.hub.com
• kindlebookreview.com
• kindlemojo.com
• freekindlefiction.blogspot.com

I started my activity around 7:30am EST, and the promo is on PST, so I think that gave me an advantage. It took a couple hours just to do all of the above, then I re-hit some of the contacts throughout the day (mostly Twitter, as redundancy is more accepted/expected there). So what did it get me?

The Results:

• March 30: Topped out at #617 in free Kindle store, #11 in free humor, #2 in free comic fiction, #26 in free suspense. 429 downloads total.
• April 1: Topped out at #729 in free Kindle store, #2 in free comic fiction, #18 in free humor, #23 in free suspense, and #19 in PAID comic fiction. 281 downloads total.
• The few days after the giveaway, Battle Axe ranked as high as #51,062 in paid store and #35 in paid comic fiction. My other book, Ring of Fire (not part of the giveaway), "rose" to #263,393 in paid store, #93 in comic fiction. These rankings are well above anything I'd achieved previously.
• In the six weeks since the giveaway, Battle Axe and Ring of Fire have picked up one (favorable) review each on Amazon.

My total downloads were well beneath what I was expecting--I'd read fairly common accounts of authors with downloads in the thousands and tens of thousands, so that part was surprising. And as I'd only been selling around a half dozen books or more per month up until the giveaway, selling that many in the week following should be considered a boost in sales. But we're back to nothing for the first two weeks in May. And that accounts for dropping the price of Ring of Fire from $2.99 to 99 cents.

Once I complete the second giveaway, I'll take Battle Axe out of KDP Select and consider trying it with Ring of Fire (depending on how the giveaway fares). But at the moment, it doesn't seem to have had a huge impact.

My personal feeling is that the market has gotten entirely too crowded and it's getting harder and harder for readers to pick and choose. It's overwhelming for both authors and readers at this point. I've downloaded quite a few free books myself, both indie and "legit," and some have been worth it and some I couldn't finish--or even get past Chapter 1. 

Wish I had more answers, or had more encouraging advice, but that's the state of fiction these days. It's anyone's guess where things are headed, but I'd like to think that those of us with patience will be rewarded as the wanna-bes crowding the market will get discouraged from their meager sales, shake out and move onto other pursuits.

Gearing up for Amazon KDP Select Giveaway

When I first published Battle Axe and Ring of Fire simultaneously last year, I enrolled Ring of Fire in Amazon's KDP Select program on the promise that it offered more exposure via its lending library and ability for Amazon Prime members to download such titles for free. The downside? It's a 90-day arrangement that makes your digital (not print) title exclusive to Amazon, so I was forbidden to make it available anywhere else. The upside? None, at least that time around. I saw no discernible difference between the purchase/borrow activity of Ring of Fire vs. Battle Axe.

The other (and potentially huge) alleged asset of the program is that it offers up to five "giveaway" days where you can offer your title for free and they'll promote it as such. I had read that doing so before you had a reasonable number of good reviews was a waste of the days, so I devoted the rest of the year to amassing said reviews. I relied some on family, friends and my writer's group members, but largely my reviews came from strangers whom I approached via Goodreads. Since I deem my writing style to be in the same vein as Carl Hiaasen, I blindly contacted readers who had reviewed his most recent book (favorably, of course), and offered them one or both of my books in exchange for a review. If they liked it, of course.

Much later, Goodreads told me to stop this, as it violated their self-promotion policy. I honestly thought if I was approaching people with something for free, it wouldn't be considered self-promotion, but I complied. In the end, I must have contacted hundreds of readers. I'd say half replied, and a fraction of those actually read and reviewed one or more books. Oddly, most of the Goodreads readers posted their  reviews only on Goodreads, so I ended up with a few dozen reviews on that site, but only 16 and 12 on Amazon, for Ring of Fire and Battle Axe respectively.

So, a year later it seems like I have enough decent reviews to give the KDP thing another try, including the giveaway days. As I've read the best times to do this are over holiday weekends, I'm doing a two non-consecutive day giveaway on March 30 and April 1, then again over Memorial Day weekend, using up all five days. I'm going with Battle Axe this time, for no particular reason, but I've also heard that having more than one book in the Kindle store makes the giveaway more successful, because once someone reads your free book, there's another one available for them...to purchase.

We shall see and I shall update. In the meantime, if you're in the market for a free humorous suspense novel on March 30 or April 1, 2013, just click here.

Top Ten Musical "Novelists"

Music figures prominently into both of my humorous suspense novels—in Ring of Fire, one of my main characters is a college student whose iPod is improbably crammed with selections from the Great American Songbook. In Battle Axe, the protagonist leads a weekend swing band. If I had any musical aptitude, I’m sure I would have tried to start my own band at some point in my life. As things went, I’ve had to settle for lyric writing for my best friend (who IS a world-class musician, songwriter, and now ebook cover designer) and simply surrounding myself with good music whenever and wherever possible. In fact, whenever I’ve changed addresses, the stereo is always the last thing packed and the first thing unpacked.

You hear people say “oh, I like all kinds of music,” but they don’t really mean it. I really mean it. Among the 30,000 songs on my iPod, you’ll find everything from Benny Goodman to Bob Marley, from Flight of the Conchords to Frank Sinatra. Classical, country, Latin and jazz, too. Basically, if it’s got a melody, it’s fair game.

Lyrics are another matter. I can suffer through lame lyrics if the melody’s catchy enough, but not the other way around. To me, great lyrics set to bad music is simply poetry. Great lyrics set to great music, however, is timeless. Sorry Bob Dylan—I can’t hum words.

Here are my Top 10 Musical Novelists. Criteria? The ability to consistently create compelling, memorable characters, conjure up moods or atmospheres or flat-out tell a story. All in the context of an unforgettable tune.

Billy Joel

Haven’t we all known a Brenda and Eddie? Or had a Leyna we were fruitlessly obsessed with? I was born well after the early days of rock and roll, but An Innocent Man takes me back, every time. And when 2017 rolls around, I will be nowhere near Miami.

Ben Folds

Thanks to Ben, I know how it feels to take your girlfriend for an abortion. I know how it feels to get fired after working for a newspaper for 30 years. He cheated recently, because he did an album with a novelist. But for my money, Ben’s lyrics are as good if not better than Nick Hornby’s.

Fountains of Wayne

An easy pick—their titles are characters: Michael and Heather, Denise, Yolanda Hayes, Richie and Ruben, even Stacy’s Mom. Their eye for detail—no, rhyming detail—is amazing, and no action is too mundane to be immortalized. Oddly enough, it all rings true. “Checking out the women on Spanish television?” Come on, we’ve all done it.

Paul Simon

Paul is a thinking man’s lyricist, but he knows it. He gave Billy Joel the complete Oxford English Dictionary as a wedding present. Sure he’s oblique, but he puts you in places you’ve never been before. When I was in Brussels recently at the Magritte museum, I had trouble focusing on the artwork because I couldn’t get “Rene and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog After the War” out of my head.

Aimee Mann

Texturally, Aimee can get a little redundant, and her voice has its limits, but when it’s singing plaintively to Mr. Harris, it’s right on the mark. In her hands, the 30-ish woman pining for her 60-ish neighbor isn’t creepy, but naively sweet.

XTC

Weird yet accessible. I’ve never sat on a picnic blanket by a babbling brook in the English countryside in the dead of summer, but I have listened to “Summer’s Cauldron/Grass,” and that’s pretty much the same thing. “Then She Appeared” is either about Botticellis’s Birth of Venus or the church doors parting, revealing my soon-to-be-wife walking down the aisle.

Bruce Springsteen

I admit I’ve never been a huge "Boss" fan (mainly because of that ragged voice), but for working class characters with oversized—or shattered--dreams, no one can touch him.  Rosalita, Sandy, all the tortured souls on The Rising. If you aren’t these people, then you know these people.

Donald Fagan

If Springsteen creates characters you can relate to, then Donald Fagan creates characters who send you scrambling for the Purell. Cousin Dupree is the guy who gets a little older, gets a little money and “befriends” Janie Runaway. There are no morals here, only self-interest. Come to think of it, I guess I can relate to that.

Leiber & Stoller

In 2 ½ minutes, tell me a story about a sideshow belly dancer, describe her gyrations, her tattoos and her jewelry, and do it from the POV of a fan who stumbled upon her act, fell in love and started a family with her. Never mind, it’s been done: “Little Egypt.”

Stephen Sondheim

Before he was “allowed” to write music, he was tossing off classic lyrics for West Side Story and Gypsy. When he finally had control over the entire songs, he created one of the latter day classics, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, which perfectly complemented the slapstick script. Yet when the story called for murder, blood and cannibalism, he was right there with the uncomfortably hilarious “A Little Priest.”

All over the map, right? I warned you. As long as we have music, we have the means to put ourselves into whatever kind of mood we wish. Hope you enjoy Battle Axe on Wattpad and give Ring of Fire a chance, too.