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Kindle promo woes - thanks a bunch Amazon

by sparky
6 replies
So I finally got 4 books ready to publish on the Kindle. The 1st 2 in 2 different Sci Fi series. I hired someone to format them because I couldn't get TOCs to work and short paragraphs in one book wouldn't display properly.

1st freelancer got display sorted but had trouble with TOC, so suspended gig before doing 2nd book. Next one gave up after several technical issues. so it was back to me to sort it with time running out. Surprisingly things went swimmingly from there.

Feeling well satisfied with myself I got the free promo listed with several sites and twitterers and waited for the big day.

I got several messages that the book wasn't free on Amazon.com. I checked later, and saw it, but other people couldn't. Given that Amazon.com outnumber co.uk sales 8 to 1, I would have expected around 1,000 downloads, NOT a number I can count on one hand.

Given that I keep reading about people getting over 10K downloads that would have still been disappointing but could have boosted my rank, and got some more reviews.

The good news is that my rank has climbed to the 26K mark. Not enough to pay off the editing and illustration costs, but a small glimmer of light
#amazon #bunch #free #kindle #promo #sales #sci fi #woes
  • Profile picture of the author danr62
    Huh, I thought the promotions were for all regions?
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  • Profile picture of the author megansays
    I just launched my first Kindle book over the weekend, and I noticed at about 2 p.m. it still wasn't showing as free on the free promo day I set. Amazon says there may be delays due to system latency, but that was pretty ridiculous. Eventually it showed up, but I don't know how long my 24 hours actually lasted.

    I didn't do any outside promotion, but 34 free ones sold on .uk and 4 on .com. So maybe the latency isn't as bad in the UK. ;D
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    • Profile picture of the author Dean Shainin
      To give you an idea of my experience I've noticed that with some of my Fiction books getting 300 free downloads within a 24 hour promo can be tough and noticed it depends upon the day the campaign is listed.

      With some of my non-fiction books, the free downloads vary depending highly on what day the promo campaign if listed. Typically for my non-fiction niches, the free downloads vary from 2,000 up to 10,000+ again depending highly on the day of the week the free promo is listed...

      I would suggest to test another title and or at least try a different promo day.
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      • Profile picture of the author Marketing Merit
        Originally Posted by Dean Shainin View Post

        ...it depends upon the day the campaign is listed.
        Very true.
        Its much like listing auctions on eBay and scheduling them to end at a specific time on a specific day. You soon discover that some days can be more financially rewarding than others. Holidays and special events can also impact sales volume.
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Gram
    Sometimes it takes a little time to get updated in Amazon's system. As long as you use at least 2 promo days in a row, it should show up correctly everywhere.
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  • Profile picture of the author sparky
    KDP just sent email apology for problems with last week's promo. I get the day back on my allowance, but still a bummer that all that effort was for nothing.
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