kindle free versus kindle KDP free

by jumshi
10 replies
i read its better to give away free kindles ( 0c) versus kindle KDP free, on promotions
because initially KDP damages sales, whereas genuine 0c pricing is better.

is this right?
#free #kdp #kindle #versus
  • Profile picture of the author Mark .W. James
    Originally Posted by jumshi View Post

    i read its better to give away free kindles ( 0c) versus kindle KDP free, on promotions
    because initially KDP damages sales, whereas genuine 0c pricing is better.

    is this right?

    People prefer to read and buy paid-stuff-for-free rather than always-for-free.. It gives the impression that you are getting a better deal....

    What you should do is make sure you take steps to maximize downloads and exposure during the kdp select period so that you have enough reviews to convince people to buy it from when you the promotion is over...
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    • Profile picture of the author jumshi
      do you mind expanding on this? what steps are you referring to?

      Originally Posted by Mark .W. James View Post

      People prefer to read and buy paid-stuff-for-free rather than always-for-free.. It gives the impression that you are getting a better deal....

      What you should do is make sure you take steps to maximize downloads and exposure during the kdp select period so that you have enough reviews to convince people to buy it from when you the promotion is over...
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  • Profile picture of the author TinkBD
    Originally Posted by jumshi View Post

    i read its better to give away free kindles ( 0c) versus kindle KDP free, on promotions
    because initially KDP damages sales, whereas genuine 0c pricing is better.

    is this right?
    Okay, some clarification here...

    KDP means Kindle Direct Publishing and covers the entire Kindle Publishing arm of Amazon

    KDP Select is the program where books are enrolled 90 days at a time and you are allowed to put them Free for ups to 5 days per 90 days of enrollment. In Kindle Select you are also granting Amazon EXCLUSIVITY. There are other issues related to Select but which are not germane to this discussion.

    What you are talking about-- putting a book free for an extended time or permanently is known informally as perma-free.

    It is a way to game the Amazon system using price matching.

    In theory, Amazon does not permit books to be free outside of the 5 days for each 90 day Select enrollment

    In perma-free, you publish the book elsewhere and price it there for free. Then you make sure Amazon knows that it is free elsewhere. And then... you wait until Amazon makes it free also.

    In practice, perma-free works but you have no control, it can take months for a book to be price matched at free, the book can pop out of perma-free at any time with no warning, and... who knows how long Amazon will allow it?

    There are numerous theories/strategies related to what to make perma-free... in general, perma-free will most likely be effective if the perma-free book leads to other, related books. For instance, if it is the first book in a series.

    I also suspect that this is yet another of those issues that depends on whether you are writing non-fiction or fiction... What works one way in non-fiction, may work differently in fiction.
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    • Profile picture of the author jumshi
      yes this is fiction and the first book in a series, so is your suggestion that basically i put them on permafree for the same duration ie up to 5 days, and announce it on blogs facebook pages etc as i would as if was KDP select?

      i dont understand price match - if i have priced it at 0c then its up to me when i want to charge for it, right?

      and why is it called perma-free, if its not permanent at that price - i can change it at any time, right?

      Originally Posted by TinkBD View Post

      Okay, some clarification here...

      KDP means Kindle Direct Publishing and covers the entire Kindle Publishing arm of Amazon

      KDP Select is the program where books are enrolled 90 days at a time and you are allowed to put them Free for ups to 5 days per 90 days of enrollment. In Kindle Select you are also granting Amazon EXCLUSIVITY. There are other issues related to Select but which are not germane to this discussion.

      What you are talking about-- putting a book free for an extended time or permanently is known informally as perma-free.

      It is a way to game the Amazon system using price matching.

      In theory, Amazon does not permit books to be free outside of the 5 days for each 90 day Select enrollment

      In perma-free, you publish the book elsewhere and price it there for free. Then you make sure Amazon knows that it is free elsewhere. And then... you wait until Amazon makes it free also.

      In practice, perma-free works but you have no control, it can take months for a book to be price matched at free, the book can pop out of perma-free at any time with no warning, and... who knows how long Amazon will allow it?

      There are numerous theories/strategies related to what to make perma-free... in general, perma-free will most likely be effective if the perma-free book leads to other, related books. For instance, if it is the first book in a series.

      I also suspect that this is yet another of those issues that depends on whether you are writing non-fiction or fiction... What works one way in non-fiction, may work differently in fiction.
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      • Profile picture of the author TinkBD
        Originally Posted by jumshi View Post

        yes this is fiction and the first book in a series, so is your suggestion that basically i put them on permafree for the same duration ie up to 5 days, and announce it on blogs facebook pages etc as i would as if was KDP select?
        No... perma-free means, in theory, that it is FREE ALL OF THE TIME

        You have no control over it.

        IF Amazon matches the FREE Price elsewhere online, then it is free on Amazon. Amazon can remove it from free on their site anytime they want... Often it will take months for them to set it free, if you have it free elsewhere.

        You can't just set it free unless you have it in Select, when it can be made free for 5 days per 90 day enrollment. The lowest you can price it on Amazon, is for $.99.



        i dont understand price match - if i have priced it at 0c then its up to me when i want to charge for it, right?

        Amazon will not allow you to set the price at 0c. It is not an option, EXCEPT if the book is in SELECT, in which case you can set to at 0c for 5 days in each 90 day enrollment period

        The lowest price you can sell a digital book for on Amazon KDP is $.99


        and why is it called perma-free, if its not permanent at that price - i can change it at any time, right?
        Nope... You can change the price on Amazon to their lowest which is $.99, but you'd better change it everywhere else, as well. Amazon wants to have the lowest price anywhere online

        Then you'd need to go thru the entire rigamarole again if you want to go perma-free again.
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    • Profile picture of the author arkina
      Thank you for shedding light on this!

      Originally Posted by TinkBD View Post

      Okay, some clarification here...

      KDP means Kindle Direct Publishing and covers the entire Kindle Publishing arm of Amazon

      KDP Select is the program where books are enrolled 90 days at a time and you are allowed to put them Free for ups to 5 days per 90 days of enrollment. In Kindle Select you are also granting Amazon EXCLUSIVITY. There are other issues related to Select but which are not germane to this discussion.

      What you are talking about-- putting a book free for an extended time or permanently is known informally as perma-free.

      It is a way to game the Amazon system using price matching.

      In theory, Amazon does not permit books to be free outside of the 5 days for each 90 day Select enrollment

      In perma-free, you publish the book elsewhere and price it there for free. Then you make sure Amazon knows that it is free elsewhere. And then... you wait until Amazon makes it free also.

      In practice, perma-free works but you have no control, it can take months for a book to be price matched at free, the book can pop out of perma-free at any time with no warning, and... who knows how long Amazon will allow it?

      There are numerous theories/strategies related to what to make perma-free... in general, perma-free will most likely be effective if the perma-free book leads to other, related books. For instance, if it is the first book in a series.

      I also suspect that this is yet another of those issues that depends on whether you are writing non-fiction or fiction... What works one way in non-fiction, may work differently in fiction.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8303582].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author LilBlackDress
    Originally Posted by jumshi View Post

    i read its better to give away free kindles ( 0c) versus kindle KDP free, on promotions
    because initially KDP damages sales, whereas genuine 0c pricing is better.

    is this right?
    Please refer to what Tink said above to understand the difference between KDP and KDP Select.

    And no KDP Select does not damage sales, it can in fact give your sales a tremendous boost when done right.
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  • Profile picture of the author Marketing Fool
    Yeah, what TinkBD said....

    And I'll add...it just depends. It depends on the type of book, the category, the niche, the market etc. The only way you'll know for sure is to test it out and see.

    It also depends on your strategy...is there some benefit to giving away your book for free...even if 2 million people download it...so what? Unless you have some sort of built in backend that somehow converts those free readers into some future purchasers...its sort of moot.
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  • Profile picture of the author seobro
    At one time KDP free was great because it would boost your ranking on amazon. I believe that those days are over. Get ready to live in a new era. Also, you get some reviews. However, not all are positive ones. Expect competitors to jump in. Spotting competitors attacking your book is so easy. Certainly the review is very generic. OK it is something along the lines of:

    Oh wow, like this is the worst book ever - save your money.
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    • Profile picture of the author jumshi
      and how would you reply to this with a positive review? or flag it?

      Originally Posted by seobro View Post

      At one time KDP free was great because it would boost your ranking on amazon. I believe that those days are over. Get ready to live in a new era. Also, you get some reviews. However, not all are positive ones. Expect competitors to jump in. Spotting competitors attacking your book is so easy. Certainly the review is very generic. OK it is something along the lines of:

      Oh wow, like this is the worst book ever - save your money.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8303848].message }}

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