At the end of March 2015, I used the Kindle Countdown Deal (KCD) to promote A Taste of Honey.
I’d never used the KCD promotional tool before, but I had to know if it was effective. The idea is that the title is set at the lowest possible price, and then the author sets increments to move the price up every day or every other day. By the end of the week the title is back to regular pricing.
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Did the KCD promotion work for me?
Yes, I’d say it did. I gave average figures at the time, but I’ve since calculated the sales of the individual title. Over a six day period there were 50 downloads across the various price settings for the promotional book.
Did the KCD promotion work in any other way?
Yes, the promotion achieved a few things for me.
1. A Taste of Honey has been selling almost every day since the promotion.
2. For the first time since publishing A Taste of Honey in December last year, it has overtaken Beyond The Law in daily sales. To put that point in perspective, since a few days after publishing Beyond The Law in October 2013, there has hardly been a day when that title hasn’t sold at least one copy.
3. I’ve seen an increase in sales in the Amazon.com arena which was one of my aims.
4. I have also enjoyed an increase in sales of my other novels and my short story anthologies since the promotion. All of my titles are listed in the back of each of my books, so if a reader enjoys any one of my books, the other titles are there at the back with a blurb. I’ve found it’s better to capture the reader with the title they bought, and then that book must act as my publicity machine.
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Will I use the KCD with any other titles in the future?
Yes.
Would I recommend the KCD to other indie authors?
Yes.
If you bought into my brand during the promotion or since, I’m grateful to you.
As always, thank you for coming by and reading my thoughts. Please leave a comment if you feel so inclined.
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Interesting observation Tom thanks for sharing
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Hi Patrick and thank you for dropping by. I think the KCD would work for you, having more than one title, and shortly to have another. Your style is addictive, so I reckon if you were to pick one of yours and try KCD, it would sell your brand.
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I’m so pleased it worked well for you. I tried it last year with very little success. I’m sure all your hard work in having several books online, along with all your promotions, has played its part too. Good job and wishing you more well-deserved success.
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Thank you Julia. I know you appreciate that it is hard work and not ‘luck’. I am presently working on two short stories for anthologies (from a Facebook group), where the proceeds will be donated to charity.
I’m also devoting a lot of time and energy to the writing of Acts of Vengeance, the sequel to Beyond The Law.
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After completely reworking Strong as Death, I am now over half way through redrafting my next novel, Selkie. It had some interest from a mainstream agent who asked to read the whole manuscript. Although she didn’t take it on, she gave me some feedback and I’m acting on that now. I’ve decided to self publish it, rather than try agents again, and will then get back to working on the first part of the YA trilogy I’ve started. Can’t wait to get on with that. But everything always takes me longer than I anticipate. I’m planning a promotion on Strong as Death two or three weeks before I publish Selkie to try and raise my work’s profile again. Been writing to much to promote – I can’t seem to manage both well at the same time. That’s why it’s so good to read about how you tackle things.
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I had been thinking about using KCD for my collection/anthology (lol) of A Raccoon Problem and Other Stories in the near future, and this post has been the deciding factor on my implementing it. As always, thank you for sharing your knowledge here. And congrats on your success re using this platform, Tom.
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Hello and a warm welcome to you as always Kathy. Yes, I would most definitely give it a go. You are living in the right marketplace and I think your work will go from strength to strength with a little nudge on KCD.
I can see great things for your books and I look forward to the release of ‘A Raccoon Problem …’ – and I love the title.
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Tom, “A Raccoon Problem…” is for sale on Amazon now; I just haven’t posted about it yet. And much thanks for your confidence re my work. It means a lot to me coming from you.
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Well … hot damn! I’ve got ‘A Raccoon Problem’ on my Kindle Kathy! x
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I hope you enjoy it. Some of the stories I pulled from my blog and used…for some, this is their first outing.
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Congrats, Tom! Glad to hear the KCD has worked well for you and thanks for sharing the results.
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Hello my dear and thank you for dropping by. I’m hoping that it will be even better next time.:)
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I WAS curious about how this would turn out. It’s very kind of you to share the results, Tom. I’m certainly glad it worked – congratulations! Wishing you many more sales 🙂
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Thank you Ramona, and I’ll try to make more detailed notes the next time – and there will be a next time.:D
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I’m sorry to see it didn’t work for you my friend, but it did perform for me so I can’t really complain on that score. I did however write to Amazon regarding the time limits they set. I have all my efforts concentrated on Amazon and it seems to be ticking over okay. I have regular if low sales, but I also have a steady line of borrowing.
My next promo will be ‘Beyond The Law’ probably in June/July right before I publish the sequel – ‘Acts of Vengeance’.
It’s all experimental, and I think I’ve conducted just about all of them.:) Don’t give up – that’s the key.
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