In September my Fantasy Book 1, The Jongurian Mission, went perma-free. For those who don’t know perma-free is when your book is permanently free. That means you’re just giving it away, and it’s a common tactic used by some of the biggest authors on Amazon.
Before September I was getting few downloads of the book each month. I know these sales numbers aren't that impressive to some, but I like them. Here's the rundown:
Before September I was getting few downloads of the book each month. I know these sales numbers aren't that impressive to some, but I like them. Here's the rundown:
- Jan - 22
- Feb - 11
- Mar - 4
- Apr - 3
- May - 0
- Jun - 1
- Jul - 1
- Aug - 32 (promo, then 103 when perma-free hit)
- Sep – 1,187
- Oct – 1,449
- Nov – 2,370
You can see that those 'sales' really increased with the perma-free status. I lowered the price to $0.99, where it had been for awhile, and then promoted it to get perma-free. That’s why you see those 32 sales in August, because I got on that book and tried to give it some action.
I think Amazon needs to see those sales to get the book back on their radar. Before August I’d had the book listed as free on Smashwords for a few months without Amazon ever noticing it and price-matching it.
I think Amazon needs to see those sales to get the book back on their radar. Before August I’d had the book listed as free on Smashwords for a few months without Amazon ever noticing it and price-matching it.
Here’s a graph of my total ‘sales’ for 3 months. I got just over 1,087 that first month and then 1,214 in October. You can see that it took just about all month to get those numbers, but then all of a sudden in November I jump up above 1,000 ‘sales’ on November 10th. On that day I did a BookBlast ad and the next day I did a KFD ad.
You can see on this second graph of daily sales what an effect those two ads really had. Other sharp increases include mid-September when I submitted the book to lots of small marketing sites that advertise your free book. And I continued to get some action in November as I had some other promotions.
But really those two paid advertisements, which only cost me $100 in all, enabled my book to get up into the Top 20 of its category, a position it’s been able to stay in. Well, sometimes it gets into the Top 40, but it’s pretty consistent at staying around #10 to #25.
But really those two paid advertisements, which only cost me $100 in all, enabled my book to get up into the Top 20 of its category, a position it’s been able to stay in. Well, sometimes it gets into the Top 40, but it’s pretty consistent at staying around #10 to #25.
How Perma-free Affects a Series
So perma-free is great when you want to give your work away and get some visibility. But how does that translate into paid sales?
Doing perma-free for your book is silly if it’s the only title you’ve got. It’s also kind of pointless if it’s not the first book of a series. Trilogies work well, but if you have an ongoing series of 5 books or more it’s even better.
Doing perma-free for your book is silly if it’s the only title you’ve got. It’s also kind of pointless if it’s not the first book of a series. Trilogies work well, but if you have an ongoing series of 5 books or more it’s even better.
Thankfully I’ve got a Book 2 & 3 and here are my sales since January for the Book 2:
5 months of no sales! Not once did I complain here, which I'm proud of. I was too busy working on new books. If you’d like to read more of Book 2 and perma-free check here.
Are you going to tell me that perma-free doesn't work? Yes you are, but for me it's good. I could have gotten those through promotion perhaps, and maybe even more real sales of book 1, but I don't think so.
Let's take a look at Book 3:
I just don't think I would have had these sales without perma-free. I know it doesn't work for everyone but I'm happy to see Book 2 selling after that huge gap with no sales. And I can understand how some people feel; if that book 2 was my only book and I had no sales for 5 months I'd probably pull my hair out too.
What’s also nice is that around 67% of people buying Book 2 are going on to buy Book 3. That makes you feel pretty good as an author when people like your story enough to continue it over 3 books.
Well, those are my results. They won’t be the same for everyone. Hey, lots of people are doing a lot better than me. But maybe these will give you some ideas on what could work for you.
You Might Also Like:
Amazon Perma-Free and the Recent Rankings Mayhem
Eight Months of Amazon Perma-Free Results
- Jan - 9
- Feb - 3
- Mar - 0
- Apr - 0
- May - 0
- Jun - 0
- Jul - 0
- Aug - 2
- Sep - 6
- Oct - 13
- Nov - 30
5 months of no sales! Not once did I complain here, which I'm proud of. I was too busy working on new books. If you’d like to read more of Book 2 and perma-free check here.
Are you going to tell me that perma-free doesn't work? Yes you are, but for me it's good. I could have gotten those through promotion perhaps, and maybe even more real sales of book 1, but I don't think so.
Let's take a look at Book 3:
- Jan - 10
- Feb - 3
- Mar - 0
- Apr - 0
- May - 0
- Jun - 0
- Jul - 0
- Aug - 2
- Sep - 4
- Oct - 9
- Nov - 25
I just don't think I would have had these sales without perma-free. I know it doesn't work for everyone but I'm happy to see Book 2 selling after that huge gap with no sales. And I can understand how some people feel; if that book 2 was my only book and I had no sales for 5 months I'd probably pull my hair out too.
What’s also nice is that around 67% of people buying Book 2 are going on to buy Book 3. That makes you feel pretty good as an author when people like your story enough to continue it over 3 books.
Well, those are my results. They won’t be the same for everyone. Hey, lots of people are doing a lot better than me. But maybe these will give you some ideas on what could work for you.
You Might Also Like:
Amazon Perma-Free and the Recent Rankings Mayhem
Eight Months of Amazon Perma-Free Results
RSS Feed