I just ran another free promotion for one of my Klepto Cat Mysteries through the Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) program. It was The Colony Cat Caper Kindle version. During the three day promotion, there were nearly 12,000 downloads. WOW! That’s almost 12,000 mostly new potential readers.
Now the theory is that a good percentage of those people will love the book and BUY some of the other 7 Klepto Cat Mysteries. Although some will just continue to troll for free ebooks.
My growing collection of reviews might increase once all those new readers enjoy The Colony Cat Caper. However, not all of those readers will LOVE the book. Many of those who download free ebooks seem to do so randomly, not paying attention to the type of book they’re getting. Then, when it isn’t their cup of tea, they write a negative review.
Some authors maintain that I just threw $20,000.00 in the toilet by giving away all those ebooks. But I also may have gained a percentage of new readers. If only 1/3 of them purchase even half of the other books in the series, that’s a profit of $30,000 to $40,000. And remember, the promotion didn’t cost me anything in time or money.
If you dream of publishing a novel, have it edited before making any publishing decisions. Then consider publishing through the Kindle Direct Publishing program and promote, promote, promote—using KDP promotional opportunities and every means of publicity you can manage.
It may seem more prestigious to imagine readers sitting in airports, lounging on exotic shores, etc. happily reading from the hard copy of your beautiful book. But if you want to sell more books to more readers, consider producing an ebook through KDP.
Learn more about my Klepto Cat Mysteries here: http://www.matilijapress.com/Klepto-Cat-Mysteries
Order copies here: http://amzn.to/1kAI8I2
Learn more about the Kindle Direct Publishing program here: http://kdp.amazon.com