So, having completed 4th Edition of

And thus onto Kindle I opted for the ‘Five Days’ free promotion. It’s a reasonable move if you are self-publishing, it’s only for a short time and increases your chances of folk picking up your book – after all….. ……………………………….’Free’

I checked this morning to see the results and found 17 folk had opted to download, stream, or whatever. That was nice. This would be a combination of those who knew it was coming (thanks guys) and those who assiduously check out Amazon Kindle for what’s interesting in the Free option, and why not? if I wasn’t such a perpetually lazy reader I would, because it’s one of my go-to options on Audible Books and Comixology.   

If taking up the Kindle Self-Publishing path (Amazon like to elevate you to Independent Publishing; it sounds modestly corporate) and you do opt for the free promotion (any number from 1 to 5 days), bear in mind those who pick up the book on a whim. They have expressed an interest, and may well be voracious readers, however they may also have a  large collection of free books, which they have not quite got around to yet . I say this as one who had to list his Audible Books to listen to resulting from one pre-Christmas splurge of free and special offer audio books (£3 instead of £17.75…can’t miss that bargain!). And then set himself a serious programme of listening to all twenty of them. Take this into account if you are looking for reviews, that which was selected 2 years ago, may still not have been read. 

For the self-independent publishing writer Amazon Kindle and the Free promotion probably works best with the by now traditional long-term Raising The Coming Book profile on other networks so that your audience is anticipating the release and will be willing to pounce in useful numbers, then (you hope) are enthused to write reviews and so start the cycle. One benefit of which, maybe that those who seek those free books decide to move yours up the reading list and (hopefully) write a review.

Thus, the summary: a useful system but only to be used in conjunction with other marketing efforts. Free promotion by itself will not win the day, unless of course you happen to be on good terms with the goddess  Fortuna.