Last week I shared my results from direct marketing to Kindle readers through advertising and KDP Select.
I came down against the program overall based on my experience, but in today’s guest post, Jeff Bennington shows us the opposite point of view and shares some brilliant results.
We are all experimenting in this new world of publishing. There are no rules and what works for one book, won’t work for another, so it’s important to listen to all sides before trying something yourself.
It’s no secret that Amazon’s KDP Select offers free promotion to authors who enlist in the program. But what many authors don’t realize is how effective this promotion can be.
Some of you may not agree with Amazon’s monopolistic tactics, and that’s okay. Some of you, however, have jumped in with both feet. As an independent author, I’m in favor of KDP Select. My first promotion brought me into Amazon’s Top 100 (#55 Paid) and completely transformed the sales of all my books.
Before I signed on with KDP Select, I was selling 97 percent of my titles in the Kindle Store, so the switch was a no-brainer. I had been working on a few marketing strategies, and quickly I recognized that KDP was the spark I needed to start a fire.
Now that I’ve had a chance to play with this program, I think KDP Select is the best marketing opportunity for authors, hands down. Here’s why:
The KDP Select program doesn’t care if you’re traditionally published or self-published.
Enrolling your book gives you a chance to show the world what you can do, no prejudices, no preconceived notions. This is American Idol for writers at its best. You place your book on the stage, and if the cover is great and you’ve earned a few quality reviews, you’ll move to the next level of judging. There isn’t really a system of pass or fail, but if readers find your book attractive, it’ll sell in the Free Store. And I’m not talking about hundreds of readers—I’m talking about thousands, maybe tens of thousands. Where else can you jump-start the promotion of your book like that?
It takes a lot of gears to move a book up Amazon’s ranking system.
Gears can be anything such as great reviews, multiple titles by the same author, a strong author platform, previous bestseller, number of copies sold, etc. All of these gears can influence a book’s rate of acceleration through Amazon’s ranking system. The more gears you have, the higher you are likely to climb. Unattractive covers, poor reviews, and badly written book samples can throw a wrench in the cogs.
The good news is, KDP Select can add gears to a book—again, as long as it is attractive at first glance. This, among other reasons, is why I strongly encourage authors to pay for a quality cover. Your cover is your first impression. Get it right.
NOTE: After your free promotion is over, your book will now appear on hundreds, if not thousands, of book pages, thanks to Amazon’s “Customers who bought this, also bought …” element of their sales pages. This translates into thousands of tiny billboards that you didn’t have before your KDP promotion.
Layered marketing can enhance your KDP experience.
In the past, it took weeks before a book was listed as free. Now, if you plan properly, you can schedule up to a five-day promotion that has the potential to spin your book straight to the top. Believe it or not, this promotion can build enough momentum for your book to move up the ranks when it hits the paid store. This is possible because of the quick turnaround from free to paid. Amber Scott, from The Indie Book Collective, calls this type of momentum “traction.”
HINT: You can increase the traction, or torque, in your gears by scheduling a sponsorship with Kindle Nation Daily (or other book marketing site) on the exact day your book returns to regular price.
Amazon’s Top 100 Free and Paid lists are the equivalent of a billboard in Times Square.
Making it into either list will not only give you thousands of readers in a matter of days but will translate into more reviews and more sales. In my opinion, an author should plan her KDP promotion with pinpoint accuracy, throwing everything she has into that two- or three-day promo, because the more gears you link to your book, the higher you’ll go. And if you can gear your book into the Top 100, it will be worth every penny!
Authors are reaching the top faster than ever before.
The ability to schedule a promotion of this magnitude is absolutely unprecedented. Amazon has already leveled the playing field between self-published and traditionally published authors. KDP Select has given indies more exposure because publishers aren’t as willing to restrict their titles to Amazon alone, thereby giving us a bigger piece of the promotional pie. Although there is no doubt that the market is saturated with free and 99 cent books.
From my personal experience, and by helping other authors hit the Top 100, I believe that Amazon has created the greatest marketing system available to authors in the history of publishing. If an author’s book has nailed the important elements like a good cover, tight plot, good reviews, and professional editing and formatting, she can promote her book on an international scale like never before, all on a shoestring budget. Several factors will determine how long you stay at the top, but getting there can change everything.
Here are the facts regarding my royalties since I joined KDP Select.
Now you be the judge if this program isn’t a revolutionary program…
Month Royalties
September = $442
October 2011 = $133
November 2011 = $478
December 2011 = $10,156 (KDP Select opens)
January 2012 = $2,387
These are only U.S royalties and include my royalties from the Amazon Prime rentals. Obviously December will always be higher because of the Christmas rush. Currently, February is on par to match January but if $2,300 is my new “normal” than I’d say that’s pretty revolutionary.
If you have a long list of books that are selling in multiple outlets, you can always try one of your books to see how it fares for the 90-day commitment. If you are a new author, there is no better way to reach a large audience when you are starting from ground zero. But if you’re a new author and your quest for readers is coming up dry, I highly recommend the KDP Select program—it’s God’s gift to you.
Jeff Bennington is the author of The Indie Author’s Guide to the Universe, Reunion, Creepy, and Twisted Vengeance. He is the founder of The Kindle Book Review, NexGate Press, and blogs weekly at The Writing Bomb.
The Indie Author’s Guide to the Universe offers 229 pages of motivation, encouragement, insight into indie publishing, Jeff’s marketing and selling strategies, and advice from over 20 bestselling independent authors.
Image: Flickr CC John Catral
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{ 45 comments… read them below or add one }
All of which sums up as “luck.” But you can push your luck.
Thanks Scott, I appreciate your opinion – and I think jumping on early was part of Jeff’s success. He clearly heard about it and jumped in with both feet. I lagged behind with indecision and missed the wave. Luckily, these waves seem to be breaking fairly regularly at the moment
This is nuts! Good nuts, but nuts! I’m trying out the Kindle Select program myself now with my novel The Wake-Up Call http://goo.gl/t4JkW we’ll see how it goes.
By the way, tomorrow March 1st it’s FREE on Amazon.com
Good post! Cheers / Jonas
I’m thinking about enrolling one of my books in KDP select. Does anyone know if I have to wait until Smashwords removes my book from all their distribution channels (iTunes, Sony, etc) before I can enroll?
Hi Amelia, you do need to be exclusive to Amazon so yes, wait until your books have been withdrawn from all channels before you enroll or you will be in breach of contract. It shouldn’t take too long.
That’s what I needed to know. Thanks for your help!
@Scott ~ As always, luck has much to do with it. Bat as you say, hard work can create luck.
@Jonas ~ Good luck on your promo. There is currently about a 24-48 hour time lag before your book averages back in the “paid store” and transfers your “free” promotion momentum. But if you have good reviews, a good cover and have already been selling, you might do really well. With all the writers joining, the momentum is lasting about a week or so, and then dips back down.
@Amelia ~ Thanks for commenting and sharing. I hope the Select program works for you. My book will definitely help you to make the best use of the program.
And Joanna, a big thank you for hosting me. It is always a pleasure and honor to be one of your guests.
Those numbers are way too convincing!
Wow
Sounds like a good thing to try! Love that Jeff was so real with his numbers…very helpful:)
thanks!
yes, I like authenticity in articles – it makes it more real for us all. Thanks for sharing Jeff.
Thanks for the insight
I think KDP Select can work a lot more for an author with several titles, especially if there’s a series. Do you think it could help a first timer who’s selling their first book?
I’ve read the good and bad, and like everything it is good for some and not for others. Overall i think it’s an exciting programme and it will be interesting to see where it goes in the future
Matt (Turndog Millionaire)
Matt,
Jeff was helped by having several books, BUT KDP Select does help authors with only one book. My novel, A Soul to Steal, has been on the bestseller charts for a week after a two-day free promotional campaign. If you have a good cover and good reviews, the free days will really help the novel sell.
I’ll be posting my numbers on my blog shortly(http://blackwellauthor.blogspot.com/), but let’s put it this way: I sold more in the FIRST DAY after my free promotional than I did in the entire month of December. In the past week, I have sold — for money — almost as many books as I did in every other month combined. So, yes, KDP Select works and it can work for an author with a single title.
By the way, I wholeheartedly recommend Jeff’s book. I just started reading it the other day and even though I’ve done very well in the past month or so, I’m still learning a ton. It’s only $3.99 — definitely worth it!
Rob Blackwell
An insightful and informative post, thank you for sharing. I am hearing good things about KDP select, and will really consider using it when I am ready.
For me, living in Cyprus, I have to consider family and friends in the UK, USA and Canada being able to purchase without high postage costs. My poetry books were published via a well known POD company and I had huge problems with ordering via Amazon, and high postage costs via the company to UK.
After spending a year looking around and much consideration, I feel Amazon is the place that will suit and service all my needs. Posts such as this help reinforce that feeling, thanks.
I think you’ll find Createspace.com will be able to help you with print on demand books. I know poetry is often best on paper
as layout can be important
I’ve enrolled a non-fiction book in the program and will have my first free day campaign two weeks from now. This month, I plan to have three books in KDP Select–non-fiction, contemporary and suspense. With three very different genres, I’m curious to see what happens. I definitely plan to light up the internet with a media blitz to announce when they become free!
I’m going to try it again for non-fiction in the next few months and see how that goes. I hope people will share their results! Come back and post the links here.
I know exactly what you’re talking about! I signed up a number of my novels and short stories with KDP Select and I now sell more books in one month than I used to sell over the span of years. The experience has been nothing short of astonishing!
Very interesting stuff. Thanks for sharing your experience with us. I have several author friends who are participating in this and most of them seem to think that going free for two days get you the maximum exposure. (One day doesn’t capitalize on the best exposure, and more than two and the free downloads start to taper off and the book starts to descend the list.) Does this compute with your experience, as well?
Hi Lynnette, I actually put my book on for 2 days but then it seemed to be on a roll, so I left it on for the full 5 days. It only made #1 on Action Adventure on the 3rd day and stayed there until the full 5 days were up. So I found that using all the days at once was worthwhile as the book was “on a roll”. However, results are different for every book, so you’ll have to make that decision yourself.
Hi Lynette, I believe a 2 day promo is the most effective for a first time KDP participant. The longer runs seem to take away from your “post-promo” sales. I am currently in my second 90 round with KDP select. I am giving away one of my titles every 3 days or so, using a “one day” promo schedule. I wanted to see if I could continue momentum on an even plane rather than shooting for the big jump in sales. So far it is keeping my books rolling as sales are steady rather than “normal” with “KDP spikes”. I’ll have a better idea how the 1-day promos spread over 90 days works in another month or so.
“The longer runs seem to take away from your “post-promo” sales. ” This is what I’ve been hearing from a lot of other writers who have tried this too. Thanks for replying, both of you.
Very informative article. Clears up a great deal of confusion regarding how this can help an author’s book get noticed and increase their bottom line. Thanks!
Very informative article. This helps an author’s book get noticed and increase their bottom line. Thanks!
I assume KDP select doesn’t care if you’re through a small press, either? As I’m taking notes for the marketing push I’ll be making, this is really interesting. I’m trying to learn all I can and work up to the release, and it’s really hard to know which to put the effort into. This really helps – thank you!
Hi Stacy, no, you just have to have control of the KDP account that publishes the books so as a small press, that includes your account I presume.
Hi Stacy, If you are going to release a new title, you need to know how critical your reviews are. I highly recommend getting a few to several reviews before running a select promo. If you don’t, you could have poor results. Readers want to see reviews to gain confidence in what they’re getting. I wouldn’t waste one of those precious “free days” until I had at least a few good reviews. Good luck!
I had two good free days, sold 4550 copies and got up to #77, kept selling at a rate of 25 a week for four weeks, than fell back to nothing. Any ‘tricks’ for keeping up the momentum? I still have two free day left.
Hi Margaret, I think that the momentum is falling off faster as more people get into the game. It may be that fast movers like Jeff reaped the early rewards. I found my sales went back to “normal” afterwards as well. I did all 5 days at once though in order to hit the top of the lists, and it’s best to do with multiple books.
Hi Margaret,
Keeping momentum is the greatest challenge an author faces no matter where they publish. Even with Select, you still have to market and promote everywhere you can (blog, twitter, facebook, paid, free, handsell). There just isn’t anyway around it. I think KDP select is a good tool for new(er) authors to grow their audience from ground zero. But I agree with Joanna, KDP Select is already beginning to lose its effectiveness. I’d use your free days, “layering” as much promotion as you can immediately on the day or two after it reverts back into the free store. When your free days are up, you simply must continue marketing. With so many authors joining, those who promote the most will rise to the top. Sound familiar. Same old same old. Fortunately, KDP Select can still boost some authors who have been struggling.
Hi ,Well my story is slightly different inthat I am a seventy four year old author from the uk.I had four books published and remaindered in Canada in 2008,and today have two books in America.So far I have recieved nothing since it would seem these publishers were POD,Which I didnt know at the time.As time went by my book were gathering dust and I heard about the Amazon Kindle KDP program which is free to published and unpublished authors.After a lot of soul searching and the help of computer Whiz kids I got my first book on the kindle,it is infact my premier tome a book of historical fiction set around a true story entitled ” Kinmel Revisited” (Plug),I then decided to book my series of adult fictionla crime on the kindle,but thought it best to introduce Jim Bent to the public in a slow pace,ie I put the first in a series of crime called “Hell Bent on Murder” on the kindle to see how the water felt first then might put the other tow on at a later date.Now I must be honest and say yes I am plugging my books on the KDP site but as the saying goes “He who Dares!”.I am enrolled on the KDP but wonder if my books are only sold in the USA since its always in dollars when I search Amazon.I have indeed kept the price down and hope readers enjoy not only my premier tome but my intro of Jim Bent ex met cop turned private eye.Thanks for reading this and hope my books take off soon on Amazon Kindle KDP. Robert James Bridge (Author.
Hi Robert,
Thanks for your comment and congrats on putting your book out there.
I’ve just had a look at Hell Bent on Murder
http://www.amazon.com/Hell-Bent-Murder-Series-ebook/dp/B0078VZZVI/
and I wonder if a new cover might be in order, as this one is difficult to read at thumbnail size. Cover definitely affects sales!
My designer Derek is very good and reasonably priced if you are interested.
http://bookcovers.creativindie.com/
The book will always be in USD on Amazon.com but I can confirm it is in the UK store as well
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hell-Bent-Murder-Series-ebook/dp/B0078VZZVI/
priced at $1.95.
In terms of getting more notice for the book, I would also suggest getting more reviews which help. All the best with the books.
Just wanted to add a link to my latest post talking about KDP Select success and why I gave away over 8k copies of my latest non-fiction book.
http://www.jimkukral.com/why-i-gave-away-over-8000-copies-of-my-latest-book/
So, the numbers he listed are based off customers who paid for the book, downloaded it for free, or both?
Hi, Stephanie. Those numbers are actual royalty numbers. The numbers I listed is only for paid books. I gave away over 30,ooo downloads between Christmas and New Years but those numbers have no bearing on my royalties.
Thanks Jeff, I heard that the program gives the author a certain amount per borrow so that’s why i asked. 30,000 downloads is amazing.
This is a great article, but even more helpful is the information in the comments! I tried the KDP Select program too, and was wary at first. It did push MY ZOMBIE DOG http://www.amazon.com/My-Zombie-Dog-ebook/dp/B007DSZHTQ to #2 in kids spine-chilling horror. The flow on sales were great, slowing a little now, but I’ve another promo coming up in 5 days. My only concern with this promotion is if it becomes increasingly popular it will add to Amazon’s power and help create a monopoly. I’m worried about adding to the demise of other ebook providers. Also, I’m guessing an increase in popularity of the program would make each individual promotion less successful. But time will tell. Thanks for this info.
Thanks for a really useful article. I’m coming to the end of my first novel and am looking at self-publishing routes, so this is both informative and helps squash my fears!
Fingers crossed – I’ll be following your site for more tips.
Hi Joanna,
Just checking in with you. To date, my Feb, Mar, April and May royalties are still exceeding $2K per month versus the <$400 a month this time last year. June will probably be a little lower, but after the Memorial Day, Father's Day and Mother's Day holidays I anticipate those numbers bouncing back.
Currently, I see a clear drop in the KDP "FREEBIE" effectiveness already. Scott Nicholson and I both anticipated a 6 to 9 month life span for this program (assuming author saturation) and the program is definitely having that effect already. But overall I think the program still works for new books or when authors allow a larger gap of time between promotions.
It does seem to me that readers are figuring out that they can "buy" really good free books. Still, I plan to ride this wave until it breaks, and keep my eyes open for the next swell. Again, I really appreciate the opportunity to share my experience.
I have not had a very positive response with the KDP Select program, so I am wondering if I did something wrong. I ran an initial two day promo on my book, Cora Flash and the Diamond of Madagascar (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0075NS12Y), and had around 600 free downloads and managed to get to the top of my category. I thought I would stay in the top 500 for paid in my category, but no dice. I quickly fell back down to the ‘before’ rank. After using my remaining three days, the same thing happened – I returned to ‘before’ levels with no noticeable spike in sales at all. My 90 days expires tomorrow, and I am currently languishing in the charts. I am debating if I should renew the KDP select program or upload to Smashwords and see how I fare over there. Has anyone weighed the KDP Select vs. Smashwords argument?
Tommy,
I looked at your book and found a couple things that would effect your KDP efforts.
~ Your book is a 3 color children’s book (at least that’s what it appears to be), therefore, it has a “self-pubbed” look. It looks more like an adult murder mystery, only with a young girl on the cover which indicated a young reader would be interested.
~ The other books in the “Customers who bought this also bought” section are all children’s books. This is another indication that it is a children’s book. All of the covers shown are very colorful… this is your audience and your cover is not even close to the same look/appeal.
~ Children’s books are not one of the top selling ebook genres.
~ I’m wondering how much promotion you did to get readers to find your “free Book”. I list several ways to do this in my book and on my blog.
~ I’ve brought other authors out of the trenchens who were selling in the #500,000 ranking in the paid store, and brought them into the top 100 paid store.
Sorry, just replied outside of this thread, apologies. Please see my response below.
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for the comments.
Yes, my cover design looks more like an adult murder mystery, but that was not my first cover. My first cover was very colourful but based on the “customers who bought…” results, I deemed it too juvenile. My audience is the 9-12 Middle Grade fiction audience, and I did not seem to be getting into those hands. I revised the cover to look a little more stylized to appeal to my demographic. (I discuss my cover issue in greater detail in my blog: http://tommydavey.blogspot.ca/2012/03/tale-of-two-covers.html) Future volumes in the series will be a similar design but with a different main colour to create a visually branded series.
I feel a bit stuck right now as my referrals are all for books that are way younger than my demographic, and I am regretting the use of the KDP promo days as I feel it has affected my algorithm in a very negative way.
I realize children’s books are not one of the top selling genres, but I was hoping to at least make an appearance in the top 20 of my sub-category.
I’m curious to receive input from others… please help me decide with the poll I am taking on my blog:
http://tommydavey.blogspot.ca/2012/05/its-time-for-survey-which-cover-do-you.html
I put my book in KDP select and did the free promo for 2 days and got over 5000 downloads it is truely a humbling experience to see your book go from the hundreds of thousands to #87 in the top 100 free and #9 in contemporary fiction. I think I had my gears right now let’s see if I can get traction and grow in the paid sales. FINGERS CROSSED!
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