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The Power of a "First" Free Book


Want to be a successful self-published author? Consider sacrificing your first-born new book to the reading (and buying) masses. It’s not a new idea in self-publishing I blogged about it eight years ago and got a terse comment from another author who said I was behind the times. That might be.

Still, driving future sales with a book giveaway is one of the best features of Amazon's Kindle program. The marketing aspects are sound - introduce readers to an author's work and hope there's a land-swell of interest and word of mouth that propels new sales. It’s especially powerful in the age of KU, or Kindle Unlimited.

Read New Books for Free

Kindle Unlimited isn’t free books; it’s an unlimited reading of a large group of what Amazon has to offer, at $9.99 each month. It used to be that readers couldn’t pass up a free book. Now, with KU, you’ve got a lot more competition, so, even if the idea of a free book is sound, it only translates to future sales if the author's book is exceptional. That doesn't mean the writing has to be great (honest, it doesn't); it means the story has to be great. Readers don't care nearly as much as paid critics do about an occasional grammar slip. Readers want a story!

With physical books, a great cover can translate to new sales. Seeing a book on your friend’s coffee table with a catchy cover is enough to start a discussion and boom: book sales. Books online via Nook or Kindle (and other readers) don't have that hook, but free books can help. Again, a great cover is super important.

The Real Key

However, the real key to successful book sales (beyond the obvious STORY, STORY, STORY) when using a free book as a driver, is to have other books for the satisfied masses to buy. New writers can learn a lot from those who have already been successful, like M. R. Mathias - he of the Dragon stories.

Mathias figured out his audience, he's prolific (dozens of books and stories for sale), and he's got a few freebies that are always available. You can read his 77-page novella The First Dragoneer for free and see if you like the style, which many, many people have done. Then, you may be inclined to do what about a zillion other people have done:

Pay for Other Books

Yes, Mr. Mathias gives away a lot of books, but because he has a back-list of titles, he knows many readers will turn to his "for sale" books, and he'll make money from those. I know, because several of his best books, like The Sword and the Dragon, are fun to read and selling great on Amazon and other eBook devices.

When readers find an author they like, they'll buy all of their books. Giving away free copies or even 99-cent copies makes a lot of sense when you have other books to sell. If you have but one book, well, free and 99-cent books may not be the way to go! $2.99 is probably where you should be so you can get 70% on the sale from Amazon.

Thanks for reading - Al W Moe

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