I made two fantasy novels free from Wednesday 21 – Sunday 25 August, timed to catch the weekend which is hopefully when more people shop on Amazon. No paid advertising but I posted it on my WordPress site and on Facebook. Neither has a significant audience. I also put it on my Goodreads blog which is synced with WordPress.
I checked the results on Monday 26th at 1100 am British summer time.
Altogether, I ‘sold’ 15 copies of Fixing Forcalquier and 23 of The Brigstowe Dragons. Free, of course, so I didn’t make a cent. Will this lead to any reviews? Probably not. Most free book readers just grab the offer and stack it up on their Kindle to read one day. Hell, I do that myself.
The surprising thing was that shifting so few copies gave the books an actual ranking, for a while.
On August 24 they were as follows.
Brigstowe Dragons
Amazon US
- Best Sellers Rank: #9,379 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
Amazon UK
- Best Sellers Rank: #41,627 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 137 in Historical Fantasy (Kindle Store)
- 324 in Coming of Age Fantasy eBooks
- 571 in Sword & Sorcery Fantasy eBooks
Fixing Forcalquier had no rank in UK store but this was the US rating. Bear in mind that this was a free giveaway that only shifted a few copies and Fixing Forcalquier has no reviews at all. Not one.
- #72 in Fantasy Adventure Fiction
- #254 in Epic Fantasy (Kindle Store)
- #323 in Sword & Sorcery Fantasy eBooks
By Monday 26th August they had no ranking at all on Amazon US but Brigstowe Dragons was as follows on Amazon UK. Several places down on 24 August in each category but not bad.
- 142 in Historical Fantasy (Kindle Store)
- 339 in Coming of Age Fantasy eBooks
- 580 in Sword & Sorcery Fantasy eBooks
Fixing Forcalquier still had no ranking and no reviews.
Bearing in mind that I gave away a total of 38 books, getting a ranking is significant. I mean, it shows how little you have to do to get ranked. It’s a very short-lived ranking in a niche category but maybe it increases visibility a tiny bit, and on Amazon, visibility is all.
For my next trick, I have paid for advertising. Another book is being peddled on a very small, cheap book promotion site just to see what happens. I’m not pushing it anywhere else which will be a relief to everyone. People get tired of authors shouting about their books on social media. Paid advertising is probably more honest.
What this proves to me is that self-publishing is largely a waste of time. Even a third-rate short story writer like me can get paid $20 for a story in a small magazine and that’s just for writing, which writers enjoy. To spend hours hustling online and shouting on social media about your books to get them noticed and eventually make a couple of dollars if someone actually buys a copy – very rare – doesn’t seem cost-effective.
The question to ask yourself, as Douglas Smith says in his excellent book Playing the Short Game: How to Market and Sell Short Fiction is WIBBOW? He quotes it from author Scott William Carter. WIBBOW? stands for Would I Be Better Off Writing? And the answer is probably yes.
Writing short stories takes time and effort and sending them off to markets that take months to respond (and usually reject) takes more time and a thick skin but they often sell eventually, which gives real joy, and real money, and you don’t have to sell any more. Oh, you can tweet and Facebook that you have a story in the magazine, anthology or website and spread the word so people might buy it but that is not entirely selfish. You are selling the magazine and other writers too, a team effort. Furthermore, you know that the story is pretty good because someone else liked it. An editor! If you write something and self-publish it, how do you know if it’s any good?
Above all, self-publishing and promotion is a time-sink. It takes hours in a day. I’ve read lots of books and many are very wise and they all tell you it’s hard work and not a get-rich-quick scheme. However, given that there are millions of books on Amazon already, and a million in Kindle Unlimited (which means they are free for five days a month) your stuff is a drop in the ocean. Some drops make it to the top, usually because they are excellent. I don’t think my stuff is that great. Hell, I read lots of books and I know it isn’t. But it’s not terrible. (I hope.)
The other thing about self-publishing is that it works best with a series of novels. Get a reader to buy the first one, and then they have to buy the rest. But I prefer short stories to novels. Hey ho.
Having spent a lot of time compiling the books, buying covers and so forth, I might as well leave them up on Amazon for whoever wants them but it’s vanity publishing really. At least if I lose the files, all my stories are safe somewhere.
I’ll do a report on the little paid promotion next but paying to give away your books for free is not exactly a get-rich-quick scheme.
I’m so vain, I probably think this blog is about me, but it might be useful to someone else.
P.S. Arnos Hell is free until Friday 30th August.
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