Are Other Author's Giving Away YOUR Books?

Not every author likes the marketing strategy of offering his or her book(s) to readers for free, feeling that it devalues their hard work and does nothing for the wallet.

Well here's a new and improved way to get around that feeling -  If YOU don't want to give your work away for free, no worries . . . another author just might do it for you! And without your permission I'm sure.

I just saw this posted in an Authors' group on a social networking site.

"If anyone is interested in reading the '50 Shades of Grey' series I have them to give. Just comment with your email address and I will send them."


There was a lengthy string of commenters all chiming the same response: "Me!!!  I do! I want it!"  

Let it be duly noted that while I have not read Fifty Shades, I did not add myself to this free give-away list.  Instead, I did the infamous Kevin McCallister/Macaulay Culkin pose.  

I know I shouldn't be shocked and surprised at much of what goes on in the book industry these days. And maybe I wouldn't be as much if this were a reader making this offer - but an author?? An author giving away another author's work as a PDF file?


 What the heck?

Isn't this bootlegging?  Well maybe not because they are not being sold. Isn't this uhhh . . . .   distribution of stolen goods?  Don't we all put that little disclaimer in our books that no part of this work can be copied and/or distributed without the author's/publisher's permission? Well what is THIS?  

Go give away your own stuff for free. And be reminded that you reap what you sow.




Kimberly T. Matthews

"I knew exactly how many condoms were left in his gym bag, in a little black box, wrapped in gold foil. Seven. Each time I randomly checked for no other reason besides I knew they existed, there'd always been seven. So I was taken aback that morning when I went to do his laundry, peeked in the box and only found three..."
 Lisa from - "Lisa's Dress" 
Click here to download on Kindle!

=======================================

Enjoy my blog? Get a FREE 14-day subscription for your Kindle!  Just click below.

Why Free Ebook Promotions Aren't Helping Your Sales

Although I've never had amazing results, I was thinking about running a Free Book promotion this week since I still have a few promo days left for my KDP titles. But you know what?  I've talked myself out of it. Why? Because I realize that it will have little to no impact on my overall goals. If I am going to make my work free, I need it to accomplish something. Something like:

Increased sales
Name recognition
Best selling status
Amazon Prime borrows
Increased reviews
Higher (sustained) rankings

Free promos worked a year ago when Amazon's KDP program was fresh and new. An author would do a promo, offering his/her title for free, then make enough money on the following days, weeks, and maybe even a month or two to buy a Ipad or make a full month's mortgage payment.

Unfortunately, for most authors running promotional campaigns now, the results aren't so productive or lucrative.  Why?  Because our potential readership has been completely spoiled with the overwhelming number of free book titles offered daily. Why buy books (especially from an author whom you've never even heard of) when you can have your pick from a constantly changing list of hundreds of free titles 365 days a year?

Here are some quotes from readers who suffer from Chronic FEDS (Free Ebook Download Syndrome) Give special attention to the text in bold.

"The impact of having many books on my computer or on my Kindle has little if any negative impact. On my computer, my 20,000 books take less space than one hour of recorded TV. And on the Kindle, they are always there just in case I want to read them."

"If it says free and has a semi interesting looking title and cover art I will download it.  I will probably never even look past the first page."  

"I download about 15 to 40 books per week at least. I doubt I'll ever be able to read them all, but I can't help it." 


So with that said . . . I think I'm going to try Sample Campaigning.  Yeah - I just made that up.  Like just now.  You heard it here first.  No more will I promote free titles, but I will encourage readers to download a free sample of my books instead, and here's why:

• Samples are free.  People love free, as we've learned from the comments above.
• Samples are short, therefore fitting right into the lives of busy Ereader readers. 
• Although short, samples generally give enough content to help a potential buyer decide if they like/dislike your work enough to want to read more - unless the ebook is front loaded with a lot of blah-blah-blah that readers like to skip past. 
• In my opinion, samples are more likely to be read, because more thought goes into the download. 
• Samples have a "Buy Now" link at the end, for ease of ordering. 
• Samples are typically deleted guilt-free if a reader has no interest. There's no unspoken pressure to keep the content and eventually read it.
• 
  

Maybe FREE will work for me later, but for right now, I'll give Sample Campaigning a try.
I'll keep you posted.

Kimberly T. Matthews

"I knew exactly how many condoms were left in his gym bag, in a little black box, wrapped in gold foil. Seven. Each time I randomly checked for no other reason besides I knew they existed, there'd always been seven. So I was taken aback that morning when I went to do his laundry, peeked in the box and only found three..."
 Lisa from - "Lisa's Dress" 
Click here to download on Kindle!

=======================================

Enjoy my blog? Get a FREE 14-Day Subscription to your Kindle!  Just click below.

Is Publishing Your Blog to Kindle Worth the Time?

Since more and more readers are buying Kindles,  why not make your blog available on the Kindle device? It's an easy (and free) way to punch one more hole in your "exposure" belt, especially if you already have an audience who love to visit your blog. 

S0 how do you publish your blog on Kindle?  It's so simple!  Go to Kindle Publishing and sign up for a free account. Once your blog goes live, (48-72 hours later, although mine only took 24) whenever you publish a new post, your blog feed is updated and the newly published post is sent to the user’s Kindle device.

When you set up your blog for publishing, Kindle Publishing will  set a monthly subscription price for your blog, (my blog is priced at 99 cents).  When readers subscribe to your blog you will receive a 30% royalty.  You may not make enough to pay your child's way through college, but something's better than nothing, right? 

You can easily promote your Kindle blog by placing Kindle Chicklet (if you have an Amazon Associates account) on your blog or in your posts.   (See mine at the end of this post.) The chicklet will  also allow you to receive referral fees for qualifying Amazon purchases. 

It will take you only a few minutes to set your blog up for publishing, and again - its free.  Any opportunity to increase exposure, credibility, and traffic to your work is worth it when it doesn't cost any anything. And a few extra dollars would be too.

Need a step-by-step walk through?  Just click here.

Kimberly T. Matthews
Amazon.com Best Selling Author

Download a FREE Sample!

=======================================

Enjoy my blog? Get it on your Kindle!  Just click below.

F - R- Double E - The New "Four Letter Word"

~

In the world of writing and ebook marketing, has the word FREE become a new four letter word? Warping our price expectations as readers, and cheapening our work as authors? I can say for myself, this free thing is turning into a double edged sword. Maybe.

So what had happened was . . . 

I recently read two FANTASTIC books by Adrienne Thompson. Enjoyed them immensely. (Click the image to the right to peruse her 5-star reviews) Both were free downloads that I'd obtained a few months back when she ran a campaign. Now as much as I enjoyed her work, and have no reservations of reading her third title, guess what was stopping me? You guessed it - it wasn't free. 

So I know what you're thinking - it had to be priced at almost a million dollars since I was hesitant about purchasing it. Of course not. It was a measly $1.99.  Far less than the price of a cuppa coffee, and would last longer too!  Not to mention more enjoyable. And I just can't make it myself at home. 

I had to slap myself when I realized why I wasn't tapping the "1-Click" purchase button. What is wrong with me for thinking like that? I was slow to spend 2 bucks on a book that I KNOW I will enjoy?  Shame on me! Once I had this epiphany, I did PURCHASE Adrienne's third title. And guess what? It didn't break the bank, or send my home in foreclosure. I still have enough to get a cup of expensive coffee if I want to . . . or buy another book by another great author. 

I don't know about this FREE thing . . . is it doing more damage than good? Is it turning us into Kindle Hoarders?  Free just might be the new four-letter word in town.

I think I'll go wash my mouth out with soap.

PS - if you are an ebook author and would like to see YOUR ebook displayed on a iPad, Kindle, Nook (or other electronic device) Just click HERE. 

Enjoy my blog?  Read it on your Kindle! Just click below.

~