[MosesSiregarIII]

Hi, yous guys. So I've got this new release and I can still cancel my Select enrollment if I do it before 6 am tomorrow. I'm trying to decide what I want to do.

How much success are people having with price-matching to permafree at Amazon right now? Because if it's not that hard to do right now (it's been a long time since I've done it), I might get out of Select and just do that instead. This one is another novella-length (50K) preview of an upcoming novel, so I'm mainly looking to attract new readers with it and to give the old readers something to chew on before the next big novel.

My initial plan was to do 5 free days through Select, then after 3 months try to go permafree at some point. But now I'm starting to think permafree might be the way to go, asap.

A related question: Has anyone had luck getting sites like ENT and POI to feature a relatively new permafree book? Because if they don't like to do that, then maybe I should stick with Select for 3 months and hope to get those sites to feature me up that way. I wonder how many downloads I'd get just going permafree vs. getting a boost from ENT or POI (assuming those sites don't like to feature permafree books, but would feature a limited time freebie).

Thanks very much for your thoughts, everyone!

 

[60911]

My last book went permafree in September, and back then people were complaining about having problems getting price matched then. I believe I've seen more complaints since then. Also since then, my book Alone has been reset to paid on amazon.uk twice now, without rhyme or reason. A little off topic, but just an FYI. Kinda messes with your strategy.

For ENT, submissions are presently closed (or were as of a week ago). PoI as well as ENT are seriously cut down on how many freebies they feature. Which is a shame because they still have some serious power to spur downloads. Bookbub might be a better and more viable alternative for driving free loads at this point, though.

 

[JRTomlin]

Permafree didn't work well for me. I went back to Select and my sales went back up. But I don't know that it means anything for anyone else.

 

[MosesSiregarIII]

My last book went permafree in September, and back then people were complaining about having problems getting price matched then. I believe I've seen more complaints since then. Also since then, my book Alone has been reset to paid on amazon.uk twice now, without rhyme or reason. A little off topic, but just an FYI. Kinda messes with your strategy.

For ENT, submissions are presently closed (or were as of a week ago). PoI as well as ENT are seriously cut down on how many freebies they feature. Which is a shame because they still have some serious power to spur downloads. Bookbub might be a better and more viable alternative for driving free loads at this point, though.

Thanks, Robert. So the UK side is mainly where the "no rhyme or reason" stuff is happening, right? Amazon.co.uk has been a little like that for me as well. Good points, thanks.

Thanks, JR.

 

[MosesSiregarIII]

K.C. May just mentioned that she had a title go free (presumably permafree) recently, and that it was a "piece of cake."

The other complication, Robert, is that I could wait until the next full novel is out before trying to go permafree. That would make sense particularly if the permafree results are dramatically stronger around the time a title initially goes free.

 

[60911]

The other complication, Robert is that I could wait until the next full novel is out before trying to go permafree. That would make sense particularly if the permafree results are dramatically stronger around the time a title initially goes free.

It does tend to stir results quite a bit when they have something to buy after they finish the permafree book. It's kind of like a call to action without any action they can take afterward. if it were me, I would wait until the novel was available.

 

[CJArcher]

I had my book go perma-free back in October just after its sequel came out. It only took about 2 weeks once B&N filtered through from Smash. I upload direct to Apple and Kobo so they were instant. As soon as it was free everywhere, I submitted to POI and ENT's free promos. It took maybe another 3 weeks and then they both featured it within days of each other which propelled it to #7 on the free list. By the time I submitted to POI and ENT, it already had several good reviews as it had been out about 3 months - I think that really helped them decide whether or not to feature it.

It's a tough decision, and I think the big question is whether being 3 months exclusive to Amazon will hurt you or not. It's not a long time in the book's lifetime, but I understand how exclusivity can really annoy some readers.

The other complication, Robert, is that I could wait until the next full novel is out before trying to go permafree. That would make sense particularly if the permafree results are dramatically stronger around the time a title initially goes free.

Personally, I would wait for book 2 to come out before you do your free thing, whether via Select or perma. Readers really want that sequel NOW once they've read book 1. Don't give them time to forget.

 

[MosesSiregarIII]

It does tend to stir results quite a bit when they have something to buy after they finish the permafree book. It's kind of like a call to action without any action they can take afterward. if it were me, I would wait until the novel was available.

I hear you. The flip-side is that the new release is mostly out there to generate more interest in the next novel, before the next novel releases. I'm hoping this new one will attract new readers to the series. Hm. I'm still thinking about this.

 

[MosesSiregarIII]

Thanks, CJ. That's helpful. Good info.

 

[MosesSiregarIII]

I've been thinking about this. I think I'm not going to do Select or try to go permafree for now, but I'm going to plan on going free (probably using Select), around the time the next novel in the series comes out. That way I can try to have a big free day that could lead to immediate novel sales. Then my Select period will be up and I'll try to make the new preview permafree everywhere.

In the meantime, I'll keep the new preview at Amazon and hope (knock wood real hard) to build up some good reviews there from dedicated readers over the next five months so the new preview will be ready for its free days, hopefully around the end of May. For now it's mainly there for the dedicated fans and to be ready to go free at the right time.

Thanks for your help, everyone!