Quickest route to permafree?

Make your story .99 on Amazon and go free on iBooks. Then contact KDP with the link to the freebie on iBooks asking them to price match.  (I'm using iBooks because KDP allegedly responds more quickly to iBooks prices.)  Some authors' books have been price matched without contacting KDP directly but that wasn't my experience. 

Augusta Blythe said:

Make your story .99 on Amazon and go free on iBooks. Then contact KDP with the link to the freebie on iBooks asking them to price match. (I'm using iBooks because KDP allegedly responds more quickly to iBooks prices.) Some authors' books have been price matched without contacting KDP directly but that wasn't my experience.

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Thanks for the response. Is it easy to publish on ibooks? (Smashwords did it automatically before)

Yes, your book needs to be free elsewhere (B&N or iTunes or...?, etc.), then go to your dashboard, click on "help" & send the 'Zon a brief note asking to price-match, with the link where your book is free.

I tried going the thread route before that, but it didn't kick in. It wasn't until Tricia O. pointed out that I needed to go to the dashboard that it worked out. The peeps at 'Zon will make it perma-free within a day or so. Very easy to do. 

Best,

K

I've found that if you email Amazon, they WON'T price match it.

The last time I needed something price matched, I did it through Smashwords and it was price matched on Amazon within 24 hours.

dianapersaud said:

I've found that if you email Amazon, they WON'T price match it.

The last time I needed something price matched, I did it through Smashwords and it was price matched on Amazon within 24 hours.

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I had my book up free through D2D > ibooks & Nook, emailed KDP the next day, asked them to price match it, and they did. Zero fuss. Happened in hours. (I'd heard it could take weeks, so was really surprised).

D-to-the-C said:

I had my book up free through D2D > ibooks & Nook, emailed KDP the next day, asked them to price match it, and they did. Zero fuss. Happened in hours. (I'd heard it could take weeks, so was really surprised).

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Same here. For all my perma free books, I contacted KDP with links to the other stores (ibooks, GP, Nook etc.) and they price matched within hours.

CJAnderson said:

Thanks for the response. Is it easy to publish on ibooks? (Smashwords did it automatically before)

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It's not exactly intuitive, but I'm a techno-idiot and I've been publishing directly with them for years.

I'd just go through D2D and Google Play.  You could just publish on Google Play (or the others) and e-mail KDP and they will usually price match.  I've never had them not.  My fastest was within an hour.

Which site requires the least formatting standards? Googleplay or ibooks?

Reason I ask is because Smashwords has strict standards. If anything is off they reject it.

D-to-the-C said:

I had my book up free through D2D > ibooks & Nook, emailed KDP the next day, asked them to price match it, and they did. Zero fuss. Happened in hours. (I'd heard it could take weeks, so was really surprised).

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That was my experience as well.

D2D sounds a lot more user-friendly than Smashwords

You'll get your book up fastest on Google Play. Amazon is particularly interested in price matching Play and iTunes.

I contacted them through the kdp and received this email:

Thanks for contacting us. I hope this email finds you well.

Thanks for the pricing information. While we do retain discretion over our retail prices, I've passed your feedback on for consideration.

We'll need a little time to look into this.

I'll contact you with more information by the end of the day on Monday, March 30.

Thanks for your patience.

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Did anyone else get that who successfully had their listing changed?

I got the email this morning and when I checked, mine was perma-free

Thanks for letting me know, Sophie. I thought it sounded a bit ominous, but now I'll keep checking.

Anyone know how soon a book shows up on Google Play?

My author page tells me the book is "live on Google Play" but I can't find it.

"Congratulations! Your book is available for sale on Google Play"

Title is "Survive Ruinland"

I've always found Google Play listings to be virtually instantaneous.

thewitt said:

I've always found Google Play listings to be virtually instantaneous.

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I chatted with Google rep and he told me check back in 12-24 hours

CJAnderson said:

I chatted with Google rep and he told me check back in 12-24 hours

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Yeah, it's always taken a day or two for my books to actually be findable via search in Google's store. Not sure why.