[Joseph Rhea]

So I'm having the worst select giveaway day of the year - by a factor of 10 (normally 1k to 5k downloads per day, today less than 200). Should I go ahead and bail on the second day or just let it ride for tomorrow? What do you think?

[update] possible explanation here.

 

[Guest]

I once gave away 100 copies one day and 900 the next. Don't stop believing...

 

[Joseph Rhea]

The weird thing is, as best I can tell, none of the dozen or so groups that I made an announcement on, have posted my giveaway. That is definitely the first time this is happened, and explains why I'm not getting much traction today...

 

[Krista D. Ball]

I had a select giveaway. I gave away 23 copies.

 

[Quiss]

Yeah. I think the days of 10k downloads are over, unless you get picked up by POI or ENT.  It's a whole new reality.

Bailing or not depends on your rank going into this. If you were way down in the 150K + you might as well keep going to get copies out there and maybe pick up some reviews.
If you were doing well before these no-sale days will hurt you at this rate.

I just had a 2-day run with 3k downloads and NO sales bump.  Getting some nice reviews, though.

 

[R.A. Hobbs]

I had a select giveaway. I gave away 23 copies.

OMG. I thought I was the only one that had giveaway's like this.

 

[Guest]

The weird thing is, as best I can tell, none of the dozen or so groups that I made an announcement on, have posted my giveaway. That is definitely the first time this is happened, and explains why I'm not getting much traction today...

I think this is what happened to me before too, hopefully some of them post it on the second day and it'll go up.

 

[Krista D. Ball]

OMG. I thought I was the only one that had giveaway's like this.

I won't even tell you about the French language one

 

[Joseph Rhea]

actually I'm starting to wonder why I still do giveaways. I sold just over 5k copies and gave away about 30k over the last couple of years. Plus I've got a 4.2 rating with 45 reviews so I don't know that I really need that many more reviews.

I guess it just gives me something to do while I'm writing the next book...  

 

[Patty Jansen]

OMG. I thought I was the only one that had giveaway's like this.

No, you're not. Everyone else is just too embarrassed to admit it

 

[mathewferguson]

I'm starting to think wimpy giveaways are the new normal. Gone are the days of reaching 10,000 new readers with a giveaway and some blog posts/announcements.

I think we've entered the era of building mailing lists and marketing new titles to fans who've signed up.

 

[Saul Tanpepper]

Nobody's posting free anymore. Well, maybe that's an overstatement, but with Ammy's ban on free book promoting by the big sites, people aren't getting free book ads in their email in-boxes like they used to.

I've got a perma-free, and when March 1st hit, my daily downloads dropped to about half what they were. Rankings have slid a little, but not much, which means everyone is giving away fewer books.

 

[Krista D. Ball]

I'm starting to think wimpy giveaways are the new normal. Gone are the days of reaching 10,000 new readers with a giveaway and some blog posts/announcements.

I think we've entered the era of building mailing lists and marketing new titles to fans who've signed up.

No, they aren't. http://www.amazon.com/A-Storm-Hits-Valparaiso-ebook/dp/B006OPORV8/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1363226211&sr=1-2

That's what? 12k downloads today?

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Historical

(GO DAVID GO)

 

[mathewferguson]

No, they aren't. http://www.amazon.com/A-Storm-Hits-Valparaiso-ebook/dp/B006OPORV8/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1363226211&sr=1-2

That's what? 12k downloads today?

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Historical

(GO DAVID GO)

Well, a single data point. You've convinced me.

 

[mathewferguson]

Nobody's posting free anymore. Well, maybe that's an overstatement, but with Ammy's ban on free book promoting by the big sites, people aren't getting free book ads in their email in-boxes like they used to.

I've got a perma-free, and when March 1st hit, my daily downloads dropped to about half what they were. Rankings have slid a little, but not much, which means everyone is giving away fewer books.

I noticed a perma-free having a big drop recently also.

I had a book go free two years ago and it hit about 8000 downloads for the month. A recent one scraped in at 610.

 

[Krista D. Ball]

Well, a single data point. You've convinced me.

Yes, let's derail another thread bickering back and forth. I'm sure Betsy will love that.

 

[mathewferguson]

Yes, let's derail another thread bickering back and forth. I'm sure Betsy will love that.

No, I was serious. You and your one data point convinced me. 100%.

 

[SEAN H. ROBERTSON]

I'd stick with one more day. My current freebie is at over 800 downloads worldwide since this morning.  I got two free posts from a couple of erotica fanpage owners...first-time ever, plus the compilation is new. 

 

[Joseph Rhea]

well it's getting kind of late here in DC so I guess I'll just let tomorrow ride and see what happens. I've already got 35,000 copies of the book being read so I guess I shouldn't be greedy. Also, sometimes it's not about numbers, since some of today's new readers might just love the book and that works for me...

I will admit though that this will probably be be my last give away. Anyway, thanks to all and have a good night...
Joe

 

[Saul Tanpepper]

No, they aren't. http://www.amazon.com/A-Storm-Hits-Valparaiso-ebook/dp/B006OPORV8/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1363226211&sr=1-2

That's what? 12k downloads today?

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Historical

(GO DAVID GO)

David's got a big following and ins with a lot of bloggers, all of which are more than happy to spread the word (I know I did when I found out this morning). But David's not your usual case study, either.