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Marketing plan using Kindle Select . . .
This is not an exact science, but here are few suggestions. Naturally, our goal is for you to find a tip or two to use that will increase the success of your marketing plan – eBook or Book sales.
First, you must take charge of their marketing plans. Running one ad, doing a post, or just putting your book up for free on KDP is not always going to guarantee you success.
The Kindle Select program allows indie publishers (e.i. writers who self-publish to Kindle) to offer their books for free for 5 days every three months. In turn Amazon requests an exclusive. The question is how to best make use of a free give-away promotion.
Here’s some tips:
1. It helps to have up to 5 or more reviews before going FREE, but we’ve seen many successful promtions without any reviews. A few reviews may help to put you ahead of the game.
2. 1 or 2 day promotions are best, Wed, Thurs, or Sunday. Try skipping a day between two free days.
3. A month before your free promotion, alert ENT (Ereader News Today) and POI (Pixel of Ink). Google their names and look for sign-up forms. Alert other book blogging sites (such as Digital Book Today), particularly those in your genre.
4. The day before your promotion, consider upping your price by a few dollars. For instance, if your normal price is $2.99, make it $6.59. That way, when it goes free, people think they’re getting a great deal. Then lower it again after the promotion. You can raise the price on a product before it goes on sale. Less common today with a “everyday low price” strategy employed by retailers. (This is all a bit slimy, but it’s called marketing and promotion and selling more books.)
5. On the first day of your promotion, alert all your followers on Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter. Ask your Twitter followers to retweet your promotion.
6. Twitter about your book to all Free Kindle twitter addresses (do a search for them on Twitter). Here are some Twitter accounts that tweet and retweet about free books to get you started.
7. Email all good reviewers. Many reviewers have email links on their Amazon Profile. Invite them to “gift” free copies to friends.
8. List your link on Kindleboards, both on this link for free books, and on your individual book thread in the Bazaar.
http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php/topic,97167.0.html
9. List or update your book thread on mobileread.com about your free book. http://www.mobileread.com/forums/
10. On the first day of your free promotion, get up very early (like 2 A.M or 3 A.M.) and add your book to the Amazon Kindle Forum thread for free books. Also add a comment to your book on the Amazon Kindle Forum Meet Our Authors thread that your book is free.
11. If you have several titles, try staggering free promotions. Free promotions seem to work particularly well for books in series.
12. After your free promotion when your rank is slipping, gift copies of your book to boost your rank.
13. Several weeks after your promotion, run a .99 special on your books that are NOT in Kindle Select. Simply change your prices on Amazon, or lower your prices on Smashwords. Amazon will match the price. It will appear that you are slashing your prices, with the original price and discount. (Everyone likes a deal.)
14. A good marketing plan is like a battle plan–design a flexible strategy, adapt, and pursue. Good luck.
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