Final Results on My Book Giveaway

In two days of giveaways, 779 copies of Running From Herself were distributed, with 587 Kindle Unlimited page reads (so far, if whoever it is doesn't stop reading).

Sounds great, except when I view my estimated royalties--$1.69.  😉 Good thing I'm not in this biz to make money.

But considering that Day Two didn't have a corresponding ad running, I still managed to pick up some book grabbers via social media, which is shocking, since social media is essentially worthless.

As for buzz, well, that's non-existent. I got more attention for Inn Dreams, at least from scam marketers, than I have from this heavily promoted novel. (Again, social media is worthless.) I have gotten more solicitations, although I wouldn't consider that a net positive. While one bookstagrammer I previously employed did post a nice review, last time I looked, it had only gotten two likes, and one of them was me. Pretty sure bookstagrammers are not a winning strategy. But other marketers can probably spot an easy mark, so they're all DM'ing me now.

And speaking of DM's, what's with people wanting to show me their work? Are they desperate for someone to talk to? One artist DM'd me drawings of his/her anime, which leads to the question, why would I care? And what am I supposed to do with this correspondence? If I offer a generic compliment, they're never going to leave me alone. There are also would-be authors who include videos of themselves talking about their books. Again, I've got my own book to sell--are they just looking for a kindred spirit? It's a weird phenomenon regarding authors and social media: they all connect with other authors, when they need to be connecting with actual readers. But I do get it; we're so starved for attention, we'll take anybody.

On the plus side, I do like seeing this:

Best Sellers in Coming of Age Fiction

Best Sellers in Contemporary American Fiction

Best Sellers in Contemporary Women's Fiction

I had to screenshot it for posterity, because it'll soon be gone.

Today will begin to tell the tale of whether my marketing plan worked. My Amazon ad will begin running soon, and who knows? I just might earn $3.49 to go along with my $1.69 in royalties. That's more than five dollars! Who says indie authors can't get rich in this business?