I Used Up My KDP Free Promotion Days

I had two KDP free promotion days left in this period, so what the heck? Might as well use them up. I guess, no more promotions for me until summer.

Free promotion days should be doled out judiciously, because an author only gets 5 per 90-day enrollment period. Or---like me, remember that they exist and shoot 'em all in one big blowout.

Day before yesterday I got six free downloads. Next day? Zero. KENP reads, also zero. Free marketing sucks. But then again, paid marketing sucks. 

There is a segment of the reading population that seeks out free books. I'm willing to bet that many of them don't know about newsletters such as FreeBooksy. I certainly wouldn't know about free newsletters if I didn't have a book to promote. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have known that Amazon lists free books, and now that I know, I still don't know how to find them. But I'm guessing that Amazon is the route most people who are looking for freebies take. It makes sense. Amazon has books. I don't go to a hardware store looking for a gourmet meal. 

Those Amazon searchers, like most dedicated freebie hunters, likely thumb through that mysterious section of the site diligently. So, they've seen a particular book, either considered it and passed, brushed past it immediately, or downloaded it. Repeat listings in the same three-month time span are, I'm realizing, useless. 

"Hey, I remember you didn't want my super-duper ear wax removal system last month when I rang your doorbell, but how about now?"

"Still no. Now get off my lawn."

For a free KDP promotion to produce results, use it when the book is newly released. It'll be viewed as a shiny object, not a dust bunny in the corner. People like "new". New holds promise. "Same old" is suspicious. Why does this author keep flogging her book? It must reek. She must be desperate. 

I'm not desperate, but if a free promo is there for the taking, why not? Except I've been doing this for over a year, and now all I'm getting is the pity vote. Because everyone's seen my novel listed ad nauseam.

FreeBooksy works better for authors, because it caters to devoted freebie grabbers. But "free" isn't free for me. Cool to pay a company in order to make zero in royalties, if making money doesn't matter. It's still not ideal for a writer's ego, because she still might covet a review, and those people never leave reviews.

I've seen a lot of authors say, "I don't care about sales. I just want readers."

That's a lie.

So, why do I bother with a free book promotion if I care about sales? Because I detest seeing a flatlining report. It's demoralizing. If I get free downloads, it's at least movement. It's a sign of life.

Six downloads means my book is barely hanging by a thread.