Hey there!
It’s Writer Wednesday and I’m so honored to reintroduce Pat Simmons back. She is my literary shero. If you remember, I featured her in Hot Off The Press last week. She is back today to give us a lesson on the value of FREE.
Free means $$. I decided after some recent announcements from KDP (Kindle), I should discuss FREE TIPS before I tackle PRE-ORDER TIPS. So here we go. I’ve been hearing the word “FREE” for years and until I attended Romcon in Denver, I really didn’t know how to go about it without enrolling in KDP Select—again, which I tried years ago without any success. I don’t like the idea of Amazon having exclusive rights to my book and lose $$ by removing them on other sites. However, the author at Romcon shared how I could get around it by using Smashwords to offer the first eBook in my Guilty series to all channels. I groaned. Not that dreaded Smashwords formatting—no! So I turned to Bookaholic on http://www.Fiveer.com, and my problem was solved!! Thanks to author Tiffany Warren who reminded me about Fiveer.com for covers.
I think this is Bookaholic’s direct link: http://www.fiverr.com/bookaholic/format-your-ebook-for-smashwords-to-pass-autovetter?funnel=201408151242529417459640. She’s done 1722 formats.
Thanks to her, I uploaded GUILTY OF LOVE to Smashwords with ease. Within minutes, readers began to download it before I could even announce it on social media. After 10 days of being FREE on Smashwords, I had 600+ DOWNLOADS from readers and 27 DOWNLOADS from the library. I thought that was decent, considering those were 600 readers, giving me a try.
Next, I notified Amazon that GUILTY OF LOVE was FREE through Smashwords and could they match it. I was told they would look into it. After about a week of “looking into it”, GUILTY OF LOVE was available on Kindle for FREE. In just 5 days: More than 4200 FREE DOWNLOADS—wow. That’s 4200 readers that have never read me before.
This was how my other books in the series did last summer.
• GUILTY OF LOVE: Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #130 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
o #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > African American > Christian
o #2 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > United States
• NOT GUILTY OF LOVE: Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #45,294 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
o #64 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > African American > Christian
o #65 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Literature & Fiction > African American
• STILL GUILTY: Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #43,792 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
o #18 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Parenting & Relationships > Adoption
o #35 in Books > Parenting & Relationships > Adoption
• THE ACQUITTAL: Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #105,367 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
o #84 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Women’s Fiction > Christian
Thanks to different keywords, I ranked in different categories.
Digitalbooktoday.com contacted me and advised that GUILTY OF LOVE was on their website and invited me to be a featured author because of my ranking on Amazon. Free eBookDaily.com also had me listed. Wow, now that’s more FREE promotion that I didn’t count on. Look at Jesus as my church folks say.
Last summer, FREE exposed me to new readers, and I’m hoping those readers will become fans of my current series, the Carmen series, which I pushed pre-release reviews from groups on Facebook. That has been a blessing for IN DEFENSE OF LOVE. Twenty-four reviews in two weeks is record for me, and I’m thankful that God’s Word is getting out through my work. Amen in Jesus’ name!
Pat Simmons.
About Pat Simmons
Pat is the multi-published author of several single titles and eBook novellas, and is a two-time recipient of Emma Rodgers Award for Best Inspirational Romance. She has been a featured speaker and workshop presenter at various venues across the country.
As a self-proclaimed genealogy sleuth, Pat is passionate about researching her ancestors, then casting them in starring roles in her novels. She describes the evidence of the gift of the Holy Ghost as an amazing, unforgettable, life-altering experience. God is the Author who advances the stories she writes.
Currently, overseeing the media publicity for the annual RT Booklovers Conventions, Pat has a B.S. in mass communications from Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts.
Pat has converted her sofa-strapped, sports fanatic husband into an amateur travel agent, untrained bodyguard, GPS-guided chauffeur, and her administrative assistant who is constantly on probation. They have a son and a daughter.
Read more about Pat and her books by visiting http://www.patsimmons.net
I hope you learned something you didn’t previously know. I know I have. Authors, if you’ve offered free books let me know in the comments how that turned out? Readers, if you see a free book from an author you don’t know, do you immediately download? Please share in the comments.
Be Blessed
Unoma
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Unoma Nwankwor 