If you can't see the awesome offer...go here: http://upvir.al/6190/lp6190

So, I did another Free Days on Amazon with 3 different books.

Hers To Choose got on BookBub and the downloads were amazing!!

Of course sales for HTChoose have withered but what made this promotion work is the other two books PAK has out {Hers To Command & Hers To Cherish} that's the real reason I did BookBub.

Had I submitted Luke's Tale...I think it would have just been a free book and withered sales with no sequel to propel. 

Thus, we did the Author Marketing Club Free days submissions as we did before and got a great beginning, a steady middle and a

fantastic push from our most awesome PR guru ~ Travis.

We scheduled the books to go free at the end of the month and I think that made a huge difference in sales and free download numbers.

The third book was not a novel but a short story. It's KDP did as well as a short story would do as if treated like a red-headed step-child.

I still believe in short stories, and I'll continue to write them and publish them, but I've noticed a trend in my writing to where I want to write longer and longer stories.

So perhaps my short stories will become novellas and then to actual novels. I have two full length novels that are being prepared to come out in 2014 and hopefully I won't pull them back this time.

But, what I've learned from this Free days are a few things:

1. Use the big guns when you have at least 2 other books available to buy ~ preferably in the series.
2. Use all the free promotions and a little bit of paid promo to have decent download counts and sales after the free days for 1 or 2 books by an author.
3. Kindle free days works if you use it like a genius {like me~not} and prepare for it ahead of time.
4. Keep the momentum going. <-- more on that later!!

ACTION ITEM: Only use KDP Select wisely. You might snort at me and say "what's wise?" Spend money when you have 3 or more books, don't go overboard when you have only 1 - 2 books.

My overview take is that KDP Select is good for new authors with a little bit of a funnel but once you get more known, you want to give your book value by not giving them away free.

I think there is a threshold where you can only give away so many books before it doesn't justify the means.

Here is what I've found ~ with some promotion, a little hype with twitter we were able to get one under 10,000 downloads with one title and we so far have gotten an extra 13 reviews (so far) from the effort.

I don't think KDP Free is what it was, and it may continue to decline, but doing free in a smart way is still the way to attract new readers to you. I still do a free promotion, but in other forums.

ACTION ITEM: Try FREE in places like Facebook, Twitter, blogs and Kindle.

Today is the first day of Luke's Tale KDP promo!

Click the picture to get your download!

And while I love Amazon and the Indie tools they provide, I can't help but feel that this type of promo is getting more difficult for new authors to use successfully.

In January, I was still confident in the KDP Select program. I still felt it was a good deal being exclusive and having a promotion to plan.

I believe the KDP program still works, but for relatively known authors.

Somewhere between January and now, the KDP Select program seems to have shifted to give better known authors a chance to gain more readers.

When I signed on, KDP Select still gave new authors the edge to get known. But here's what I've noticed.

~ I can't find the FREE eBooks section on Amazon even when I search.
~ Free ebook lists have cut down on the number of free books they'll feature.
~ There are tons of books going free and uploaded to Amazon every day.
~ There are more books that are free than one can read in a lifetime.
~ Free seekers aren't necessarily your market.
~ It takes about 20,000 downloads to make a bump in sales. (And that's not easy anymore.)

I know you're thinking I'm getting down on KDP Select, but what I'm saying is, this type of promo has changed.

I see free as a viable marketing promotion because I know it works. It's how I got hooked on Sylvia Day, Michelle West and a few others. But, the free thing needs to be done wisely.

I'm still in. I'm still experimenting and I'm still waiting to see what this promo retrieves. I'll find out! For now, click on the picture and get your copy!

Our first attempt at Amazon's KDP Free Days will begin with Luke's Tale on 06/03/13 - 06/07/13!

Let me tell you the process was...arduous. I'm in praise of Author Marketing Club for the Submission tool!

Click that link to save time! You'll find links on other sites, but you'll have to find the submission forms to offer your books free days for kindle. Author Marketing Club gives you links straight to the submission forms. What a relief.

Now that I've gone through the process, here's what you need to know.

1. Be prepared to submit your dates to these sites early.
2. Be prepared to submit your dates to these sites on the day OF your free promotion.
3. Be prepared to submit your dates to these sites every day of your free promotion.
4. Save about $100 to promote on these sites for a guaranteed exposure of your free eBook.
5. Go to the Author Marketing Club tool HERE to save time on submitting your free eBook.

It took me about 90 minutes to go through all the links and submit the info. I went with totally free because I have plans to promote it on Facebook. Every promotion is different and we'll find out what works. But having the links ready for me saved so much frustration. Read the guidelines for each site because some don't let you promote without four star reviews or/and a certain amount of reviews. You might want to think about paying for guaranteed exposure too. We'll see if we can conquer KDP Free days! 

Shhh! Don't let it get around but...I've been schooled. By one of my very own authors. 

You see, I love my kindle but I didn't know you could download .epub files directly to it. It's simple. So simple that I'm embarrassed to admit this to you, but I had no idea of the extent of my Kindle's  power.

Now I'm downloading PDF files, word docs and yes, .mobi files. I can purchase a title from another publisher with full confidence that I can get it to my kindle. The even more wonderful thing is, no one can download anything to my kindle without my approval. I attach a document to my kindle email. Want to learn how?

1. Hoover (or click) on Your Account (where it says in the upper right hand corner "Hi, (your name)"
2. Choose Manage Your Kindle. If you hoover--you'll see it in the box half-way down. If you clicked it's under Digital Management.

NOW, if this is your first time here ever, then you need to approve the email you will be sending attachments to. So if your email address is [email protected] then you will need to approve that email on Amazon. It's easy!

3. Click on Personal Document Settings on the left hand side of your screen.

4. Click Add a new email address at the bottom. Add the address and now you can email attachments!

5. Make note of your E-mail Address in Amazon which is on the same page you just added an email to--pretty much in the middle of the screen. That's the email you will be sending your .epub, word docs and such to.

It couldn't be easier! But if you don't know something's there...how are you suppose to know! Sheesh, I'm just the publisher.