Promotion Of A Free Book – Experiment And Results, Part One.

Ok, I admit it. I am converted. I now believe in paid promotion for my books, even if I am still trying to get it as cheap as I can.

My crime novella Second Time Lucky went free on Tuesday with two of the promotions bknights put up on Fiverr. Before the promotion total downloads 247, of these 241 were free and 6 paid. Here’s the promo so far (as usual, all times are GMT):

23/09/2014 (19:18 – Bknights promos go live)
UK
14:20 (1 download)
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #26,262 Free in Kindle Store
#9 in Kindle Store > Books > Crime, Thriller & Mystery > Crime Fiction > British & Irish > English
#11 in Kindle Store > Books > Crime, Thriller & Mystery > Crime Fiction > Noir

16:09 (still 1)
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #6,784 Free in Kindle Store
#8 in Kindle Store > Books > Crime, Thriller & Mystery > Crime Fiction > Noir
#8 in Kindle Store > Books > Crime, Thriller & Mystery > Crime Fiction > British & Irish > English

21:23 (5 downloads)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #42,607 Free in Kindle Store
#15 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Crime Fiction > Noir
#83 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 45 minutes (22-32 pages) > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

DE
14:20 (1 download)
Amazon Bestseller-Rang: #31.706 Kostenfrei in Kindle-Shop

16:09 (2 downloads)
Amazon Bestseller-Rang: #2.395 Kostenfrei in Kindle-Shop
Nr. 29 in Kindle-Shop > eBooks > Fremdsprachige eBooks > Englische eBooks > Krimis & Thriller > Krimis

JP
14:20 (1 download)
Amazon Bestseller Rank: Who knows, it is in Japanese!

USA
16:09 (0 downloads)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #42,394 Free in Kindle Store
#15 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Crime Fiction > Noir
#83 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 45 minutes (22-32 pages) > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

17:46 (3 downloads)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #42,394 Free in Kindle Store
#15 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Crime Fiction > Noir
#83 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 45 minutes (22-32 pages) > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

21:17 (258 downloads)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #42,607 Free in Kindle Store
#15 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Crime Fiction > Noir
#83 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 45 minutes (22-32 pages) > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

21:49 (278 downloads)
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #8,155 Free in Kindle Store
#8 in Kindle Store > Books > Crime, Thriller & Mystery > Crime Fiction > British & Irish > English
#9 in Kindle Store > Books > Crime, Thriller & Mystery > Crime Fiction > Noir

24/09/2014

USA (575 downloads)
06:22
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #410 Free in Kindle Store
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 45 minutes (22-32 pages) > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
#2 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 45 minutes (22-32 pages) > Literature & Fiction
#2 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Crime Fiction > Noir

12:34 (617 downloads)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #343 Free in Kindle Store
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 45 minutes (22-32 pages) > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 45 minutes (22-32 pages) > Literature & Fiction
#2 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Crime Fiction > Noir

16:34 (658 downloads)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #366 Free in Kindle Store
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 45 minutes (22-32 pages) > Literature & Fiction
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 45 minutes (22-32 pages) > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
#3 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Crime Fiction > Noir

21:31 (699 downloads)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #493 Free in Kindle Store
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 45 minutes (22-32 pages) > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 45 minutes (22-32 pages) > Literature & Fiction
#3 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Crime Fiction > Noir

UK (6 downloads)
06:22
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #4,168 Free in Kindle Store
#5 in Kindle Store > Books > Crime, Thriller & Mystery > Crime Fiction > British & Irish > English
#7 in Kindle Store > Books > Crime, Thriller & Mystery > Crime Fiction > Noir

12:36 (7 downloads)
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #4,186 Free in Kindle Store
#5 in Kindle Store > Books > Crime, Thriller & Mystery > Crime Fiction > British & Irish > English
#7 in Kindle Store > Books > Crime, Thriller & Mystery > Crime Fiction > Noir

16:37 (8 downloads)
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #3,611 Free in Kindle Store
#5 in Kindle Store > Books > Crime, Thriller & Mystery > Crime Fiction > Noir
#5 in Kindle Store > Books > Crime, Thriller & Mystery > Crime Fiction > British & Irish > English

21:33 (9 downloads)
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #4,863 Free in Kindle Store
#5 in Kindle Store > Books > Crime, Thriller & Mystery > Crime Fiction > Noir
#7 in Kindle Store > Books > Crime, Thriller & Mystery > Crime Fiction > British & Irish > English

JP (2 downloads)
06:22

CA (1 download)
12:38
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #3,067 Free in Kindle Store

25/09/2014
USA (768 downloads)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #743 Free in Kindle Store
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 45 minutes (22-32 pages) > Literature & Fiction
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 45 minutes (22-32 pages) > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
#3 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Crime Fiction > Noir

15:55 (780 downloads)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #794 Free in Kindle Store
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 45 minutes (22-32 pages) > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 45 minutes (22-32 pages) > Literature & Fiction
#4 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Crime Fiction > Noir

As I sit here typing this it is at 797 free downloads, in two and a half days that is over 3 times what I have got in the last year! The same promos got me a handful of sales at $0.99 / £0.77 so it is safe to say they work better with a free book.

Ok, I know they are sub-categories but that is two number 1’s, my first in any sub-categories!
Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 45 minutes (22-32 pages) > Literature & Fiction
and
Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 45 minutes (22-32 pages) > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
with a number 3 in
Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Crime Fiction > Noir
Way better than I have achieved with Second Time Lucky before, in fact better than I have achieved with any of my work before.

Second Time Lucky is free for today, Friday and Saturday too so there should be a few more downloads but I’m expecting it to tail off a bit now. Then again, Sovereign Nation goes free tomorrow with different promotions set for Friday, Saturday and Sunday and there might be some downloads from people who get that. After this I’ve got high hopes for the Sovereign Nation promotion, it is a full novel for free after all.

Updates will follow.