Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Some people just don't get it.

I have been absent for a spell...house buying is some intensive stuff. Did you miss me...or are you scratching your head and asking yourself, "Was he gone for a week?" Well, I will be in and out these next couple of weeks (now is a good time to send a guest post if you have one) as the whole moving to the new house thing comes on full tilt. But today I wanted to swat a few pinatas. So join me...won't you.

First off, this is not directed at any single individual. I am making generalizations and using a mish-mash of examples. A few trends in some of the social media conversations catch my eye every so often and I feel the need to post a rebuttal. One is the concept that free e-books are destroying the world. Now I can personally attest to the fact that, if used properly, they can be an effective marketing tool. The first time I ran Zomblog on one of those promo deals, it gave 10,000-plus people a chance to decide if the series was one they would like to continue. They did...and three months later I quit my "day" job. It helped that DEAD: The Ugly Beginning did fair two weeks later with a respectable 5,000-plus free downloads.

Having been in the entertainment business before (club DJ and sports talk radio) I am versed in a few aspects of how things operate in the world of marketing to an audience. According to the folks that worked down the hall where the offices are plush, it is a 10:1 ratio of people who will complain about something versus extend a compliment. (Just another reason to ignore negative reviews if you still trend positive.) If you give something out for free, you have about a 5% net of the people that you will hook and bring back for more. Now these are all just numbers, but they do help with my point that I am about to make.

First, let me tell you that my "free" days are over. I have no problem with putting my stuff at 99 cents, but by the same token, I would not be where I am now without those freebies. For the up and coming writers trying to slice off a piece, if you think giving your stuff away for free will put you over the top, think carefully. First, if you already have a few books in the series, then giving away book one can be a good marketing tool. I will warn you that the landscape has changed in the past three years and many free books remain unread. So if you have great numbers on that promo event, don't think ALL of those people will grab your next book. And if this is your ONLY book to date...then you are wasting time and energy. 

The free book should be used as a marketing tool for your series. That is really the only use for such things now. The new trend is to get together with some folks in your genre and put together an e-compendium for a buck. Ditch egos and the idea of riches here, but if you can bring six full length stories under one set, then each author promote the box set, you can cross-pollinate each other's fan base and everybody wins. Here is an example...I am currently part of one of those compendiums (find it HERE) with some VERY talented authors. The set is selling nicely, but each of us has a responsibility to push it up that hill. To that end, we have this to offer...click on the link and see how to get free signed copies from some really talented guys (and me too!).


The bottom line here is that every tool in your belt has its place. Some will work better than others, but don't disregard something based on a few nay-sayers. If you can only see every problem as a nail, then all you know how to do is hammer. Marketing is a multi-layered concept that takes all of your tools being used in effective and efficient ways. Used wisely, the free book is a way that you can lure people in to your series as long as you realize that many books remain unread and you have to hope that yours is one of the lucky titles to stand out and make a reader dive in. (COVER ART!!!) And one final word...it will be YOUR TALENT that puts you over the top.

9 comments:

  1. I agree with you. I've managed to get two short stories perma-free on Amazon, and these have helped fuel sales for my longer works, as well as garnering reviews from readers. While not all of them are five star reviews, they have all been positive in my mind. The market is constantly evolving, what worked last year is today a waste of time. and I seriously doubt free ebooks is going to ruin it for everyone else.

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    1. And I just saw a great article on using Google Plus Hangouts to connect with readers, so yes, marketing is a constantly evolving process.

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  2. I agree with you. I currently have my titles reduced to 99 cents, but I will certainly be looking to take my novels back to up their regular price in the future.

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    1. Sale prices are a great way to drum up some interest. And if that first book is good, you can count on residual sales from the subsequent titles. BTW, great article on the Google + hangouts today. That may be my next thing. (As soon as I get moved and settled in that it.)

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  3. as a reader I totally agree, a freebie is a great way to get hooked, but if its the only book from the author it generally sits on my kindle gathering cyber dust.
    Hope you have a stress free move, all goes to plan and nothing falls off the back of your moving van!!
    see you in a matter of weeks!

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    1. It is just around the corner! Kind of groovy...I have a barbecue to plan!

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  4. I got hook off your books by the free one. I have bought all of the zomblog books and I think I'm on book 5 of the dead series.

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  5. Amen, brother. Honored to be in that collection with you ;)

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  6. I got my first Kindle a couple of years ago. I was really fearful that I was going to hate it, my daughter got it and as anyone with children knows you HAVE to LOVE the gifts from your kids. You will be sporting a macaroni necklave, or more current a rubber band bracelet that rips the hairs out of your arms. (Granddaughter gift. Husband laughed and laughed...till his was finished. Then I laughed the loudest!!!) Anyway, she is grown now and I got a Kindle. Being the techno-idiot and not the smoothies gift recipient I thought it was broken. The ones I had watched commercials were in color, shortening this story up I"'just say I upgraded. It is my baby, best friend, bible, and my husband claims it's his replacement. I LOVE it!!! (Not the macaroni necklace kind of love.)
    Now for the point of my ramble; Free books! Indie authors!! These are the 2 main reasons I love this thing. I think it just rocks that someone can write a book on their cell phone, pc, KF, or whatever. They can then get that story out to the public. Before you had to pretty much be related to someone working in one of the big name publishing co.s to get a book out. We, the readers were getting cheated out of our own right to choose who was a good author and what was a good story. Those days are OVER and I am so glad. Some of the books I have read in the last couple of years would have stayed in a box in a closet or garage, or never left the author's head. That should be a crime. Todd has heard me speak of what I call my "escape". This is what good authors give people, and what a gift it is! This really does focus on the issue of free books, sorry I am so long winded, I am getting there I promise.
    My early technique for selecting my next book, for some reason it has all been zombie apocalypse since I got the KF, I would enter free zombie books or something similar in the search bar. This gave me a selection to choose from. I would choose what looked best to me, if I enjoyed this book and there was a sequel I was off and running. This really helped me to choose as I had zero previous knowledge of this genre or even anything close to it. So that first free book got me into a new author, it then sold the rest of his books for him/her. So it really does benefit an author, wether they are new to me, writing, or a different genre. As far as free books that are 12 pages long, that just irritates me. I've also noticed the serial author that charges $0.00 for the first 26 page issue, $.99 for the second 30 pager, $1.99 for the third, etc. That also irritates the carp out of me. I read ALOT! I personally just don't feel a book or novel can be written in just a few pages. I also don't think that any author should continue to give his work , art, craft, however you choose to word it, for free.
    I guess the short version would have been: New author 1 freebie, New genre for any author 1 freebie. Any author that is taking in some healthy cash and wants to say thanks 1 freebie. After all of that, maybe just keep the price in the reasonable range and the length of the book, make it enough for the reader to get that escape. If you are good enough, I've only had a few author is that can "take me away" consistently. Those that can are the superheroes in the reader's world.
    Now that I'm an old pro in this genre I just come to Todd's blog & check out what's going on! There are a couple of others that help me pick my next book as well. That is my VERY long winded way of saying that you, the author will know what your prices should be.
    And for those of you that have the "escape" gift, I thank you all so very, very much.

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