Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Free

I've sold 7000 ebooks in the last 36 hours, making over $14,000.

For the next three days, I'm making 23 of my titles free on Amazon Kindle.

http://www.amazon.com/J.A.-Konrath/e/B000BCH4EM

Blake Crouch is doing the same.

http://www.amazon.com/Blake-Crouch/e/B001H6U8X0

Get them while they're free. :)

54 comments:

  1. Well done, sir. It shall be Tweeted.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous9:46 AM

    Joe;

    Can I hold $20 til Friday?

    ReplyDelete
  3. In much smaller news, my KDP Select Norse adventure novel "Odinsons" will be free from 28December-1January:

    http://www.amazon.com/Odinsons-ebook/dp/B00614WM6O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325001625&sr=8-1

    ReplyDelete
  4. Good luck with them!

    I'm glad the free thing is working so well for you, and I look forward to your upcoming analysis of the results.

    Oh, and big congrats on the shout-out you got from Jeff Bezos. :)

    Happy New Year!

    David

    ReplyDelete
  5. Amazing, Joe. Simply amazing. I'm going to top you, though. For the next three days I'm going to pay $11.99 to every reader who downloads a copy of one of my ebooks. I know they're priced at .99 Cents and $2.99, but I'll make up the difference in volume.

    Wait, I need to check my math first . . .

    ReplyDelete
  6. This free experiment is grand, isn't it?

    Yesterday my book Amsterdam 2012 sold thousands! But I thought it might boost the sales of my new release. It did not. Perhaps down the road it will after people have read the book, but no immediate bump. So there's an art to this free promotion biz.

    Let's hope after the free promotion, sales continue. Good luck.

    ReplyDelete
  7. That's awesome! Thanks so much!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thank you, not only for the free books but also your great advice to writers - I've followed it and it works!

    http://colleencross.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hey Joe...I am a guy you have never heard of but you have pulled me into the journey. I published a couple of shorts on Amazon and consider you as a mentor. Thank you.

    -Cameron Dockery

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hey Joe...I am a guy you have never heard of but you have pulled me into the journey. I published a couple of shorts on Amazon and consider you as a mentor. Thank you.

    -Cameron Dockery

    ReplyDelete
  11. Congrats and thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  12. This is SO cool, Joe! Congratulations sir, and continued best wishes for 2012.

    ReplyDelete
  13. ROCK ON!!!!!! I'm x-posting.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I'll ask the obvious question:

    Why?

    Why offer so many titles for free (even for a limited time)?

    I can guess at some reasons - a mix of gratitude and (reverse?) marketing psychology/strategy - but I'd be interested to hear it from the horse's/author's mouth/pen.

    Todd
    www.ToddTrumpet.com

    P.S. Oh, and one last obvious thing: Congrats!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Always willing to pass along your news because you've been more than generous with what you've learned. I wouldn't be doing as well as I am if it were not for you.

    Good luck in the New Year!

    Off to retweet your announcement.
    Ruth

    ReplyDelete
  16. Sweet! I might have just done the Lisa Simpson, Lizard Queen cackle, but you can't prove it.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Thank you, thank you (walking backward and bowing with arms full of electrons).

    I’m happy you both had a good Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  18. That's just incredible. The 7000 in 36 hours, but also the 23 free titles!

    Nice going. And thanks for the inspiration to follow in your footsteps... I can only dream that one day I'll be able make a similar announcement on my site.

    ReplyDelete
  19. WOW! That is awesome. Congrats!

    ReplyDelete
  20. WOW! That is awesome. Congrats!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Thanks for the books, Joe.

    We will all be very interested in your commentary when this experiment is over.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Joe, Like a lot of people, I either wouldn't be on this journey or wouldn't be nearly as far along on it without your advice. And last month I hit a goal of actually making a living in this business. I could never say that when I sold novels (as I did) to publishers

    Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  23. What a way to give back!

    Well done on all fronts. Have a great New Year.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Joe, that's commendable and, as ever, you are an inspiration!
    In the same spirit, I'm giving the key to my books on my New year's resolutions bloghop:
    http://rubybarnes.blogspot.com/2011/12/rubys-new-years-resolutions-and.html
    Cheers
    Ruby

    ReplyDelete
  25. Thanks, Joe, for the freebies. It's nice to see a writer doing well enough financially to be able to afford making such a nice gesture.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Wow! I can't wait to see your results!

    For me, I went free for the first time two weeks ago. I went free for two days and had over 10k downloads of my book, "The Last Page". From going off of free, my book has stayed on 3 best seller's list on Amazon. I'm elated. I'm super thankful for the option as an indie to decide, "You know what, I want to go free. Or I want to try this marketing method." I love that.

    Congrats again, Joe and like I already said, I can't wait to see the phenom results. It will be really cool! And cool is such an understatement. :)

    -Lacy Camey
    http://www.lacycameywrites.com/

    ReplyDelete
  27. Fantastic!

    Big thanks to both you and Blake!

    The best part?

    They were actually free! Not long ago, "free" used to mean $2.30 for people outside of the US. Looks like Amazon are finally admitting that delivery to Sweden doesn't cost more than within the US when you're using the internet.

    Thanks again, really looking forward to reading more of your stuff!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Thank you! Your books were the first ones to hit my new kindle.

    Wishing you continued success!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Thank you for the free books. I have something more to read over the new year.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Interesting to see that you're listing 23 titles with Kindle Select. Of course, your titles are only free to Prime members, which costs $79 per year to join. So, I guess free is a matter of interpretation. It could be a good deal for readers. How many books can you download for free each month? Isn't there a limit? I need to investigate this a little more.

    Merrill Heath

    ReplyDelete
  31. OK, I see now where there are a list of books that are free even for those who aren't Prime members. Cool. I'll download a few.

    Merrill Heath

    ReplyDelete
  32. Thank you! The best kind of late Christmas present: great books!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Nice Christmas present, Joe. Thanks. :)

    While happily paging through your titles on Amazon, I noticed that Amazon are pricing some of your ebooks higher than the paperback price. For example, AFRAID is $6.99 in paperback, but $12.21 in ebook! Should it be like that?

    (I'm buying from Australia, unsure if they show me prices in our currency, which is currently slightly less than yours, or in USD.)

    ReplyDelete
  34. Wow, that is a LARGE amount of books sold in 36 hours! And thank you for the free books :-) My mom got a Kindle for her birthday today, so I've just downloaded some of your books for her.

    ReplyDelete
  35. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Survival-Thomas-Ford-ebook/dp/B006Q68W7U/ref=zg_bstf_362284031_46

    I self-published my book after midnight on Christmas Day.
    Started a 5 day free promotion at midnight yesterday (today?)...(it was Pacific Time USA and I'm in Scotland, so unsure)...I told no-one I had published or was doing the free "promotion" for 5 days.Wanted to experiment and see if any strangers would find my book.
    Result is my book is up to Number 25 now, out of Amazon Uk top 100 free literary fiction
    And ranked 1402 on the uk bestseller kindle list now,(including all paid books) up from 350000 or so yesterday.
    Eh...wasn't expecting that.
    John A. A. Logan

    ReplyDelete
  36. You guys are so awesome. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Congratulations! That is an amazing burst of sales, and I'm sure the promotion is helping to boost your exposure even more.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Thanks for the idea Joe K.

    I decided to do a holiday promotion for four of my books. Starting today, I have more books in the hands of people through this promotion than the entire year. Yes, it is free, but I am hoping it makes people interested in my writings.

    ;-) Cyn

    ReplyDelete
  39. This is amazing. I have been eying some of these books for a while, now they're free! can't beat that.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Wow, Joe, that's AMAZING!

    ReplyDelete
  41. The sales figures I mean but I'm sure your free books will generate loads more sales.

    ReplyDelete
  42. You proved your point!
    My brother is a career cop in Alabama. I posted the link and info about your freebies on my facebook page yesterday. He downloaded one title, to "try you out."
    He called me today to say that he stayed up for a few hours last nite to finish the book. He said he simply couldn't stop reading it!
    So, yes, we both downloaded all your free titles, at zero profit to you. BUT... I previously purchased some of your ebooks (SERIAL UNCUT is my favorite) and now my brother is a fanatical fan. He is BUYING your other titles, and he is telling the other cops about this crazy new book he is reading about these lunatic serial killers and this great female cop.

    Giving away pays off in the end. It generates additional sales and it creates great goodwill and word-of-mouth.

    Kudos, Mr. Konrath. My brother and I are big fans...

    ReplyDelete
  43. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  44. ifff you got a kindle for christmas...
    &&& if you have an amazon prime account...
    my book "murder in the magick club" is available for free, for awhile

    product info, critics & readers' reviews, etc. are posted on amazon

    it's a mixed genre, occult-themed, comedic murder mystery that takes place in tampa a/k/a the salem of the south

    soooooooooo hope ya' like it

    ReplyDelete
  45. Thank you to both yourself and Blake for this offer.

    I am looking forward to getting into them and reading them.

    Also, I am really enjoying the blog in general. I was introduced to your work via Barry Eisler and the Be the Monkey book.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Although your blog is by far the most interesting one I've read, each post made by you makes me more and more discouraged and it shouldn't. I know you mean well and you mean to encourage all of us who are self-publishing, but seeing your success in every single post is, well, tough to live up to.
    Don't get me wrong, I read every single one of your posts and I like reading about your success. With every post I'm thinking, wow, when I get as big as him I'll be making $22,000 a month too! I'm dreaming high, let me tell ya. Selling 7000 ebooks in less than two days?That's amazing! In under two days you've made enough money to pay half of what's left of my student loans. (Not that I want you to or anything.)
    I enrolled in KDP Select where I've agreed to sell my book only for the Kindle for 3 months. With that contract, I'm given 5 promotional days where I can give away my book for free. I used 3 days over Christmas.
    I went from about 30 sales/downloads to 980 downloads in those three days. That's exceptional! When the promotion ended I was still selling some books. I'm now up to 1012 downloads, so it's safe to say that the "craze" over my book has settled a bit.
    My ranking on Amazon went from 70,000 to at one point 9,000. Over Christmas I hit #9 in the Free Epic Fantasy list. Now I'm back down to about 13,000 or so.
    I have, however, realized one of my disadvantages. This is my first book. I only published it in November, so even though I didn't make the kind of money from it as I would want, I know it still got out to 1000 people. If that turns into reviews, then even better.
    So, should I be discouraged by your posts? NAY! I say encouraged! You show me every day that I can do it, and it will be done! I'm pumping out as much writing as I can, and I'm pushing pushing, pushing to get more out! By the end of 2012, I want to have five books out on the market. Thanks Mr. Konrath. Though I am admittedly jealous of your success, I am encouraged by it.

    ReplyDelete
  47. A very interesting test from a marketing point of view, it will be interesting to hear about the short and medium term results. Long term, obviously, should be beneficial but difficult to measure.

    I downloaded five items, I've been curious about Jack Daniels. And then I thought: hey, what was the story about the two nutcase serial murderers meeting each other (SERIAL), I like the idea, let's get that too... only to find Amazon telling me that I've already bought it last September. :)

    ReplyDelete
  48. Why?

    Why offer so many titles for free (even for a limited time)?


    Todd

    If I've understood correctly from numerous writers (and someone feel free to correct me) going "free" tends to generate more download traffic, moving you up in ranking and increasing visibility.

    While most "freebie" buyers tend to be book hoarders and may not necessarily read you right away (or ever) and then shouting to the world how great your book was, you still get the higher ranking.

    Switch back to a price point and people keep buying because they see you in the top thousand or hundred vs. position 658k...which takles about half a day to click down into.

    ReplyDelete
  49. @David L. Shutter:

    Thanks for the reply. I hadn't been aware of this "ranking boost" as you describe it...

    ...though, especially at this time of year, and coinciding with an enormous spike in sales, I'm apt to believe a good portion of Joe's gesture is an expression of gratitude.

    Which unfortunately would destroy his image as a Cyberdyne eBook Sales Machine!

    Say it ain't so, Joe!

    Todd

    ReplyDelete
  50. THANK YOU! This is a great opportunity, not only to enjoy your books, but to learn more about self-publishing.

    ReplyDelete
  51. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  52. Thank you, Joe. I am now a new reader. I started with A Shot of Tequila and now you have me hooked. That and Shaken and Stirred were the only ones I downloaded for free, but now I will have to go and grab the others in between. Good job, you hooked and reeled me in.

    ReplyDelete
  53. Hey Joe,

    2012 is off to a great start thanks in part to you!

    After reading your posts and the comments on the KDP Select Program, I signed up this past weekend. I used one of my promo days and put Secret of the Sands up for free this past Saturday. It was downloaded over 5600 times & reached #67 in the kindle free store. Now that it's over, the sales ranking went from 8800 to 2900. I'm really jazzed!

    I will be sure to share further results as I get them. I see that you're asking for feedback in the comments on your New Year's resolutions post, so I'll share this over there, too.

    I really appreciate the sharing of info and experiences that occurs here. It's very helpful, and has made a big, positive difference in my life, so I will continue to share as well. I hope it helps!

    Thanks for everything!

    Cheers!

    Rai

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for the comment! Joe will get back to you eventually. :)