Posts Tagged Kindle Countdown Deal
Going Viral
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Books, Promotion, Resources, Self-publishing on September 28, 2014
This week I’m trying to go viral. The Omnibus Edition of The Museum of Fractured Lives is reduced to only 99p/99c until Saturday 4th October. 
And I need the world to know!
Have you ever loved and lost? Have you kept something to remind you of that relationship? Do you think it might be easier to move on with life if you let go of that object? That’s what The Museum of Fractured Lives is all about. It displays objects donated by people who have suffered a trauma in their lives. Each of the three stories in this book tells the emotional tale of that object and its donor. And this omnibus edition also includes a prologue telling how the museum came into being.
The individual stories (each around 9,000 words) have been well reviewed:
“I thought this was a truly excellent novella. The central character, Maxine, is vividly portrayed, and her story is touching and powerful, with some surprising twists and turns.” Mr N. Daws on Maxine’s Story
“The story drew me in very quickly as I needed to know how Karen would go about putting her plan into place … and the erotic episode between Karen and John was an added bonus!” Lesley on Karen’s Story
“Another good story in the Museum of Fractured Lives. It was good to have a story from the male perspective with a good twist at the end. Thought provoking.” Mrs J A Williams on Pete’s Story
So, how to tell the world?
I’m going to try a range of Facebook groups:
The Kindle Publishing Bible
Debbie Young’s Kindle-loving friends
Kindle Publishers
The Review
Short eBook Reviews
I’ve already contacted Indie Book Bargains who send out a daily e-newsletter. They kindly featured One Day for Me a couple of months ago but I think they select according to number of Amazon reviews and, being fairly recent, I fear the Museum Omnibus hasn’t yet generated enough.
I’m also going to investigate The EasyChair Bookshop which I heard about via Helen Laycock on the Writing Magazine Talkback Forum.
If anyone knows any other promotional places please let me know. Maybe together we can build up a list of useful sites.
(And if anyone downloads and enjoys the Museum Omnibus, I’d be over the moon if you could leave a review!)
A First Birthday
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Books, Computers & Technical, Lifestyle, Self-publishing on January 19, 2014
One year ago this week I published my first short story collection, One Day For Me, on Amazon Kindle.
The book has amassed some great reviews on Amazon and Lee Ashford of Readers’ Favorite said, “Sally Jenkins knows how to build a story. She takes the mundane, and makes it intriguing. She hooks the reader, and reels him in. She proves her talent in each of these eight short stories, making this collection one you will be glad you read.”
Since publication lots of things have happened in my life including a health scare (early stage breast cancer – make sure you go for those mammograms, ladies!) and a complete upheaval in my day job (I was transferred from one company to another under TUPE legislation – don’t ask, it’s complicated!).
I’ve also learned a few things during the past twelve months, such as a book of short stories, all written by the same person is a collection. But a book of short stories, all written by different people is an anthology.
Am I the only person who didn’t know that?
I’ve discovered that I’m not much good at book cover design and also that writing stories is much easier than marketing them! But over the last few months Amazon KDP have introduced a couple of features that make both of these difficult tasks a little bit easier:
- Amazon Cover Creator, which I’ve talked about previously here, makes it very easy for anyone to create an eye-catching cover for a Kindle book
- Kindle Countdown Deals which allow authors to discount the price of books for a limited period
So, to celebrate the first birthday of One Day For Me, it will be half-price (99p) from now until Saturday 25th January.
And those of you in the US can buy One Day For Me for only 99c until 12pm (PST) on Wednesday 22nd January and then at $1.99 until Saturday 25th January.
I hope you enjoy it!
Kindle Countdown Deals 2 & ‘A Place to Call Home’
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Books, Computers & Technical, Promotion, Self-publishing on December 29, 2013
You may remember that a couple of weeks ago I promoted my non-fiction e-book A Writer on Writing – Advice to Make You a Success using the new KDP Select sales tool – Kindle Countdown Deals. 
It was reduced from £1.99 to 99p for 7 days.
I thought I’d let you know how I got on.
During the promotion period I sold 20 copies in the UK but 1 was later refunded (Kindle books can be refunded if the request is made within 7 days of the original purchase – Amazon then automatically remove the book from your device). I sold 3 copies in the US where the discount was also running and 1 copy in Australia at full price (Kindle Countdown Deals only apply to the US and the UK).
In the week after the promotion period I sold 2 copies in the UK at full price and received 1 new review. I sold none anywhere else.
So I won’t be booking that Caribbean cruise just yet but I might manage to treat myself to a Salted Caramel Latte in Costa (I’m rather partial to them when they appear on the Christmas menu!).
But, all things considered, I’m fairly happy with the result because I didn’t spend much time promoting the Deal apart from here and on a couple of forums and a lot of the people I reached in this way would probably already have the book from earlier, free, promotions. Also, thanks to those people that gave me a shout-out!
It’s definitely a tool I’d consider using again sometime in the future. Psychologically, it feels better than giving books away for free but I think the free promo still has it’s place for cheaper books and as a method of giving a new book an initial ‘lift’.
On another subject, I’ve just finished reading my advance copy of Carole Matthews new book – ‘A Place to Call Home’. The story brings together 4 injured souls who are all hurting in different ways. Over the course of a summer they bond together and help each other to heal. It’s an easy to read, ‘feel good’ novel – just the thing if you’re fed up of these long dark days of winter. It will be published on Jan 9th 2014 but is available for Amazon pre-order now in hardback and e-book format.
Kindle Countdown Deals
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Promotion, Self-publishing on December 8, 2013
Those of you with e-books available on Amazon will be aware of the new promotional tool that has been made available to authors.
Kindle Countdown Deals allow a book to be sold at a discounted price for up to seven days in a ninety day period. Customers see the usual price and the offer price on the book’s detail page as well as a countdown clock indicating how long the discounted price is available.
Obviously this sales tool is much more attractive to writers than simply offering books for free but it’s not as simple as organising a free promotion. In a nutshell:
- Books must be enrolled in KDP Select and have had a minimum regular price of £1.99 or $2.99 for at least 30 days.
- When discounted, the book continues to earn royalties at its usual rate e.g. dropping the price to 99p doesn’t drop the book into the 35% royalty bucket.
- The minimum discount is £1 or $1 and this discount can be stepped e.g. a regular price of £2.99 could be reduced to 99p for the first 3 days of the 7 day period followed by an increased (but still discounted) price of £1.99 for the remainder of the promotion.
- A Countdown Deal and a free promotion can’t be run in the same 90 day period – it’s one or the other.
- Promotions only apply to the UK and the US
For full details click on ‘Manage Benefits’ in your KDP Bookshelf. Or have a look at this post on Nick Daws’ blog where he’s gone into a lot more detail than I have.
Now I here’s my very own Kindle Countdown Deal for you:
A Writer on Writing – Advice to Make You A Success is available in the UK for only 99p (half price) for the next seven days (until 11pm Saturday 14th December).
It is available in the US for 99c from 7am today until 3pm on 11th December and then at $1.99 until 11pm 14th December (times are PST).
Danita Dyess reviewed A Writer on Writing for Readers’ Favourite. She said, “I was impressed by A Writer on Writing. As a freelance writer, I have read numerous books on the do’s and don’ts of writing. But Sally Jenkins’ down-to-earth advice acknowledged the day-to-day obstacles, e.g. juggling family and work, getting distracted and overcoming intimidation when submitting letters to editors by providing realistic solutions. Her style was personable but authoritative.”
The full review is available here.
So why not bag yourself a Kindle Countdown Deal today (it’s an offer that won’t be repeated for at least another three months)!
Sally Jenkins 