I’ve decided to go Permafree (permanently free) with Open Minds. Why? As you may recall, Open Minds was free for about six weeks earlier in the year. Some of Amazon’s rules have changed with regards to free books (i.e. placement is less prominent, they limit free downloads through advertisers like Pixel of Ink), so for a while, the future of free seemed uncertain. But my experiments in pricing with the Mindjack series have clearly shown one thing: with Open Minds free, I have many more sales of the other books in the series, more readers overall, and make more total money for the series.
In other words, free works. (Still.)
As I move forward with Debt Collector and other works on the horizon, and as a long-term strategy for my body of work, the idea of having a free work always available appeals to me. Especially one that’s been road-tested like Open Minds:
155 Five Star reviews on Amazon
274 Five Star reviews on Goodreads
Professionally edited and covered, Open Minds has readers young and old, male and female, science fiction lovers and people who never read science fiction, who tell me they enjoy it.
4,600+ people still have Open Minds on their TBR list on Goodreads.
I want to make it easier for them to download and start the series. And easy for readers who have already enjoyed Open Minds to share it with their friends. My hope is they will come back for more of my works, once they get a taste of something they like!
Please share!
“When everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep.” Open Minds (Mindjack#1) FREE http://bit.ly/OMFREEAmazon
I definitely believe permafree can help a series to sell more. ๐
Yay!
Mmm. You are making the right decision. However "permafree" is not the right decision for everyone. With a stellar series like you've created, yes I couldn't agree more. But I stand by what I say when I write, "Free does not benefit everyone equally." I still have to remember to read these books. Problem is, free books keep showing up in my inbox. I guess word got out somewhere that I like to read and review books. :/
"Free does not benefit everyone equally."
I think you could say this about ANY marketing technique, really. Some things will work for some people, and not for others. And there is definitely a momentum where a popular book (say, Wool) can do the smallest thing (go free) and have a much bigger impact (get on the NYTimes Bestseller list) than any other book. This is because, I think, marketing doesn't stand alone – it's part of a total package of product, marketing, timing, pixie dust, and a few other dark arts. All that being said, having the first book free in a series is one of the few marketing techniques that I've seen proven successful for a wide range of authors.
As for reviewing, I realized early on that I couldn't read and review all the books I could want to. Not even all my friends' books! So… I don't review (as a general rule). But if you review, I can totally see why you would be inundated with books! Book reviewers rock hard. ๐
This might be a dumb question, but how do you get your book to go permafree? Do you get it to price match and never revert back? Is there some other trick I'm not aware of? Just curious, since amazon seems to be so determined to keep control of how and when you get to put your book up for free.
Yes, I just set it free everywhere I can control it (Kobo, iTunes, Smash) and let Amazon price-match it. Then never change the other prices. Until or unless Amazon stops price-matching, at least. That could happen. Things are always changing in this game!
Could you be anymore amazing?!!! I think not. I will definitely share this for you!