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  1. Laurin Kelly

    Laurin Kelly Contributor Contributor

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    Amazon Giveaways?

    Discussion in 'Marketing' started by Laurin Kelly, Jun 17, 2017.

    I'm thinking about doing an Amazon giveaway for the Kindle version of Under the Knife to celebrate the 1st anniversary of its publication. It looks crazy easy to do, but was wondering if anyone had any good/bad/ugly experiences to share?
     
  2. Catrin Lewis

    Catrin Lewis Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2023 Community Volunteer

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    Just curious: How is a giveaway different from setting the book at Free for a limited time?
     
  3. Laurin Kelly

    Laurin Kelly Contributor Contributor

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    A giveaway is more like a sweepstakes or contest- readers have to enter and complete a task (like following you on Twitter) before they can have a chance at getting a copy of the book. And you limit how many people can win - in my case, I'm only paying for 5 copies, which I'll recoup some of because my publisher will then pay me royalties on those sales even though I technically bought them myself for others.

    FAQ here: https://www.amazon.com/b?node=11715260011&tag=writingfor07a-20
     
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  4. Laurin Kelly

    Laurin Kelly Contributor Contributor

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  5. Hervey_Copeland

    Hervey_Copeland Member

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    Offering free copies of your book is a good way to get some exposure, but I think I would personally focus on sites that allow you to sell your book at a discounted price.

    Readers that download free books don’t always read them.

    H.
     
  6. Laurin Kelly

    Laurin Kelly Contributor Contributor

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    As I'm not self-published, I don't really have a way of selling books at a discounted price - my publisher controls the pricing in all the places my book is sold. They do occasionally sell it at a discount for certain reasons, like the company's anniversary, Pride month, etc. I will make 30% of every book awarded back in royalties though, so it's kind of like "selling" the book at a 70% discount.

    It's true that not everyone who gets their free copy will read it, but I've had a fair amount of interest - 119 entrants as of this morning and quite a few re-tweets with positive comments on Twitter, including a romance reviewer from USAToday.com who has around 1300 followers. Sales are pretty flat on UTK at this point, so it will also be interesting to see if there's any spike in sales after the winners are awarded. For 35 bucks and almost no effort I'm willing to take the chance.
     
  7. RWK

    RWK Member

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    I'm self-published. Free giveaways of any sort are OK if it is the first work in a series or you have a number of books in the same genre, but otherwise they tend to be pointless as the 'freebie crowd' that has developed on Amazon are saturated with free product. A few years ago it was different, but with literally hundreds of thousands of new works published on Amazon each year the tactic is not paying off anymore unless you write erotica.
     
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  8. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    He is onto summit here. Actually even then I wouldn't read it.
    I have seen what you have to do to for the free giveaway thing,
    and I ain't about to create twitter account to open up a whole
    new mess.

    I think having a launch of a new or re-release for a few months
    to get the ball rolling would be much more to advantage.

    And as you said there is a lot of people pumping out free books/stories.
    Sure as hell wouldn't jump through hoops to read a piss poor writ
    story about people bonking in some exotic location at sunset. :D
     
  9. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

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    Isn't the issue here that most people following Laurin will already have a copy of UTK..... IMO a giveaway of a new short story, or exclusive early release of a sequel or whatever might be more effective
     
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  10. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    @big soft moose I think you are on to something that makes a bit more
    sense given the fact that it she already has a reader base/following.
    Though I think if you are that successful you could do small items
    like tee shirts or coffee mugs, with author sig on them. People love that
    kinda thing.
     
  11. Laurin Kelly

    Laurin Kelly Contributor Contributor

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    That's where the retweets come in, I would think - I mean, I don't know why anyone would enter if they already have a copy, and I have over 120 entrants right now. I wouldn't be able to offer exclusive early releases or anything unless I self-published, and I'm not interested at all in going down that road at this time.

    But really, for my purposes, I'm kind of getting off track. I'm not doing the giveaway to sell more books, though it would be lovely if I did. I'm honestly doing it because a year ago I became a published author, and I'd like to pay some of that good fortune/karma forward by offering 5 free copies of that book. I'm not prolific enough to ever make a significant amount of money from writing even if every book going forward has the same success as UTK, so for me it's really about getting my books out there for people to enjoy (and pocketing whatever income I make as "fun" money).
     
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  12. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

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    I kinda assumed you were doing it to build your folowership
     
  13. Laurin Kelly

    Laurin Kelly Contributor Contributor

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    Nope, I'm doing it out of the goodness of my heart to spread the gospel of gay porn and food porn, one tiny ebook at a time. :D
     
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  14. OJB

    OJB A Mean Old Man Contributor

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    I am totally buying your book this Christmas.
     
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  15. Laurin Kelly

    Laurin Kelly Contributor Contributor

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    Thank you! I hope you'll share your thoughts with me on it.
     
  16. OJB

    OJB A Mean Old Man Contributor

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    Would you permit me to do and post an analytical review of it on this site?
     
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  17. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    I have been on the fence about reading it, to be honest.
    Though I do like to support fellow forumites. :D
    On the other hand I try to avoid things with a bit more
    flair, in the overly dramatic titling. Though I should
    rather like to take a gander at it as well, once I have
    finished the current book I was recommended by another
    fellow forumer. Though I do have a couple of recs. on the
    back burner from the creator of this thread, as I had
    asked for such things. I too may put the scalpel to their
    work after I have finished at least on of the recommendations
    by said party. Romance is something that I have been
    trying to get into without much success on my own.
    Though I have faith at least in Miss Kelly's judgement,
    I have yet to learn of her prowess as a Master Story Teller.
    If her writing is anything like her person, then I am sure
    it will be an experience worth having.
     
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  18. Laurin Kelly

    Laurin Kelly Contributor Contributor

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    I'm not sure what the proper sub-forum would be for that, but sure! Some of the other folks here who have read it have just sent me a review via PM as well. I'm up for anything, really, both the good and the bad.
     
  19. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    It's probably more appropriate to put the review on a public site like Amazon or Goodreads?

    I think unsolicited reviews are appropriate on sites like that, rather than here. Here, with more personal relationships involved, I think it makes sense to only review things that are explicitly posted for review (ie. in the critique forum).

    Otherwise it gets too close to the situations I've seen where someone posts, like, a question about his/her cover art and is suddenly getting critiqued on the blurb and the first chapter and all kinds of other stuff that weren't part of the original question.
     
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  20. OJB

    OJB A Mean Old Man Contributor

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    Hello Laurin Kelly, It wouldn't be on one of the sub-forums; it would be on the Blog I do on this site. (Though I do think there is a book discussion forum already here for people talking about published works.)

    -

    Two things.

    1. This is why I asked for her permission- Out of respect. I am fully aware of the drama that critiquing a published piece can cause, but that brings me to point number 2.

    2. I am not Critiquing her work; I never said anything close to that. I said Analytical review which is where I read a book, take notes on pieces of prose or uses of story elements I thought were well done, and use those notes to improve my own writing and/or praise the Author where I feel praise is deserved.

    Here is an example: https://www.writingforums.org/entry/horror-a-study-on-cliver-barker-part-10-jacqueline-ess.63820/

    -OJB
     
  21. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    I was speaking in general terms - you aren't the only person who posted about it on this thread, and there's potential for a precedent to be set, which is problematic for me.

    And I don't think the difference between your "analytical review" and a critique is as significant as you seem to think it is.

    To summarize (and to end my part in the de-rail--sorry, Laurin): To me, asking someone for permission isn't the same as that person soliciting a review/critique; and unsolicited reviews/critiques, even if permission is given, aren't something I'm comfortable with. I'm not a mod; this isn't an official decry. But it's definitely my feeling on the matter.
     
  22. Laurin Kelly

    Laurin Kelly Contributor Contributor

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    I have to agree with Bay on the precedent setting, as I'm kind of an outlier when it comes to critique - after years as a professional dancer, there isn't much someone could say about my creative output that would hurt my feelings. I might not agree with said critique (you haven't lived until a well-respected international instructor tells you your dancing would be much better if you had a boob job), but from what I've observed on these forums I think I'm in the minority there. It could get dicey if this becomes a place where posters tear other posters published works apart. It can especially get uncomfortable with published works because unlike posting part of a WIP, there's not much the writer can do to correct things once a book has been released. So I appreciate Bayview keeping the greater good in mind!

    That said, I personally don't have an issue with OJB review here, if there's an appropriate venue to do so. I mean, I'd prefer he/she not start a thread in General Writing titled LAURIN KELLY SUCKS AND UNDER THE KNIFE IS THE BIGGEST PIECE OF CRAP I'VE EVER READ, but as long as its done with a respectful tone I'm not alarmed be the idea.
     
    Last edited: Jun 25, 2017
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  23. OJB

    OJB A Mean Old Man Contributor

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    A little off-topic, but I compete in West Coast Swing; this is actually why a lot of my works are heavy with musical/dancing references.

    -OJB.
     
  24. Laurin Kelly

    Laurin Kelly Contributor Contributor

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    There's a scene in UTK with belly dancers! GEE I WONDER WHY :bigtongue:
     
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  25. KaTrian

    KaTrian A foolish little beast. Contributor

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    @OJB et al:

    Published works should be reviewed on Amazon, Goodreads, or other commercial site. WritingForums is for works-in-progress (and we use the workshop for this); a venue for writers to help each other.
     
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