So, after putting B.I.T. out for free for 2 weeks, what do I see?
There were 12 downloads of the free story on Smashwords (the story has been sitting there for 2 YEARS without a single sale, so that one stat improved. However, I had anticipated that a number of things would happen as a result of the inevitable downloads (because free, is, after all, FREE):
1.
Increased
traffic to my other stories (not that I can tell)
2.
Increased sales
of my other stories (I didn’t sell anything during the 2 weeks of free B.I.T.)
3.
The people who
downloaded the story would rate it (12 downloads, NOT A SINGLE RATING)
4.
The people who
downloaded B.I.T. would review it
(Nope – same results as in #3 above)
Did I gain anything? Not that I can see? Of
course, I didn’t lose anything either (if a story sold 0 in 2 years, the
average sales for 2 weeks is …0, off of which I made… $0.)There is something more that needs to be done here. I need to get the word out – increase my visibility on the internet. BUT HOW?
I will continue to research this…
It is also possible that:
1.
People who get
things for free are looking for them to be TOTALLY FREE. Why should they have
to put in the HARD work of clicking a STAR rating? Or typing actual WORDS in a
review? Free stories are an ENTITLEMENT, aren’t they? Shows you how
inspirational free stuff can be, doesn’t it?
2.
The story just
wasn’t good enough (or bad enough) to bother commenting on.
3.
The story wasn’t
interesting enough to cause people to download it for FREE like maniacs.
4.
I dunno what
went wrong.
So, now what do I do? I’m inclined to try
the experiment again, to make sure the results on B.I.T. weren’t an aberration.
(That’s right, Bill – double down, you fool.) I’ve made In a Flash FREE on smashwords and its retailers (see link in the section below.) This is the first story in my Detective Jimmy Delaney series, and in addition to the other benefits I had hoped to see in a FREE promotion, people who read it (and like it) may be more inclined to read (and maybe even PAY for) the other stories in the series.
Let’s see what happens with this one…
<<<>>>
In a Flash, my first Jimmy
Delaney story, will be FREE on Smashwords for the next four weeks – here’s the
smashwords link:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/120247?ref=notimetothink
Check it out! Give it a
read, and then rate and review it, and tell your friends. Thanx!
<<<>>>
William Mangieri’s writing can be found in many places,
including:
· Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/william-mangieri?store=book&keyword=william+mangieri
No comments:
Post a Comment