Thread by @JackieLauBooks, Thread about newsletter promo for A Match Made for Thanksgiving!I’ve had it [...]

Thread about newsletter promo for A Match Made for Thanksgiving!

I’ve had it free since the very end of August 2020 and run 15 newsletter promotions during this time.

If you like, this is my previous thread on Mr. Hotshot CEO.

#AMMTPromo 1/ https://twitter.com/JackieLauBooks/status/1269985695667490816

https://twitter.com/JackieLauBooks/status/1269985695667490816

This is the first book in a quartet of holiday romance novellas, and I hoped to 1) increase sales for books 2-4, and 2) increase interest in box set (which was released in late November). Here's the cover. Asian heroine + biracial (Asian/white) hero.

#AMMTPromo 2/

In August and September, I gave away 4814 copies of this book on Amazon. I posted on social media and in my newsletter, and an author cross-promo got me about 2000 downloads.

#AMMTPromo 3/

In October, I advertised my freebie in 5 newsletters in 5 consecutive days, the week before Canadian Thanksgiving. It was also on the Kobo freebie list that week.

In November, before American Thanksgiving, I paid for 10 promos.

#AMMTPromo 4/

In the following (many, many) tweets, I will provide results and analysis of the promos I did. Please mute #AMMTPromo if you don’t want to see this!

As well, there will be a brief discussion of the money I made on Books 2-4 during the promo, just focusing on Amazon. 5/

Later today or tomorrow: I will also provide comparison to BookBub numbers and why it makes sense that BookBub costs as much as it does. Note I did NOT apply for a BookBub as this book is too short.

#AMMTPromo 6/

I will look at total download numbers and cost/download. If you don’t want to read everything, the next few tweets will provide a summary!

Please note: results will vary a lot, of course. Depending on subgenre, cover, blurb, etc.

#AMMTPromo 7/

First, the top 8 services, based on cost per download. The first number includes Amazon, Apple and Kobo. Due to B&N reporting problems for most of this time period, these were not included. The second is Amazon only.

#AMMTPromo 8/

Bookspry (2.38¢/2.38¢)
ENT (2.91¢/2.97¢)
Fussy Librarian (3.16¢/3.77¢)
Freebooksy (4.14¢/4.51¢)
Great Books (5.21¢/5.21¢)
Robin Reads (5.26¢/5.34¢)*
Book Doggy (6.23¢/7.14¢)
Love Kissed (6.70¢/6.70¢)*

*denotes that numbers that I am not super confident in.

#AMMTPromo 9/

Services with less impressive numbers:
eBook Deals Today
BookLover’s Heaven
Just Kindle Books
Romance eBook Deals
Full Hearts Romance
Many Books
eBook Betty

#AMMTPromo 10/

Next, some quick recommendations if you don’t want to read through the thread.

First: Best Volume (single-day Amazon numbers given)

Freebooksy, $110 (2459)
Robin Reads, $75 (1705)
Fussy Librarian, $55 (1560)
ENT, $45 (1536)
Bookspry, $20 (861)

#AMMTPromo 11/

Second: Best non-Amazon

Freebooksy
Fussy Librarian
ENT
Book Doggy

#AMMTPromo 12/

(And for Kobo, definitely the Kobo free list through their promo tab. They don’t rank free titles, so it’s hard to get visibility for them on the site otherwise. It’s $10 CDN for me, and will likely do more on Kobo than almost anything else.)

#AMMTPromo 13/

Third: Cheap Options (<$25)

Bookspry ($20) **this is the main one I’d recommend
Great Books Great Deals ($5)
Love Kissed ($15/$5)
Book Doggy ($18)

#AMMTPromo 14/

Now, a more detailed look.

First, results from Amazon in October.

#AMMTPromo 15/

On Apple: Only ENT and Freebooksy had a clear impact. The effect of Robin Reads is hard to determine. I’ve noticed before that free download numbers decay slowly on Apple after a good day, presumably due to enhanced visibility in their system?

#AMMTPromo 16/

On Kobo: I paid for a one-week listing on the free list ($10), but your book will linger in the later pages of the free list if you don’t change the price (which I recommend doing for at least an additional week or two).

#AMMTPromo 17/

You can see the enormous effect this had on downloads. The only newsletter promotion that had a clear impact on top of this is Freebooksy.

#AMMTPromo 18/

Table below, with cost/download calculations. In table: green denotes cost below 5¢/download. Yellow is 5-10 ¢/download.

#AMMTPromo 19/

These calculations are somewhat crude: I simply divided the cost by the number of downloads. I then adjusted this number, taking into account that: 1) Before these promos, I was getting ~20 downloads a day on Amazon...

#AMMTPromo 20/

and 2) ENT was probably responsible for many of the downloads the next day (especially since I cracked the top 100), and Freebooksy was probably responsible for a decent number of the downloads the following day as well.

#AMMTPromo 21/

I estimated the extent of this based on the drop off in sales the day after the last promo (Robin Reads) was run. This is why there are asterisks next to them, since I’m less certain of these numbers.

#AMMTPromo 22/

I spent a total of $255 on these promotions and got 7663 downloads on Amazon during the five days I ran promos and the two days after.

#AMMTPromo 23/

A brief summary by service.

1) ENT. At $45, 1536 downloads on Amazon, this is excellent value, and it has the second lowest cost/download. For my previous free book, I got 1626 downloads, so it’s reliable for me. Squeaked into the Top 100 on Amazon’s free list.

#AMMTPromo 24/

2) Love Kissed. Hard to determine cost/download accurately due to success of ENT promotion, but I’ll definitely try this one again. $15.

#AMMTPromo 25/

Note, they also have a $5 option, which doesn’t seem very different in what they give you, so likely better cost/download. However, the $5 one books up well in advance, so sign up early!

#AMMTPromo 26/

3) Bookspry. At 861 downloads for $20, this is great value. Excellent cheap option. Amazon only.

#AMMTPromo 27/

Note that Bookspry was $10 at the time I paid for the promotion, but they have since increased their prices to $20, so I used $20 for the calculations. They are still the cheapest, going by cost/download. (So I understand why they raised their rates!)

#AMMTPromo 28/

4) Freebooksy. At 2459 downloads, it got me the biggest numbers. As it should, since it’s the most expensive at $110! My Mr. Hotshot CEO numbers for this book (3166 at AMZ) were better, but still good numbers. Excellent at non-Amazon platforms.

#AMMTPromo 29/

Would use again, but yeah, it’s not cheap. Got me into the top 50 on Amazon.

**Note: ENT + Bookspry on the same day would net similar Amazon downloads to Freebooksy, at $65 vs $110. HOWEVER, Freebooksy is definitely better outside of Amazon.

#AMMTPromo 30/

5) Robin Reads. 1705 Amazon downloads for $75, but some of these downloads were likely due to Freebooksy. So, download numbers are probably comparable to ENT, but it’s more expensive. Not bad value, but not a top pick for me.

#AMMTPromo 31/

In November, except for Fussy Librarian, I focused on trying cheap new-to-me services. Fussy out-performed all of these in number of downloads…which I would hope, as it’s more expensive. But even on a cost/download level, it was better than anything else.

#AMMTPromo 32/

Because it’s hard to see what’s going on, since all the other numbers are so much lower, I’ve included a close-up to Nov 24. Before promos began, I was getting 15-35 downloads a day. The first 2 promos got <35 downloads, so I assume they did nothing.

#AMMTPromo 33/

November results for Apple. Book Doggy and Many Books had a small impact. Fussy Librarian was the only one with significant impact. There were 70 downloads the day of the eBook Betty promo...

#AMMTPromo 34/

However, as downloads drop off slowly on Apple once you have a good day, and as the eBook Betty was run on Thanksgiving (and this is a Thanksgiving book), I cannot confidently say that this promo led to any of those downloads.

#AMMTPromo 35/

November results for Kobo. Again, Fussy Librarian is the only one that had a significant impact. Book Doggy and Many Books may have had a slight impact. Results from eBook Betty are difficult to determine, as mentioned previously.

#AMMTPromo 36/

Table below, with cost/download calculations. I spent a total of $179 on the November promotions. Green denotes cost below 5¢/download. Yellow is 5-10 ¢/download. Red is more than that.

#AMMTPromo 37/

Note: Hard to reliably estimate eBook Betty due to Fussy Librarian the previous day. Also note Romance eBook Deals was supposed to be a two-day (November 21-22) promotion. I have assumed November 22 numbers are all due to Book Doggy, but this might not be true.

#AMMTPromo 38/

A brief summary by service.

6) eBook Deals Today. $5 base price, but you seem to need to pay an additional $5 for each retailer you’d like it listed on. I just picked Kindle, so $10. I had 30 downloads on Amazon.

#AMMTPromo 39/

...As I had 32 the day before, I assume eBook Deals Today had no impact, or very minimal. I did confirm that my book appeared on their website. Would not use again.

#AMMTPromo 40/

7) Booklover’s Heaven. $5, only 23 downloads, which is about what I’d get without any promos. Therefore, I conclude it had no impact. I did confirm that my book appeared on their website. Would not use again.

#AMMTPromo 41/

8) Just Kindle Books. Contrary to the name, they allow Apple links as well. $18, but I found a promo code, so only $13. 168 downloads, so it definitely did something, but not impressive. Might try again.

#AMMTPromo 42/

9) Great Books Great Deals. $5, and I got 116 downloads on Amazon. Nothing super impressive, but on a cost/download basis, it’s decent, so worth a consideration if you don’t have much money to spend. Might try again.

#AMMTPromo 43/

10) Romance eBook Deals. $23. On the first day of the two-day promo, I confirmed my book showed up on their social media. I only got 54 downloads on Amazon. So it seemed to have a small effect, but definitely not worth the cost.

#AMMTPromo 44/

...Also note that I tried multiple times (in multiple browsers?) to sign up for their newsletter and it didn’t seem to work. Did manage to find the number of newsletter subscribers somewhere, and it’s not very impressive. Would not use again.

#AMMTPromo 45/

11) Book Doggy. $18. 272 downloads on Amazon that day. Some impact on Apple/Kobo. Note the previous promo was supposedly 2 days, so I’m not super confident in this number. Would prob. use again, and would try not to overlap with another promo for clearer results.

#AMMTPromo 46/

12) Full Hearts romance. $10, $8.50 with promo code. 116 downloads on Amazon. Definitely did something, but nothing impressive. Might try again.

#AMMTPromo 47/

13) Many Books. $29, 176 downloads on Amazon, small response on other retailers. Disappointing given the cost. Would not try again.

#AMMTPromo 48/

14) Fussy Librarian. $55. 1560 downloads on Amazon, good results on other retailers. Better results than when I used it before (1180 on Amazon). Assume this is in part because it was the day before Thanksgiving

#AMMTPromo 49/

...which is probably an excellent day to advertise a Thanksgiving romance… Note that I also did an Instagram takeover this day, which may have led to some of the downloads, so I assume I would have gotten more than 20-30 downloads without running it...

#AMMTPromo 50/

This was factored into calculations. Would use again.

Fussy Librarian is slightly more expensive than ENT for comparable downloads on Amazon, but Fussy performed better on other retailers.

#AMMTPromo 51/

15) eBook Betty. Normally $25, but 50% right now because of COVID. A little hard to determine the impact due to success of Fussy Librarian the previous day. From my estimates, the numbers aren’t great, but I might try them again.

#AMMTPromo 52/

In summary,

There are a bunch of services that will give you a cost/download in the 2-6¢ range. If you’re looking at a new service and they provide estimated download numbers, ideally look for something below 5-6 ¢, IMHO.

#AMMTPromo 53/

(I found a service that charges per download, at 15¢! That seems high to me. Would not try. The max is $40, though, so if most people go well over $40 worth, it might not be completely unreasonable, but…)

#AMMTPromo 54/

In general, none of the new-to-me cheaper services I tried were super impressive. Bookspry ($20) is the only <$25 service that I think is excellent value. The Love Kissed $5 service has potential…will try later.

#AMMTPromo 55/

IMHO, better to save up for something like ENT ($45) than to try to stack a few smaller ones.

#AMMTPromo 56/

Now, a brief discussion of what having this book free did for my income.

From late August to the end of November, I gave away 17,239 copies of this book on Amazon. I estimate that >60% was as a result of the promos I ran.

#AMMTPromo 57/

This table and graph show the copies sold in the three months prior to the promo (June-August), and the next three months. Sales were fairly consistent before I set the first book to free at about 40 books/month, and jumped to over 100 in September.

#AMMTPromo 58/

Books 2-4 all retail at $2.99 USD. I make about $2.06 USD per copy sold. (May vary slightly outside of the US.) I sold about an additional 322 copies of these books from September to November, resulting in $663.32 in additional income.

#AMMTPromo 59/

However, I should also taken into account income lost from sales of Book 1. If I subtract that, it’s $595.34. I spent $434 in ads, so that’s a profit of $161.34. This isn’t a huge profit, but keep in mind:

#AMMTPromo 60/

1) Some people who read Book 1 and wanted to read more may have bought the box set, but I have no idea of knowing which percentage of box set purchasers would have bought it if Book 1 hadn’t been free.

#AMMTPromo 61/

The box set was released in late November and I made ~$437 from sales on Amazon in November.

#AMMTPromo 62/

2) Lots of December sales will result from this book being free. (And it will continue to be free in December, too, but I won’t do any paid promo.)

#AMMTPromo 63/

3) On the other hand, Book 2 in this book is a Christmas book, and I bet sales would have increased toward the end of the year even without me having a Book 1 freebie.

#AMMTPromo 64/

4) Of course, I hope the people who found me because of this freebie will read more of my books, too, but that’s hard to measure. I’m only looking at the Holidays with the Wongs series here.

#AMMTPromo 65/

I had releases in another series in both September and October which would have also affected backlist sales.

5) I didn’t bother doing these figures for the other retailers, but I gave away 2856 copies between Apple and Kobo.

#AMMTPromo 66/

When doing this analysis, I’ve basically assumed that a free download from one promo is as good as one free download from another. I have no way of knowing if, say, Freebooksy subscribers are less likely to be subsequent books than Robin Reads subscribers, etc.

#AMMTPromo 67/

Anyway, I think that's all for now! Let me know if you have any questions.

There are many services out there, and I have a bunch of others that I intend to try next year.

#AMMTPromo 68/68

Latest Threads Unrolled: