The land of the FREE

9/13/2013

Ok, Folks. I have given in. The fruits of my sweat and toil, emotional heartbreak, and the cause of my empty wallet, is today going FREE! Even the cats think I’m stupid!

I have long ago given up on the hope of opening my kdp.amazon account in the morning and finding anything but ‘There are no sales to report in this period’ greeting me, but to Give it Away? It seems like sacrilege. I sat in Starbucks writing it, just as J.K.Rowling did – and now I have to give it away???

I have misspent my idle hours for the past year reading blogs by writing Gurus and marketing Experts telling me how to turn my masterpiece into a best seller in just 30 minutes for only $5, so now is the time to try it out!

I am posting this on Friday 13th – the first day of my 5 day Giveaway. What Great planning! I am not superstitious, but I have put a Black Cat in this week just in case.

Well, you’ve read this far, so I guess this is a topic that you have some vague interest in – so it’s time to get sensible.

Being a bear of very little brain I have struggled to come to terms with IT, wrestled with Social Marketing, and now, just as I was beginning to see the wood for the trees, I am being bombarded with terms like ‘SEO’ and ‘Algorithm!’

Well I hope someone out there will send me an idiot’s guide… no, make that an absolute dinosaur’s guide to ‘tracking’ and ‘boosting.’

One of the marketing books I read, which I even paid for, said that a big give-away is the way to go – never mind the profits – there won’t be any until you have a ‘presence’, a ‘profile’, a ‘platform’ (more dinosaur’s guides needed, please). So I bit the bullet and started to plan the Give Away For Free Event, or GAFFE, as I believe it will come to be known as.

Months of planning have gone into researching ‘free’ websites (many of which you have to pay for! (?)), facebook groups, Philippine organisations, twitter followers and anyone or thing else that can help my GAFFE be a success.

Finally, it’s all (nearly) lined up and ready to go…
Why, oh why did I have to read that new article yesterday! Another “Best-Selling Author” (I am beginning to wonder if I am the ONLY NON-best-selling author left!) wrote a blog saying that give-aways do NOT work anymore. He says that that Amazon has changed it’s Algorithms and that free book boosts do not assist rankings or sales anymore. I am trying not to cry.

It’s going ahead anyway – My book will be free from 13th to 17th September from Kindle and you can download it - HERE or by clicking on ANY of the pictures.
You will make me VERY happy if you DO download it, and read it – and I will be delirious with joy if you will then post a review for me.

This is my first give-away – please help to make it a success by telling all your friends and contacts. Thank you.

In the next blog post I will be reporting on the success or otherwise of my venture – will my GAFFE turn out to be the best thing I could have done? WATCH THIS SPACE NEXT WEEK for the results!

P.S. Please do not feel too sorry for me. It isn’t EVERY day that I have NO sales on kindle (thank you, mom).

If my insane ramblings interest you in any way, you can follow me on Twitter - HERE like me on facebook HERE and register to receive my blog and other important trivia (?) by giving me your email somewhere on this page (I promise you will not be offered Viagra or penis enlargers as a result! – they don’t work anyway, trust me).

Wish me luck! Arthur.

11 Comments

Tricia link

9/13/2013 04:25:53 pm

Good luck with your free promotion. I'm very curious to see how it goes. Since releasing my most recent book, I've struggled to figure out how to actually sell the darned thing. Like you, I've considered running a free promotion. Anything to move some books! I know authors who say free promotions have been very helpful. It must depend on the genre, the book, how many other books the author has already published--various factors. I hope your promotion leads to many, many sales!

Arthur Crandon

9/16/2013 03:11:57 am

Hi Tricia. People are telling me now that Giveaways do not work as well as they used to as Amazon has changed its algorithms and therefore do you help you to promote so much - even if you get a lot of downloads. My giveaway is nearly 3 days old now and the dook has been downloaded nearly 34,000 times - lets see what happens when the giveaway ends!

RJ Crayton link

9/13/2013 06:50:59 pm

This blog post made me laugh. For that alone, I am going to download your free book and put it with all the other free books I don't have time to read on my Kindle. :)

No, seriously, I will download it, and I wish you luck. Don't get discouraged. They say it's the second and third books that sell the first, so I"m sure you'll get some traction at some point. Good luck.

Arthur Crandon

9/16/2013 03:13:06 am

Glad you enjoyed the blog, RJ. I am busy on my second book now - I must hurry it along!

DA Cairns link

9/14/2013 10:58:34 pm

You are not the only non best selling author left, Arthur. I'm one too. Funny stuff, mate. Whatever it takes right? Whatever it takes.

Arthur Crandon

9/16/2013 03:14:17 am

Thank you DA, I am glad I am not alone - 34,000 downloads!!! let's see what it does to the sales at the end of the week!

Catherine Lyon link

9/15/2013 05:53:23 am

Well My GOOD Friend,
I know how you feel. It's why I call myself a Penniless Writer...LOL.. I've been on pins and needles to see how my book in eBook format has done in sales when I get my Report from my publisher in a few days. My paperback came out late Nov 2012, and to date I've only sold 14 copies. The eBook came out on Amazon this past late May, so I'm nervous on how it's done.

It sure takes many hours of finding all the HOT SPOTS where your readers are, and I do believe Goodreads is a great place to be. Another helpful Social Media Marketing website I've gotten some free Excellent tips and marketing advice is at http://Sparkah.com Robert has a Huge variety of YouTube videos on the best Social Media Sites and how to optimize your Tweets, your FB posts, LinkedIn shares and more! Just Hang in there, keep plugging your book, and Make sure your on Google+ and add you blog website in there Search Engine.....SEO...I get a LOT of my Visitors from Google+.....they have great Authors & Writers Groups too!!

Hugs & Blessings Art, Catherine :-)

Arthur Crandon

9/16/2013 03:16:31 am

Hi Cathy, my sales results are a bit like yours. I will check out your suggestions, and last night I started to get to grips with google+ - we have to try everything don't we. Lots of love, and I hope your new home will bring you luck! x

Kathryn Goldman link

9/16/2013 01:49:12 pm

Good Luck, Arthur! I'm going to download your book. I'm going to read your book. I'm going to tweet about your book (and follow you on Twitter). AND I will write a review for Goodreads. Promise.

I'm an Intellectual Property lawyer trying to innovate education for authors about their legal rights in an economically feasible way. Writers who aren't bestsellers (yet) need to know what contracts and copyrights mean just like the big boys, but without the big boys' pocket book. So, check out my first video.

And start writing your next book!

Kathryn

Arthur Crandon

9/19/2013 03:14:31 am

Kathrym, thank you so much. You are very kind. I have posted before about my concerns for the many aspiring authors who are beginning to fall prey to some 'publishers' who take a big slice, and sometimes an upfront fee, and then do very little. Your service is very much needed. I will retweet you when I see you.

Intraday Tips link

10/3/2013 10:53:11 am

It contains truly information. Your website is very useful. I admire the valuable advice you make available in your expertly written content. I want to thank you for this informative read.

Meet the author

Arthur Crandon is a lawyer, the boring office kind, not the exciting (and much better paid) courtroom type. He worked as a solicitor for a while before embarking on an interesting life overseas. He has spent most of his time in recent years in South East Asia, more recently in Hong Kong. Before that, Arthur lived and worked in the Philippine Islands.
He loves to fish, and play the piano – but spends most of his time writing, eating, drinking and sleeping
– usually, but not always, in that order.
His first book, Deadly Election, draws on his strange imagination and his
experiences, together with those of others, in a land that, beneath a veneer of civilisation, operates like the Wild West and is very
dangerous to innocent and gullible foreigners.

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