Why Free Book Giveaways No Longer Work

Going free is no longer a viable marketing ploy, full stop. Times have changed. Two years ago, it worked, it jumpstarted "word of mouth" and book sales took off on Amazon.

No more. Readers suffer from "free fatigue".

Too much is too much. The evidence free giveaways no longer work is piling in.

That's the gist of a recent discussion between authors on Linked In. I mentioned my own recent experience with a 5-day free giveaway on KDP Select for Part One of my new sci-fi serial novel FOREVER YOUNG.

How did it go? I blogged about it before: it got lots of free downloads but much less than when I went free 2 years ago with another book. More to the point: the resulting bump in sales was small and short-lived. Even Part Two of the same book barely budged. Hard to say why, considering I have a pretty strong presence on Internet, with this blog (for a writer it has an exceptionally high Alexa ranking), a good following on Twitter, on Google+, Pinterest, Goodreads etc etc 

Is there a problem with my book? I don't think so (shy grin). My book cover is (I believe) good. The writing is (I believe) excellent (another grin). It got good reviews as soon as it was published. Yesterday I even got one enthusiatic fan who wrote an email to me saying this: 


"Really got to know what happens next in the Forever Young series. Thoroughly enjoyed the first two. Left 5-star reviews for each on Goodreads. Both volumes moved at a breathtaking pace. Your characters were so vivid I felt like I could take their pulses. Your narrative flows so smooth it's like dipping each bite of pancake in warm maple syrup before popping it in your mouth. Terrific accomplishment, my friend. Can't wait for the third volume."

I love that: a narrative so smooth it's like dipping each bite of pancake in warm maple syrup, the best compliment I ever got!

Now when a book can elicit this kind of response from someone who's never met me, look, that book must have something going for it! Yet the free downloads got the book exactly nowhere.

The problem is not the book: it's reader fatigue. Too many books going free...So yes, I'm totally against free. Possibly 99 cents is the "new free"...

Speaking as an economist (which I happen to be - a Columbia U. graduate), "free" in economic parlance is a sign that something is worth...nothing! That's the logic of it and that's also the danger. I believe we authors should be very careful about how we play around with free books. They make us look...cheap!

To read the full discussion on Linked In, click here 

Please let me have your opinion!



Comments

One reason you might not have seen the same sales bump is that people may not have read it yet. I still download free books that look good, but won't get around to reading most of them for several months.
Karen Power said…
Thank you! I have done free book give-aways for years and suddenly since the beginning of the year I can't get anyone interested in a free book. Free Fatigued ... you nailed it! I totally agree with your post!
Barbara and Karen, thanks for commenting! Well, like you Barbara, I do hope that some people will read my book eventually and then be moved to buy the second episode (after all, it's a serial novel à la WOOL: each episode is independent and can be read as a self-standing novella, but they are all linked together by the cast of characters and the setting)

So far, as I've said, I've seen very little movement and none I can attribute in all honesty to the free giveaway.

And yes, Karen, I'm convinced we are facing reader fatigue, everyone's Kindle is overflowing with free titles. How can anyone expect to emerge from that "free book" cacophony?
Anonymous said…
I've been against free all along and didn't join KDP Select or any other free program. If anything, we should be raising our prices. Darlene
Anonymous said…
I've been against free all along and didn't join KDP Select or any other free program. If anything, we should be raising our prices. Darlene
emandyves, I totally agree! Prices for ebooks are way too low. The idea of course is that there are nearly no costs of production (and storage in warehouses, distributin etc) compared to a printed book.

But all this, while very true, does not take into consideration the work of the author that deserves recognition in economic terms...At 99 cents, it's practically the equivalent of giving a book away free!
Trish Feehan said…
Food for thought, Claude. It's certainly true that what might have worked in the past, won't necessarily right now. Thanks for sharing.
Unknown said…
Yep, I think everyone has an eReader full of books they don't have time to read. And often free is perceived as worthless. My thought, offer very short teasers as free so readers can check out our writing style.