There are lots of ways to give away free copies of your books in hopes of drawing in new readers. All have pros and cons. For example, Goodreads is quite effective at getting your giveaway in front of at least a few hundred new eyes…but you have to mail a physical book, which increases costs dramatically. Free ebooks are a great magnet to get folks to sign up for your email list…but you have to find the people to dangle that magnet in front of on your own.
While I’d like to say the new entry on the scene — Amazon — solves all of those problems, I can’t because you’re still in complete charge of driving traffic to your giveaway. Still, this new ebook giveaway system seems like a great way to add to your Amazon Followers’ list while possibly also promoting your existing titles at a very low cost. Basically, you buy the books you want to give away from Amazon and that’s the total cost of the promotion. If you lower the price of your book to 99 cents for a couple of hours and set up the giveaway during that period, your expenses will be bargain-basement low. (Here’s the long version of how to set up and promote an Amazon giveaway.)
To me, the value of an Amazon Giveaway is potentially pretty high because it can be used to increase your Amazon Followers. If you haven’t noticed this button, it’s now below each author’s profile picture on their Amazon page and in the bio section of each book page. Although Amazon’s implementation is still a bit hit or miss, they (usually? sometimes? if you sacrifice a goat?) give authors the opportunity to write a personal message to followers when a new book goes live. Many readers (like me) who have busy inboxes and would never imagine signing up for author email lists will click “follow” on Amazon because they know they’ll only get one notification when a new book is available.
Granted, you have to figure that people signing up to follow an author due to a giveaway will be less responsive to those Amazon nudges. However, even if those follows mean nothing, there’s another benefit of the Amazon giveaway. You’re given the opportunity to write a message of your choice to both winners and losers. Why not suggest that the losers borrow the book for free with Kindle Unlimited? Or perhaps sign up for your email list (with a link) and get two free books?
As you’ve probably gathered, I’m always willing to try new things once. And the jury’s still out on whether my giveaway will be worth it or not. After emailing my list, I went from 0 entries to about 300 entries, with more slowly trickling in. My understanding is that folks with a twitter following will have much better results since people actively follow the #AmazonGiveaway hashtag. Maybe one of you tweeters will make a giveaway and test that hypothesis out and let me know? Good luck with your next giveaway!
The Write Stuff 
OKay, this is how much of a cave I live in: I didn’t even know such a thing existed! Frankly, I think it sounds like fun, though I’m not sure I totally understand how it works, yet. I’m going to read the longer link description in great detail, and figure out how to do this. Gotta get my ducks in a row, and be sure I’ve got everything set up like it should be, first.
Thanks for posting this, Aimee. As always, you have a better grasp on how all these marketing tricks work than anyone I know. 🙂
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You’re not living in a cave — this is actually a pretty new one. Amazon has had product giveaways for maybe a year, but previously you had to give away a physical product (like a paperback). The ebook giveaways, I believe, have only been going for a few weeks!
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I didn’t even know about the other kind. 😦 But I am interested in this one, and will definitely try to learn more about it, as soon as I wrap up this draft. (I’m nearly a month behind schedule, and I can’t think about anything else.) I’m really glad you posted this, or I wouldn’t even be aware of it. I’ve never even SEEN a tweet like this, for anyone else’s giveaway. Yep. I’m afraid I’m a cave dweller. 😯
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Just started not long ago, Marcia. The debate is ongoing in several writers’ groups. Like Aimee says, though: it’s worth a try. 🙂
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I can see why people have different opinions on it, Linda. I’ll have to get it sorted in my mind, and maybe even give it a try, before I decide if I’m pro or con on it. Sounds interesting, though. And heaven knows, I’m tired of the old way. SO many free books of mine went out, I’m still not convinced it was worth it.
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When I tried to set up as part of a joint even with other writers, I discovered that although I can set a paper giveaways, because my main account is with amazon.co.uk I cannot set up a digital giveaway yet, it seems…
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That’s a shame! Maybe they’re slowly rolling it out and it’ll hit you in a few weeks or months?
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An “only time will tell” thing, I believe. At this point, not a lot of indie authors enrolled in KDP Select are n happy with Amazon…
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Well, if that’s true, then I guess I’m in the minority. I AM happy with Amazon, for the most part. They’ve given me a chance to do what I’ve always wanted to do, and I’m making money. Now, that doesn’t mean I’m not looking at ways to do it better, but overall, I’m grateful to Amazon every day of my life. Without them, I’d be out of business in a hurry, I fear.
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Pingback: Amazon ebook giveaways: Hot or not? – cherylanne57
Until now, I’ve never heard of an Amazon giveaway, unless Amazon gift cards count. Interesting…
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Thanks for sharing this Aimee 🙂
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