That is the question of the day.
This question was posed at out weekly writer's meeting. One of the guys, who has been successful with his How To books on Kindle, asked me how many books I'd given away as freebees. I thought for a moment: I've given away six copies of Love Is Sober; three to contest winners; one as a door prize at a festival; one to a reviewer (who to my knowledge still hasn't reviewed it), and the last one to a neighbor, who then moved away. I did the same with Love Finds A Way, excluding the last one. I gave that particular copy to a relative. The week All She Ever Wanted came out, I gave away two copies as contest prizes; a third was a gift to a friend who had just purchased a Kindle; and the last one to a fellow blogger who LOVED erotic romance. And then I found out she prefered M/M. So not sure if she ever read mine.
The reason he tossed the question to me is the simple fact he passes out free books all the time, and it has apparently generated quite the sales to his back list AND his music CD's. Word of mouth is an excellent marketing tool.
I agree there; many of my books have sold that way. But because I passed out free excerpts, not books.
It costs me over $100 to purchase ten copies of my books. If I gave them all away, I'd have to rob a bank in order to keep inventory on hand. And since I sell them for $10-15 a piece, I make a little bit of money. So yes, I'm reluctant to give away books.
I do hand out a great deal of promotional stuff. This past summer, I experimented with hand sanitizer, lotion, and cologne samples. I also slap my stickers on Smarties and pass them out.
I'm currently trying to find the funds for five copies of LIS and LFAW, since I have three signings coming up: Oct 9th at the Fall Festival; Oct 1oth at the Mockingbird Book Emporium; and on Nov 20th during the Santa Stroll.
Here's hoping the SU gets his disability approved ASAP! Or a nice, fat royalty check shows up unexpectedly....
On Today's Agenda:
Dr's appointment for the SU. Mandantory for his disability evaluation.
Reading. We have to travel to another city for said appointment. So while he drives, I'll be reading:)
Survivor night. Chicken and dumplings are in the slow cooker.
2 comments:
digital is easy to give away....there isn't any cost tot eh author. I have given away a few digital copies for contests and sent a few others for review sites that my publisher does not send them to. As far as print, I have given away a few...couple as gifts, 1 as a contest giveaway, a couple for reviews. I have to say, the reviews and publicity is well worth it...though it does involve a higher cost to me. Good Luck!
Hope all went well for the SU.
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