My Big Kindle Push – Part Three – All The Juicy Details!

It took a lot of careful planning on my part – but last week when I accidentally realized that tomorrow was Friday 13th I suddenly decided that I ought to do some sort of a big splashy promotion.

I thought about giving it a really snazzy title – like maybe – MY BIG KNEE-JERK OH-MY-GOD-IT’S-GONNA-BE-A-FRIDAY-13TH-PROMOTIONAL-SALE or else possibly BUY-MY-BOOKS-OR-ELSE-I’LL-CRY-ER-UM-SALE! but none of those seemed to have a ring to it.

So instead I just decided to slash my prices and then jump up and down and yell a lot. There’s been a last-minute election called up here in Nova Scotia – so if I need any sort of inspiration regarding that whole jump-up-and-down-and-yell-a-lot I just need to turn on the evening news.

My publishers name is Crossroad Press and it is run by two gents named David and David. I am not certain how they tell each other apart, however – as both of them have constantly assured that THEY are the better looking of the two.

So I told David and David that I wanted to mark ALL of my big-tag e-books down to 99 cents.

(do you like that expression big-tag? I hope so on account of I just invented it)

So Tuesday they pulled the switch and jammed that 99 cent switch but I kept it soft – because I’m a great believer in sneaking up on opportunity. If opportunity is ever stupid enough to knock on my door I fully intend to sneak out the side door with a baseball and then I’d club opportunity into a state of unconsciousness – (which is next door to Kansas, or so I’ve been told) – and then go through opportunity’s pockets for whatever loose change I can find.

Tomorrow is the big day, of course, and I have several paid-for advertising spots that will go live sometime between now and then. I’ll tell you all about them as the night goes on – but I first have to go and plate up a heap of homemade spaghetti which I made last night. I’m also going to open up a beer – so this thread might get a little rowdy – and heaven help me if they call in the bouncer, Betsy the Quilter.

I’m going to share a few of the results with you so far.

Tatterdemon is the book I have given the most promotion to – but none of that promotion has gone live yet – save for a couple of Tweets from a few folks who know me and have had my e-books on their wish lists for awhile.

Wish I knew me some rich folks but most of the folks I know are stone cold broke.

Anyway – here are the rankings so far for Tatterdemon. On September 8th it was sitting at 518,224.

It has been a REALLY sucky summer, saleswise.

On September 9 it slid to 552,515. On September 10 it jumped to 43,742.

Now you can do that with ONE sale – but I’m hoping that if it bounces high enough that the advertisements and announcements I have in place for tomorrow will take it even further.

Right now it is sitting at 46,513.

So – what all have I arranged by way of promotion?

I would LOVE to tell you that I bagged a spot in BOOKBUB – but I waited way too long for that – and besides, BOOKBUB is a little bit out of my price range – and let’s be honest here – BOOKBUB’s staff most likely pulls out my book covers on slow days just to giggle at.

But I HAVE secured space with E-Book Lister, E-Book Deal of the Day, Bargain E-book Hunter, E-book Korner Kafe and SweetFreeBooks.

I’ll post links up here by tomorrow for those indie writers out there who might be interested in getting in touch with these folks.

If I had more time I would have applied to a couple of heavy-duty spots – such as ENT – but that is the price I pay for being so last minute. It is a lesson I will take to heart – and I would share that with all of you indie authors who – like me – are just pooping along saleswise.

Lastly, let me tell you about DEVIL TREE and how it has been doing, saleswise.

It started out on September 8th at a ranking of 571,645. A day later it was sitting at 89,842. On September 10th it had slid back to 247,835. That’s how fast rankings can change these days. Today – the last time I checked – it was sitting at 35,441.

I know full well that I need to sell a LOT more if I want to crack the top 1000 ranking – but I am hoping that it at least bumps the ranking up on the HORROR list for some of these books.

That’s what I want to leave you folks with at the end of this entry. Remember that promotions – to work – must be constant and steady and well-planned. Amazon is a chess game for us under-achievers and we always have to be thinking at least three moves – or three promotions ahead.

I’ve got a couple of blog tours and a shared promotion and another sales promotion planned for October – and I am looking at December as well. At the same time I am trying to write new material just as fast as I can – as WELL as I can.

Finally – let me share with you a list of all of the e-books of mine that are NOW available on Kindle for 99 cents.

Tatterdemon
Devil Tree
Rueful Regret
Gypsy Blood
Long Horn, Big Shaggy
Bad Valentines
Roadside Ghosts
Two Fisted Nasty
Nothing To Lose
Nothing Down
Sudden Death Overtime

Any of you out there care to tweet, share or shout-out my promotion tomorrow I would be very grateful. I might even have an extra beer. I might even drink it.

Oh heck, you know I’ll drink it!

Indie publishing is not a game for laggards or slug-a-beds!

yours in storytelling,
Steve Vernon