KDP Select and Short Stories?

KDP Select hasn't been treatin' me well.  I've tried to make the relationship work!  Every time we break up I think maybe I could have done something different.... maybe we should try again....

But no.

I just can't seem to get any short stories to catch on with KDP Select.  I've tried:

-Collections

-Various genres

-Altering the level of promotion I do on free days

-When I do free days

There's more.  I've even tried putting stories on there that sell regularly.  They continue to sell regularly without any noticeable difference in sales numbers.  But I've yet to have a single copy borrowed.  Which means the only pro is five free days.

Is this worth it?

Ehhhhhhh...... I'm thinking not.  iTunes, Sony and Kobo are turning into three of my main sources for sales.  Frankly, that's worth way more to me than five freebie days.  If someone is shopping online, comes across one of my stories and then is intrigued enough to buy it, that ONE sale is worth so much more than 1,000 free downloads.

A story downloaded on a free download day has a very good chance of remaining unread.  I know this because I've done it myself.  Many times.  You click on it because it's free.

A story that is purchased has a higher likelihood of being read.  It's something you were interested enough in to pay money for.  Also, if you like it enough, there's a good chance you will buy other works by that same author.

One paying customer is worth any number of free downloads.

Comments

  1. Robert CollinsSeptember 19, 2012 at 8:01 AM

    A SF author in my area put one of his short collections in Select, and he wasn't impressed by his results either.

    http://astonwest.blogspot.com/2012/09/a-recap-of-kdp-select-experience.html

    I think you're right. Sales are more important than free downloads.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Alain GomezSeptember 19, 2012 at 10:37 AM

    Yeah I don't even really get a noticeable bump in sales regardless if I have a story in or out. Everything just kind of stays at the same plodding pace. Which is totally fine. No complaints. I've just finally gotten fed up with Select.

    ReplyDelete

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