Why would an author want to write an ebook and then make it permanently free? Very simply, to sell a lot more books. Many authors who have multiple ebooks are finding it very lucrative to have one book that stays free permanently or at least for an extended period of time. Don’t underestimate the power of this strategy!
Why does it work? It works because it allows readers to take a chance on you and fall in love with your writing. In a nutshell, it gives people a reason to want to buy your other books. Don’t worry that there won’t be anybody to sell to if you give your books away. There are millions and possibly billions of readers!
How does it work? You upload the book you want to go free via Kindle as you normally would, and price it at $2.99. DO NOT enroll this book in KDP. Then upload your book to Smashwords, priced at $0. Once your book is in Smashwords, make sure it will be distributed to Barnes and Noble and iBookstore. Then, when you see it on one of those sites priced at $0, get someone to price match your book on Amazon. Price match is the “tell us about a lower price” link at the bottom of the product information section on your Amazon book page, as shown below: [two_third]
Click to enlarge
Have a friend fill this out for you or ask someone in a book-related forum to do it. They will need the iBookstore or Barnes and Noble link showing your book as FREE. Sometimes it takes several people letting Amazon know, but sometimes they will just pick it up on their own. Remember, be sure to enroll your book in iBookstore and/or Barnes and Noble. Having your book in just Smashwords won’t cause Amazon to price match.
Already know how powerful perma-free ebooks can be? Then you also know how hard they can be to promote on an ongoing basis. That’s why we invented a new approach to keeping your perma-free ebook on the free sites for 15 days straight! Click the link in this sentence for information about our Perma Promote submission package.
By Lynn West [/two_third]
