Claude Bouchard Books

Since the arrival of Amazon’s KDP Select program last December, I’ve read and heard of both successes and failures though, in this case, failure really means not any worse off than prior to a promotion. One might argue that giving away a number of books with little or no additional sales in the aftermath results in a loss. My view is that:

1. The giveaways represent zero cost to the author, therefore should not be considered as a cost or loss.
2. Nobody can state with certainty that people would have paid for those books if they couldn’t get them for free. If that was the case, why would anyone give away any books in the first place?
3. Even if a promotion results in little or no increase in paid sales after the fact, the giveaways are free additional exposure and there’s nothing wrong with zero cost advertising.

Moving on… From March 20th to March 22nd, Vigilante, the first of six novels in my crime series was free via a KDP Select promotion, during which time I gave away 25,626 copies. As a result, the book resided on the Top 20 free page from midday on the 20th right to the end, attaining #9 in the U.S. and #11 in the U.K.

What’s happened since? I’ve never gone public with my sales figures and that isn’t going to change, at least for now. However, I can share some information to show why I consider this venture with the program a success.

• I’ve sold almost 1.5 times as many Kindle copies of Vigilante post-promotion than I had since the book became available on Kindle in January 2011. In fact, my post promo Kindle sales represent more than half of all my Vigilante sales via all retailers (ebook and print) since I published it in April 2009.
• Vigilante Kindle sales are currently 964% versus February. Of the other five novels in my crime series, two have more than doubled in sales this month and two others have more than tripled. Sales of The Consultant, the second of the series, have more than quadrupled.
• Vigilante was ranking at #29,708 (U.S.) and #80,696 (U.K.) just prior to my promotion. Paid sales ranking went as low as #211 (U.S) and #187 (U.K.) post promotion. At the time of posting this, the sixth day following the end of the promotion, overall rankings are #875 (U.S.) and #487 (U.K.).
• My overall March sales to date are 353% those of February and represent 46% of my total cumulative sales with all retailers (ebook and print).
• The Kindle royalties for my March sales will more than cover the total cost of a ten day European vacation my wife and I are taking next May. We’re also enjoying our new iPads.

So, though it may not be the case with all who have or will try the KDP Select promotion, in my case, I found it rather successful.

 You can give Vigilante a go right here: U.S. http://amzn.to/x3ndMq and U.K. http://amzn.to/HkZ78Z