Cover art by Jason Pedersen
Final result on the Beginning of a Hero free weekend is: I think I shot myself in the foot. Seriously, what the hell happened? I set up with sites and put some effort into the free promotion, but I didn’t even hit 300 downloads. Last time in April was over 2,000 and I didn’t do anything with that.
Now, Beginning of a Hero is sitting in the 146,000 rankings and I have no idea what to do about it. I’m pushing the second book in the hopes of it boosting the first, but I’m not really seeing it. The frustrating part is that I’m swinging and fighting more than I did for the first one. Yet, I keep coming up within a few spaces of the Top 100 List and getting yanked back. I’m going to try to do a morning and night promotion run on the Facebook groups for Prodigy of Rainbow Tower and mention Beginning of Hero. Try to get people to buy both. Yet, I simply have no idea how to fight back against this slump. The free weekend seems to have actually hurt me because it was so bad and killed what little momentum I had before the weekend.
This is making me rethink the free weekend use. Amazon has definitely made them less effective because your book always comes back at a lower level when it’s price returns. The majority of people paying attention to the free lists are those that wouldn’t even pay .99 cents for a book. I can’t tell you how many private messages I got that said ‘Bought your free book and can’t wait for second book to go free’. Not the response I was hoping for and rather aggravating. Amendment here: I’m not talking about those that can’t afford even a dollar book. I’m talking about those that I see posting about buying a bunch of stuff and then they refuse to pay a dollar for an eBook. Unable to afford, I can understand. I think I have a solution:
Use your free weekends for holidays. Don’t do the random free period unless you’ve had a no sale slump for a week or so. Use it when you have nothing left to lose because random free periods are not helping momentum, especially during the summer. That’s just my opinion though because I’m sure some people have some success with these.
Legends of Windemere 
As always, thanks for taking us through the steps, even when they’re painful.
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You’re welcome.
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My daughter waits for free books, but she lives in poverty with two kids. You have to cut some people some slack. It is a tough economy.
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As much as I understand that, I know that’s not the main reason for a lot of people. Many of the private comments came from those that I see talking about buying expensive alcohol, food, and DVD’s all the time. The few people that said they couldn’t afford the books, I have no problem with. Yet, I only had one person that said that. The others basically admitted they were cheap even though they could afford the dollar.
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Yeah. My cousin is is a millionaire and when I offered to GIVE them my book…his wife say, “Don’t bother with it, we get all of our books off of a free site anyway.”
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Put in an amendment. That’s the mentality that’s killing me here. Giving my current situation, I can only keep the writing going if I’m making some money off it or showing some progress. Currently, I’m on a December ‘deadline’ to prove my worth or I’m going to have to go back to the temp agency. I can’t push my books, write my books, and handle even a part-time job because of my living situation. So, I get extra annoyed about things like this because I don’t want to quit and let the people against me think they won. Seriously, I have at least one conversation a day about how I’m ‘ruining my life’ and ‘being selfish’. I’m surprised I’m not all dark poetry on here.
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That’s tough when you you aren’t getting the support a writer needs. You can’t let your juices flow when people are always building dams. That’s a lot of pressure.
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It really is. I think there’s an issue of misunderstood focus. There is the belief that I want to simply publish a book and leave it at that. I’ve even been told by people with no writing or publishing experience that I put the book out there and walk away to let it sink or swim on its own. Not how it works and not what I want to do. I’m looking at writing multiple series, which requires time and support. That’s where the stress and debating comes from.
The worst part is that it’s been getting steadily worse over the last month. There’s no longer an attempt at giving me privacy or support beyond buying the new book. Apparently, I’m supposed to become a millionaire by the end of the year or I consider this path a failure.
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That isn’t reality. Someone….not you….is living a fantasy.
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Part of the problem is that they are living only in reality. I seem to have come from a very practical family where everyone went for the non-artistic jobs upon adulthood. Nothing wrong with that, but it’s not me. My generation is composed of 1 teacher, 2 lawyers, 1 bio-chemist, 1 doctor, 1 possible doctor/physical therapist, and 1 fantasy author. If this was Sesame Street, the ‘what doesn’t belong’ song would play for me every time we get together. I’m the oddball and nobody really tries to figure me out or see things my way.
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My granddaughter’s father is that way. His brothers and sister have wonderful prestigious and high paying positions. He’s an artist and a line cook. I am proud of him. He tries. They may not have a fancy home and all that goes with it, but he is a great dad, who loves spending time with his family.
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That’s what should be important. When I did office work, I was miserable and borderline suicidal. Nobody wanted to deal with me and I had constant complaints about being negative. I go for writing and I’m happier, but nobody wants to talk about it unless they get a chance to tell me to stop. I need more people around here that actually understand what I’m talking about when explaining my stories.
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My husband rarely talks about his work/job. I talk about my book all of the time. How it is selling/not selling, editing, changing this or that, what I am doing on my blog. Sometimes I think I am boring him to tears. he is always supportive, but I get these blank looks with no verbal response. So lately I have been trying to consciously come up with other topics to converse about. I want him to know that I am still very much interested in his world, our world. I need to remain empathetic to his needs too.
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I get those stares and I just stopped talking about it. It’s funny because we’re told to not bring our work home with us, but then people wonder what we can talk about on a weekday. You talk about what you do that day and it tends to be work.
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I have my own opinion that may be controversial.
Unless one has more than one book out in a series I don’t think they should offer a free book. Free devalues the immense effort you put into the book.
You haven’t offered Prodigy for free yet, but you say that you plan to do so. Why buy at full price when you know that the author will offer the book for free at some point?
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I don’t plan on it anymore. I was toying with the idea, but not after this outing. Especially since it feels like there are too many vultures out there that can afford the book.
The idea is that putting the first book of a series out there for free will enticing people to buy the second book too. I don’t think it really helped this time and I was seeing more people buy both books at the same time before I did the free weekend.
With the second book, I’m just trying to figure out how long I keep it at .99 cents for. People are having a lot of bad luck with higher pricing during the summer, so I’m thinking of holding out until after Labor Day. Once that’s over, I can try to boost up to 2.99, but I’d prefer to do it while on a Top 100 List.
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I have to agree, and I don’t think your opinion is all that controversial. The problem is there are very limited opportunities for self published authors to get their work “out there” and one of the ways to get the book in the hands of readers is to give it away.
I’ve followed Charles’ trials and tribulations with self publishing, and I’ve read a bit (well, a whole lot) about self publishing elsewhere, and I’m still not at the point where I accept that giving away your product for free is a good way to get sales (ultimately). I guess authors are hoping that some of these freebie folks will read the book and give it a positive review and that good review will generate sales, at least on Amazon.
I am so philosophically opposed to artists giving their work away for free-I think it is one of the banes of 21st century and the internet. There has to be a better way.
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It is done for reviews and with series, it’s hoped they buy the others ones. The idea is to get two books for the cost of one. Doesn’t seem to work that way. People won’t touch the second unless they like the first. At least that’s what I’m guessing.
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Why are people so f**ing cheap! These ebooks are incredibly inexpensive as is. I understand the poverty situation and agree that some people simply cannot afford even ebooks. I’ve been there (well, back before there were ebooks, but still). No, it’s the people who are always trying to get something for nothing, like your hard work isn’t worth paying for. And as far as “ruining” your life: really? And how is working for a temp agency supposed to be an improvement over being an author? Sorry for the rant. It’s Monday, my least favorite day of the week. I shouldn’t be allowed to comment on Mondays.
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It’s money. That’s what this whole thing boils down to. Pure income and not the other measures of success like Top 100 Lists and amount of sales. People try to pull the ‘you have a son’ move on me, which makes me sick. He’s part of the reason I’m doing this. I grew up being told that I can do whatever I put my mind to and then I realized the people saying this never tried to go for their dreams. Now they’re trying to stop me. I want to be able to tell my son this, point at my books, and let him know that it really is possible. Not say it and then return to my office book.
If I have to be selfish to make this work then I guess I’ll be selfish. Honestly, I put the big push for writing off for years while supporting other people’s dreams and requests. Probably for the best since my timing led me to meet everyone here, but I’m kind of done be the sacrificial lamb.
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It’s ironic because in today’s economy, it probably makes more financial sense to do as you are doing than to try and find a salaried job. You’re a professional author, Charles. I think your son is going to grow up feeling mighty proud of you.
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Actually, I’ve been told that working fast food and retail make more sense than what I’m doing. Gotta love jobs that pay just enough for the gas and food you use to get through them.
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Do they watch the news at all? Fast food workers are on strike in several cities because they can’t make enough to support their families.
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They do, but they either think it’s better than nothing or they’re from the group that thinks the workers are whiners.
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Oh, good grief.
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CHARLES i TRIED TO DOWNLOAD IT, BUT NOW I CANNOT FIND IT IN RECENT DOWNLOADS!
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That’s odd. Maybe there’s a special folder. If you do a system search for the title, it should come up. This is your computer and not an amazon kindle, right?
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YES,HOW DO I DO A SYS. SEARCH FOR THE FILE?
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I would. No telling where it went. Could be a new folder in the programs.
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K, THANX!!
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Thanks for being so honest about your journey. It’s a rough road but know that many of us on WordPress are rooting for you. You gotta keep on keeping on.
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Thanks. I’m going to continue pushing. Think I’m almost due to post a few more tweets for my books. I’m trying to decide on how often I should promo on the FB sites. Thinking one in the morning and one in early evening.
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All this isn’t something I’m looking forward to, but I can’t tell you how much I appreciate learning from your experience. I’m soaking it all up. I’m sorry you have to go through all this mayhem.
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Think of it as part of the adventure. No story has a flawless rise to the climax.
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The climax being where we all become millionaires?
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I’d be happy to simply get a house and pay the bills. Not sure what I would do with so much money.
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I’d be happy to help you out. 😉
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Pool party!
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Yay!
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There really isn’t anything for me to say that hasn’t been said already. I am not familiar with all the technologies of how people read things nowadays, I am still a traditional book in hand girl. What I do recognize, is hard work and determination…Charles, you can do this. Let no one tell you otherwise! Belinda
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Thanks. I wish it was easier to push the paperbacks, but it’s hard to find people for those. Be interesting to see how things change in the future.
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Freebies have changed a lot. Especially, after Amazon changed their affiliates program. Readers have also become more selective, too. Losing your rank after the freebie is another factor. Sometimes, the freebies do generate sales that show up a few days later and the sales rank rebounds (we’ll cross our fingers). Personally, I’ve had better luck on Tuesdays or Wednesdays than weekends, but it’s been a while since I’ve tried a freebie. Btw, I bought (i.e. not free) the first in the series a week (maybe more) ago, but it will be a while before I get around to reading it (and much longer before I finish); I’m looking forward to it, though. I hope things turn around.
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Thanks. You’re right about the freebies. They don’t work like they used to. It’s almost like the risk isn’t worth it, but I have heard other authors get a lot of luck. Oddly enough, most of them are romance authors. So, I wonder if genre has something to do with it.
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what an awful conundrum..no wonder all the how to sites say that the one draw back to self-publishing is the marketing. You have soared above any other common pitfall like formatting, editing, book cover …
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Thanks. Though, I hear that even traditionally published authors have to put in a lot of marketing work. Houses seem to be more hands off than before.
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ugh
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Here’s an encouraging article: http://smallbiztrends.com/2013/05/indie-books-brick-and-mortar-bookstores.html
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Thanks. Just from the title I’m smiling. I’ll have to check around here.
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I wouldn’t do free books, Charles. You’ve worked hard on your novels. Look at it this way: a person can’t get a free book from a book store. And others use the library. That’s just my thought on it …
Ellespeth
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It’s a marketing strategy to get exposure. With indie authors, you need to aim for reach and exposure more than money. It doesn’t work as well as it used to though, so I’ll only push it for holidays if need be.
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ohhh! 😦 Labor Day is coming up!
It’s still odd that that stategy would bring your first book that far down in ratings.
Ellespeth
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It’s how the lists work. They have one set of lists for free and another for paid books. While on the free list, it falls down the ranks in paid ranks. The free books aren’t counted toward the total too.
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