For new authors, free ebook giveaways seem like a sensible idea to attract readers who find free ebooks tempting.
It is natural to think that the whole world is using search engines to find something for free. In the early days of ebooks, this tactic worked to some degree, if only to get a few book reviews.
But now, there are cheap ebook subscription services such as Kindle Unlimited. Some offer generous free trials. So the perceived value of free ebooks to give away diminished considerably.
If you are an author with only one published title, what do you get in return after giving away your only title?
Free stuff is rarely offered online for nothing
Social media sites always say sign up for free.
But as we have all discovered to our chagrin, in return for their services for free, we paid with our personal data.
Many new authors fall prey to high-pressure vanity publishers.
They offer free publishing guidebooks and free manuscript appraisals. It’s a customer acquisition tactic. These publishers want your address, email address, and phone number. It’s an old Internet marketer ploy.
Then you have a salesperson on the phone, trying to get you to part with a few thousand dollars.
Other offers of free samples, a free version, or a free plan almost always involve giving your contact details in return.
Once you give your details, you will receive marketing emails to convince you to move from the free to the paid plan.
It is all about conversion to make money online, and even a five percent conversion rate can be very profitable for some businesses.
People still hunt for freebies using free stuff finder websites. On Google, there are over 110,000 searches every month for the phrase “free stuff.”
Finding freebies is easy, but they rarely come with no strings attached.
The freemium business model
Operating an online business using a freemium product is now standard practice. It is especially true for (Software as a Service) SAAS businesses.
For free, you get the very basic features. But to get access to additional features, you must upgrade to a paid plan.
Free users usually have feature-limited access, but in exchange for this, they always have to provide their email addresses. Then, of course, regular emails arrive to encourage you to pay for an upgrade.
The same approach is used for cloud storage. You get a few gigabytes for free, but after that, you have to pay.
Apple is a bit miserable on this front, offering only 5 gigabytes for free. It is hardly enough space to store even a little of all the photos and music people have nowadays.
Online products for free are never offered without expecting something in return. There is a wide variety of services and products for free online. But a free ebook is the odd one out.
What is the free ebook business model?
For many authors, enrolling in Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) Select is tempting. You can use the facility to offer free ebook giveaways for five days every three months of enrollment.
Other authors set up a perma-free ebook using Smashwords or Draft2Digital. There is also the possibility of offering free Amazon gift cards for ebooks to readers.
While all these methods are now standard practice, it means that there are thousands, if not a million or more free ebooks on offer every day.
But what do authors and publishers expect in return? What’s the marketing plan? A wish and a hope that a few readers might leave a book review? Then, of these very few reviews, how many will be good, and how many will be one-star star stinkers?
It is surprising how few authors think of asking for a review. It only needs a small line at the end of an ebook asking the reader politely to post a review.
Smart authors who write in a series use the first book as a loss leader and hope to get readers to buy the other books. Free ebook giveaways can help in this case, but there is always a pitch at the end of the book to promote the rest of the series.
But of all of these uses for an ebook giveaway, there is nothing in return, such as asking for an email address.
How do you get something in return?
To start on the road to getting something of value in return, get to work on building your list of email addresses.
It doesn’t need to be a very big list, to begin with. Think about finding people who might agree to become beta readers for you.
It’s hard work, but social media is the ideal way to find people.
If you have had contact with readers and perhaps have their email addresses, add them.
Use your blog or website to attract readers. Add a contact form to your site, including an option to join your mailing list.
Another way is to use the same method as marketers.
Offer an ebook for free download from your site in epub and mobi. But only in exchange for an email address before downloading your free ebook.
Once you have your mailing list, you can start asking for something in return.
Send free ebooks to your beta readers before publishing, and their feedback will be of immense value to you.
When you have a new book ready to publish, offer your entire mailing list a free copy, but ask them for a review in return.
You can even be clear about where and when you would like them to post their reviews.
It is your book and writing it was a tough job. So don’t be shy about asking for something in return for all your months of hard work.
You don’t want to give away all your hard work and effort for nothing.
Summary
It doesn’t matter if it’s free movies, Black Friday deals, birthday freebies, or free baby stuff with free shipping. All of these offers ask for something in return.
Yet, so many authors and self-publishers give everything away with no thought of what they can get back in return.
Wishful thinking is not effective in marketing or book promotion.
If you are considering a free ebook campaign, take a moment to think about what you are going to gain from it. How will it benefit you, and how will you measure that success?
Should you set up free ebook giveaways on your website?
Would you be better served by doing more book promotions and working on getting more paying book sales?
Giving away ebooks is not as easy as it used to be. There are just too many on offer every day.
If you are going to use free ebooks to give away as part of your book promotion, have a plan. Don’t work on a wish.
Related reading: Malware And Viruses – The Price You Can Pay For Free PDF Books
This is the first article on ebook promotion I agree with. When I hear free, I hear worthless. I hear “Please, for the love of God! Read my book…I’m on my knees, groveling.”
I’m new to the online book selling business, so I’m still learning. Still, psychologically, your advice makes sense to me. I’m hoping, somehow, to grow authentic readers, people who find me and find my book idea intriguing… just figuring out how to go about that without looking like a mini-mall stripper. Wait, I’ve gone to mini-mall strip joints–still more prestige, to me, than a free ebook.
My belief is that writers should move away entirely from offering free books. Far better to advertise them for a negligible cost. That way, at least, the buyer has set up the necessary machinery for effecting payment and may well go for another of one’s works.