Comments and Experience re: a Free Kindle Promotion

Hi folks:

I've learned a lot from this group, as well as the Yahoo Print On Demand (POD) group and I thought I'd mention my recent experience with offering a Kindle book for free via their KDP program. First, I chose three days for the promotion period, but I may extend it since the book is at about 350 in the free Kindle store after 1.5 days, and I think one more day may help it climb higher.

Here are some numbers that I believe are accurate based on what I'm noticing in case anyone is curious. With about 350 downloads of a Kindle free version of a book in 24 hours, a book should be able to get to  about #800-1200 in the free Kindle category. 

With about 1000 downloads in 24 hours, a book should be able to get to about 400-600. And at 1500 downloads, a book should be able to get to 200-400. This may vary a lot depending on a number of factors that I'm guessing others here will know better than me.

I have a question re: hyperlinks if anyone would like to chime in. Re: the design, since it is a 100% picture book with type embedded in each page and no T of C, I basically just did the design in InDesign CS6, exported JPGs, imported the JPGs back into a similar document so that the type would not be "postscript type" any more, and exported the images via the Kindle Indesign plug-in. If I had more patience, I would have worked harder to get the hyperlinking to work so that I could promote the print version and website of the book better. I tried, but was not successful using InDesign's hyperlinking tools. I like the fact that I can still upload the file again when I am ready.

Because the pages were square, I added a beige background top and bottom so that the ratio became 2:3, and I repeated the text in black text below each image to avoid kids/parents needing to zoom in (zooming in via a press on the screen, or a click requires the X to be pressed in the corner to close, which is not very intuitive). The text below each photo also uses proper capitalization, unlike the main text in which some Nouns are capitalized for style. We thought that would be a way for kids to spot differences between the two.

Using the Kindle Previewer app, the only device that looked bad (images only took up about 1/4 of the screen) was the Kindle Fire HD  8.9" tablet. All the others looked great, including Kindle B&W readers, so I question whether the previewer for the Kindle Fire HD  8.9" tablet is really accurate. 

The Kindle version of my dad's book is free from 5/1-5/3 (Amazon uses Pacific Std. Time, and I recommend letting people know that when running a promotion).
The main website I helped him build to promote the printed book, Kindle book and song is at http://www.iwonderdoyou.com  and the free Kindle book link is here if you'd like to take a look: 
<http://www.amazon.com/Wonder-What-Its-Like-ebook/dp/B00CIW2VNC/>

All the best!
Andrew

Andrew Darlow
Editor, The Imaging Buffet
http://www.imagingbuffet.com
Author, 301 Inkjet Tips and Techniques:
An Essential Printing Resource for Photographers - http://www.inkjettips.com
and
Pet Photography 101: 
Tips for Taking Better Photos of Your Dog or Cat - http://www.PhotoPetTips.com
http://facebook.com/andrewdarlow





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