It's time for the Tuesday Tumbling Term for the indie author. Today's term is GIVEAWAYS.give·a·way
[giv-uh-wey]
noun
1. an act or instance of giving something away.
2. something that is given away, especially as a gift or premium: A pocket calculator was offered as a giveaway with every new subscription to the magazine.
3. a radio or television program on which prizes are given away to contestants in a question-and-answer game.
4. a tax law or other legislation designed to benefit one segment of the population, one area or state, etc.: a giveaway that benefited only the very rich.
To me, this is a under utilized option by indie published authors and it shouldn't be. It's been used for decades to draw prospective buyers in. I've participated in many over my past decades as both a consumer and producer.I once told a fellow author that you couldn't do book signings with e-versions of your book that's why paperbacks are so important. After I said that, I started producing e-pub and PDF files of my books to sell at various events and signed the label or CD it was copied on. I also gave away signed bookmarks, but soon realized that e-readers had no use for bookmarks.
The concept of take away value is important in all aspects of selling your wares. A "thank you" for stopping by my table even if you don't buy right now. Would you give away a copy of your book if it produced one sale, how about five, ten, a hundred? Yep, I would too even if it was for one sale I didn't have before. It may sound like small stuff, but in reality it equals to exponential growth because that one person will tell ten, those ten will tell ten people each and so on.Is it a gimmick? Oh yeah, it is. It is also a good way of getting the word out that you have a book available. The average consumer/reader has to see your title twenty times before they will purchase your book. This could take six months or so depending on when and where you promote your book, and I don't mean buy-my-book blurbs. I'm taking about quality context, but more on that tomorrow.
Do you participate in giveaways? Why not?
Keep writing and loving the Lord.
They are a good way of getting word out and promotion as everyone loves a freebie. I would like to do more of them, my only regret being that I don't have a lot of spare cash to splash around, however I definitely plan to do one when I finally release a novel.
ReplyDeleteNick that's where Smashwotds comes in handy. A coupon and no cost to you. The other route is kindle select with their random giveaways.
ReplyDeleteMy publisher does a lot before the book is released and they help me with print giveaways even after that. I'll do giveaways of my eBooks once I have the file.
ReplyDeleteAlex, mine does also.
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