Do Freebies Work?

Posted on April 14, 2012 by Peter

Embarking on a ‘career’ as an indie author is exciting and frustrating in almost equal measure. Exciting probably edges it though. In a quest to learn what makes books sell, you find millions of words flowing towards you like some massive river of information, threatening to wash you away in the current. Advice sweeps over you and most folks have things they become strong advocates of. Sometimes they are evangelical in extolling the virtues of one particular marketing tactic. One such tactic is the temporary freebie.

The idea is that you give your e-book away for free for a limited time. It’s downloaded by loads of people – because it’s free – and you shoot up the free book charts for your particular genre. In some cases, you might shoot up the main chart too. Once this free period ends, you return to selling and experience a massive boost in sales from the effect on your Amazon algorithms, word of mouth and higher visibility…or do you?

I read so many stories claiming huge success from this tactic that it seemed like a no-brainer to join in. I already had one novel published and another about to come out. The logic (and it seemed to make sense at the time) was that if I gave away a load of copies of the first one, it would help the second one sell, as I would have so many more potential customers.  My publisher also added chapter one of the new book to the end of ‘In Many Ways’ as an advert

One week before the launch of ‘Pandora’s Pitbull’, my first novel ‘In Many Ways’ was already doing well. It had reached the giddy heights of #196 on Amazon Paid For Kindle in the UK and was selling in excess of 60 copies a day. I offered it free on Monday 5th March 2012. That day was exhilarating. I raced up the Free Thriller Chart – finally peaking at #2! I also belted up the overall free chart making it to #6! Over 2000 copies were downloaded in the UK. The US and rest of the world’s response was much less enthusiastic but more of that another time. I was SO excited about what this might mean for my book once it went back on sale. I was also secretly hoping this would make the launch of my new novel really successful.

However…

Within a couple of days, sales of ‘In Many Ways’ crashed! It tumbled back to #6000 ish in the chart and was only selling about five a day. I was gutted. Worse still, when ‘Pandora’s Pitbull’ came out on the 10th of March it went off like a damp squib and apart from twenty sales on day one, has struggled to sell more than about one or two a day since. To be fair, I have worked hard to re-promote ‘In Many Ways’ since and it has rallied a bit. Sales are back up to 20 a day and I am breaking the top 1000 quite regularly.

So, do freebies work? Honestly, I don’t know. It didn’t seem to help me much – certainly initially. Perhaps it will have longer term benefits? I would love to hear other people’s experience and see if you think there was something I did wrong or things I could do to make another offer more successful.

Another free offer…hmmm…

Peter Carroll

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Who Let The Dogs Out?

Posted on March 10, 2012 by Peter

Well, I did actually! After many months of writing, editing and all the other things it takes to get a novel published, I am finally able to let Pandora’s Pitbull off the leash!

Head over to Amazon.co.uk from the link on the right

or Amazon.com from the lower link on the right

I really hope you like it, and if you do, please make sure you click Like, agree with the tags and leave a review! Any such things are very gratefully received.

I’d just like to take this chance to thank everyone who has supported me in this project – in particular my family and friends and Dave Lyons at Raven Crest Books.

 

 

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Maybe I Am An Author!

Posted on January 21, 2012 by Peter

At the beginning of January 2012 I made my 1000th sale of ‘In Many Ways’. You may be thinking to yourself that’s not a huge amount really. In comparison to Stephen King or Ian Rankin…it’s paltry. However, I am not an established author. I don’t have a huge publishing house and a publicity team and all the other things they have. I have me, my family and friends (who have been immense), Dave Lyons at Raven Crest Books, and the word of mouth of those that have bought the book and enjoyed it. For those reasons, I am immensely proud and incredibly grateful to have made that many sales – paltry or not.

And now for chapter two…

In the next few weeks I will be publishing my next novel. It will be called ‘Pandora’s Pitbull’ and is an apocalyptic thriller with elements of horror and political satire thrown in for good measure.

Just like ‘In Many Ways’, it is mainly set in Scotland. It follows a string of seemingly disparate characters, whose fates interweave as they deal with the fallout from a scientific experiment that goes horribly wrong. Dark, humorous and violent it is definitely not one for the kiddies!

In the lead up to the launch, I will be posting a series of flash fictions on the website. These will give a flavour of the story and introduce you to some characters that will appear in the novel. The first one is called ‘The Short History of a Ned’ and features a character called Dougie McNally. Be warned: it is a bit bleak and features some strong language – no surprises there then, I hear you cry!

(For my non-Scottish visitors and readers, Neds are the Scottish equivalent of white trash or Chavs)

I hope you like these mini-stories. If you do, please leave a comment to that effect – it would be much appreciated.

Pandora’s Pitbull is straining at the leash. It should break free soon…

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Shopping…..is it just me?

Posted on November 6, 2011 by Peter

‘Right, that’s it! I am sick of this laptop. It freezes constantly, the battery is dead, it is too slow, the keyboard is beginning to pack up, and it is too heavy. We’re getting a new one tomorrow!’

That was the jist of my outburst. It was clear we needed a new laptop. I wanted one, my wife wanted one, and we could afford to replace it. Given this clarity, and the fact that I am not a technophobe (nor a techno geek), it should have been a simple case of going into a couple of shops, scoping out the offers, and driving home with one, shiny, new laptop. It should have been…

I don’t really understand what happens to me when I go shopping. I tend to only go when I really need something – as above. It should make things so much easier, but it doesn’t. If that purchase is tech then I nearly always talk myself out of purchasing.

This can take a few forms and the reasons for avoiding parting with my money are not many in number but powerful all the same. (Those of a casually racist bent may now wish to allude to my Scottish heritage being a factor, but I don’t think that’s it). The tech thing is particularly annoying. I am paranoid about buying something that is almost instantly obsolete as soon as I get it home. Laptop hard drives, memory, processors, screens, software capabilities and so on seem to improve so quickly that this is inevitable. I should be relaxed and accept it, but I can’t.

My second issue is the finding-it-cheaper-somewhere-else-after-I-already-bought-mine syndrome. I just hate when that happens so much, and feel so personally cheated, that I hang back from committing in the vain hope of a future saving. The stupid thing is that the saving might never come, and I am still depriving myself of the thing I have already rationalised that I need and can afford.

The third thing is more prosaic and difficult to pin down. I just don’t like spending money on things that I’d rather not if I could get away with it. (Oh aye, Scottish person alert!) The most common scenario is that after setting out, clearly in need of an item, once I am confronted with actually parting with the green stuff, I decide I can make do with what I already have or that I never needed it in the first place.

It’s not just tech, although it’s probably the most extreme example. Choosing and paying for clothes is another minefield of indecision and self-doubt. I rarely buy what I set out to get and come home empty-handed time and time again. Shoes are the worst. It took me six weeks to buy a pair of trainers after realising my existing ones were pretty much ready for the bin (I still have them).

So, is it a bloke thing? Is it a Scottish thing? Is it a me thing? I can tell you that whatever the answer, it is a very annoying thing!

Anyway, you’ll be very pleased to know that I made a right royal mess of buying the new laptop, and although I did get one, I am now not sure it was the right one or that I couldn’t have got it at a better price elsewhere. Ahem…

Now, how about choosing a Kindle? Well, there are three of them, oh, and some other rival ones, and they all do slightly different things, and they all cost about the same, and, and aaaaarggghhh!

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Do I Need To Have Some Klout?

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Peter

Whoa! What was that? I am sure I just saw an important guy with no clothes on walking down my street! Does no one else see him? Really? But, he’s naked! Butt naked!

As a part-time writer, a long way from making any kind of living from it, I am finding the process of building a following and sales for my first novel pretty challenging. Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads and all the other social worlds I am supposed to become a master of eat up time like a ravenous gannet. A lot of that time is spent trying to understand how best to use them and reading masses of tips from helpful fellow users.

Just when I thought it was becoming safe to go online again, along comes another social media service to understand, master and utilise – Klout. I signed up for this service not knowing what it was, but now that I have…whoa! There he is again – you see him now, right? THE NAKED GUY!

For those of you who have not seen Klout, or even heard of it, it is marketed as a way of measuring how much ‘influence’ you have online. It strikes me as being based on a management analysis tool – a sort of Johari Window perhaps. You are given a score that rates your online ‘influence’, and you can raise your score by Tweeting more often, Tweeting in particular ways, by writing blogs, using keywords etc, etc. The nearer your score to 100, the nearer to unbearably smug you can be!

I am sorry, I raise my hat to the marketing genius(es) who thought this up, but I don’t think I should be playing along. I am pretty sure I should be writing novels and blogs, not spending time stroking (or denting!) my ego by pretending that a Klout score matters. I don’t think I want or need a score representing my online influence. In fact, what does that really mean anyway? I do want people to read my books and enjoy them (I clearly don’t need this of course, but it would be nice all the same). For this to happen, I need to write well, and then convince lots of people that I write well enough for them to buy my books.

I can’t help but have a nagging suspicion that Klout is far less about being social than it is about proving who’s best and pandering to, and playing upon, natural insecurities we all have. You may, of course, vehemently disagree. If you do, then fair enough. Perhaps I have missed something and need enlightening? If so, please help me blow away the smoke and take down the mirrors.

I can still see him though…the naked guy….

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Multi-tasking Marvel and Menace

Posted on October 1, 2011 by webmaster

It’s amazing how much I take the web for granted now. It feels like it was always here and, in many ways (couldn’t resist!), I wonder how I ever got by without it.  I can listen to an unlimited supply of music, read more words on any subject than I could possibly manage in a lifetime, answer any question I might have in a matter of seconds, find my way from any A to any B and buy a bewildering array of goods from all corners of the earth. Brilliant, convenient, informative…and infinitely distracting!

The problem for me is keeping my mind on any one task on a computer for any length of time. I am trying to complete my second novel and doing ok with over 68,000 words committed to ‘paper’. However, every time I sit down to write I find myself drawn into checking Facebook, Twitter, sports results, my first books’ ranking on Amazon and email-both work and personal. I know all the jokes about men and multi-tasking, but it is not that I can’t multi-task (honest), it’s just that I am constantly thinking as I do it that I shouldn’t be.

I wonder how many folks have the discipline to work on a computer without indulging in all these distractions? Do you? I wish I had the will power and self-discipline but I fear I am too inquisitive (nosey) and easily distracted (procrastinator). It’s just that some of the stuff that distracts me is incredibly helpful in terms of writing or work or just the expansion of my knowledge and understanding of the world around me. A lot of it isn’t!

Do I have an answer to this problem? Do I need one? Well, I am not sure. I think I could be more productive if I shut off the web as I wrote, but I suspect the fear of missing something would be too strong to resist, and the inability to instantly quell my anxiety about this would be just as distracting!

So, I am bound to say, on balance, I will keep my marvellous menace switched on and get less/more done…probably.

(You will be pleased to know that I checked Facebook and Twitter twice while writing this and had the football commentary running on the radio as well)

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Not Everyone Can Swim The Amazon (and that’s ok)

Posted on September 18, 2011 by webmaster

Achalasia. Never heard of it? Sounds a bit like some 70’s prog rock outfit don’t you think? I had not heard of it either until about this time last year. I stepped off the X-Ray machine to be told that I probably had it but I would need more tests to confirm the diagnosis. I’ll let you Google the finer points but in a nutshell – faulty oesophagus, progressive, incurable, and needed surgery. Hmmm.

People get news like that all the time don’t they? Some news much worse than mine.

I know what you are thinking. Here comes the uplifting story of one man’s triumph in adversity. An inspiring example to all those facing such battles. Well, not quite.

Sure, I had the op, took a few months to recover and now (thankfully) I have my life back to normal. Thing is, I always feel a little uneasy about the effect stories like mine might have on other folks similarly afflicted. It would be easy to dramatise it. You know, turn myself into some kind of medical miracle combined with a superhero? An example to you all of the power of positive thought/prayer/miracles of modern medicine (delete as applicable). However, the human being is a complex creature. We are not all wired up the same way and what works for one person does not necessarily work for another.

I sometimes wonder what effect the ‘superheroes’ have on those less robust and more sensitive folks. If you are struggling to cope with your bad news, is the guy swimming the Amazon – despite only having one leg and some rare form of leukaemia – necessarily what you want to hear about? I don’t know about you, but I reckon it is just as likely to make some folks feel totally inadequate as it is to inspire or empower them.

It is very easy to take a hard line with people who seem more mentally fragile than you.

‘Pull yourself together!’

‘Get over it dude!’

‘Hey, have you seen this guy swimming the Amazon with only one leg and some rare form of leukaemia? Now that man has problems! You don’t see him moping around feeling sorry for himself, do you?’

Just take a moment to think whether any of those are helpful, constructive or even friendly things to say to someone in obvious turmoil or distress. Nope, that’s right, they’re not.

Next time you hear of a friend or loved one receiving bad news, please remember that not everyone can swim the Amazon, and that’s ok. Some might need you to be a buoyancy aid and others might need you to be a boat. As long as you help them keep their head above the water, you are doing the right thing.

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The Three R’s – Reading, Writing and Rock n Roll!

Posted on September 12, 2011 by webmaster

I do not write full time. I have a job as a wildlife surveyor that pays the bills; I have a very active eight year old daughter who enjoys ice-skating, ballet, swimming, gymnastics and all manner of other activities; and I play in a band (that’s the third R so more of that later).

In Many Ways is my first book and I am not well versed in the ways of publishing. The offer to publish from Raven Crest Books was unexpected and the time from that offer to the launch was remarkably short – eBooks do not need the gestation period of their paper cousins. So, I began this adventure with a huge learning curve to go through.

So, this week I have been mostly juggling – time that is, as opposed to balls, fiery torches or small furry animals.

In order to learn fast and try and get the book to sell, I have been reading. All week I read blogs, books, twitter feeds, Facebook, web pages, customer reviews, emails, and texts. The information has swarmed over me as if I was a honeycomb and it was bees. I’ve had a couple of stings to contend with as well. Twitter – frustrating and rewarding in almost equal measure, but scammers and spammers abound, so great care is needed when accepting followers. I have learned a huge amount – but I have so much further to go!

I may not be a full-time writer, but it appears I have become a writer. My next novel is now 57,000 words long and I added about 6,000 of those this past week. I have also written this blog, along with lots of tweets, Facebook updates and replies (and created a dedicated page for In Many Ways), emails both personal and work related and texts.

And so to the unnoficial third R. On Friday I played a gig at a biker’s rally with my band Illicit Still. It was enormous fun and we got a great reaction from the crowd. There can be few more rewarding feelings than the sight and sound of a crowd punching the air and singing along with you. Magic.

I sign off this blog with a plea to help me with the juggling and efforts to improve my three R’s. If you do me the great honour of buying the book, let me know what you think of it, and if you like it, tell other people too. Click the ‘Like’ buttons on the Amazon and Facebook pages for the book, and if you have the time, leave a review. Oh, and if you get the chance, maybe you can come along to a gig and punch the air with the rest of the crowd!

Now, where are those plates….

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Life Is Sweet!

Posted on September 4, 2011 by webmaster

Ok, I’m one week into this having a book published lark, and I have to tell you it has been one of the most exciting and frustrating weeks of my life!

When you write a book it is a huge deal to throw it out there into the world and wait for the responses of those that read it. Uncertainty, hope, nervousness, and anticipation swirl around in your head constantly. Those first few positive reviews are like a wonderful warm bath for your ego and help to make you feel like maybe this was all worth it after all.

At the same time, it is incredibly frustrating to watch your book yo-yo up and down in the Amazon ratings, teasing you as it climbs and then falls again, and it has made little progress in the US, but hey, it is very early days.

However, there has been a fantastically uplifting side to this process that I can keep forever – whether the book becomes a best seller or not. My friends and family have rallied around in a truly humbling display of support and encouragement. My wife and brother have been acting like seasoned agents – cajoling and prodding almost anyone who crosses their path into taking a look at my book. Some lovely people have gone out of their way to post great comments on their own blogs and especially on Facebook. In short, I feel blessed to be surrounded by people who are prepared to give so much on behalf of another – I know that if it wasn’t me they would do it for someone else.

The media is full of doom and gloom and those that will tell you things are not as good as they used to be. They will say that people have become disconnected and have no respect. They will tell you that we have to circle the wagons and prepare for our descent into hell. Well, I think they are wrong. There are still plenty of good people out there that have a sense of community, kinship, and common decency. People who respond to a request for help with positivity and enthusiasm.

Right now, life is sweet and I intend to enjoy every minute of the ride I am on with my book. Best of all, it is not a ride I take alone.

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Wecome to Peter Carroll’s blog

Posted on August 26, 2011 by webmaster

Hello, welcome and thanks for visiting my inaugural blog!

This is an exciting time for me, with the launch of my first novel “In Many Ways”. If you’ve already bought a copy, I’d like to thank you for doing so. If you don’t already have it, but would like to buy it, please click the link to the right. Then again, maybe you are hovering over the link, wondering whether you should part with your cash, and equally reasonably, you might be wondering what the book is all about so here’s a little info to help you decide…

In “In Many Ways”, a young man is abducted and mutilated for talking out of turn, and a policeman is murdered as a result – all in a day’s work for Danny O’Neill, Scotland’s most notorious gangster.

Meanwhile, small-time drug dealer and shop worker Davie Argyle has just crossed O’Neill’s path. Davie has been waiting a long time for this. He needs to swallow his pride and convince O’Neill to trust him. Thing is, can he stay alive long enough for his plan to work?

Torture, murder, rock n roll and bloody revenge ensue as pasts unfurl and long-held secrets reveal themselves.

Oh, and of course, the other reason to take a chance is that it is an absolute bargain!

I hope this has convinced you to click and give my book a try! It would be great to get feedback from you if you enjoy it. If you would like to keep informed about future books and to occasionally catch up with what’s going on with Peter Carroll, please do register in the box to the right.

Peter

 

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