T.I.E. (Entry 11): Strange Magic at Work
What is going on here?
By Thio Isobel Moss
I’ve been a little reluctant to start this entry because I’m still in shock. I had a plan in my head on how things would go, but that plan…is now defunct.
Let me start at the beginning. Blind Spot: The Covenant’s Forfeit was released on November 28th. I had one pre-order and one KU reader that first day—more or less what I expected. The second day, the book was free, and I thought I ended the day with seven delightful downloads. It was actually ten, but they didn’t show up until the next morning. I did know that I broke through the top 100 in Free Contemporary Fantasy — #89.
I thought this was a mistake. I was on my phone and couldn’t access the Free lists. When I got to my computer, though, it was real. Ten downloads were all it took!
November 30th, I had a promo in The Fussy Librarian (highly, highly recommend). ChatGPT told me to expect 50-150 downloads. I was thrilled by the thought, but secretly expected 30 or so. I woke up to 2. Well, that wasn’t a bad start, really. I took care of business and was about to go eat breakfast when I decided to check (roughly an hour later) to see if there was any change. There was: 66 downloads.
I didn’t scream, squeal, or do anything undignified. Not at all.
My team and I watched the reports all day. We weren’t much good for anything else, and it was far more entertaining than watching paint dry. By midafternoon, I had tiny little secret hopes of hitting 300. I was also charging up the ranks in three major Free categories – Contemporary Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, and Romantic Fantasy.
I ended the day with 519 downloads.
Blind Spot was #1 in Contemporary Fantasy.
Still flabbergasted.
I was suddenly ranking:
• #1 Contemporary Fantasy
• #4 Urban Fantasy
• #12 Romantic Fantasy
I cannot explain how odd it was sitting up there among titles with thousands of reviews. At first—bless you, Penkay—I had one review, then two—more blessings for Itsthejo!
(Just as an aside, I have been shopping for books all wrong for years. If you’re a serial browser, check out the Free Lists!!! It’s easy, they’re free, and there are some well-known authors on there. I’ve added eight books to my library!)
I am still in shock, but it gets even stranger. After a promo, a book generally spikes the first day, tapers off the second, and slides down the ranks the third. Blind Spot was obeying the laws of nature – 519, then 94 on Monday. But, then I had 37 yesterday. Yes, that’s definitely less than 94, but it was enough to keep me up in the ranks. I stabilized in the ranks.
Today, the final day the book is free, I have actually had more downloads than this time yesterday and have risen slightly! Crazy!
Now, this is all extraordinary, and I am so grateful it hurts, but by my reckoning, I lucked into some sort of magical chemistry involving timing, the right promo at the right moment (I love the name The Fussy Librarian; don’t you?), and a good book. I don’t know how the ratios break down, but if you’re releasing a book anytime soon, I strongly suggest doing so on a Thursday or Friday, using your free promo days if you’re enrolled in Kindle Unlimited, and buying a promo for your release day or the day after.
If you’ve read the previous post, you may remember that I had some trouble with Amazon and wasn’t able to use a free day on the day of release, which meant my promo was delayed. The Fussy Librarian very kindly squeezed me in on Sunday. It is my belief, with very little to support it, that this worked in my favor. Holiday weeks often are slow book sales weeks – people are traveling, they’re shopping, with family, decorating, and cooking. There’s a lot going on. And I hadn’t factored that in.
I can’t promise anyone that this formula works every time, but I’m certainly not the first to recommend it. I read about it before Blind Spot was even finished and planned for it, but there was a strong element of divinity, luck, or chance in this concoction.
Next steps: tomorrow, I will convert back to paid sales. Blind Spot will be at $0.99 for one day. I have a BookRunes promo. We shall see what happens, but I’m following up with an eBook Soda promo on Monday.
That’s a lot of promos, but my budget for Amazon Ads has barely been touched, despite running four to five simultaneous campaigns. I think I’m still under the $4 mark, and these promos are very reasonable—$55, $25, and $38 with a $9 Facebook post add-on, respectively.
For anyone who took a chance on my book, thank you so much!!! For anyone reading this, thank you, too! Have you ever considered writing a book? I recommend that, too.
So, go forth, fellow authors, and stir up your own magic. The world needs more books!
