![](data:image/png;base64,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As part of the KDP Select program, which I detailed in a previous post, I get five days within each 3-month period where The Redheaded Stepchild is available for free download on Kindle. You can choose to have 5 adjacent days, 5 spread out days, or any combination thereof.
I chose to spread out my days for some maximum effect. The days I chose were mostly arbitrary, the first one being January, Friday the 13th. In case you can’t count, that was yesterday, and here’s how it shaped up…
I tweeted the freeness of the book 3 or 4 times throughout the day, and I posted it on this blog. I also let my Facebook friends know, but more because I knew some of them got Kindle Fires for Christmas, and I feel like a bastard asking my friends to pay money for a book where they know all the characters. That was it. As far as I know, the free-ness wasn’t mentioned in any other tweets (I have a watch on the phrase “Redheaded Stepchild” on Twitter).
Yesterday, I had over 300 people download The Redheaded Stepchild on Kindle. The actual number is somewhere between 307 and 342. (It was 308 when I went to bed and 343 when I woke up, and I know I actually sold one for money a couple days before). I don’t care who you are, that is fucking huge. I mean, I’ve had some sales here and there, but I’ve never had more than 300 even look at my book’s page in one day before, and I usually knew who was buying on any given day. I probably know 300 people, but I don’t know the 300 people who downloaded my book yesterday.
I know, I know, I don’t make a dime on any of those 300 sales. Do I care? No. I know people like free shit. Hell, I like free shit. A lot. The point is, if all of those 300+ people like it, that’s 300+ people who positively review my book, tell their friends about it, or lend it to a Kindle friend. If all those 300+ hate it, I don’t lose any money when they ask for a refund (suckers) and I get 300+ negative reviews, and my book still has the Gigli effect (people will check it out just to see how bad it REALLY is).
But the bottom line is this – I have over 300 new readers, and books in hands is more important to me than money and sales. Not to mention, I still have 4 more promotion days from now until the end of March, so keep your eyes peeled if you missed this first promotional day. Or spend the $3 instead of getting that large coffee.