I have to work Thursday but what I’d rather do is check my Amazon dashboard every thirty seconds on day two of the promo. Currently I’m # 286 in the Kindle Free Store.
Best Sellers Rank: #286 Free in Kindle Store
#1 in Military Thrillers (Kindle Store)
#2 in Technothrillers (Kindle Store)
#2 in Political Thrillers & Suspense
Previously the highest I ever got was # 3,692.
Of course, I have to wonder what kind of numbers the top ten are pulling. So as of 11:30 p.m. the dashboard says 700 orders have been processes. Interestingly one (and only one) of those orders was a paperback book bought for $9.99. Kaching! And even more absurd I sold one solitary page on Kindle Unlimited today. I think that’s about $0.005.
Well, this is panning out better than I expected. At this rate I guess I should have a few thousand orders when all is said and done. So, let’s say the first step is on course to be completed successfully.
Now comes the part that is completely unknown. Will having a few thousand copies of my book out in the world improve sales? According to the experts, it should. Of course, assuming the promo readers like it. If they don’t like it then maybe it will actually decrease my sales. But currently I’m sort of in the dark about what to look for and how quickly I should expect any reaction to the promo. But, being an engineer, I will immediately start building a spread sheet and perform a statistical analysis comparing the pre-promo and post-promo sales numbers. I’ll submit the report to the ghosts of the “Big Three” (Asimov, Clarke and Heinlein) and await their comments. But I will say I think I’ve acquitted myself of my responsibilities vis-à-vis marketing my book. From now on it’s up to the big dumb reading public out there to hear about my book and buy it. The free ride will be over after September 13th and they’ll have to plunk down ten US simoleons ($9.99) for a paperback or a fin ($4.99) for an imaginary copy. I think I’ve been more than generous with my promos and price reductions and general easy-going attitude about receiving the moolah. So, wake up readers, you’re on notice!
My biggest real problem is that my lawn mowers are both on the side lines. The ride-on mower needs an oil change (since last year) but I’m too lazy and disorganized to do it. So, I’ve been using my 2016-vintage Murray 20” walk-behind mower with Side Discharge, 7” wheels, and Briggs & Stratton 300E series 125 cc OHV engine. But the damn thing is falling apart at the seams. The lower handle is wobbling around and the wheels look like they’re gonna fall off. But being the lazy good for nothing I am, instead of tightening it up, I took some painters tape and tried to hold the lower handle onto the sleeve that it fits into. You know, it didn’t work. So, after work tomorrow I’m going to try and reshape the lower handle so it wants to fit into the sleeves. If that fails, I’ll probably go to Home Depot and buy a new one. After all, this one has been working continuously through the era of Trump and that is not an easy thing to do, I can tell you that.