KDP Promo Days Reviewed: His Eyes

So my free promotion using Amazon KDP Select for my short speculative fiction piece, His Eyes, has now ended. Here are the stats:

-3 days (July 4-6)
-76 downloads
-Reached #2 on Free Teen/YA Science Fiction, Romance, Dystopian
-Reached #36 on Free Teen/YA Science Fiction
-Reached #4136 for Kindle Free

Although I applied to several websites that feature free promos, only two posted my event. I also got two tweets from these reaching in total ~68K followers (plus my own 780 followers). I myself was able to follow my self-inflicted rule of tweeting a max of 2 tweets per day regarding my event. I picked up two more "To-Read"s on Goodreads.

What I learned so far:
-Many websites that feature free promos without charge have rules about which books they are willing to post - rules such as a minimum amount of positive reviews and an average star rating.
-Many websites that feature free promos without charge require a 10-14 day advance request
-Advertising is difficult work - there is a fine line between informative and convincing and annoying.
    -Targeting audiences that would be more likely to download what I am offering would likely be more effective than just broadcasting widely to anyone and everyone willing to listen. I just need to figure out the most effective way to do this in the future.
     -You get what you pay for - free advertising is great but you have no control and no guarantees 

Check back later for a recap and to learn if my free days improved sales or gained more reviews of His Eyes. Still trying to decide if I should use KDP Select for my upcoming novel, Beyond the Reach of Judgement, a vampire romance for a New Adult age group.

A trial with KDP Free Promo Days - His Eyes July 4-6

Starting July 4 and ending July 6, my short speculative fiction story, His Eyes, will be available for free download via the Amazon KDP Select program. I am considering this the first real test of the KDP program before deciding if I will enroll my upcoming paranormal romance novel, Beyond the Reach of Judgement, into this program upon completion of final edits and formatting.

My first trial was back in May when I did a single day promo on Cinco de Mayo with very little advertising other than a few Twitter Posts and a few Goodreads Forum posts that day before and the day of the event. It really was a spur of the moment, poorly prepped thing. Despite this, I had 25 downloads in 24 hours. I also got to #35 in Teen Science Fiction Free and in the top 100 for Free Short Stories during the promotion. I consider this a small success given the genre and short length of His Eyes.

This time I've stepped it up a notch - this post included. I found multiple sites that list KDP Free days for no cost. I found this lists on two sites:

http://ebookbooster.com/

http://authormarketingclub.com/members/submit-your-book/

I will plan to tweet the upcoming promotion at least daily but not more than twice daily, in attempt to increase awareness of my promo days. I've created a Goodreads Event regarding my upcoming free days which has 100 invitees. I also posted details of my free days on several Goodreads forums.

Stay tuned for updates as the promo gets underway!

His Eyes

Anya is a teenager of the future. She grew up in a world which warned her of the "Wild Days" of the turn of the century; a world that uses law to enforce morality and government to determine the definition of that morality. Her father is in prison for cheating on her mother, and her mother no longer knows she exists. But when she meets Jackson, none of that matters. What will happen when she gets lost in those thoughtful dark eyes and forgets all else?

http://amzn.com/B00CE0QOOU