Kindle Unlimited countdown newbie question

[alhawke]

Kindle countdown deals cannot be made within 30 days of any price change. Apparently, that also involves the first day of book launch. So... Can't I just manually change the price lower than sales price any time I want on KU? What's the advantage of the "countdown" Deal anyway? And if you do the countdown, I think it only works in the US and excludes international. Right?

[Anarchist]

What's the advantage of the "countdown" Deal anyway?

I haven't run a Countdown in years, but I believe the benefits are:

- retaining a 70% cut
- seeing the regular price crossed out with the lowered price highlighted (along with an urgency prompt - "price goes up in 2 days")

[alhawke]

Thanks! So like 69cents instead of 39cents for a 99c promo? Not really very significant. Unless you get creative and run a book at $1.99. And I suppose you can change the price over a few days with the "countdown"--which I don't see much of an advantage too either.

I wonder if there's any other benefits to a countdown promotion? Like any extra advertising via Amazon?

[Post-Crisis D]

It's been a while since I've done one too, but doesn't it let you have steps?  For example, if you have a book at $4.99 and start the countdown deal at 99 cents in 4 steps, it would run at 99 cents for x hours, then go to $1.99, then $2.99, then $3.99 until it's back at $4.99.  So, the earlier you buy, the more you save.  And, if you missed the 99 cent deal, then you know you have to grab it at $1.99 or it will keep going higher the more you procrastinate.

[alhawke]

It's been a while since I've done one too, but doesn't it let you have steps?  For example, if you have a book at $4.99 and start the countdown deal at 99 cents in 4 steps, it would run at 99 cents for x hours, then go to $1.99, then $2.99, then $3.99 until it's back at $4.99.  So, the earlier you buy, the more you save.  And, if you missed the 99 cent deal, then you know you have to grab it at $1.99 or it will keep going higher the more you procrastinate.

Never done one. Did you have any success with a countdown in the past?
 
I was considering just running a future promo as "countdown" to get KDP to do all the start and stops for the promo. I'd just drop it to one price. One thing I see is there's a lot more control of pricing when it's a countdown or free day on KU--even by the hour for countdowns. You never know how long it will take for prices to change outside of these controls.

[writeway]

I don't usually do these. Never saw the point but some authors swear by them. I think it's best when you do it on a first-in-series book which makes it difficult for most since a lot of authors do the loss leader thing and a book has to be at least 2.99 to do a countdown deal. The "appeal" of it is supposed to be that the countdown to the book going back to full-price will make readers snatch it up. You need to promote the deal though. You can't just do a countdown deal and that's it. Those who claim they work push the deal as well.

If you have a series with a first book at 2.99 or up it might be worth it to try. I tried it on a few standalones through the years and didn't see a big deal. I can't do it on any of my series since my FIS are either free or 0.99.

[alhawke]

If you have a series with a first book at 2.99 or up it might be worth it to try. I tried it on a few standalones through the years and didn't see a big deal. I can't do it on any of my series since my FIS are either free or 0.99.

Thanks! But, no series here. Just one book on KU. Sounds like a "no" to a countdown deal.

[writeway]

If you have a series with a first book at 2.99 or up it might be worth it to try. I tried it on a few standalones through the years and didn't see a big deal. I can't do it on any of my series since my FIS are either free or 0.99.

Thanks! But, no series here. Just one book on KU. Sounds like a "no" to a countdown deal.

Yeah, I think you'd get more out of just doing the KU-free days for a standalone.

[LilyBLily]

I've done a lot of Kindle Countdowns and they work just fine (with ads placed in newsletters and elsewhere) at either 99 cents or free. The book can be a stand alone; it doesn't have to be a series title. The caveat is, there's usually no point in paying money to discount a book if you don't have a bunch more very like it to sell.

There may be other reasons to discount. For instance, you want lots of people to read your book or be aware of it and to heck with making a profit. Or maybe you want more ratings and reviews. Or maybe it's part of a strategy to energize sales of all your books with revolving discounts. All good.

   

[alhawke]

I've done a lot of Kindle Countdowns and they work just fine (with ads placed in newsletters and elsewhere) at either 99 cents or free.

Do you do the actual "countdown". Like 0.99 to 1.99 to 2.99 to 3.99 or something? I never got much of the point in doing this. I believe you can just enter your book as 99c for all the days. I know you can do that with free days with KU.

[LilyBLily]

Never bothered with the countdown since I was running paid ads of some sort, too, and what if I couldn't match the exact intermediate countdown price with a particular ad date? Although...to test the efficacy of a specific ad, that might be a tool.

[Bill Hiatt]

In the very beginning, countdown deals had an impact. But there were soon so many of them that visibility faded to near zero. I could get additional sales only be advertising, much as I would do with any other promo. In other words, I stopped seeing a bump from their countdown nature. I can't any reason to do them in preference to a regular promo.