A while back, I published To Catch a Billionaire Dragon, a
short contemporary romance. As I blogged at the time, I wrote and published it
in three parts, each with its own story arc and cliff-hangers at the ends of
parts one and two. I set the first book free – on all retailers other than
Amazon, which refused to make it permafree.
The first part was downloaded really well from the start.
And at first, parts two and three got some attention too, although not nearly
in proportion to how much the first part was downloaded. In recent month,
however, even the free downloads have dwindled to one a day and almost no one
buys the rest of the book.
The experiment was useful though. I’ve learned that people
like to download books for free. I’ve learned that readers liked the first
part, some enough to buy the rest. But I also learned that nothing enrages some
readers as much as having to pay for something when they have got something
else for free first – even when they really liked what they had got. I also learned
that having a book permanently free doesn’t lead to great sales for the rest of
the books. However, it might have worked better if Amazon had made the first
part free.
Because the book in three parts doesn’t move as much as it
used to, some changes are required. So I’ve published it as a complete set, all
three parts together. It’s only available on Amazon for now, and the separate
parts are still on sale too. I will unpublish the separate parts later, so that
the readers won’t be confused by them. Currently, the book is only $0.99/£0.99,
so if you like quick romantic reads, this is a chance for you. And the first
part is still available on my website for free too. Take a look!
