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Old 06-16-2011, 12:20 AM   #1
Harper Kingsley
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Can you make an ebook free on Amazon?

I decided to give "Little Boy Blue" out for free, but I don't know how to do that on Amazon. I listed it for $0.99 because that was the least amount possible, but I don't know if I'm going to get in trouble for that because I've got it free at Smashwords and on Goodreads.

Can I do a freebie, or is it okay to leave it $0.99? I mean, I know they have that whole "Seen It Somewhere Cheaper" thing and I hate getting yelled at
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Old 06-16-2011, 02:14 AM   #2
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Is it published through KDP? Last I checked, KDP had no way to offer a freebie.
But ask Amazon support directly.

Perhaps you can pull it from Amazon until Smashwords starts distributing through them?
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Old 06-16-2011, 02:31 AM   #3
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Perhaps you can pull it from Amazon until Smashwords starts distributing through them?
Smashwords takes forever to post anything anywhere else, and I kind of don't like the way they make some of my stuff look I just thought it would be cool to give something away free.

Though I think I've seen it where some people have different versions of their ebook on Amazon. How come they don't get in trouble?
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Old 06-16-2011, 01:39 PM   #4
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Amazon watches other retailers, and price matches if your book there falls below its price on Amazon. Some people have attempted to exploit this by listing free elsewhere (through smashwords, distributing) and waiting for Amazon to spot the book free and lower the price to match.

I read at least some people have had their ebook pulled trying that though. I wouldn't exactly call it a foolproof plan.

Quote:
Perhaps you can pull it from Amazon until Smashwords starts distributing through them?
If Smashwords starts distributing through them. We're nearly two years since smash signed an agreement, and the last mention of Amazon on their blog comes in an april fool's joke. Whatever the hangup is, it must be a doozy.
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Old 06-16-2011, 01:57 PM   #5
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There is no way to make a publication free on Amazon for small folks such as you and me. In rare instances, Amazon lowers the price to $0 on their own but that's temporary and unpredictable.

That's why I distribute free OSNOVA publications outside of Amazon: in my store, here on Mobileread and just uploading it on Google Docs with public access.

Last edited by osnova; 06-16-2011 at 02:00 PM.
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Old 06-16-2011, 02:06 PM   #6
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The deal with Amazon is that they operate a business and sell your book in exchange for a percentage of the retail price. How would they make a profit from giving away your book free of charge?
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Old 06-16-2011, 03:27 PM   #7
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The deal with Amazon is that they operate a business and sell your book in exchange for a percentage of the retail price. How would they make a profit from giving away your book free of charge?
Look in the right-hand column. I imagine they still manage to keep their doors open the same way all businesses who give away freebies (or who discount, which is the same thing on a different scale) manage. They draw people into the ecosphere with freebies in hopes that they buy other non-freebies as well.

The platform is still new, but one day Amazon will let indies like ourselves list free. And that won't convert them into a charity.
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Old 06-16-2011, 05:15 PM   #8
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So should I leave it or just pull it off Amazon? Or should I go around making it $0.99 everywhere? I'm such a wuss... I just don't want to get in trouble.
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Old 06-16-2011, 06:16 PM   #9
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The deal with Amazon is that they operate a business and sell your book in exchange for a percentage of the retail price. How would they make a profit from giving away your book free of charge?
The same way the writer would — by selling other things they have written. Free books would also be good for Amazon as a whole, it might even sell a few extra Kindles if people know they can fill it up with free stuff to justify the price of the hardware.
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Old 06-16-2011, 06:23 PM   #10
Harper Kingsley
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I hate labels!

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The same way the writer would — by selling other things they have written. Free books would also be good for Amazon as a whole, it might even sell a few extra Kindles if people know they can fill it up with free stuff to justify the price of the hardware.
See, that's what I was thinking. I'm giving away one book so people will give my other stuff a chance. It's just so hard when your stuff isn't exactly stuck in one genre. It makes it hard to get new people to even look at it because they just see "Science Fiction" or "Fantasy" or "Romance" or whatever, when maybe that's just a tiny piece of the story.

But Amazon is the way to go, and alienating them isn't exactly smart if you want to get anywhere with The People
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Old 06-16-2011, 06:40 PM   #11
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I'd leave it on Amazon at 99c, anything's better than pulling it completely. I'm assuming it costs nothing to list it on Amazon, if nothing else it's keeping your book(s) out there.
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Old 06-17-2011, 07:06 AM   #12
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Leave it at 99 cents on Amazon, and list it free else where is the best you can do. I did that with my book, and eventually Amazon noticed and made my book free (but only on USA store, in UK it still costs money)
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Old 06-17-2011, 02:17 PM   #13
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Well, I went to the Kindle boards, which were kind of hard to deal with because you ask a question and some people just kind of assume you know what they're talking about because they had a conversation about the same thing 12 months ago...

Anyways, I was thinking that I could put some extras in the Amazon version. Is there a way to replace the copy I've got up with another one or do I have to unpublish then republish? Then I can be like "This is the Super Deluxe Edition" or something.
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Old 06-17-2011, 02:51 PM   #14
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Well, I went to the Kindle boards, which were kind of hard to deal with because you ask a question and some people just kind of assume you know what they're talking about because they had a conversation about the same thing 12 months ago...

Anyways, I was thinking that I could put some extras in the Amazon version. Is there a way to replace the copy I've got up with another one or do I have to unpublish then republish? Then I can be like "This is the Super Deluxe Edition" or something.
Just log in at the kdp.amazon.com web site, and you can edit the book details, including uploading a new version of the file.
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Old 06-17-2011, 06:18 PM   #15
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Just log in at the kdp.amazon.com web site, and you can edit the book details, including uploading a new version of the file.
Thank you!!!
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