Quote:
Originally Posted by Cinisajoy
I know of one book they put on sale for 99 cents to make sure it went to #1.
So they lowered the price.
I never said they didn't make money just not near what they could have.
The price is now $10 so did they sell 10 times as many to make the same money?
|
Running the discount to get it to #1 can exponentially increase the sales that happen after the discount period is over. That's how the Amazon game is played - boost short-term sales at lower prices to increase exposure, then reap the benefits while the book stays at or near the top of the list after returning to full price.
Self-pubs in Kindle Select have been doing it since inception, but it only works if a) the book is at least decent, and b) it is in a popular genre. Trad pubs have a higher chance overall of hitting both of those points because their catalog tends to be more consistent. It's done not only to boost a particular book, but also authors with new books releasing. Romance publishers have been doing this for a few years now - price-dropping a backlist selection for an author to increase exposure for a new release.
This isn't a new thing, and if it wasn't working (at least enough of the time), they wouldn't keep doing it.