How do I set price to zero at Amazon?

Keith Brooke · 04-01-2011, 06:11 AM

Any suggestions for how I could put an ebook up for free at Amazon? There doesn't appear to be an option to set it any lower than 99 cents, and yet lots of indies seem to have books up for free... Am I missing something obvious, or is it simply a matter of setting it to 99 cents, putting it up for free elsewhere and hoping Amazon will price-match?

Keith Brooke
infinity plus ebooks

ATDrake · 04-01-2011, 06:21 AM

The second option.

Technically, the DTP books can't be set to free, and the only time they show up that way is if they're free elsewhere and Amazon price-matches under their "don't have a lower price elsewhere" clause that goes with one of their royalty rate options. Amazon also often doesn't bother to price-match and it only happens to a very few books, as far as I can tell.

Very occasionally, a smaller publisher/indie might possibly be able to get their book listed free for a limited time.

I know that at least two indie authors and two small-press publishers got their Kindle editions set to 0.00 for Read an E-book Week, though I've no idea whether this is by prearrangement or it was the pricedrop matching thing.

Also, I hope you don't take this the wrong way because I like your website and all, and this is probably just a personal thing, but when I see authors/publishers/bloggers manually edit in links to their wares at the very bottom of their posts, it's kind of a major turn-off.

I have forum sigs disabled in my user settings and when it looks like people are acting to get around my viewing preferences to push their product, it actually pushes me significantly towards the "never buy anything from these people or visit their site" side of the might-possibly-consider-this equation.

Anyway, hope this helps, and probably the best way to give away promotional free books is just to give them away directly.

mr ploppy · 04-01-2011, 07:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATDrake

The second option.

Technically, the DTP books can't be set to free, and the only time they show up that way is if they're free elsewhere and Amazon price-matches under their "don't have a lower price elsewhere" clause that goes with one of their royalty rate options. Amazon also often doesn't bother to price-match and it only happens to a very few books, as far as I can tell.

Someone in here, when I asked this last year said Amazon removed their 99p ebook because it was free on Smashwords. Though there's probably nothing to stop you putting it back once you delete the Smashwords competition.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATDrake

I have forum sigs disabled in my user settings and when it looks like people are acting to get around my viewing preferences to push their product, it actually pushes me significantly towards the "never buy anything from these people or visit their site" side of the might-possibly-consider-this equation.

I would guess that was more a case of not knowing how to add a sig rather than any sinister plot to circumvent sig-strippers.

It's under User CP and Settings and Options.

mr ploppy · 04-01-2011, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keith Brooke

Any suggestions for how I could put an ebook up for free at Amazon?

What do you hope to achieve by doing this and do you want to put a time limit on how long it is free?

HarryT · 04-01-2011, 07:24 AM

Amazon are running a business; the "deal" is that they sell your book, and you pay them a percentage of the price of the book for doing so. What's the incentive for them to give it away free?

ATDrake · 04-01-2011, 07:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

I would guess that was more a case of not knowing how to add a sig rather than any sinister plot to circumvent sig-strippers.

I know, but it just tends to give a lingering bad impression when I see people doing it here and I thought I'd give a heads-up since I do like the OP's old website and am interested in the new books.

After all, this isn't the Amazon discussion boards without the auto-sig feature and where nearly all the authors do it (though it's especially annoying when they have a multi-line ad for their stuff tacked on to the end of each and every post in a single thread).

Anyway, if the OP wants to do a giveaway without possibly getting his books kicked out of the Amazon store, there's always the possibility of doing it via offering Smashwords coupons sufficient to take the "regular" price down to 0.00.

Keith Brooke · 04-01-2011, 07:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATDrake

The second option.

Thanks - that's what I'd thought, but just wondered if I'd missed something.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATDrake

Also, I hope you don't take this the wrong way because I like your website and all, and this is probably just a personal thing, but when I see authors/publishers/bloggers manually edit in links to their wares at the very bottom of their posts, it's kind of a major turn-off.

Ah - sorry about that! Couldn't see a way to append a sig to my post...

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATDrake

Anyway, hope this helps, and probably the best way to give away promotional free books is just to give them away directly.

Yes, we'll be giving this one away free direct from our website too. It'd be great to get it up on Amazon, though.

Keith Brooke · 04-01-2011, 07:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

I would guess that was more a case of not knowing how to add a sig rather than any sinister plot to circumvent sig-strippers.

It's under User CP and Settings and Options.

Yes: newbie clumsiness! Funny, though: I can't see the sig option in there, either now or when I looked yesterday...

mr ploppy · 04-01-2011, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keith Brooke

Yes: newbie clumsiness! Funny, though: I can't see the sig option in there, either now or when I looked yesterday...

There might be some sort of minimum number of posts before you're allowed to add a sig.

Keith Brooke · 04-01-2011, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Amazon are running a business; the "deal" is that they sell your book, and you pay them a percentage of the price of the book for doing so. What's the incentive for them to give it away free?

I don't have an answer for that. All I do know is that an awful lot of indie books do appear for free on Amazon, so clearly Amazon are happy that somehow it fits their business model and there must be a way to do it. I think the benefit for Amazon is that it attracts a different kind of audience who might also buy books in the same visit.

ATDrake · 04-01-2011, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keith Brooke

Ah - sorry about that! Couldn't see a way to append a sig to my post...

No worries. You're new and it's not like you're actually ignoring the self-promo guidelines (like a number of other people unfortunately seem to do). Like I said, it's just a personal preference.

There's a minimum post number/time as member period before people can use sigs. I think it's something like 2 weeks and 10 posts?

Keith Brooke · 04-01-2011, 07:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

What do you hope to achieve by doing this and do you want to put a time limit on how long it is free?

I'm putting together a free anthology with contributions by infinity plus authors and some of our friends: it includes a few novel extracts, several complete short stories and a novelette. The intention is that it should work as a book in its own right but should also introduce the authors to new readers - pretty much what we used to do on the old infinity plus website where we put stories and extracts online for free in the hope that all of us, writers and readers alike, would get some benefit.

Keith Brooke · 04-01-2011, 07:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATDrake

No worries. You're new and it's not like you're actually ignoring the self-promo guidelines (like a number of other people unfortunately seem to do). Like I said, it's just a personal preference.

There's a minimum post number/time as member period before people can use sigs. I think it's something like 2 weeks and 10 posts?

Thanks - I'll be more patient, and keep an eye out for when I pass whatever the threshold may be!

mr ploppy · 04-01-2011, 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keith Brooke

Keith Brooke
infinity plus ebooks

You might want to fix your default index.htm file since you have several links that point to it

Keith Brooke · 04-01-2011, 07:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

You might want to fix your default index.htm file since you have several links that point to it

Fix? What's broken...?

04-01-2011, 06:11 AM	#1
Keith Brooke Member Posts: 14 Karma: 1366 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: UK Device: Kindle	How do I set price to zero at Amazon? Any suggestions for how I could put an ebook up for free at Amazon? There doesn't appear to be an option to set it any lower than 99 cents, and yet lots of indies seem to have books up for free... Am I missing something obvious, or is it simply a matter of setting it to 99 cents, putting it up for free elsewhere and hoping Amazon will price-match? Keith Brooke infinity plus ebooks

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04-01-2011, 06:21 AM	#2
ATDrake Wizzard Posts: 11,517 Karma: 33048258 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Roundworld Device: Kindle 2 International, Sony PRS-T1, BlackBerry PlayBook, Acer Iconia	The second option. Technically, the DTP books can't be set to free, and the only time they show up that way is if they're free elsewhere and Amazon price-matches under their "don't have a lower price elsewhere" clause that goes with one of their royalty rate options. Amazon also often doesn't bother to price-match and it only happens to a very few books, as far as I can tell. Very occasionally, a smaller publisher/indie might possibly be able to get their book listed free for a limited time. I know that at least two indie authors and two small-press publishers got their Kindle editions set to 0.00 for Read an E-book Week, though I've no idea whether this is by prearrangement or it was the pricedrop matching thing. Also, I hope you don't take this the wrong way because I like your website and all, and this is probably just a personal thing, but when I see authors/publishers/bloggers manually edit in links to their wares at the very bottom of their posts, it's kind of a major turn-off. I have forum sigs disabled in my user settings and when it looks like people are acting to get around my viewing preferences to push their product, it actually pushes me significantly towards the "never buy anything from these people or visit their site" side of the might-possibly-consider-this equation. Anyway, hope this helps, and probably the best way to give away promotional free books is just to give them away directly.

04-01-2011, 07:24 AM	#5
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Amazon are running a business; the "deal" is that they sell your book, and you pay them a percentage of the price of the book for doing so. What's the incentive for them to give it away free?

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