I got the message a little late this year, but yesterday I finally received my email from Smashwords asking if I would like to participate in "Read an E-book Week 2015."
Unlike other promotions, I have no problem getting behind this one
because I already participate in multiple efforts to promote reading in
general. I read to kids on a regular basis. I also participate in field
trips for preschoolers to check out the local library. I help with book
fairs. I try to participate in anything that promotes reading.
I
truly believe we need to promote reading as much as humanly possible. It's
sad how far reading has declined over the years. One of the worst
comments I hear on a regular basis is, "I'll wait for the movie to come
out because I don't like reading." I know more people who use their
Kindle Fire to play games than to read books. As a result, I meet a lot
of kids who don't like reading because the adults in their lives do not
read. They fail to understand how important reading is, until it is too
late. Take it from me, a person who made it to college before I realized
I had the reading level of a child: reading is very important!
If
you're an author on Smashwords, consider participating. My results from from last year were pretty good. I saw about a 20% increase in sales. However, I believe we have to look beyond sales and really promote reading. If you are
already participating, great job! Let's keep promoting Read an E-book
Week. Readers, there are thousands of books for sale at discounted
prices, and many are free. Browse through the catalogs. Find something
you like. Above all else, keep on reading. Have a wonderful week!
For those of you interested, my book, Beyond Heights and Depths, is free this week with coupon code: RW100.
This past week I participated in Read an E-book Week 2014. My book, Beyond Heights and Depths, was free on Smashwords. As I have written before, I have had trouble getting any promotions going on Smashwords. The results of previous promotions were terrible. However, I had no problem getting behind this one because I already participate in multiple efforts to promote reading in general.
I love to promote reading because I believe reading is incredibly important. When Smashwords emailed me about participating in Read an E-book Week, it was a no-brainer for me to participate. I really wasn't sure what to expect. I don't know what it is about Smashwords, but giving away books with them is one of the most difficult tasks imaginable. I have never reached anywhere near the kind of success on Smashwords as I have through other channels.
However, I was pleasantly surprised to see a small increase in this promotion. I gave away somewhere around 20% more during Read an E-book Week than I did during the previous promotion only a few weeks earlier. In my opinion, the major difference was Smashword's involvement with the promotion. Normally, there is no involvement on their end. In fact, I am pretty sure I have never seen another promotional event on Smashwords besides this one. Overall, I am pleased with the results, but please keep in mind that I had very low expectations for this promotion to begin with.
How about you? Did anyone else participate in Read an E-book Week? What kind of results did you achieve? I would love to hear about your successes or frustrations with running promotions on Smashwords. So far, I have not found anyone who has had great success with Smashwords. Tell me about your experiences. Thank you everyone and have a great week!
Life sure is funny, sometimes. Last week I discussed my failures promoting my book through Smashwords. Specifically, I ran into problems promoting my book with the coupon feature. I had no intentions of giving up on Smashwords yet, but I was unsure of what to do next. Smashwords does not have many of the options or benefits of promoting on other sites.
A few days ago, I received an email from Smashwords asking if I would participate in "Read an E-book Week 2014." Unlike other promotions, I have no problem getting behind this one because I already participate in multiple efforts to promote reading in general. I read to kids on a regular basis. I also participate in field trips for preschoolers to check out the local library. I help with book fairs. I try to participate in anything that promotes reading.
I believe we need to promote reading as much as humanly possible. It's sad how far reading has declined over the years. One of the worst comments I hear on a regular basis is, "I'll wait for the movie to come out because I don't like reading." I know more people who use their Kindle Fire to play games than to read books. As a result, I meet a lot of kids who don't like reading because the adults in their lives do not read. They fail to understand how important reading is, until it is too late. Take it from me, a person who made it to college before I realized I had the reading level of a child: reading is very important!
If you're an author on Smashwords, consider participating. If you are already participating, great job! Let's keep promoting Read an E-book Week. Readers, there are thousands of books for sale at discounted prices, and many are free. Browse through the catalogs. Find something you like. Above all else, keep on reading. Have a wonderful week!
For those of you interested, my book, Beyond Heights and Depths, is free this week with coupon code: RW100.
