Its much easier to understand why so many authors are giving away books for free if you take a look at the bestsellers in the Fantasy Section of the Kindle Store -
- #1 is Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb, which is currently free.
- #8 is Royal Assassin, the next book in the series after Assassin’s Apprentice. It retails in the Kindle Store for $6.39.
- #11 is Assassin’s Quest, which is the last book in the series, and also retails for $6.39.
Also, Fool’s Errand is #44 at the moment. This book is the first in a separate Robin Hobb series that is a continuation of the FarSeer series (assassin’s quest etc.) so you can see the impact is pretty impressive.
And if that isn’t enough proof,
- #3 is His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik (also free).
- #10 is Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik (it’s not free); and
- #17 is Black Powder War by Naomi Novik (this one isn’t free either).
Naomi Novik also has a couple more of her books in the top 50 – #46 is Victory of Eagles, and #34 is Empire of Ivory.
So the free book strategy works really well when you give away the first book in a series. Just make sure that the official Kindle blog and other blogs like mine know about it so we can get the word out to Kindle owners.
Filed under: publishing | Tagged: strategy
Hi! I know you’re reading through Hobb’s books right now, so just wanted to give you a tip: don’t go straight to Fool’s Errand after Assassin’s Quest! There’s another trilogy between them, called the Liveship traders (starts with “Ship of Magic”) that happens in the same world and although it’s not a Fitz story IMHO you’ll spoil a very nice surprise in the 3rd trilogy if you don’t read them first.
thanks. i might still skip them because i’m short of time. however, thanks for the tip.
[...] So what about about lists specifically compiled with the Kindle in mind? Check out Free Kindle Books within iReader Review, as well as the Book Monk search tool, which aids quests for both the free and paid varieties, including print books. Shown to the left is Assassin’s Apprentice, by Robin Hobb, #7 in the K store and currently free. iReview has just published some free-books updates here and here. [...]
[...] is what we saw with the Robin Hobb and Naomi Novik giveaways in March (my original impact of free post on March 24th) - In the Fantasy Section of the Kindle Store: 1) Assassin’s Apprentice by [...]