The Lost Centurion: Bookbub–Day Three

April 28, 2017 Monica La Portabook promo, book series sell-through, bookbub promo, end of the permafree, paranormal romance promo, paranormal romance series, permafree promo, the lost centurionLeave a comment

This is the last Bookbub-related post for this week. I might come back next week with more data if the numbers change, but so far, the post promo isn’t looking anything to write back home.

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)

#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Paranormal > Ghosts
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Paranormal > Demons & Devils

This is it, in a few hours, The Lost Centurion will be out of the Top 100, and it will become invisible again.

Amazon Downloads: 671

Amazon Sales: $48.43

Smashwords Downloads: 91 Nook, 3 Smashwords, but the data is incomplete.

D2D Sales: $116.43 – $105.74= $10.69

Reviews: 0

Conclusions: After three days, I’m still losing money on this promo. The Lost Centurion will be out of permafree as soon as the downloads dwindle, and it will get back to $3.99 like the rest of the novels in the series. It’s time to find another strategy to promote my books. Permafree gets stale after a while and it isn’t sustainable in the long run. Back to the drawing board.

The Lost Centurion: The Day After the Bookbub

April 27, 2017April 27, 2017 Monica La Portaamazon, book promo results, bookbub, d2d sales, freebie reviews, indie book promotion, kindle, paranormal romance, paranormal series, permafree, reviews after a promo, smashwords, the end of the permafree, the lost centurionLeave a comment

Let’s start today’s post by saying that I am not impressed by the data I collected at the end of the first day post-Bookbub. The day’s earnings were lukewarm at best, something I’ve achieved by myself on a good day without any promo.

At the moment, ranking for The Lost Centurion have disappeared from its Amazon page, but the last time I checked, it was lingering at #40. I will add the latest ranking as soon as I have it.

Amazon Downloads: 1,865

Amazon sales: $38,11

I’ve realized only now that The Lost Centurion is still available through Smashwords and not D2D, while the rest of the Immortals series is sold wide through D2D.

Smashwords Downloads, data from the last three days: iTunes 1,575, Nook 1,032, Kobo 35. Frankly, those numbers have pleasantly surprised me. I didn’t expect the promo to be so successful wide. This is definitely uplifting and mitigate what I said a few sentences ago, at the beginning of this post.

D2D Sales: 105.74 – 95.39= $10.4

Reviews received on the day after the Bookbub: 3 – ranging from 5* to 1*, bringing the total number of reviews to 213, with an average of 4.2 out of 5.

I’ll post again tomorrow with a final report about this promo.

Amazon ranks reappeared:

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)

#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Paranormal > Vampires
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Paranormal > Angels
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Paranormal > Ghosts

The Lost Centurion: Bookbub–First Day Results

April 26, 2017 Monica La Portabookbub promotion, freebie promo, honest data, indie author marketing, Monica La Porta, paranormal romance promo, paranormal series, permafree book promo results, permafree book promo stats, permafree promo, the immortals, the lost centurion1 Comment

Here is the data at the end of the first day of The Lost Centurion’s Bookbub promo:

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)

#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Paranormal > Psychics
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > New Adult & College

So it went from #130 up to #14, not the podium, but at least in the first 20 free bestsellers page.

Amazon downloads: 8,417

Amazon sales: 33 books (mainly in the Immortals series) = $79.17 earned on April 25th.

Wide downloads: I’m waiting for D2D’s results.

Wide sales: I’m waiting for D2D’s results, but as of yesterday, the whole month’s earnings totaled $95.39.

Reviews: 1 review off the bat: 4*, lucky number 210 (It’s probably from the Freebooksy promo)

Conclusions so far: In the past, I made the Bookbub money back on the first day, but as I said in yesterday’s post, The Lost Centurion has been free for a while, and I’ve promoted it at least once every other month. Plus, it’s 2:01 am in the US as I write, and there are already 419 downloads on Amazon. I’ll report later in the day with more stats.

The Lost Centurion’s Stats, Pre-Bookbub

April 25, 2017April 25, 2017 Monica La Portabook advertisement, bookbub, end of the permafree, first free in series, freebooksy, freebooksy results, indie book marketing, last free promo, marketing strategies for book, paranormal romance, permafree promo data, pre-bookbub numbers, the lost centurionLeave a comment

Before the Bookbub starts, and with the Freebooksy just ended, I’ll write down a few numbers to keep the data straight.

First of all, a few details about this promo. The Lost Centurion has been permafree for a while, and I’ve promoted this title several times. Recently, free downloads have dwindled to a handful a day, and a change of promotional strategy was called for. In the indie-publishing world, there’s no time to linger, we must study the market and make changes rapidly.

Monday, April 24th: my paid promo with Freebooksy totaled 923 downloads. Overall, a good result for a book that has been promoted several times already and it has been free for probably 2 years (I’ll have to find out when exactly I put The Lost Centurion for free the first time.)

Monday, April 25th: at 12:01 am, The Lost Centurion is #146 in the Free Amazon Best Seller List, #1 in demons & devils, psychic, and angels.

I paid $100 for the Freebooksy promo, and $226 for the Bookbub.

Money earned this month, before the Bookbub starts: $565.78 on Amazon, and $95.39 wide. So far, this has been a poor month for sales, and it’s the end of it.

Now, I wait for the Bookbub to start…

Monday, April 25th, at 2:05 am:

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #130 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)

#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Paranormal > Angels
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Paranormal > Psychics
#2 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Paranormal > Ghosts

The Lost Centurion’s Last Hurrah

April 24, 2017 Monica La Portabookbub, end of the permafree, first in a series free, free promotion, free-book promotion, freebooksy, indie publiishing, indie publiishing strategies, marketing for indie authors, monica la oirta, paid books, paranormal romance, paranormal series, the immortals, the lost centurion2 Comments

In the indie authors’ world, smart minds have been wondering for a while if the era of the permafree has passed its prime. At the moment, I can’t remember when I first put The Lost Centurion for free, but it’s definitely longer than a year, probably two. The number of free downloads per day has dramatically decreased, which translates in fewer sales for the rest of the series. When I was accepted for a Bookbub for today, I decided it was time to put The Lost Centurion back to paid as soon as the promotion ends. Because Bookbub accepted me just before I was about to leave for two weeks, I only had two days to look for additional advertising venues, and only Freebooksy was available. Bookgorilla was all taken for the month, and Robin Reads rejected me. So, I stacked a Freebooksy yesterday, April the 24th, Bookbub today, April the 25th, and I’ll send my newsletter on the following day. I am in Europe as I write, and Bookbub will start in six hours. I’ll write back in a few days to report final numbers. Meanwhile, thanks to the 936 downloads brought by Freebooksy, The Lost Centurion starts at #146 in the Amazon Free chart, and it’s #1 in a few categories: angels, psychics, demons and devils. I don’t expect spectacular results with Bookbub because this is the third time this title is promoted by them (the first time it was by itself, and the second as part of a boxed set), but it’s a good way to end a permafree nonetheless. Talk to you soon.

My First Bookbub: The Lost Centurion & The Promo that Almost wasn’t…

April 11, 2016 Monica La Portaancient rome, betrayal, bookbub, centurions, free books promotion, free paranormal romance, immortals, love, lust, modern rome, rome, the lost centurion, vampires2 Comments

On Saturday, April 9th, year of the Lord 2016, I finally got a Bookbub promotion. After submitting once a month for a few months, someone took pity on me and decided to give me a chance with The Lost Centurion (The Immortals Book 1) . Vivid dreams of fame and glory filled my mind as I promptly paypaled them my fee for entering indie author Valhalla. For two weeks, I agonized about all the changes I had to make on all the books I’ve published so far. New newsletter webforms were created for the occasion. No words were written whatsoever. The book that should’ve been halfway finished has been forgotten. Spring has come. The much anticipated day comes as well… and Amazon decides that’s the day it won’t be refreshing ranks until late in the evening. For several hours, The Lost Centurion is stuck at #1500, when it should have been between #5 and #10 on Free Kindle Store. When its true rank finally shows, the book it’s at #6, but it’s also the middle of the night on the East Coast, so it missed all the visibility a whole day would have granted. Let’s say that a few chosen words were uttered during Saturday and that I considered taking on a new hobby: drinking. Fortunately, The Lost Centurion is still on the first page of Free Kindle Store, sitting now at #13. I’m still sober.

The Lost Centurion’s new look

August 25, 2015 Monica La Portablurb, freebies, immortals, kindle freebie, new book cover, paranormal romance, permafree book, photoshop, the lost centurion, vampiresLeave a comment

Having finished writing The Lonely Wolf, I am in between projects, so I decided to give The Lost Centurion a makeover. I am still undecided on the background color for the cover, and I’m tinkering with the blurb. Thoughts?

The Lost Centurion

The chains of Love are stronger than the bonds of Revenge

Marcus has sworn to avenge his wife’s death—even if it takes an eternity to hunt down the vampire who murdered her.

Once a Roman Centurion, Marcus is now immortal and, for the past two thousand years, impervious to human emotions but for his hatred for the vampire race. Until the night he rescues one of them, a frail newborn vampling, Diana, and she becomes his responsibility.

Hunted by vampires, Marcus must choose between avenging his dead wife or saving Diana from the same man who ruined his life. Will the power of love win over his desire for revenge? Bewitched by the Amalfi moon, he soon discovers life might still surprise him.

The Lost Centurion: Ebook Escapes Giveaway

June 22, 2014 Monica La Portaancient rome, ebook escapes, giveaway, italy, lori palle, modern rome, paranormal romance, the immortals series, the lost centurion, urban fantasy set in Rome2 Comments

The Lost Centurion is this Weekend Spotlight & Giveaway at Ebook Escapes, Lori Palle’s blog. Stop by for a taste of Marcus and Diana, read about the inspiration behind the series, and try your luck at the Rafflecopter!