A superfast ebook giveaway
I had another Amazon ebook giveaway this evening. This time it was two copies of A Fine Death.
Odds were 1 in 10, meaning that the logical number of entrants for determining two winners was between 11 and 20. However, there were 26 entrants. That suggests that the entries came so fast, some possibly from bots, that Amazon’s computers couldn’t close the door fast enough.
Strange, but exciting if all the entries were from real live people.
Total time from the start email to the closing email was 32 minutes, even though I’d set the deadline out more than two days.
That sounds great, but 32 minutes isn’t the real story because at least half that time went to confirming the winners and having them claim their prizes. Based on what I saw on my Giveaway page, I’d say the real event lasted less than 15 minutes, maybe even less than 10.
So people like free and the Amazon Giveaway program is very effective at giving away Amazon products, especially on Saturday night. Whether it’s effective in helping authors promote their work and find new readers is a harder question to answer at this early stage.
I’m going to let the dust settle for a few days and see if clarity presents itself before I do another giveaway like this. Book giveaways are fun, but they do have a price for the giver, and surprise, surprise, authors are always looking for that elusive return on investment.