So I run a marketing campaign for one of my books. A newsletter feature, AMS, Twitter, or Facebook ad, it doesn't matter.
The ad runs, and I get a couple of sales of that book. Typically not enough to actually pay for the ad in question, but I figure book marketing's more about brand awareness anyway, right?
My Amazon rank shoots up a couple of hundred thousand places for a day or two, and then... nothing. Crickets. No reviews are forthcoming, nobody recommends the book, and all indications are that nobody even reads them. Within a week, that book's rank on the Amazon US store is over a million again.
I guess it's not too surprising when I consider how I as a reader react to promos: when I see a promo for a book that looks interesting, I click through (which costs the author money, if they're running a pay-per-click ad). Unless it's a really interesting book, or a really good price, I probably don't buy it on the spot.
Instead, I head on over to Goodreads and add it to my "to-read-to-get" shelf (if I did buy it outright, or it was free, I instead add it to my "to-read-i-have-it" shelf).
As I finish books, I pick new ones to read off those shelves, and unless I'm really looking forward to reading a particular book, that next one is chosen at random. I have over 750 books on my combined "to-read" shelves, so it could be a long time before I buy/read that book I saw on promo. Sometimes a year or more.
At least after I have read it, though, I always leave a review!
So yes, it's understandable, if other readers have similar processes, but as an author, it can still be frustrating.
As a reader, how do you react when you see books on promotion?
As an author, have you also experienced my frustration?
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