‘For Free’ in this instance, means you’ll have to enroll your book in Amazon’s KDP Select Program.

This ‘free’ concept might be a little confusing for you, so please allow me to explain more about the program and why giving away your book for no-cost, is a good idea.

KDP Select is Amazon’s way of telling authors, usually Indie authors, “We want you to succeed. We want to give you marketing options.”

When you sign up for KDP Select, you enter into a 90-day program. During that time you may not publish your book on any other platform, and by *other platforms* I mean no Smashwords, no Barnes & Noble, no Kobo, none of that.

You have to be exclusive to Amazon for that 90 day period. In return, you get the option to give away your book for free.

Okay, so, let’s say your book is priced at $4.99 and you want to promote it. You choose the dates, and you get five days every 90 days to give it away for free. You can decide when and for how long you want to give your e-book for free.

You might want to promote the e-book for one day or five days in one go.

Every book is different, and I can’t say I have the best formula for each book, it’s all about experimentation.

Sometimes, it’s great to have it free for one day. Sometimes, it’s great to have a launch week and then use the whole five days at once. But keep in mind that you can have one or two days every month if you space it out over the entire 90 days.

Here’s a simple truth: people like to get quality products for free.

If your book is an excellent book (and I’m sure it is), you can tell them: “My book will be free on this day.” If you remind them more than one on that day, they will most likely pick it up.

Keep in mind that there’s a good chance that if they enjoy the book, they’ll leave a review or even subscribe to your newsletter or email list, just don’t forget to ask them to write a review or subscribe to your list.  This tactic will help you get access to a new subscriber base and pick up fan along the way, as well as boost your book after the free period is over. Reviews are an author’s bread and butter, after all.