image by Maklay62

If you’ve shopped for e-books lately, you’ll see plenty of 99¢ deals. How did they come about, and are they something you want to try for your book? I’ll share the ones I know about and are connected to some of my books.

Simple and Direct

The publisher or author who has published an e-book through KDP  submits a form to lower the price to 99¢ on Amazon. (Kindle Direct Publishing) This is a good time for authors to purchase several of their Kindle book gifts for future giveaways and other promotions.

Pre-Order Promotions 

Publishers and authors sometimes put books on sale for 99¢ in the pre-order periods to get books off to a good start. (See the example below for my book.)

KDP Select E-books

If the publisher or author who has self-published has entered the book on Amazon’s KDP Select program, they have agreed to sell the book only through the Kindle Store forever or for a period. During a KDP Select period, they can enter the book in a Kindle Countdown Deal in which the book price can start at 99¢ the first day. Each day after the first day the book price increases until it returns to the list price.

Box Sets

It seems there’s a trend to package books together in a box set and sell the set for 99¢. Many box sets are also on Kindle Unlimited. In Kindle Unlimited, authors are paid by the number of pages read by readers in the program who select their book.

Series Promotions

Many times you’ll see the first book of a series free or priced at 99¢ to get readers hooked on buying all the books in a series.

Ways publishers and authors use 99¢ book specials. Click to tweet.

What other ways have you used or seen 99¢ specials used to sell books?

Pre-order Link  $0.99 during pre-order period only.

Suddenly unemployed, Allie Masterson returns home to Cary, North Carolina where she caddies for her father on the PGA Seniors Tour. There, she encounters a man who possesses an alluring gift of reading the contours of the green. Fascinated with his uncanny ability, Allie is excited to meet the Green Whisperer—until she discovers that the easygoing caddy is actually Shoo Leonard, the boy who teased her relentlessly when they were kids. Despite Allie’s reservations, when Shoo is faced with having to overcome a hand injury, she agrees to use her sport science degree to become his trainer…and then she falls for him.

 Shoo Leonard is grateful to Allie for her singular determination to get him ready for the PGA tour, but he isn’t ready for anything more. Still raw from a broken engagement and focused on his career, he’s content to be her fist-bumping buddy…but then he falls for her.

What seems like a happily-ever-after on the horizon takes a turn when Allie decides she’s become a distraction to Shoo’s career. Is it time for her to step away or can The Putting Green Whisperer find the right words to make her stay?