Should I or Shouldn't I? The KDP Select Dilemma

I've said it before and I'll say it again - KDP Select, if used properly, can be a very powerful marketing tool used to promote your book to a wide audience.  For some writers, it's understandably a dilemma.  Amazon wants you to exclusively sell your ebook through them for 90 days.  In return, Amazon will give you five freebie marketing days - a tit for a tat, if you will. 

Making your book exclusive to Amazon for 90 days cuts off other potential ebook revenue sources - I get the dilemma part, truly I do.  If you're an established writer with a solid readership, you can afford to expand your horizons, as it were.  However, if you're a newbie writer or one who's still working on expanding your readership, how can you argue the power of KDP Select?  The answer is:  you can't.  Even successful authors like Joe Konrath, who states he sells $100K per month, have recognized the power of KDP Select.

The key to making KDP Select work for you is making sure you advertise your upcoming freebie well in advance.  Doing your homework ahead of time and you'll reap the rewards afterwards.  Case in point:  Today is the last day of my two-day Kindle promo for my new book, CONTINUANCE, on Amazon:

It started yesterday, May 20, 2013.  By 5:00 p.m. today, May 21, 2013, I had 5,657 free downloads with the following stats:

In Amazon USA, CONTINUANCE placed 41st in the top 100 Free in Kindle Store; #1 in the "family saga" genre and #8 in the "suspense" genre.  In Amazon Canada, CONTINUANCE placed 102nd in the top 100 Free in Kindle Store and #2 in the "family saga" genre.  In Amazon UK, my book placed 124th in the top 100 Free in Kindle Store and #3 in the "family saga" genre; and in Amazon Germany, it placed 97th in the top 100 Free in Kindle Store and  #1 in the "suspense" genre.

Below are the stats printed from Amazon USA as of 8:00 p.m.:

Product Details

• File Size: 433 KB
  
• Print Length: 301 pages
  
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1484123301
  
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
  
• Publisher: Marta Tandori (April 17, 2013)
  
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
  
• Language: English
  
• ASIN: B00CF61YJI
  
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
  
• Lending: Enabled
  
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #42 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
• #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Family Saga

By 8:02 p.m. today, May 21, 2013, I have had 8,223 free downloads.  I may even surpass 9,000 free downloads by the time the clock strikes midnight.  As far as I'm concerned, there's no arguing with the stats, but I'll let you be the judge...