The Free E-book Giveaway: A Play-by-Play
Last week, Steve, Shawn, Jeff, and I e-mailed a free ebook giveaway to First Access Subscribers and previous Black Irish Books customers, valid through December 31.
It was Black Irish’s first online e-book giveaway and provided valuable lessons that will be incorporated into future giveaways and promotions.
As usual, we’re sharing what we learned here, with hope that some of it will be of interest/help to you.
First Up: The Pricing and the Format
Black Irish wanted to thank readers for their support since its launch in Summer 2012.
In the beginning, we made the decision to avoid discounting. We’ll do our best to offer the best pricing available all of the time, with giveaways rather than discounts offered from time to time.
Because of the delays in shipping this time of year, and because the cost of shipping has increased, we decided to offer an e-book. E-book downloads offer immediate access and the shipping isn’t cost-prohibitive.
Second: The E-mail
“Engaging” is the buzzword today when it comes to writing e-mails—paired with the reminder that the recipients are human and want something of interest, rather than a cold, robo-sell.
We agree, but the other side of remembering that the recipients are human is that humans make mistakes and we each bring different experiences and knowledge to what we read, which in turn influences reading comprehension. The message I take away from an e-mail might not be the same one taken away by another reader.
The following is the e-mail that went out to First Access Members and previous Black Irish customers.
When I look at the e-mail now, my eye goes from the headline to the discount code, and then I scan up to the “special holiday sales page” in blue. I don’t even read the 1-3 numbered instructions. I highlight and copy the code and click on the link, and am on my way.
In hindsight I would have bulleted, tightened and put the 1-3 numbered instructions in a different color to encourage readers to scan through them, too.
I would have added information about the code being unique to each reader, too. A few people shared it with friends and then we received e-mails about codes not working. Each code was good for a one-time use.
Third: The Flow
Out of the thousands of readers sent the e-mail, we received about two dozen e-mails from readers who didn’t understand that they would have to log-in and three that entered their credit card info. and ended up being charged. We refunded all three of the charges and worked with the others to access the download.
Yes, far more people were able to download the ebook without a hitch than those who were not, but those who were not provided lessons on pieces we need to consider for the future.
The following is the special holiday sales page, which was linked to within the e-mail. Though the instructions were on the e-mail, they weren’t listed on this page. In the future, I’d like to see the instructions repeated on this page. They don’t take a ton of space and it’s just another way to ensure that readers have a good experience.
After clicking on the holiday sales page, choosing a book and clicking “add to cart” the following screen came up. The side notes include information on inserting the discount code and how the files will be provided.
We continue to receive e-mails from customers who are surprised that their audio files, as one example, are provided via zip files, which still aren’t native to some devices, without the use of an app for opening.
During the giveaway, there were readers who reached this page and didn’t see the note about the coupon either.
We can’t make readers focus on every word on the page, but simple things such as changing up the color should help bring their eyes to the notes section in the future. It might seem like overkill, but by doing our best to highlight this information in advance, we should be able minimize post-purchase questions. Readers will know what and how they’re receiving their files. At that point, we can only hope they know the abilities and limitations of their reading devices.
After clicking “check out” in the above, the billing contact information page below appeared. It’s a standard page, requesting contact information in advance of billing information. With this page, though, there’s also a one-click PayPal option. At least one person thought he had to click on that option because he usually uses PayPal. For this reason, he became stuck on this page. We’re dealing with a list in the thousands, but for those with larger mailing lists, it’s possible that you’ll have a few dozen or more stuck in the same way. It’s understandable, so it’s something to consider. Removing the PayPal button from this page and keeping it on the billing page, which comes up next, would be a better way to go. It keeps all of the payment options on one page.
The page below is the billing page, which came up after clicking on “continue to next step” in the above.
After inserting the code in the above, and clicking “apply,” the screen below appeared. Note that it confirms that the code has been accepted and that there is no balance due. It also removed the credit card information option because there is no balance due.
Free ebook code accepted
If the code was inserted incorrectly and the apply button pushed, the information in red, in the below, would have appeared. If the code had already been used, the information in red would have indicated a different message, about the code no longer being valid.
Drawing attention to the “apply” button is something else to consider, to ensure that the codes are applied in the future. We’re guessing that with the three people that were charged, this is what happened. A small number, but end of day zero charged would have been the preference.
For the codes that were accepted, the following came up next. Note the zero sum balance at the top.
Clicking “complete my purchase” in the above was the last step toward the confirmation page below.
After the confirmation page came two e-mails.
The second e-mail provided a link to the download. After clicking on the link in the above, the following screen opened.
For this screen, the zip file option looks like the buttons that are required to move from one page to the next within the order process, so changing its format is something to consider in the future. Readers scan and something that looks like a button that’s used to go from one page to the next is easy to miss – even if it does state a clear purpose via the wording within it.
The note about which devices can open zip files is useful, but my gut is that it is lost on those that don’t know the limitations of their own devices. The assumption is often that all devices are able to open all files, so including those that can’t open, or need an app to open, zip files is something to consider in the future.
The Stats
To date, 10,501 e-mails have been sent. The e-mail was opened 4,969 times. Note that this includes multiple opens per person. It doesn’t indicate that 4,969 e-mails were opened or that 4,969 people opened e-mails. A few people were on both lists (something else we need to watch for in the future). The link to the special giveaway page was clicked 2,563 times. There have been 869 orders completed and 1,817 downloads completed, indicating that the ebooks were downloaded multiple times for the same order. A few hundred readers signed up for First Access after the offer was announced. Between now and the offer’s end, on December 31, anyone signing up for First Access will receive the free ebook e-mail offer, too.
The Response
The majority of the responses we received were positive. There were a few people who sent e-mails about being frustrated with the process. Then there was this one other e-mail:
“how is this a free ebook you f#*king @#*holes” (only he didn’t use the #’s and @’s)
Takeaway
Though online commerce isn’t new, what we consider a given – as intuitive – in the process isn’t always such.
And, though reading/viewing devices aren’t new either, many don’t know how to use their devices—nor do they know the limitations of their devices. Kindle users need help uploading non-Amazon purchases, as do Apple users, who aren’t buying from the iTunes store.
In the end, I did send one reader to Amazon to troubleshoot with the Kindle team because I’m not an expert at troubleshooting Kindle devices. The files worked and were sent twice, which indicates there’s a possible issue with the device or the process being followed to upload the files.
For the future, we’ll continue to improve the process, make the steps simple and easy to understand, and anticipate areas that might cause readers frustration (and proactively eliminate them).
***If you read this and recognize yourself as one of the readers described… Though we hated that things weren’t streamlined for you, know that you offered us valuable lessons and none of the above is a criticism of you.
DO THE WORK
Steve shows you the predictable Resistance points that every writer hits in a work-in-progress and then shows you how to deal with each one of these sticking points. This book shows you how to keep going with your work.
THE AUTHENTIC SWING
A short book about the writing of a first novel: for Steve, The Legend of Bagger Vance. Having failed with three earlier attempts at novels, here's how Steve finally succeeded.
NOBODY WANTS TO READ YOUR SH*T
Steve shares his "lessons learned" from the trenches of the five different writing careers—advertising, screenwriting, fiction, nonfiction, and self-help. This is tradecraft. An MFA in Writing in 197 pages.
TURNING PRO
Amateurs have amateur habits. Pros have pro habits. When we turn pro, we give up the comfortable life but we find our power. Steve answers the question, "How do we overcome Resistance?"
I could arrive until:
“an email receipt containint information about your order…”
but after that, I didnit receive the email, nor the book 🙁
I’ll contact you offline to sort this out. Thanks for your comment. Callie
Callie, Steven and team – thanks so much for the information. Really found it useful, and an interesting dissection of what you guys did.
What I’m curious about is this: the negative responses you got…what are your thoughts on those? Were there so few you just ignore them? Do they matter in the long run?
Often times, I find myself reflecting on actions I’m about to take for my website or boutique publishing company and I consider that negative voice that hates on everything…
Is this person worth even thinking about?
Thanks so much for the analysis and hope you get a chance to answer this!
– Tom Morkes
I agree with Tom about how informative and helpful this post is – thank you! I also found myself asking the same question about the negative comments. This team goes out of its way to be generous, and to make the processing of acquiring a free (!) e-book simple, and yet there are people who complain and react with nasty emails. Sometimes negative comments identify a real glitch in the process that needs to be remedied, but in the end there will always be someone who is going to hate what you do or what you are offering no matter what it is – I try to mentally wave “bye-bye” to these folks in my own life and work.
Tom,
There are a few categories of comments and actions taken.
Positive – We reply to as many of these as we can, with a simple thank you. Sometimes there are too many – which isn’t a complaint – and we get behind on answering, though we do read them all.
Questions – This has two sub-groups: polite and rude. We answer both. If someone is having a problem, we do our best to help them, whether they pose their questions with politeness or submerge them in rudeness first. Those that start polite end polite. Those that start rude… A few switch streams when we reply and end in kindness. Others continue to “scream.” I get it because I used to do the same (see: “It’s All About the Cookies”)but realized how nasty and ineffective that course is. It’s easy to be nasty. It’s a lot harder (and more effective) to be nice. Check this out, too, about one company’s recent reply to a nasty customer: “When a Customer Left a Nasty Note on a Business Owner’s Page, He Probably Wasn’t Expecting a Viral Response”
Snark – These are the nasty e-mails, along the lines of the one I mentioned in the post. These are few and far between, but when they arrive… We don’t reply. Our experience is that people who make such comments are looking for a fight. They want to engage. The reply goes back to those schoolyard days, when both kids in a fight were sent to the principal’s office. It doesn’t matter if you’re defending yourself. Once you engage, you get scuffed up, too. Obviously there are times when walking away isn’t an option, but when it is, we set our ego aside and move on without engagement. Usually, the person goes away when they don’t get a response.
To be honest, I have a hard time ignoring the nasty comments. They do upset me at times and I think about them much longer than I should. As Mary wrote in her comment, there is a “bye bye” and then I mentally flush them down the toilet.
Hope this helps,
Callie
Did you guys see Seth Godin’s post the other day about “vampires?” I don’t have the link, sorry, but it was much to the same point that Tom and Mary are making and you’re responding to, Callie. I’ve agonized over this phenomenon a bit and I know you have, Callie.
Bottom line for me: Priority #1 is not to let these guys get to you. Delete, block, “say good-bye” immediately. I know it’s hard. Callie gets feisty, she wants to engage with these characters. But as she says, that’s what they want. They are mired in their own Resistance and they hate anyone who is facing that dragon and (even a little bit) overcoming it.
I try to move on mentally as fast as possible and don’t look back.
Steven – I did read that post by Seth and definitely agree with it.
I love hearing it from your point of view, though, as a writer / indie publisher – it just really resonates with me.
Callie, thanks so much for the thoughtful, detailed response. You wouldn’t believe how valuable it is.
Love what you guys are doing and really appreciate the transparency in terms of how you do what you do. Great stuff!
Here’s the link to Seth’s “vampire” post: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2013/12/the-care-and-feeding-and-shunning-of-vampires.html
Thank you Steven, for sharing that you, too, have agonized over negative comments and emails.
I can’t even look at reviews of my book on Amazon, after someone gutted me based just on the publisher’s description (they didn’t even buy or read my book!).
For some reason, I just thought I was being “too sensitive” or too much of a girl about it. 🙂
Really appreciate all the details and transparency on this post. Thank you!
I have not seen such a clear-headed breakdown what comments are and how negative comments are received, Callie.
In a few short paragraphs, no less – with no snark! ;-P
Seriously, beautiful in its clarity and knowing experience.
I’ve been doing business online full-time since 1994 and I’ve never figured out how to not let negative comments or emails find a way to hit me in the gut.
I’ve only become better at letting them linger less, attempting be objective and see if there’s something that can be improved(process, attitude, approach, etc.) and, finally, accept that it’s truly impossible to please everyone in running a business.
If we’re not messing up, tripping along inside our art, activities and work, we’re not even beginning to fully engage in our capabilities to great ‘n awesome work.
Thank you for making the book available! I read it the same day and enjoyed it very much. Inspiring as usual. Your transparency about the process is also refreshing and educational.
Thanks, Beth!
I had absolutely no problems. I found the instructions to be clear and straightforward. You cannot be responsible for people not being IT-literate, not understanding zip-folders or not bothering to get to know their own e-reader.
I’ll just end by thanking you again for your very generous gift. I chose The War of Art as an e-book – one that has been on my wishlist very long as a supplement to my dog-eared papercopy.
Thanks, Ulla. I’m glad it worked for you. Callie
Terrific promotion, and went perfectly smoothly for me. I received two emails and two codes but obviously only cashed one in. (I’d already bought the other Pressfield books anyway.)
Definitely solidified my loyalty to and reaffirmed my respect for both Mr Pressfield and for Black Irish.
Merry Christmas folks.
Thanks, KP! Callie
I had absolutely no problems downloading the books. Thank you for your generosity, Mr Pressfield and Black Irish!
I would say those who commented negatively are likely so hog-tied by Resistance that they’re incapable of paying attention. I’m an old man with pinball brains and I got it…effortlessly.
Thank you for sharing. It is information we can use.
I chose The Warrior Ethos and loved it. It was my first time to read an Ebook, and it was great. But I kept thinking what a wonderful job Steve does with audio books. Most authors do not have that gift. I’m just sayin’.
God Bless Y’all and Merry Christmas!
Thanks, Chip.
I’m partial to Steve’s audio, too.
Best to you and your Ragtown crew (http://www.ragtown.com/2012/) Looks like a great production!
Best,
Callie
THANK YOU so much for making these books available for FREE. I am VERY grateful to dig in and read over the holiday. I had no glitches/troubling downloading the book and adding to my Kindle. But I’m a pretty tech-savvy Millennial : ) Best to you and your family this holiday season, Steven!
I am so appreciative of the offer and look forward to reading the book. However, I must be one to not understand my e-reader well enough. I did this on a Kindle and just can’t find it anywhere on there. It seems everything went the way it should suggesting it would be in “downloads”. But I’ve searched the device in every way without success causing me to be one to download twice.
Many thanks for your generous offer and while the directions required careful reading, it also proved to be a lesson in careful reading for me and a lesson in advertising for you. Everyone wins. Thank you again and again for what you do, the effort you make and how you “show up to the page” in numerous ways. Happy 2014.
Thank you so much for the book! I had no problems with the download. I downloaded “Turning Pro”. It was fantastic. I will be buying “The Authentic Swing” after Christmas.
My only difficulty was in choosing which lovely ebook to pick. You two are a class act and I am enjoying my copy of “Turning Pro” enormously. Happy Holidays and thank you.
I didn’t have any trouble downloading the e-book and want to thank you for the generous gift. Also, I have been receiving the blog and finding it very interesting and helpful. Many thanks and may you receive lots of good karma.
Make that you four. 🙂 xo
Dear Callie et al,
As one of the people who did have a problem, you all were wonderfully patient and helpful. And I got the book I wanted.
Really appreciate your breakdown of the whole process — I’m saving your email as a troubleshooting guide for how to do this with my own books in the future.
Thanks again and have a wonderful Christmas!!
I remember the bad old days, when this kind of learning would have been locked away in a vault so competitors couldn’t get to it.
Nah. In those days, it might never even have been learned, let alone shared.
In other news: you might like to know that your process also works quite well for the severely geeky. Sometimes these processes are so “helpful” that folks like me, looking for the command line option to type in the FTP address, get all turned around by the “helpfulness.”
I am an enormous endless fan of both your thinking, and thoughtfulness. All four o’ y’all.
Hi Callie: I didn’t have any problems with downloading; BUT I was probably one who had downloaded more than once BECAUSE I realized later I had wanted it on my Lap Top and not my desk top. So I had gone to e-mail with the info using my lap top and did it again. Not even thinking what this would be creating at your end. I had ordered The Warrior Ethos and began reading it. LIKED what I was reading, wanted to do some underlining, turn down the corner; etc. etc. basically I like a book in hand; so what I did, being I needed a few more dollars to get an order from Amazon for free shipping so I now have the actual book as well. Thank you. Happy Holidays to all. Have learned so much from all of you….
Christmas came early for me with my free ‘The Authentic Swing! e book, thanks very much. I love Wednesdays and always look forward to the next riveting SPO blog. Being ‘engaged’ with SPO and Black Irish books is definitely a long time relationship for me.
As long as negative feed back is constructive then it is a win win situation, like any relationship lessons can be learnt from both sides and processes ironed out. As outlined frustration was due to lack of IT knowledge of devices and each persons interpretation. A link/example may help educate and clarify those grey areas.
Merry Christmas everyone, enjoy safe, fun festive holidays with family and friends.
Michelle
I had trouble downloading the ebook at first, but came back the next day and then was able to. I chose “The Authentic Swing” and read it immediately. It was a good story about a good story. Absolutely loved it and recommend it. I’m working on some new projects for the coming year and have been learning so much from you and this blog that I look forward to receiving your newsletters in my email box. I appreciate the free ebook. Thank you, and Merry Christmas!
Thank you so much for this generous gift of The Authentic Swing. It was easy peasy to download. You’ve got your system working well, at least for this recipient. Looking forward to reading! Best wishes for the winter holidays and health and happiness in New Year 2014.
Ohh such a splendid gift I received. I had the book I downloaded, but now I can read it on my computer.. when I need a boost, which seems to be always!
Yesterday I got a pedicure. A gift to me from me. I sat there in glorious bliss, reading “The War of Art”, for the zillionth time, but it was in my purse as always, so took it out. NEW things popped into my head that had not reached my soul before. Words on a page presented by a giving man, reached me and told me of the attributes of new starts. OK.. I am on that. THANK YOU!
Many Thanks to you all. The more we work with email and ordering and free books and codes,the ore familiar we become with the modern stuff…using the brain and doing new things helps keep the brain sharp. Frustration comes at man elves on this blog and oner internet doings…loathe all of the passwords required…for e.g. and it is NOT a good idea to use the same one for everything…or when you change it some don’t let you reuse passwords…arrggg:)
BUT Thank you for sharing your wisdom and knowledge as you learn.
And thank you for the free book. Reading 10 pages a day.
Merry Christmas!
I’m one of those who subscribed after the announcement of the free e-book, and before today’s post. This seems to indicate that I will be able to join the happy recipients of your generous gift. Will the promo email be coming out to me too?
Thanks for the fantastic blog, videos and info!
Gary (and other new subscribers),
Look out for an email. We’ll be sending out batches of free ebooks throughout the next couple weeks (until the Dec. 31 deadline) to the new folks.
Happy Holidays!
Jeff
Thanks Jeff — excuse the botched cut and paste in the previous email!
Got it! Thanks for kicking the computer for me, Callie. Easy as could be once the email came through. Thanks for kicking the computer f, Callie.
Callie and Black Irish Books Crew,
Thank you so much for this post! We publish a literary journal each year and we just ran a holiday sale online. It’s amazing how many UNEXPECTED things happen. You sharing this ‘back of house’ insight is really really helpful and something very few (if any) companies do. So again, thank you for sharing!
Wishing you the Happiest of Holidays!
Brent
Thank you for the gift. It was a great reminder to me of the need to pass on Steven’s wisdom to a friend in need.
Oh, for gosh sakes! Steven Pressfield offered me a free book. What is hard about that? Yes, it wasn’t as quite straightforward as I would have liked, but what is? I figured it out and got my free book. My day was made.
We’re all on a learning curve. Complainers and whiners will may find this curve a l little longer…
Thank you for the book!
Thank you for the free book and the interesting follow-up. I was one of the polite people who asked for help but wouldn’t have needed it if I had scrolled down a little bit more on the page. You were very prompt with your help and I thought the entire process worked very well. I am curious about how few people took you up on your offer. I was excited to read Turning Pro because I had had on my wish list for a while. I hope many more people learn about and read these books. Fighting resistance is my daily battle and these books help a great deal.
Jennifer,
Glad that everything worked out in the end and you were able to access the ebook.
On the low numbers of actual orders: Since this post went up yesterday, more people have ordered the free e-book, which leads me to believe they hadn’t acted on the offer yet, perhaps the offer was sitting in their SPAM box. When we launched THE AUTHENTIC SWING, with specially-priced bundles, quite a few people e-mailed us after the offer ended, asking us to extend it for them as they hadn’t had time. This led us to believe that not all readers act on offers right away and need reminders. The numbers that placed orders yesterday, perhaps because this post reminded them to do so, supports this thinking.
In the past 24 hours we’ve also received e-mails from more people who tried to access the ebook and weren’t able to, so they gave up and didn’t contact us for help. This post help some accomplish the process and prompted others to ask for help.
The offer is good until Dec. 31st, so we’ll take a look then and reassess the numbers.
End of day, it’s a bit of a guessing game. There are certain trends emerging, though, and as we move along, we’ll continue to share them.
Thanks again, Jennifer.
Callie
Wow Steven and Team,
I just wanna say this post was fascinating. I thought it was incredibly generous that you offered a free gift to us, and I was super excited by it. Thank You. Thank You. Thank You.
Great post!
I’m very curious, by the way, what are we going to read in the pages of Steven’s non fiction book, “The Lion’s Gate”. To tell the truth, the 6-day war is a famous case, but how did the situation led to a such surprising result surely needed some explanation and research.
I like the precious data a person offer in your content. I am going to save your blog page along with examine yet again here often. I am somewhat sure I will likely be advised loads of completely new goods correct here! All the best . for!
I love to learn! And this post was quite an education. Thanks for the Behind-the-Scenes. (For me, that’s often where the magic is.) I did have a little trouble downloading – I forget which button confused me – and I’m an “old hand” (in more ways than one) at this e-commerce stuff. So I’m one of the double-clickers. (I wasn’t sure how the code worked at first.)
Responses: I’m always grateful when a LoC gets a response. (LoC=Letter of Comment, from my old pulp/comic days.) One problem with the anonymity of the internet – vampires stalk in the tubes. Used to be gremlins.
Perhaps the rude ones don’t realize you don’t owe them anything. It is hard not to have a knee-jerk reaction. I try to step back and see if there’s any substance to the comment. If not, then it’s not directed at me. Wrong wormhole, buddy. Try the event horizon down the street.
You guys are among the most generous in a generous group – writers helping writers and readers. You’re sharing and caring and listening and generating conversations and encouraging folk. Frankly, the free e-book is just lagniappe.
Thanks – for this post, and all the posts, and all the work you do and share.
Well, this is weird.
I stopped by here on a whim and this was the first I’d heard about the ebook offer. I checked my gmail and the message wasn’t there. I searched my gmail for ‘Black Irish’ and the message appeared. Like I said, weird. Does Resistance operate in cyberspace too?
Anyway, thanks for the offer. Merry Christmas to all at Black Irish.
The only comment I have is THANK YOU, for EVERYTHING!
Thanks for a peek at how things work behind the scenes. I ordered and downloaded the free book quickly and easily, without a hitch soon after I received the email about the offer. Now that the holidays are winding down I’ll get to read it. Thank you for the great gift!
okay you can add me to the list of the mass-confused – I received an email from SP re free ebook (very thoughtful, thank you) but was unable to purchase (purchase? for free? LOL) … anyway I subscribed to SP and subscribe to BlackIrish – tells me it didn’t recognize code – I updated my subscription info and still no go – since I own a signed copy of War of Art I wanted to get a copy of Turning Pro. I would really love to take advantage of this, can you help me – and yes I read the subsequent email about the problems people were having but being amongst fellow-confused doesn’t make me feel less confused – am I confusing you? haha hope not. just would like to take advantage of the kind offer – so need your help – thanks again! Happy Holidays! ~LJ
I got my free book and I loved it, it was a lovely Christmas present!
nt88 อยากเล่นสล็อตทำกำไรไ้ด้ง่าย แตกบ่อย ได้เงินเพียบ พร้อมกับ ถอนได้เร็วต้องมาทดลองเล่นที่ NT88 ของเราเท่านั้น