Help Topics
- Help
- Account & Taxes
-
Book Formatting
-
Format Your Paperback
- Set Trim Size, Bleed, and Margins
- Format Front Matter, Body Matter, and Back Matter
- Save Your Manuscript File
- Paperback and Hardcover Manuscript Templates
- Cover Creator
- Create a Paperback Cover
- Format Images in Your Book
- Paperback Fonts
- Fix Paperback and Hardcover Formatting Issues
- Paperback Submission Guidelines
- Format Your Hardcover
- Format Your eBook
- Tools and Resources
-
Format Your Paperback
- KDP Publishing
-
Orders & Book Copies
-
Proof and Author Copies
- How do I order a proof or author copy?
- How much do proof or author copies cost?
- What is the cost to ship my proof or author copy?
- When will my proof or author copy arrive?
- I’m getting an error ordering my author copy
- I’m getting an error ordering my proof copy
- My proof or author copy came damaged
- My proof or author copy didn’t arrive on time
- My proof or author copy has printing errors
-
Proof and Author Copies
- Amazon Store & Detail Page
- Marketing & Distribution
- Book Updates
- Payments & Reports
- Legal & Content Guidelines
-
User Guides
-
Kindle Publishing Guidelines
- Getting Started
- General Best Practices
- Guidelines for Specific Types of eBooks
- Appendices
- KDP Jumpstart
- KDP University
-
Kindle Publishing Guidelines
Contact Us
Have feedback? Can't find your answer in our Help pages?
Contact UsFree Book Promotions
A Free Book Promotion allows you to attract new readers and widen your audience. You can offer your Kindle eBook for free for up to 5 days out of each 90-day KDP Select enrollment period. Free Book Promotions are for Kindle eBooks only and are available in all KDP marketplaces.
Contents
- Scheduling a Free Book Promotion
- When can I schedule my Free Book Promotion?
- Confirm your Free Book Promotion is running as expected
- Cancel a Free Book Promotion
- Royalties
- Sales rank
1. Scheduling a Free Book Promotion
You can schedule a Free Book Promotion after your Kindle eBook is enrolled in KDP Select and available for sale on Amazon. To schedule a Free Book Promotion, follow the steps below:
- Go to the Marketing tab.
- In the Run a Price Promotion, select Free Book Promotion.
- Click Create a Free Book Promotion.
- Select your book and click Continue.
- Enter the desired start and end date. Avoid ending on the final day of your KDP Select term.
- Click Save Changes.
You can schedule one or more Free Book Promotions, edit or delete a scheduled Free Book Promotion, or stop an ongoing Free Book Promotion.
2. When can I schedule my Free Book Promotion?
You have options for running your Free Book Promotion for the 5 days:
- Run all 5 days at once
- Go one day at a time
- Offer your eBook for free for multiple days in a row
Free Book Promotions must be scheduled at least one day before your desired start date. The earliest possible date to begin your Free Book Promotion is the second day of your KDP Select enrollment period. The scheduled start and end dates are usually midnight Pacific time.
For example, if your new KDP Select enrollment period starts on January 1, the earliest date you can schedule your Free Book Promotion is January 2. If you enter a start date of January 2 and an end date of January 7, your deal will start at midnight on January 2. It will continue for five days (January 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6) and end at midnight on January 7.
We're unable to schedule a Free Book Promotion for future KDP Select enrollment periods. Unused Free Book Promotion days won’t rollover from one enrollment period to another. Once the new enrollment period begins, you can schedule a Free Book Promotion. See our Help page for details on timelines.3. Confirm your Free Book Promotion is running as expected
To confirm your Free Book Promotion details:
- Go to your Bookshelf.
- Next to the Kindle eBook running the Free Book Promotion, click the ellipsis button (“…”) under the Kindle eBook Actions menu.
- Choose Promote and advertise.
The details for your Free Book Promotion will display under the Promotions for this book section.
4. Cancel a Free Book Promotion
To stop an ongoing promotion:
- Go to your Bookshelf.
- Next to the Kindle eBook running the Free Book Promotion, click the ellipsis button (“…”) under the Kindle eBook Actions menu.
- Click Promote and Advertise.
- Go to the Promotions for this book section.
- On the days you want to cancel, click Edit/Delete.
It can take up to several hours for the cancellation to take effect. You can reschedule any fully, unused promotional days after you cancel a Free Book Promotion. Any Free Book Promotion day canceled, while in progress, won't be credited back to your account.
5. Royalties
Because your Kindle eBook is available for free during a Free Book Promotion, you won't receive royalties for it while the Free Book Promotion runs.
6. Sales rank
Amazon Best Sellers lists are divided into Top 100 Paid and Top 100 Free in the Kindle Store. While your Kindle eBook is offered for free, it will have a sales rank in the Free list. Once your Free Book Promotion is complete, your Kindle eBook will enter the Paid list.
It can take several hours for Kindle eBooks to transition between the Free and Paid lists before and after promotional periods. In some cases, the transition may take longer due to system latencies. Since the start and end times are based on midnight Pacific time, the exact time your Kindle eBook reflects a free or paid sales rank will vary depending on the time zone. For example, customers in time zones other than Pacific time may not see Kindle eBooks reflected in the Free list until later in the day, depending on local time.
The Amazon Best Sellers calculation is based on Amazon.com sales. It is updated hourly to reflect recent and historical sales of every item sold on Amazon.com. Your Kindle eBook will drop in sales rank in the Paid list during your Free Book Promotion. However, since sales rank takes previous sales into account, as well as recent sales, your previous paid rank will influence your new rank when your Kindle eBook enters the paid categories. Learn more about Amazon Best Sellers Rank.
