KDP self-publishing
KDP Free Book Promotions: How to Run a Free Days Campaign
How to use KDP Select free promotion days: how many you get, how to set them up, when to use them, and how to promote a free book effectively.
KDP Select's free promotion days are one of the most widely used tools in self-publishing, and one of the most misunderstood. A KDP free promotion lets you set your ebook's price to $0.00 for a limited number of days, making it available to any reader without purchase. Done strategically, a free campaign can seed a readership, spike your Amazon rankings, and generate downstream sales — especially if you're writing a series.
The catch is that free promotions come with real tradeoffs. You earn nothing during the promotion period, you're temporarily removed from the paid bestseller lists, and the rank you build while free can evaporate quickly after your book returns to its regular price. Understanding those dynamics before you launch a campaign is what separates authors who see lasting results from those who give away thousands of copies and wonder what happened.
This guide covers how free promotions work, how to set one up, the best sites for promoting a free book, and how to decide whether a free campaign is the right move for your book.
What KDP Free Promotions Are
Every book enrolled in KDP Select receives 5 free promotion days per 90-day enrollment period. During a free day, your ebook is available at no cost on Amazon to any reader — they don't need a Kindle Unlimited subscription, and there's no charge to their account. It's a complete price waiver, not a discount.
You can use your 5 free days all at once (a single 5-day block) or spread them out across the enrollment period (for example, a 3-day campaign now and a 2-day campaign later). Unused free days do not carry over to the next enrollment period — they reset when the 90-day term renews.
Free promotions are available in all Amazon marketplaces where your book is listed. When you run a free promotion, the book goes free globally across Amazon's storefronts simultaneously — you cannot limit it to just the US or UK.
How Free Days Differ from Countdown Deals
Both free promotions and countdown deals are KDP Select benefits, but they work very differently:
| Factor | Free Promotion | Countdown Deal |
|---|---|---|
| Price during promotion | $0.00 | Minimum $0.99 |
| Royalties earned | None | Yes (70% if eligible) |
| Days available per period | 5 | Up to 7 days total |
| Rank tracked on | Free bestseller list | Paid bestseller list |
| Download volume potential | Very high | Moderate |
| Revenue during campaign | $0 | Positive |
| Best for | Volume distribution | Revenue + visibility |
The fundamental difference is that free promotions prioritize volume over revenue. When something is free, the barrier to download essentially disappears, and you can accumulate thousands of downloads in a few days — something rarely achievable during a discounted paid campaign. But you earn nothing during that window, and your performance is tracked on the free charts, not the paid charts.
See /guides/kdp-countdown-deals for a full breakdown of how countdown deals work and when to choose one over a free promotion.
Setting Up a Free Promotion: Step by Step
- Log in to your KDP account at kdp.amazon.com.
- Go to your Bookshelf and locate the ebook you want to promote.
- Click the KDP Select button (or the ellipsis menu) and select Promote and Advertise.
- Under KDP Select Actions, click Run a Price Promotion.
- Select Free Book Promotion from the promotion type options.
- Set your start date and end date. The dates must fall within your current 90-day KDP Select enrollment period.
- Review how many free days remain in your current enrollment period — the system will show you this.
- Click Save.
Amazon typically processes free promotion changes within a few hours, but allow at least 24 hours before your intended start date to be safe. Check your book's Amazon listing on the day the promotion starts to confirm the price shows $0.00.
You can schedule free promotions up to 90 days in advance, which makes it possible to plan a campaign around a specific date such as a sequel launch or a seasonal push.
How Many Free Days to Use and When
The strategic question isn't just whether to run a free promotion — it's when to run it and how many days to use at once.
Use all 5 days at once if your goal is maximum download volume. A 5-day block sustains enough momentum to rank high on the free charts, which in turn drives organic discovery. Books that reach the top of a free category list get seen by browsing readers without any promotion spend at all.
Split your days if you have two distinct promotional moments — for example, 3 days around a new book launch and 2 days a month later for a different push. Splitting works best when you have a concrete reason for each window rather than saving days "just in case."
Timing considerations by strategy:
| Strategy | Recommended Timing | Days to Use |
|---|---|---|
| Series starter / reader magnet | Anytime — this is your primary use case | All 5 |
| Building reviews on a new release | After you have at least a few reviews | 3–5 |
| Seasonal push (holiday, summer, etc.) | Around the relevant date | 3–5 |
| Pairing with a sequel launch | Day of or week before sequel | 3–5 |
| Filling a mid-period slot | When nothing else is planned | 2–3 |
The single best use case for a free promotion is the first book in a series. When readers download and enjoy a free book one, a meaningful percentage will buy books two and three at full price. This "series funnel" effect is well-established among indie authors and is the reason free campaigns remain popular even though you earn nothing during the promotion itself.
How to Promote a Free Book Effectively
A free promotion with no promotional support still works — because Amazon's free charts are browsed by readers — but adding promotion dramatically amplifies results. There are dedicated free book promotion sites that exist specifically to list $0.00 ebooks, and many of them have large readership audiences.
Free book promotion sites:
| Site | Approximate Audience | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| BookBub (free featured deal) | 10M+ subscribers | Paid (competitive) | Highest reach, hardest to get |
| Freebooksy | Large | $25–$100+ | Genre-specific newsletters |
| Robin Reads | Moderate | ~$20–$50 | Known for quality readers |
| ManyBooks | Moderate | Varies | Focused on free and discounted ebooks |
| Bargain Booksy | Large | $20–$80 | Sister site to Freebooksy |
| eReader News Today | Large | $15–$65 | Broad genre coverage |
| The Fussy Librarian | Moderate | ~$15–$30 | Genre targeting available |
Submit to these sites 1–2 weeks before your free promotion starts. Most require advance submission and will not accept same-day requests. Stack several on your first free day to generate early momentum that carries the book up the free charts.
Your author newsletter is still your highest-converting channel — tell your existing readers the book is free and encourage them to share it with friends who might enjoy it. Even a small newsletter list can generate hundreds of downloads.
What Happens to Your Rank After a Free Promotion Ends
This is the part that trips up many authors: what happens when your book goes back to its regular price?
While your book is free, it ranks on the Free in Kindle Store lists — completely separate from the paid bestseller lists. When the promotion ends and the price reverts, you leave the free charts and return to the paid charts. At that moment, your paid rank is essentially reset based on your recent paid sales history — which during a free promotion is zero.
However, there is a halo effect that many authors observe. A large volume of free downloads signals reader interest to Amazon's algorithm. In the days immediately following a free promotion, some books see an uptick in paid sales — particularly if the book has strong reviews and the free promotion drove a wave of new readers who are now buying sequels or leaving reviews.
The halo effect is real but not guaranteed. It tends to work best when:
- You have a series and readers can immediately buy the next book
- Your book has strong reviews (4.0 stars or higher with a meaningful number of reviews)
- You ran significant promotion that actually moved your free rank high
Don't count on a post-promotion paid sales spike as part of your core strategy. Treat it as a bonus, not a certainty.
Free Promotions vs. Permafree
Permafree means permanently listing your book at $0.00 — not just for 5 days but indefinitely. KDP does not officially support a $0.00 price point, but you can achieve permafree by listing your ebook for free on another platform (like Draft2Digital or Smashwords) and then requesting Amazon price-match via their support team.
The tradeoff is that permafree removes the KDP Select option entirely, since KDP Select requires Amazon exclusivity.
| Factor | KDP Free Promotion (5 days) | Permafree (Price Match) |
|---|---|---|
| KDP Select compatible | Yes | No |
| Duration | Up to 5 days per period | Indefinite |
| Kindle Unlimited eligible | Yes (during paid periods) | No |
| Countdown deal access | Yes | No |
| Discovery on free charts | Temporary | Ongoing |
| Revenue model | Series sell-through | Series sell-through only |
Permafree makes sense when you're committed to going wide (distributing on all platforms), your first book is a strong series entry point, and you don't need the Kindle Unlimited benefit. If you're in KDP Select and happy with it, the 5-day free promotion is the appropriate tool.
Read /guides/going-wide-vs-kdp-select and /guides/pricing-strategy-free-permafree-promotional for a deeper look at these distribution and pricing decisions.
Measuring Results After a Free Promotion
Track these metrics to evaluate whether your free promotion delivered value:
- Total free downloads: Available in your KDP sales dashboard under the promotion dates. Free downloads appear with a $0.00 royalty line.
- Free chart ranking: Note your peak ranking on the free bestseller list and in your subcategories. A rank in the top 100 free books overall means significant organic visibility.
- Paid sales in the 2 weeks after: Compare your paid unit sales in the two weeks following the promotion to the two weeks before. A meaningful increase suggests the halo effect is working.
- KU page reads: If you're in Kindle Unlimited, watch your KENP page read volume after the promotion. New readers who downloaded the free book may be reading subsequent books through KU.
- Reviews: A large wave of downloads often produces a small but real uptick in reviews over the following weeks.
See /guides/kdp-reports-and-analytics for a guide to reading and interpreting your KDP dashboard data.
When Free Promotions Make Sense
Not every book or author situation benefits from a free promotion. Use this as a quick reference:
| Situation | Use Free Promotion? |
|---|---|
| Book 1 of a completed series | Yes — strongest use case |
| Standalone novel with few reviews | Yes — to seed early readers |
| Standalone with good reviews, no series | Maybe — halo effect less reliable |
| Only book you've published | Cautiously — no series sell-through |
| Book 2+ in a series | Rarely — not the discovery entry point |
| Nonfiction with high authority value | Cautiously — may undervalue the book |
| Planning to leave KDP Select | No — don't use KDP Select benefits if leaving |
Frequently Asked Questions
Do free downloads count toward sales rank?
Free downloads count toward your rank on the Free in Kindle Store lists only — not the paid bestseller lists. They do not count as sales for the purposes of your paid rank or for reporting to traditional publishing metrics. When the promotion ends, your paid rank reflects your paid sales history.
Can you run multiple free promotions back to back?
You can run multiple free promotions within a single 90-day KDP Select period as long as you have free days remaining. They don't have to be consecutive — you can schedule them separately. You cannot stack more than 5 total free days per enrollment period, and unused days expire when the term renews.
Does a free promotion hurt your reviews or ratings?
A free promotion does not affect existing reviews. It can, however, bring in a higher volume of readers who may or may not leave reviews — and readers who download free books sometimes have lower engagement than readers who paid. On balance, most authors find that free promotions that drive significant download volume produce a net positive in reviews over the following weeks.
Can you run a free promotion and a countdown deal in the same 90-day period?
Yes. You can use both within the same enrollment period, but not simultaneously. You might run your free promotion in the first month and schedule a countdown deal later in the same 90-day window.
How do you know if a free promotion "worked"?
Success depends on your goal. If the goal was download volume and new reader acquisition for a series, look at paid book two sales in the weeks following. If the goal was reviews, count new reviews over the 4–6 weeks after. If the goal was chart visibility, check where you ranked during the promotion. A 5-day free promotion that produces 2,000 downloads and 15 new reviews for a series starter is a success by most measures, even if it generates $0 directly.
Will Amazon always honor a free promotion request?
Yes — free promotions are a built-in KDP Select feature. You don't need approval. You simply schedule it within the KDP dashboard and Amazon processes it. This is different from a BookBub featured deal or a promotion site placement, which require applications and acceptance.
The Bottom Line
KDP free promotions are a legitimate, well-established strategy for building an audience — especially for series authors who can convert a wave of free downloads into paid series sell-through. The 5-day limit keeps the commitment manageable, and the combination of free chart rankings and dedicated promotion site placements can put your book in front of readers who would never have found it otherwise.
The authors who use free promotions most effectively treat them as reader acquisition tools, not revenue tools. If you have a series, a polished book one, and a promotion plan, a 5-day free campaign is almost always worth running at least once. The cost is time spent promoting, not money — and the potential upside is a readership that sustains the rest of your backlist.
Make sure your book is properly formatted and export-ready before you drive traffic to it. Get started with LiberScript to format your ebook for Kindle quickly, or see pricing if you're planning a larger publishing project.
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