Kindle Promotions: How to Run KDP Free Days and Countdown Deals

KDP Select gives you two promotional tools that no other publishing path offers: Free Days and Countdown Deals. Neither one is a magic traffic button, but used strategically, both can generate genuine reader momentum. The key is understanding what each tool actually does, when it makes sense, and how to stack it with other marketing activity to get the most out of each 90-day enrollment window.

KDP Select Enrollment

Before either promotional tool is available, your book must be enrolled in KDP Select. This means opting in through your KDP dashboard and agreeing to a 90-day exclusivity window during which your ebook cannot be sold anywhere else — not Apple Books, not Kobo, not your own website via Gumroad.

A few things about enrollment that catch authors off guard:

It auto-renews. When a KDP Select term ends, it rolls into another 90-day window automatically unless you opt out before the renewal date. Check the "Manage KDP Select Enrollment" section in your book's dashboard and toggle off auto-renewal if you plan to go wide after the term ends.

It covers the ebook only. Your print edition can be distributed wherever you like — IngramSpark, Barnes & Noble, bookstores — while the ebook remains in KDP Select.

All ebook formats on all storefronts count. You cannot upload the ebook to Smashwords "for library distribution only" and claim you're exclusive to Amazon. Any digital file of the book sold through any channel counts as breaking exclusivity.

Enrollment also unlocks KENP. Kindle Unlimited readers consume your book by the page read, not by the download. Free Days and Countdown Deals are the promotional layer on top of KDP Select, but the financial engine underneath most Select strategies is Kindle Unlimited page reads (KENP).

KDP Free Days

When you run a Free Days promotion, Amazon temporarily lists your ebook at $0.00 for between one and five days. During that window, you earn nothing — not even the 35% royalty tier applies to free downloads. The value is entirely in visibility and downstream sales.

What actually happens when a book goes free:

• Amazon's algorithms rank free downloads in separate "Free Best Sellers" charts, making it possible to hit #1 in a category even with a modest marketing push
• The download spike can trigger "also bought" and "customers also viewed" associations with more popular books in your genre
• Readers who download the free book but don't read it immediately may read it months later, leading to a delayed revenue effect
• Authors with a series often see a measurable lift in paid sales of books 2, 3, and beyond after running book 1 free

You are allocated five Free Days per 90-day enrollment period. You can run them consecutively (a 5-day free run) or split them across two separate promotions within the same term. Most authors with series books run a 3-5 day block to give promotions sites like BookBub, Freebooksy, and Fussy Librarian time to feature them.

When Free Days Work

Building a back catalog with a series. This is where Free Days shine. If you have three or more books in a series, running book 1 free pulls readers into the top of the funnel. Even a modest 30% read-through rate to book 2 converts into real royalties if your subsequent books are priced at $3.99–$5.99.

Launching book 1 of a series. Running Free Days immediately after launch — or a few weeks in when the initial launch buzz has faded — can kickstart your rank and give early readers something to talk about.

List-building. A free book with a strong call-to-action in the back matter (a reader magnet, newsletter signup, or exclusive bonus chapter) can build your email list faster than almost any paid ad campaign. The download cost to readers is zero, so conversion friction is low.

Resurrecting a stalled book. If a book has been sitting at a low rank for months with no sales, a Free Days run can reset its momentum and push it back into Amazon's recommendation engine.

When Free Days Don't Work

Standalone books with no follow-on product. If you have a single book and no series, no email list signup, and no other title to sell through to, free downloads generate no downstream revenue. You're essentially giving the book away for nothing.

Books without a reader funnel. A free run is only as good as what you've built into the book itself. If the back matter has no CTA, no link to book 2, and no newsletter sign-up, downloaded copies sit unread and generate nothing.

Authors who price their other books at $0.99. If you're running book 1 free and book 2 is $0.99, the read-through revenue is negligible. Your subsequent titles need to be priced appropriately for the funnel math to work.

Non-fiction with evergreen value. Readers sometimes perceive a free price tag as a signal of low quality. In non-fiction, where authority and credibility drive sales, permanent free pricing or Free Days can undercut the perceived value of the book.

Countdown Deals

Countdown Deals are a better fit for authors who want discounted visibility without giving the book away entirely. During a Countdown Deal, your book is temporarily discounted, and you still earn royalties — at the reduced price — during the promotion window.

Here is how Countdown Deals work:

• The discount runs for up to seven days
• Amazon displays a countdown timer on the book's product page showing how long the deal lasts
• The price increments back up automatically at intervals you set (e.g., $0.99 for two days, then $1.99 for two days, then back to full price)
• Countdown Deals run in the US and UK storefronts only — they are not available on Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, or other international stores

The countdown timer is a genuine conversion driver. It creates urgency without requiring you to run a permanent discount or sacrifice full royalties.

Countdown Deal Pricing Rules

Countdown Deals have specific eligibility rules that trip up a lot of authors:

The book must have been priced at its regular price for at least 30 days before the deal. If you changed your price recently, you may not be eligible.

To earn the 70% royalty during a Countdown Deal, the promotional price must be at least $2.99. If you discount to $0.99 or $1.99, you earn the 35% royalty rate during the deal — the same rate you'd earn on a book permanently priced in that range.

The discount must be at least $1.00 off the list price — so a $2.99 book can only be discounted to $1.99 at most.

Maximum promotional price is $24.99. This is only relevant for higher-priced non-fiction or box sets.

The pricing constraint matters a great deal for royalty calculations. Running a $4.99 book at $2.99 during a Countdown Deal earns you $2.09 per sale (70% of $2.99). Running the same book at $0.99 earns you $0.35 per sale (35% of $0.99). The strategy difference is significant.

Planning a Promotion

The difference between a successful promotion and a disappointing one usually comes down to what you did in the two to three weeks before it started.

Submit to promotional sites early. BookBub Featured Deals are the gold standard but competitive and expensive. More accessible options include Freebooksy, Bargain Booksy, Robin Reads, Fussy Librarian, and eReader News Today (ENT). Most require submissions one to three weeks in advance.

Coordinate your newsletter. If you have a list, email them on day one of the promotion. A warm audience converting even at a low rate amplifies your rank signal significantly.

Prep your social proof. Before running a Free Days promotion, make sure you have at least a handful of reviews. A book with two reviews going free will underperform the same book with 25 reviews, all else being equal.

Stack external traffic. Running a Facebook ad or Amazon ad at a discounted price can reduce your cost per click meaningfully. See Amazon Ads for Books for how to set up and measure ad spend during a promotion window.

Check your book metadata. Your categories, keywords, and description should be optimized before the promotion runs. A rank spike from a free run is wasted if your categories don't match reader expectations.

Pre-promotion checklist:

• All promotional site submissions confirmed
• Book metadata reviewed and updated
• Back matter CTA (newsletter, book 2 link) in place
• Amazon ad campaigns ready to launch on day one
• Newsletter draft scheduled

Measuring Results

Neither Free Days nor Countdown Deals have dedicated analytics inside KDP. You track results by pulling together data from multiple places.

For Free Days:

• Total free downloads (visible in KDP reports under "Units Ordered," with $0 price)
• Rank movement in paid charts after the promotion ends
• KENP (Kindle Unlimited page reads) spike in the week following the free run
• Sell-through to other books in the series in the 30 days after the promotion

For Countdown Deals:

• Units sold during the deal period at each price point
• Revenue generated at each discount tier
• Rank achieved during the deal
• Whether the rank holds after the countdown expires

Track your baseline metrics (average daily page reads, average daily paid units, usual category rank) for the 30 days before the promotion so you have a real comparison point. Promotions that feel successful sometimes deliver less than they appear when measured against a meaningful baseline.

Free vs. Countdown — Which to Choose

Criteria	Free Days	Countdown Deal
Revenue during promotion	None	Yes (reduced royalty rate)
Rank category	Separate "Free" charts	Paid Best Seller charts
Best for	Series book 1, list-building	Mid-catalog titles, standalone books
Urgency signal to readers	No countdown timer	Countdown timer displayed
Markets	All Amazon storefronts	US and UK only
Minimum price earned	$0	$0.35+ (35%) or $2.09+ (70%)
Days available	5 per 90-day term	7 per 90-day term
Risk	Gives book away, no direct revenue	Lower discount = lower visibility lift

The short version: use Free Days for series book 1 when you have follow-on titles to sell through to. Use Countdown Deals for standalone books or mid-series titles where you want discounted visibility without forfeiting all revenue.

If you're evaluating whether KDP Select exclusivity is the right long-term strategy for your catalog, read Going Wide vs. KDP Select for a full breakdown of the tradeoffs. And for pricing your book at the right baseline before any promotion, KDP Book Pricing Strategy covers the full framework.

Stacking Promotions Across Multiple Books in a Series

Series authors get the most leverage out of KDP Select promotions by sequencing them across multiple titles rather than running isolated promotions on a single book. A common pattern: run book 1 free for three to five days, timed alongside a Countdown Deal on book 2 (discounted from its regular price but still earning a reduced royalty), while book 3 and beyond stay at full price. This structure pulls new readers in at zero cost, gives them a discounted reason to continue immediately, and preserves full royalty margins on the later books where read-through interest is already established.

Timing matters here — running book 1's free promotion and book 2's Countdown Deal simultaneously means a reader who finishes book 1 during the free period still finds book 2 discounted when they go looking for it, rather than discovering the discount has already expired. Loosely staggering them (book 1 free for the full window, book 2's Countdown Deal starting a day or two later and running slightly longer) accounts for the days it takes a typical reader to finish book 1 after downloading it.

Promotion Frequency and Reader Fatigue

A practical question many authors don't think through until they've already over-promoted: how often is too often? Running Free Days or Countdown Deals every single 90-day term, on every book, indefinitely, can train your existing audience to wait for a discount rather than buy at full price — the same dynamic that makes excessive newsletter discounting risky (see newsletter marketing for authors for the parallel issue in email promotions).

A reasonable cadence for most series authors: reserve Free Days specifically for series starters, used periodically (every other 90-day term, or tied to a new release in the series rather than on a fixed schedule) rather than continuously. Countdown Deals on mid-series or standalone titles can run more frequently without the same risk, since the book is still generating revenue at a reduced rate rather than being given away entirely.

What Happens After Your KDP Select Term Ends

If you choose not to renew KDP Select — opting to go wide with your ebook instead — any unused Free Days or Countdown Deal allocation from your current term simply expires; they don't carry over or convert into anything once your exclusivity period ends. Plan your promotional calendar within each 90-day window rather than assuming you can defer unused promotional days into a future term, especially if you're considering a move to wide distribution and want to use your remaining Select-exclusive promotional tools before that window closes. See going wide vs. KDP Select for the full decision framework on whether to renew or exit Select.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I run a Free Days promotion and a Countdown Deal in the same 90-day term?

Yes. You have five Free Days and one Countdown Deal available per 90-day enrollment period. You can use both, but not simultaneously.

Do free downloads help my Amazon Best Seller Rank?

Yes, but in the Free Best Sellers charts, not the paid charts. When your promotion ends and the book returns to its regular price, there is sometimes a brief spillover effect on paid rank, but it is not guaranteed and tends to be short-lived without sustained marketing activity.

Can I use a Countdown Deal on a $2.99 book?

Only if you discount it by at least $1.00, which would take it to $1.99. At that price point, you earn the 35% royalty rate, not 70%, so each sale earns roughly $0.70. For a 70% royalty during a Countdown Deal, the promotional price must stay at or above $2.99 — which means the regular price must be at least $3.99.

How soon after enrollment can I run a promotion?

For Countdown Deals, your book must have been enrolled in KDP Select and priced at its current regular price for at least 30 days. Free Days have no waiting period after enrollment.

Do promotional site features guarantee results?

No. A BookBub Featured Deal is the strongest signal in the industry, but even BookBub results vary considerably by genre. Romance and mystery consistently outperform literary fiction and poetry for free and discounted promotions. Match your expectations to your genre's typical performance, not to the best-case examples you read about online.

LiberScript formats your manuscript to KDP's exact specifications before your promotion goes live, so the only thing readers see is a polished book. Get started with a Day pass to format your manuscript today.