Happy Sunday, WG2E-Land!
Over the last couple of months, I’ve talked about how I’ve used Ebook Gifting to grow my readership both deeper and wider.
Indie Epub Authors…Invest in Yourself and Readers via Ebook Gifting
I believe in this approach so much that I based the creation of our sister site – The RG2E – on this guiding principle.
I’ve let you know how delighted readers are to receive Ebook Gifts:
And, I’ve now opened up The RG2E so that our Featured Authors can do their own Ebook Gifting:
So, How Do You Ebook Gift (across all platforms)?
First, let me make the distinction between my First One is On Me (FREE Ebooks) Approach and Ebook Gifting…because there’s a huge difference!
The First One is On Me – aka Ridin’ the Free-Way – is when you make your Ebook FREE on as many platforms as you can.
Ebook Gifting is when you use each platform’s Gifting Feature to literally buy your Ebook for a reader. In other words, you pay for the Ebook to be emailed to the recipient.
I’ve talked a ton about my love of Ebook Gifting! I use Ebook Gifting especially when I launch each new book (as I talked about yesterday) because it’s a great way to treat readers, and it counts towards your sales since you’re actually buying the book. It can boost your sales rankings just like any other sales do, and you get part of your investment back in the royalties you earn off of each sale/Ebook Gift.
Okay then…here are The How-To’s of Ebook Gifting (by platform)…using my most recent release – STUCK WITH A STIFF – as the example:
For Amazon Kindle:
Go to your book’s Amazon Page and in the right sidebar, under the “Buy Now with 1-Click” button, you’ll see a button that reads “Give as a Gift.” That takes you to a screen where you enter the email address of your recipient, choose the delivery date you want the book sent, enter the recipient’s name, your name, and type in a message to send with the Kindle file. You can then preview the email and see the cute little ribbon and bow-wrapped message your recipient gets with the download instructions for the Ebook file you’re gifting to them.
That’s it! That’s all there is to it! 
Once your recipient downloads the Ebook file, then you’ll see the credit for the sale in your sales reports. You can also verify your gift has been received in your Amazon Order screens.
For Barnes and Noble Nook:
Go to your book’s Nook Page, click on the area beneath the “Buy Now” button that says “Buy as Gift.” (It has a little gift box icon next to it.) That takes you to a rather awkward and slow-moving screen that has you enter the recipient’s email address and name, your name and any message you’d like sent in their little graphic card that accompanies the Nook file. Unlike on Amazon, I don’t think you can choose the delivery date for a Nook Ebook Gift. It goes as soon as you buy it.
Also, on your Pubit Sales Reports, it will note for you which sales were Ebook Gifts so you can track those if you’d like.
For Kobo:
Go to your book’s Kobo Page, and choose the “Send as Gift” button, which takes you to a screen that again, like those above, has you enter the recipient’s email and name, your name and any message you’d like to send with the Kobo Gift File. You can choose future dates for Kobo Ebook Gifting, just like on Amazon.
For Smashwords:
Go to your book’s Smashwords Page, and choose the “Give as a Gift” button. Then enter the recipient’s email and name. I don’t think you can choose a delivery date for Smashwords, and if I remember right, there’s no personalized graphic gift card message.
***Note: Ebook Gifting on Smashwords is NOT the same as issuing a Smashwords Coupon Code. With the Coupon Codes, you generate a Coupon Code that a reader can then enter during checkout giving them so much off the purchase price or making the book Free for a limited time. But those coupon code transactions don’t count toward your sales. Although, if your funds are limited, this is a great way to treat readers. That said, anything you either Gift or Coupon Code via Smashwords has to be side-loaded by your readers onto their Ereading devices, which is a pain in the butt. For that reason, I would suggest you use the Ebook Gifting features directly on all the other platforms, and only use Smashwords if the reader asked for that platform.
Regarding other Ereader platforms (iTunes, Sony, Diesel, etc.):
I believe you can use iTunes gift cards for downloading iTunes books. But it doesn’t look like you can Ebook Gift using Sony or Diesel. I use Smashwords for treating those peeps.
Okay…those are the basics of Ebook Gifting.
Now then…let’s see…what else can I tell you?
1. For all of you superfab International Peeps, I’ve been told you CAN Ebook Gift from the Amazon US store, but not from the satellite stores. Meaning, for example, if you’re an Amazon UK Author, you can’t Ebook Gift from Amazon UK to your Amazon US readers, but there appears to be a way you can Ebook Gift from the Amazon US store. If that doesn’t work for you, you can definitely use Smashwords. Also, for RG2E International Featured Authors, you can simply PayPal me the amount you want to Ebook Gift, and I’ll send out the Ebook Gifts for you in your name with whatever message you’d like me to put on your gift cards.
2. You need your recipient’s email address to Ebook Gift on all platforms. What that will mean for your RG2E Featured Author Days is that I’ll email you with the email addresses of all of your recipients, and you can then do your own Ebook Gifting.
3. In my experience, it takes, on average on Amazon, about 10-15 Ebook Gifts in a day to see any sort of significant increase in your sales rankings. Less than that on Nook because their volume is less anyway. But, that said, that’s not the primary reason you want to use Ebook Gifting. Each Gift you treat a reader with is a wonderful way to build your readership deeper and wider.
Okay, It’s Your Turn, WG2E-Land: What other How-To questions do you have when it comes to Ebook Gifting?
The Best of Ebook Gifting Wishes — D. D. Scott
Before reading your posts I had never even considered or wondered about e-book gifting as a source of exposure, let alone thought about how it boosted rankings. I’ll be doing a lot of it in the future!
Thanks for this great post as always, DeeDee!
Nat
xx
You are sooo welcome, Nat!
Ebook Gifting is just a wonderful way to build your readership! There’s nothing like investing in yourself while investing in readers at the same time!
Thanks for this, DD. I shall certainly make note of this blog for the future. Like Natalie, I never thought of ebook gifting before, but might for my next romance enovella coming out. You are a true leader in all things epublishing here.
I luuuvvv to share what’s worked for me (as well as what hasn’t…LOL!), Julie.
It’s exactly this kind of info sharing that can build all of our Indie Epublishing Empires, and that’s a win-win for all of us as authors and for readers too!
Thanks, DD. I’m certainly going to try this in the future. I’ll have to read the specific rules for Canada with Amazon. I don’t think we can buy ebooks from Amazon.com, which probably means we can’t gift them either. Kobo is the best option for me since it is based in Canada, but I won’t rule out Nook and Kindle altogether.
Thanks for the information. I’m bookmarking the page.
Hi, Diane. I’m in Canada and I buy ebooks from amazon.com regularly – I have an account with them, with the same email I use for amazon.ca and KDP. I don’t believe Kindle books are available for purchase through amazon.ca (only my print version shows up there); I have to go to amazon.com to find them in the Kindle store.
I just looked at my ebook on amazon.com and clicked on the “Give as a Gift” button. The form came up so I’m pretty sure we can do it.
Thanks for the info, DD! I hadn’t thought of using this process.
Great scoop here, Pam, and thanks sooo much for checking it out for us!
So, it sounds like as an international author, you can Ebook Gift on Amazon then, but you do that by having a separate Amazon.com (Amazon US) account, right?
I second that, Pam, re Canada and amazon.com. My book only went up 2 weeks ago and one of the first purchases was my ebook-gifting my dad, who, though he owns a tablet, cries techno-ignorance at every turn. The account for Canada and the U.S. is the same.
Before that I also ebook-gifted my second novel (out on kindle through my publisher) to an old friend in England. No problem there either.
Yayyy! So all of you superfab Canadians can definitely Ebook Gift via Amazon!!! WooHoo! Thanks sooo much for the extra scoop, Rachael!!!
That’s great, Rachael!
Thanks, Pam and Rachel, I’ll certainly take advantage of this then. I was worried I couldn’t do it.
I do think that “going international” on all platforms will be one of the main growth areas we’ll be seeing sooner rather than later on all of the Ereading sites, Diane. It makes no sense, once the technology and currency agreements are worked out, to limit a customer base to geographical boundaries.
And wow does that dramatically build our potential reader bases! Bravo!!!
Great Info DeeDee! I’ve done some gifting on Amazon and BN.com but have not used the other channels for gifting yet. I do like that you can personalize the messages and write a little note, because that makes it special for the recipient!
xx, Lauren
I luuuvvv the personalized note aspect too, Lauren, and I do take the time to do that on each and every Ebook Gift I send.
Here’s the great part about doing that on Amazon too…they keep track of who all you’ve Ebook Gifted too. For example, if I’ve sent an Ebook Gift to you before, when I begin to type in your email, Amazon remembers, brings it up for me to choose, as well as your name!
You always give me something new to think about, D.D. Thank you!
U betchya, Christy!
Nothin’ beats Writers Helping Writers Reach Readers…in new, unique and fun ways!!!
This post came at the right time for me. I was feeling like I had no clue. Now I do. I’m saving this for when it’s my turn to gift a book. I’m also giving the link to my DH who’s not that great with computers and marketing but writes wonderful historicals/westerns.
Thanks, D. D. – as usual, you hit the mark!
Mitzi
Yayyy, Mitzi! I’m thrilled this is helping both you and your DH!
You’re gonna luuuvvv the goodwill Ebook Gifting brings to new readers around the globe!!!
Excellent point, D.D.!
One major point with Amazon…you can also see whether or not your recipient has redeemed the gift. I’ve mentioned that in conjunction with gifting a book when you are hoping for a review or a comment.
Go to
http://www.amazon.com/manageyourkindle
On the left side, click or tap on
Pending Deliveries
When you scroll down, you’ll see gifts which have not yet been redeemed.
Thanks bunches for mentioning this, Bufo!
I do go in at least once per month to see if I need to send reminders to peeps that they have Ebook Gifts waiting for them. Also, if they’ve lost the email with the Ebook Gift scoop, you can choose to re-send it.
And, in the rare case where the email you get doesn’t work, Amazon does refund your money. I’ve had that happen just once so far.
i’m glad to hear about the refunding, thanks d.d.
maybe they’ve changed their policy, i’ve had one that just won’t get redeemed, and it’s been months, but when i first checked with them, they said absolutely no refunds, i’ll check again with them
really enjoyed your follow-up posts, and am committing to doing a once a month thing, since i am able to use my free books (i have five currently) for the promo, then, as you suggest, do a giveaway when i have a new release, like ten or more copies
i think the clincher info piece for me was that you’d provide the emails to be gifted, that’s what make’s it possible for me, thanks so much
i’ll send you an email, but i think any day of the month you want to assign to me, is good
talk w/ya’ll more soon then
ps – just read your extra tip below, i like it!
“Every few weeks, I’ll pop on Facebook and Twitter, and just Ebook Gift a few copies here and there of my older releases too.”
I had no idea about the refunding either, Adan. This just happened to me in the last couple of weeks. I got an email from Amazon that they’d repeatedly tried to deliver to an email address, but it was undeliverable. So, it might be just in those cases, and not because someone hasn’t redeemed the book.
We’re looking forward to featuring more of your terrific books too, Adan!!! I luuuuvvv your concept of exploring what happens after the happily ever after…
that is very kind of you to say about my concept
thank you d.d.!
i’ve sent scott an email to get things started, very glad to hear you’d like to feature more of my books, it’s an opportunity i’d rather not miss
Awesome post D.D.! Lots of great, helpful information for your fellow authors!
Thanks so much, Jeanne! I can’t wait to see how Ebook Gifting works for all of our fellow WG2E-Land Peeps!!!
I just read your RG2E post, so thought I’d come back and tell you how much I LOVE getting the free books from you. It’s a wonderful, generous idea you came up with to “treat” your readers, and it’s a GREAT way to find new authors to follow and buy his/her books! I’ve found MANY, new authors, as I am on your websites EVERY day and really look forward to them, plus I’ve read ALL of your books………always ready for the next one! Thanks for ALL you do.
WooHoo, Jeanne, and thanks beyond bunches for sharing this!!!
That’s what it’s all about…treating each of you to Ebook Gifts by authors brand new to you! Nothin’ beats adding to your must-read authors lists!!!
Thanks again for the superfab sweet shout-out and Happy Ereading!!!
Jeanne – it’s so great to hear that you’re finding new authors through the RG2E and e-gifting of books!
Great post D.D. thanks for this fantastic info. I just released my 1st romance and I’m going to give this a go.
Congrats on your first romance release, Alison!!! U Go, Girl!!! You are gonna luuuvvv what Ebook Gifting can do for you.
Oh, and here’s another tip:
Every few weeks, I’ll pop on Facebook and Twitter, and just Ebook Gift a few copies here and there of my older releases too.
This is terrific info, DD! Just to clarify…you said:
“…and it counts towards your sales since you’re actually buying the book. Once your recipient downloads the Ebook file, then you’ll see the credit for the sale in your sales reports.”
Okay, so what happens if you gift the ebook and the recipient does not download the file (for whatever reason). Are you still charged for the book? Does the time to download expire? If so, can you “re-gift” an ebook that someone chose not to download? (And I mean “re-gift” in the nicest way here…lol!)
Excellent questions, Monica!!!
You are charged for the book the minute you Ebook Gift it. But, you can go into the Manage Your Kindle Section on Amazon, as well as the Order Section, to see if people still haven’t downloaded your gifts. And, you can re-send them. If, and I’ve only had this happen once, Amazon is unable to deliver your Ebook Gift to the email address you’ve chosen, they will refund the money.
I’m not aware of any way to track this on the other sites. Do any of you know how this works on Nook, Kobo, Smashwords, etc.?
I had a case on Kobo where the egift could not be delivered. I contacted the recipient and it turns out the email address was wrong. I sent an email to Kobo and they refunded my money and asked that I egift again with the new email address. It was all handled very quickly.
Great to know, Kristine! Kobo seems to be sooo customer-friendly that I suspected they’d be awesome to deal with in these cases too! Thanks sooo much for sharing your experiences!!!
Okay, now I understand how it will effect your sales. That’s a great idea, even if it requires a little investment on our parts. So for the RG2E post (mine is in Jan), we will be gifting to everyone who comments?
Thanks so much for sharing all this info with us!
Stacy
“So for the RG2E post (mine is in Jan), we will be gifting to everyone who comments?”
Exactly, Stacy! You’ll be directly treating (as many as you want to) RG2E Readers to an Ebook Gift Copy of your book on the platform of their choice (provided your book is available on that platform).
Hi D.D. How do you pick who will you egift books to? From your mailing list? Do you run a promotion and pick random names? Thanks for the details!
Another great question, Sara! Thank you!
There are a ton of Random Winner type apps you can use – like Rafflecopter, for example, which you can have readers enter on and then have the app pick the winner.
My “Sam the Intern” uses one on her iPhone in which she just enters all of our RG2E Commenters’ names, and then the app generates the random winners.
Most of the time, if you’re willing to give away around 10-15 copies of your Ebook, you’ll be able to treat everyone who asked for one during your feature.
Thanks, D.D.!
Thanks so much for the how-to. I give Amazon books all the time, but the one time I tried on B&N, it didn’t seem to work. Now I realize I probably just needed to be more patient. And I’m so glad to hear Kobo is author-friendly in this as well as so many other things.
Since I asked you this specific question in a personal email yesterday, I give personal thanks to you for answering so throughly and clearly!
My pleasure, Anne!
The B&N Gifting screens are very awkward and take forever to load for me, but they do seem to work. I also like that B&N sends you an email letting you know when your recipient has downloaded the book. Kobo lets you know too. But Amazon doesn’t do that.
Great post! Didnt know any of that. Thanks for sharing! I love all the books ive received from you and the other authors! Ya all are awesome! Youve helped add authors to my favorite list. Thank you!
Yayyy, Shadow, and thanks beyond bunches for piping in as one of our superfab RG2E Readers! I’ve sooo enjoyed getting to know you and hangin’ with u over at The RG2E, and I’m over the moon to be helping fill your Ereader with terrific new authors!!!
Great post as usual, DeeDee! I love to hear how egifting helps us find readers and in turn boosts are sales. For some reason, I’d never really put the two together
I hadn’t either, Kristine, until I started to Ebook Gift with each of my new releases and saw the huge impact it was making for me right out of the start gate.
That’s when I got to thinking…oh yeahhh, we need an entire site based on that concept in which we can introduce all of us to a fabulous community of Ereaders!!! Thus, The RG2E was born!!!
I love the RG2E site, that is one of the first things. I check while drinking a cup of coffee. As a reader I love the e-book gifting! I think it is an absolutely wonderful way to find new authors that maybe I wouldn’t of known about! Most of the time I end up buying other books by that author or signing up for their newsletter so that I know when their new books will be released! For example I read one of D.D Scott’s because it was a free download, then I found out RG2E plus I have read almost all of her books now, I was gifted a copy of one Stacey Joy Netzel’s books and now have read almost all of her books!This has happened for numerous authors, I am reading Touch Me and Tango by Alicia and Roy Street who I found through RG2E and can’t wait to read more:)Basically Thank you for all you do and as a reader I truely appreciate it! Enjoy your Sunday!
U rock, Allyson, and I’m just over the moon thrilled to hear about how much you’re luuuvvvin’ The RG2E and how many wonderful new authors we’ve treated you to that have now become your must-read peeps!!!
And I also truly enjoy spending each and every day with y’all! I’ve got my wine glass and coffee cup forever raised to you!!! Cheers! And Happy Ereading, my new friend!!!
Thanks so much DeeDee for clarifying how all of this works!! I’ll be signing up to do this on RG2E soon!
Terrific, Dana! We’d luuuvvv to help our fabulous RG2E Readers find you and your books!
I read anything and everything that interests or appeals to me.
I like to experience new authors, or authors that are new to me.
That’s how I became acquainted with DD Scott and I am now a HUGE fan!!!!!
I found Bootscootin’ Blahniks, I loved the cover and the description had me. The power of FREE! I quickly hit the one click button.
I was immediately hooked. I completed Bootscootin’ Blahniks that day, and I was back on Amazon searching for more. I downloaded the Bootscootin Box set and was captivated for the next week. I was having withdrawal!!!
I then started searching for more. I found DD’s website and then, D.D.Scott-ville, and then the RG2E and now I can not start my day without a dose of DD and the RG2E
I have been introduced to some great authors through on RG2E site thru:
* author to author interviews
* book descriptions
* behind the scenes
* links to authors pages
*Beach Book Blast
My eyes have been opened. I have read some works that I May not have read in the past as a result.
Who doesn’t love free? If I down load a free book by a new author and love it,
I will quickly check out their other selections. I have been known to pick up all additional works by that author!
Keep up the good work! There is always room for another good Book and great Author!!
You are just a doll, Barbara!
I sooo enjoy hangin’ with you on The RG2E and know I’m the luckiest chick to count you as a fabulous fan!!!
And I’m over the moon to hear how much The RG2E’s Ebook Gifting has helped you find bunches of new authors!
Thanks sooo much for sharing your thoughts and enthusiasm! U rock!!!
Thanks for all the great tips, D.D.!
U betchya, Rhonda!!!
Hi DeeDee!
I haven’t been on in a while – missed it too! I am so glad you did this. It’s a great way to introduce someone to your books, who might now otherwise go out and purchase a ebook – especially by someone who is selfpublished, like me.
Thanks!
That was not – not now – silly keyboard!
Silly keyboard indeed, Jamie! LOL!
You’re gonna luuuvvv what Ebook Gifting can do to increase your visibility and treat brand new readers to your story worlds!
Thanks for the great info, D.D.!
That’s gonna come in handy. Talk about information we can all use. It’s so much easier navigating all this stuff with someone who’s gone ahead of you leading the way.
Thanks again. You’re the best!
Sure thing, David!
Feel free to Ebook Gift our Stuck with a Stiff any time you’d like to! LOL!
I just read your RG2E post and wanted to let you know that I love getting free books from you. I find many new authors each day to follow and add to my list to buy more of their books. I have found so many new authors that it is hard to get through my to be read pile, since it keeps growing every day. I look forward to finding more new authors each day. Thanks for everything that you do!
Wow, I’m so happy you CAN gift as a non US author! I didn’t know and will be definitely taking advantage of this from my Amazon.com account when I release my next book. Thanks muchly for sharing, DD
Hmmm…just tried to look at the gifting option from my Amazon.com account and it looks like I can’t. It doesn’t come up with an option to gift or even buy be cause it knows I’m not in the US
Do you have a separate Amazon.com (US) account from your Amazon UK account, Sibel? If I’m understanding our other international peeps correctly, it sounds like that’s what you have to do. But you can use the same email address for both of them.
I wonder if you just go onto Amazon.com (as a guest, so to speak), if it will then let you Gift that way?
Yep, I have a separate Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk account because I have to buy my Kindle books from Amazon.co.uk now. When I log on to Amazon.com there’s no facility for me to buy or gift Kindle books