10,000.... No! 12,000 Kindle downloads!

As a KDP Select author, you have the option of promoting your book for free up to 5 days during your 90 day program. & nbsp; I figured that right & nbsp;after Christmas (after everybody unwrapped their Kindle, like I did!) would be the perfect time to stick my books out there for free and see what would happen. & nbsp; I am completely, utterly, shocked and amazed at the results.

I scheduled the promotion to begin on December 26th and last for 5 days for both of my books. & nbsp; When I woke up that morning, I thought I would check on my phone to see if the books were listed as free. & nbsp; They were, so the promotion had started as scheduled. & nbsp; A few minutes later it dawned on me that maybe I should check to see if anybody had actually downloaded my books. & nbsp; Duh.

I couldn't believe it. & nbsp; At 8:30 in the morning, I'd had over 300 downloads. & nbsp;

To some authors, that's probably a drop in the bucket, but to me - whoa. & nbsp; I was thinking I'd get... 10 hits? 20 hits? & nbsp; Maybe 100 at most... over all 5 days. & nbsp; I had no idea what to expect.

Long story short... Every time I checked on my phone or refreshed my KDP reports page... I'd have more. & nbsp; And more. & nbsp; And more. & nbsp; I had sales in the UK. & nbsp; And Germany. & nbsp; And even France! & nbsp; Couldn't believe it. & nbsp; Just could not freaking believe it.

Then I started checking the rankings. & nbsp; I watched my books go up and up the free contemporary romance list, getting as high as #26 at one point. & nbsp; (And all the way up to #19 on Germany's foreign language/contemporary romance list. & nbsp; Danke, Germany!) & nbsp; Out of over 750,000 books in the entire Kindle store, The One Who Got Away... got all the way up to #215!

I was hoping I'd get a little boost to my sales and get my name out there a little bit. & nbsp; I didn't expect to & nbsp;get 2,500 downloads in about 24 hours. & nbsp;

Then I started hoping that I'd make it to 5,000. & nbsp; & nbsp; Done.

Then I figured I was dreaming & nbsp;big, but hoped to & nbsp;get to & nbsp;7,500. & nbsp; Done.

I woke up this morning to over 10,000 downloads. & nbsp; I can't believe it! & nbsp; The One Who Got Away is #20 in contemporary romance. & nbsp; Here We Go is #25 in contemporary fiction and #35 in contemporary romance.

Thank you, thank you, thank you sooooooooo much! & nbsp; Especially the gang at Love A Happy Ending and fellow authors on Twitter... I am super grateful for all of your support!

1/2/12 - Edited to add: I had a lot to celebrate this New Year! I & nbsp;finished the week with over 12,000 downloads. & nbsp; Since the end of my free promo on 12/30, The One Who Got Away has been hanging out in the top 20 paid Kindle contemporary & nbsp;romance list & nbsp;alongside authors like Gemma Halliday, Debbie Macomber, & nbsp;and Barbara Freethy!