At Chirp, we know authors and publishers want to give away free audiobooks to listeners, and we know listeners want to download them! That’s why we’re excited to offer a new way to increase the discoverability of free books and expand the reach of those discounts: Freebie Friday. In this post, you’ll learn all about this new promotional opportunity, including why you should run free promotions on Chirp, how Freebie Friday works, and how you can submit to be considered for a deal.
Why run a Freebie Friday promotion for your audiobook?
- Reach new readers: Many free books are already available on the Chirp site, but until now, there hasn’t been a way for authors and publishers to promote them. Freebie Friday promotions offer a way to expand the reach of free discounts to a much broader audience of Chirp listeners by advertising your free deal to users who are subscribed to your book’s categories.
- Drive downloads quickly: Unlike Chirp Featured Deals — curated Chirp discounts you can run for up to 30 days — Freebie Friday promotions run for only four days. This shorter time frame can incentivize listeners to download your audiobook as soon as they see it so they don’t miss out on the discount.
- Encourage follow-on sales: Readers are more likely to buy new books by an author or part of a series they already like — and what better way to get them interested than with a free discount? Each Freebie Friday promotion includes at least two related deals, making it a great opportunity to hook listeners on your audiobooks, whether you’re offering standalones or a series!
- Diversify your promotions: Featured Deals are Chirp’s tried-and-true method for marketing deals to listeners, but if you’re looking to switch it up — or haven’t had luck getting selected for Featured Deals in the past — Freebie Friday promotions are a fresh alternative to get your work out to hundreds of thousands of listeners.
How does Freebie Friday work?
Freebie Friday is a weekly promotional email featuring a small, curated collection of audiobooks that are discounted to free for a limited time. This email is sent out to Chirp users subscribed to relevant categories, ensuring your free deal gets in front of readers who would be most interested in listening to your book.
Each email links to a dedicated landing page where the free deals are merchandised together with related deals to encourage follow-on sales. The page also includes special blurbs for both the free books and bundles — hand-crafted by our editors using their in-depth knowledge of our readers’ preferences to maximize engagement.
Freebie Friday deals are live for four days, Friday through Monday.
How to submit your audiobook for a Freebie Friday promotion
You can submit for a Freebie Friday promotion here! Each submission must include one book you’d like discounted to free and at least two other titles to discount alongside it, priced between $0.99 and $2.99.
Freebie Friday submissions are evaluated by the same editorial team who selects Chirp Featured Deals, and scheduled up to four months in advance. If your audiobook is selected for a deal, you will hear back from our Partners team within two weeks of submitting.
The cost of a Freebie Friday promotion is $150. For more information on the fee and the submission process, check out our FAQs.
Other ways to promote audiobooks with Chirp
Freebie Friday is best for promoting free discounts, but if you’re interested in learning how to market higher priced deals to Chirp listeners, advertise your audiobooks to BookBub readers, or share deals with your own fan base, check out the following resources:
- How Chirp Featured Deals work (and tips for making the most of them)
- How to drive more audiobook sales with BookBub Ads
- How to drive audiobook series follow-on sales on Chirp
- Using Chirp’s free Promo Image Generator to share deals
Want to share this post? Here are ready-made tweets:
Click to tweet: YES, authors and publishers can now promote free audiobooks on Chirp! 🎉 👉 https://bit.ly/4fGHJ4E
Click to tweet: Authors, if you’re considering discounting your audiobook to free, here’s why you should: https://bit.ly/4fGHJ4E #bookmarketing
