Boost your book sales by giving readers their first book free

Posted by Sarah Bainbridge, Head of Publishing, Obooko

Obooko reached around 852,000 active users over the past year. If you write a series, some of those readers could be meeting your characters for the first time.

We have over 920,000 registered reader accounts, and our website recorded around 4.1 million page views between 8 September 2025 and 7 September 2026. Those are figures for the whole platform, rather than a promise of downloads for any individual book.

I look after publishing at Obooko. We want more independent authors to put a book in front of readers who might otherwise never discover them.

For a romance or crime series, a free first book gives someone a chance to try your writing before buying the next instalment. they can get to know the characters, finish a complete story and decide they want more (preferably before bedtime).

The practical version is simple: choose a strong first book or prequel you can distribute freely, give it a clear cover and description, and tell readers where the series goes next. Make the reading order obvious. A reader who loves book one should be able to find book two without detective work.

If your series is in Kindle Unlimited, check the individual title's KDP Select status first. Amazon requires digital exclusivity while a book is enrolled. You can use a wide prequel, or wait until the chosen book's exclusivity period has ended, while keeping other eligible titles in KU. Turning off renewal does not end the current term immediately. Amazon explains its KDP Select requirements here.

We send weekly emails highlighting books for our readers to discover. Uploaded books can be considered for those editorial selections, alongside discovery through our catalogue and genre pages. An upload does not guarantee an email feature.

Our new author profiles are coming soon. They will bring your Obooko books together with links to your website and Amazon profile, giving readers a clear way to explore the rest of your work. It is another useful place for people and search engines to find accurate information about you; it comes with no guaranteed Google or AI search ranking.

Keep the aim of a free book seperate from the price of the rest of your catalogue. You are giving new readers a starting point, then making the next book easy to find.

Have a first book or prequel that would fit? Get in touch with Obooko. We'd love to hear about it.