Yesterday was the start of my first ever countdown deal for Turn of the Tide on Amazon (US). It took me a while to sort out the technicalities – fortunately you can play about with the buttons until you (think) you have what you want.
First decision: the number of price increments – I’m not sure why I went for 3 – or maybe it was auto-suggestion as the example that Amazon provided was 3. Is there some significance to 3? Some hidden reason that only the Amazon computer knows? Maybe. Anyway I’ve gone for 3. $0.99 / $1.99 /$2.99 and I’m happy with that. But will any buyers be?
Then there was timing – how many days would I have at each price level? Thinking in terms of days would have been straightforward and convenient, but Amazon, in their wisdom, counts in hours. Of course that makes the system extremely flexible – I could have gone for 27 hours at one level and 33 at another and so on, but I took the simpler option – 3 days, 2 days and 2 days – 72 hours, 48 hours and 47 hours. I’m not quite sure how I ended up 1 hour short on the last day, but I’d had sufficient of a struggle to get that far, so 47 hours it stayed.
And finally – the biggest decision of all – would I do it in both the UK and the US simultaneously, or separately. Amazon allows one promotion in a 90 day period on each book enrolled in KDP Select. But having discovered that each territory is considered separately I decided to try the .com site first and then at a later stage try the UK one, thus perhaps maximising the promotional value. (Or maybe not – time will tell.)
The unintended consequence? Looking at the .com site from Britain does NOT allow anyone to see a countdown deal that only applies to .com – I hadn’t realised that – mild to moderate panic that the deal wasn’t happening, especially as I’d signed up to a promotional site – fortunately free to use. After a flurry of Facebook posts and sending ‘help’ notices to Amazon someone in the US I discovered all was well – the deal was up and running. Amazon even helpfully sent me a screen shot to prove it. 
Everyone says to expect a spike in sales…I’ll keep you posted (but I’m not going to hold my breath).