# Black Friday / Cyber Weekend for a small direct e-book shop (UK, 2026)

**Dates 2026:** Black Friday is **Fri 27 Nov** and Cyber Monday is **Mon 30 Nov**. US Thanksgiving is Thu 26 Nov, which doesn't matter for UK readers.

**The decision.** Black Friday is mainly an *email-list* event. A shop with a tiny list and no sales history gains little from a price cut and can damage trust with one. Choose one of three stances and write it down by 13 Nov:
- **(A) Ignore it.** This is legitimate and costs nothing.
- **(B) Bonus, not discount.** Keep the price and give a time-limited extra.
- **(C) A real, short discount** to the email list only.

## Evidence (read in full unless marked)
- **Thomas Umstattd Jr., Author Media, "Black Friday promo tips for authors"** (read 26 Oct 2026):
  - For authors, Black Friday is mainly an email-list tactic; without a list a sale is "tricky".
  - Any discount must be real. Don't raise the price just before Black Friday and then "discount" it back to normal.
  - Trade promotions with authors in your niche, or run a joint bundle.
  - His plan is 4 emails: announce on Friday morning, curated deals on Friday afternoon, the same offer on Cyber Monday, then a last-chance email on Monday.
  - Friday's deal must be as good as or better than Monday's.
  - Don't pre-announce, or people hold off buying.
  - Don't run the sale all November, because a long window kills urgency.
  - Apple gives a bonus instead of a discount.
  - "You can also ignore Black Friday."
  - These are tactics and opinion, with no sales figures.
- **CMA207, "Unfair commercial practices" guidance** (UK, DMCC Act 2024 regime, page read 26 Oct 2026). Banned practice 7 is *falsely* stating that an offer is available only for a limited time. The CMA's example is a countdown clock that runs out and then restarts. A true end time is "unlikely to be problematic" unless a substantially similar offer reappears shortly afterwards. The same guidance points to the CMA's work on urgency and price-reduction statements online. Reference prices ("was £X") must be genuine.
- **Digital Commerce 360:** US Black Friday online sales rose 30.7% in 2025 compared with 2020 (snippet only, not checked).
- **r/selfpublish thread "Results of Black Friday Kindle Deal"** (Reddit returned 403, so not read; no figures used).

## How to do it
1. **Pick A, B or C by 13 Nov.** If the list has fewer than about 100 subscribers and the shop has made no sales, prefer **B**.
2. **For B (bonus):** pick one extra that costs nothing to deliver, such as a high-resolution map print PDF or a short companion essay. Offer it with any purchase between Fri 27 Nov 00:00 and Mon 30 Nov 23:59 UK time. State the end time and keep it. Deliver it automatically if the shop can; otherwise send a "reply with your receipt" email the same day.
3. **For C (discount):** use a genuine price that has been charged for at least the previous 28 days (good practice; the exact CMA period is not checked). Use one code, list-only, for 4 days at most, and keep Friday's offer at least as good as Monday's. Don't repeat the same offer within weeks.
4. **Send 2–3 emails, no more:** Friday morning (the offer and why), Sunday or Monday (one reminder showing the bonus) and Monday evening (last chance). Buyers drop out of the later emails.
5. **Socials:** at most one post per network on Friday and one on Monday, inside the daily caps. Link to /ebooks/ with `utm_campaign=bfcm2026`.
6. **Honest urgency only.** No countdown timers that reset, no "only 3 left" on a digital file, and no invented "was" prices.
7. **Afterwards:** record sales, sign-ups and unsubscribes. Note in the growth report whether it is worth repeating in 2027.

## How we apply it to Cedwyn (PROPOSAL, needs the owner's GO; pricing and email journeys are his call)
- **Status:** the e-books are £9.99, normal for the genre. Sales so far are zero, the list is small, and the /ebooks/ signup form was failing (405) on 26 Oct. **Fix the signup before any Black Friday email; without it there's no list to sell to.**
- **Recommendation: stance B.** Keep £9.99. Offer one bonus over 27–30 Nov: a printable A3 PDF of the 1824 David Stewart survey plan (the first record mention found), with a short guide to the field names. The image licence must be cleared first. Alternatively, offer a one-page timeline: 1667, the family acquired Tŷ Mawr (1974 newspapers; ITV News 1988), then 1824 onwards, with no Bute-era dates.
- **Proposed email draft (do not send):**
  - Subject: "Until Monday night: the 1824 survey plan, free with any Tŷ Mawr e-book"
  - Body: what it is, the end time ("23:59 Monday 30 November, UK time"), and one /ebooks/ button.
  - No banned public words, and the owner is never named.
- **Gifting is covered separately.** Gift buyers come later in December; see `ebook-gifting-christmas-gift-path-guide-email.md`. Don't run both offers at once.
- **Bundle pricing** follows `ebook-pricing-bundles-direct.md`. A Black Friday bundle discount would be stance C and needs his GO.
- **Go/no-go check on 20 Nov:** signup fixed, at least 30 subscribers, bonus file ready and licensed, owner GO. If any of these is missing, use stance A (ignore it).

## Sources
- authormedia.com (read)
- gov.uk (read; banned practice 7)
- digitalcommerce360.com (snippet, not checked)
- reddit.com (403, not read)