BOOK PROMOTION SITES--THE ONES THAT ACTUALLY WORK! > Likes and Comments
Congratulations, Stephen! And best of luck.
Great news, Stephen! Please let us know how it goes :) I'd love to try one of those, but for my category (historical fiction) it costs a whopping $1500 for a new release feature! This is at least twice as much as the other new release features, so I don't really understand the crazy price gap. Best of luck with your feature!
Congrats Stephen! What genre is your book?Marie, it looks like Historical Romance is $420 and Historical Mystery is $640 if that works for your books. Historical Fiction is popular and your book doesn't have to be on sale, so maybe that's the reason. Still!
Thanks D, I will try for Historical Romance when the time comes.
Congratulations, Stephen. Wow! Do you want to share with us how you got all this publicity in the newspaper and on the radio? That's exciting!! Have fun, o.k.? And all the best with Bookbub.
Stephen wrote: "That sounds very interesting on the Amazon giveaways, shame its not open for UK authors. Its so odd how many things are different between the two sites. I am excited to say that I got accepted fo..."
Well done! I was wondering why I hadn't done Amazon giveaways so thanks for pointing out that it isn't on the UK site - that would explain it!
Good luck for the launch and the radio interview - hope they all go well.
Congrats Stephen! I wish you the best of luck!Thanks Groovy. Fingers crossed that I get accepted this time.
I have a question. I've never run a free promotion on KDP before. I'm still on the fence about it. When you run a kindle countdown, it can only be done in the US & UK. does that still stand for the free promo or is it free across the board on all Amazon sites?
The free promos apply to all Amazon marketplaces. Canada and Australia are major markets for me (aside from the US and UK) so it's great to have the wider reach with free promotions.
Me as well and I hate that I can't extend the kindle countdown to them. Thank you, Marie Silk!
When I did a free BookBub promo a few years ago, I had downloads in 13 countries. That never would've happened with a countdown deal.
Good to know. I think I'll finally give it a try, even though giving books away goes against my grain. I just have to adjust my thinking and use it as a means to promote The Who series by giving away the first one for a couple of days.Did you all hear that createspace is being phased out? I knew this was coming once kindle publishing was created. All createspace books have to be transferred to kindle publishing.
Whoa, Effie, I was not aware that createspace was being phased out. Thanks for the heads up.
Actually, my formatter sent me an email. She said if I had trouble converting over she would convert the files for me.
I'm sure it's really easy to go from CreateSpace to KDP. I think you just have to enter the ISBN and they pull everything over.
Thanks very much guys! I will definitely let you know how it goes. I also applied for my second book but I haven't received a response yet.My book is middle grade, that was one of the cheaper options which was lucky for me. You can check it our here Spirits of the Dead
Newspaper and radio has been a mixture of things, some have been some people I know which helped. Others I just found some contact info and reached out to them, I think that local press are looking for local news and so they went for it fast!
Thanks for the heads up Effie and Groovy. I guess there's no point in even bothering trying to do the new book in CreateSpace. I have not gotten the email yet, but I heard the emails are being sent in batches. *Bangs head on table* I can see where this might be a disaster in the making on top of still being ill.... ugh ugh.
P.S. E-NewsToday did not accept the book again. It is what it is. I might have enough trouble with this KDP/CreateSpace thing.
Naturally I had just finished formatting my new book for Createspace when the email came in! But I think I might have it ready before the switchover, and then Amazon will do it automatically, I think.But I had a niggling feeling there was a good reason why I hadn't already switched to KDP print, and I can't remember what it was. I thought it might be that I couldn't assign my own ISBNs, but they assure me it wasn't that. Can anyone think what the downside might be?
Lexie, I think that CreateSpace paid out more frequently (every 30 days instead of 60 for KDP Print) and also had a wider distribution network, although I believe KDP Print has now expanded its distribution to match it. I bet it'll be 60 days for pay out, though.I haven't got the email yet, so hope the transfer is straightforward.
Supposedly the transfer should be seamless. I haven't tried it yet. I have too many other things to worry about first.So, once again, I tried to get a featured deal on Bookbub. I was only accepted once in 2016 and haven't been accepted since. I had done a .99c deal and had 1,800 sales and my average KNEP was over 8,000 per day for almost a month. For the first time, I submitted for a free deal. I have over 200 reviews and ratings, almost all 4 & 5 star. I now have 765 bookbub followers. I don't know what more they want? I'll wait a month and then I'm going to submit for the series box set. The normal price is 7.99. I'll put it on sale for 1.99 and see if they take it. After that, I don't know what else to do. I think my theory is correct. The trad authors and publishers are using bookbub so much for their backlists that there is less and less room for Indies.
I'm sure that's true. Have you reminded them your book won an award? That's the kind of thing that might give you a slight edge. It's a pity they don't have more sub genres that might be easier to get into.
Yes, I did mention it. Oh, well. I also mentioned that my books have sold thousands of copies and have had over 1 million KNEP pages read. I don't know what they are looking for.
Hi Effie, While I haven't submitted to BookBub in awhile, I'm also frustrated with the constant rejection and am considering purchasing an ad.
What do you mean, Michele, by puchasing an ad? Don't we purchase all the ads? I just submitted for ENT.
I think Michele means the Bookbub ads (which they don't approve or disapprove) so are just purchasable. As opposed to the features which they pick and choose.
That's it, I'm not even going to waste my time with Bookbub. It seems everybody is being rejected. A lot of you have really good track records and are still being turned away. What is up with that?And just who are being accepted?
It's obvious they don't need the business.
Yes, Stephen is correct. I was referring to the Bookbub ads that appear at the bottom of the page, after the selected genres.
Oh, sorry, Michele. I didn't know what you meant. Yes, I've done those. They are successful but nowhere near the level of a submitted featured deal.
I'd just like to say how thrilled I am (sarcasm) at having to put more of my eggs into Amazon's basket with my paperbacks. Just what I wanted to do.....NOT. I loathe them.
D.J. wrote: "Lexie, I think that CreateSpace paid out more frequently (every 30 days instead of 60 for KDP Print) and also had a wider distribution network, although I believe KDP Print has now expanded its dis..."It is indeed sixty days for pay out. Does anyone here use another source for their paperbacks? I don't sell that many but I do occasional signings and giveaways and like to have a few of each book in hand. What is Lulu like?
I've been sharing my negative experiences and finally have something positive to report. This morning I discovered my novel won the Bronze Award from the Reader's Favorite Contest in the Fiction-Suspense category. The two authors that placed first and second are international best selling authors, and then me. Ha.Now I'm wondering if this award would motivate Bookbub to accept my novel.
Well done, Michele. Worth a shot at Bookbub with it. You should plug it in your book descriptions and author profiles as well.
Thanks Marie Silk and D.J.! Great suggestions—will do.
Congratulations! Michele. I'm a little annoyed because I entered the contest and paid. There is no listing, results or review for my book. I just put in a request to investigate the matter.As for Bookbub. The book that was initially accepted but now rejected every other time was a readers favorite award finalist.
again, I don't know what they are looking for.
Oh, Effie, if that happened to me, I’d be frustrated too. Let us know the results of your inquiry.
Michele wrote: "I've been sharing my negative experiences and finally have something positive to report. This morning I discovered my novel won the Bronze Award from the Reader's Favorite Contest in the Fiction-Su..."Congrats, Michele!
Michele, hope it helps with marketing your book!My book was a finalist in Fiction - Holiday.
Lexie wrote: "Does anyone here use another source for their paperbacks? I don't sell that many but I do occasional signings and giveaways and like to have a few of each book in hand. What is Lulu like?"I don't know about Lulu. I moved to IngramSpark from Lightning Source to get the lower setup fees.
The upside: the product is good, and your book ends up everywhere Ingram distributes.
The downside: the setup fees, and the high cost to the author for buying and shipping sales stock for events and signings.
The other thing to look for is whether the 'Zon plays nicely enough with Spark to keep your paperback in stock. The reason I went with Createspace in the first place was because at the time, paperbacks from any other source showed as "out of stock - ship in 8-14 days" on the product page. I don't know if that's still the case -- perhaps someone else here can fill us in.
Congratulations, Michele. And congratulations, D.
I would stay with amazon and do the kindle publishing. I don't think much will change. I think it's more about consolidating their publishing company.
I am excited to say that I got accepted for a Bookbub New Release Feature! It is a new service of theirs, so I guess I don't know if the results will be as good as their featured deals but my fingers are crossed.
I recently got some publicity in some local newspapers, and I am set to speak on the local radio the week of the release, so I feel like I am hitting as many bases as possible!
I did a giveaway to my mailing list with some ARC copies but haven't had any reviews come through yet, so I am not sure on that side, but still hoping.
One month to the release!!! (can you tell I am excited) haha