BOOK PROMOTION SITES--THE ONES THAT ACTUALLY WORK! > Likes and Comments

Good for you, Pamela. And I hope you get some more sales with your other ads.

I agree with J. I would love some advice on getting the best out of Instagram.

Groovy and J I believe I had posted some advice on instagram several posts back. I've found it to be the most useful social media tool these days.

Thanks, Effie. I will go back and read. Now that you said that, I'm more eager to go to Instagram.

So tell me? Does ANYONE know what it takes to get a bookbub featured deal? I had one once and I'm beginning to think it was divine intervention. I haven't been able to get one since, despite telling them I have over 200 reviews, a 4.6 rating, the book winning an award and having almost 900 bookbub followers. At this point, I think I'm going to give up on them.I did pretty well on my first free promo without them 4,500 free downloads. It's resulted in a lot of new reviews, readers buying the rest of the series and my KNEP has averaged 5,000 per day since. and that was a month ago. So unless one of you has a secret formula you's like to share, I think I'm done with bookbub. And that concludes my rant of the day!

Effie wrote: "So tell me? Does ANYONE know what it takes to get a bookbub featured deal? I had one once and I'm beginning to think it was divine intervention. I haven't been able to get one since, despite tellin..."
It's a good one! But I have no answers to it, I'm afraid - it's always seemed inaccessible to lower folk like me!

Congratulations on your incredible successes without BookBub! I’m going to try one more time in a month for a BookBub approved placement. If I discover something helpful, I’ll let you know!

Thanks, Michele. It's so frustrating but I am grateful that I got in that one time. It really brought a lot of exposure to my book when it was still new. Good luck! I hope you get it.

Well, I know it would be an uphill battle for me to try and get accepted by Bookbub. I just don't have the time. So, unless I hear something more positive about them, I have crossed them off my list.

But Effie, you said it yourself. You've done so well without them. So, in other words, you don't really need them, do you? Look at your record and how well you've done. I think you should work with the sites who are accepting you gladly and doing good for you, and forget this one thorn in your side. You obviously don't need them. Did you notice how Michele put it? Congratulations on your success WITHOUT Bookbub!

So----Congratulations, Effie:)

Hi Folks,

I've just released my new novel, Gilgamesh of Uruk based on the epic hero, Gilgamesh, from Ancient Mesopotamia. It's a Kindle book.

I'm wondering if any of you know of promotion sites that are good for historical fiction. I've done Bargain Booksy and Just Kindle for my previous novels (all of which are retelling of myths/historical fiction). I've had moderate success with them. But is there any site any of you know of that is strong on historical fiction? (I have no intention of trying Bookbub based on Effie's experience, especially since she is galaxies ahead of me in promoting and selling her books.)

This is the book blurb to give you an idea of what the novel is about:

Gilgamesh, son of the goddess Ninsun and the mortal Lugalbanda, is the arrogant king of the vibrant city of Uruk, a sprawling desert metropolis. In an attempt to quell Gilgamesh’s oppressive behavior, the gods fashion the wild man, Enkidu, to be a companion to the king and to calm his errant ways. The two form an inseparable bond, embark on a wild misadventure, and commit a series of blunders that offend the very gods who created Enkidu. What happens next sends Gilgamesh on an epic journey to find his ancestor, Utnapishtim the Faraway, to learn his story of survival and unlock the secrets of immortality.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Thanks Groovy and Tamara. But please don't be discouraged from trying to get a bookbub deal. Who knows how they decide. the I did get one, my book was relatively new, had few reviews and had not yet won the award. I would definitely give it a try. At that time I had done a .99c deal. I sold 1800 books in one day. I think it was a game-changer for me. No other site had come close to that. ENT was probably second in sales and that only garnered a little over 100 sales. So it makes me wonder. If I had 4500 free downloads with these other sites, what would a bookbub deal have brought in downloads? 10-15 thousand? At any rate, for me it is a moot point. But not for the rest of you. Please try. Someone pointed out that they like books that have not been promoted too often. As you know, I constantly self promote on all my social media and run paid ads often. This may be why. who knows!

Tamara, there are many sites that will promote by genre. I find that sites that send out genre specific newsletters to their readers is the most effective advertising. AuthorsXP is not only great for this but you can build up quite a mailing list with them. Bookhub does the same thing but for the overseas audience. Bookcave, booktastick, Robin reads, fussy librarian are all genre specific.

Think about googling blogs in your genre - historical fiction book blogs or Mythology book blogs and contact them. Ask to be featured or reviewed. Some have advertising for a reasonable price.

Look into a book tour. This may not get you immediate sales but it will get you exposure and reviews.

Create your own ads on a site like Canva. Post on instagram, twitter and facebook. There are tons on book groups on Facebook you can join and post your ads without costing you a penny. More effective is boosting your posts. For as little as 10$ you can boost an post and reach specific audiences. You can also link that boost to instagram.

Tamara wrote: "Hi Folks,

I've just released my new novel, Gilgamesh of Uruk based on the epic hero, Gilgamesh, from Ancient Mesopotamia. It's a Kindle book.

I'm wondering if any of you know of p..."'

My historical fiction books have done well with the Booksy sites, Robin Reads, ENT, Reading Deals. Book Cave, and Fussy Librarian. After reading your blurb, though, I would think your book might be more in the fantasy category. Book Barbarian is a good service for books that are sci fi and fantasy.

Your blurb sounds stellar, by the way!

Marie Silk wrote: "Tamara wrote: "Hi Folks,

I've just released my new novel, Gilgamesh of Uruk based on the epic hero, Gilgamesh, from Ancient Mesopotamia. It's a Kindle book.

I'm wondering if any o..."

Thanks, Marie Silk.
I'm a bit fuzzy on the difference between historical fiction and fantasy. I don't think mine is fantasy, but I'm not sure. I think some of the sights you mentioned require a minimum number of reviews before they look at you. But I'll check out Book Barbarian because I've never looked into that.
Thanks, again.

Effie wrote: "Thanks Groovy and Tamara. But please don't be discouraged from trying to get a bookbub deal. Who knows how they decide. the I did get one, my book was relatively new, had few reviews and had not ye..."

These are all great suggestions. I've printed out your post and will consider all your suggestions carefully. It's all a bit overwhelming for me because I really have no clue how to promote. But I will study your suggestions and Marie Silk's and see what I can do.

This is such a wonderful thread and everyone is so helpful and supportive. I really appreciate it. Thanks, again.

Here's how I understand it: historical fiction readers generally expect a fair amount of real history/historical settings incorporated into the story. So, stories about fictional characters experiencing WWII or the fall of the Roman empire would fall under the historical fiction category. Fantasy readers generally expect magic/mythology to be incorporated into the story. Stories involving gods and creatures or elements and universes that we don't have "in real life" would fall under the fantasy category.

Here is the price list for Bookbub Featured Deals: https://www.bookbub.com/partners/pricing

It shows the average number of downloads per category. For my category (historical fiction) the average # of paid downloads (for books that are discounted but not free) is 3,550 downloads. Compare this to an average of about 30,000 downloads for a free promotion. It's a massive difference!

Tamara wrote: "Hi Folks,

I've just released my new novel, Gilgamesh of Uruk based on the epic hero, Gilgamesh, from Ancient Mesopotamia. It's a Kindle book.

I'm wondering if any of you know of p..."

Hi Tamara and welcome to the thread. I agree with Marie Silk that your book sounds more like a mythological/fantasy genre. My books are listed under a subcategory of historical fantasy. Most of them are set in the 16th century with historical backdrops and figures but the story is not centralized around this fact.

I have done a lot of research, but I also take some license at times. The main characters are vampires so that puts them firmly into the fantasy category.

Marie Silk wrote: "Here's how I understand it: historical fiction readers generally expect a fair amount of real history/historical settings incorporated into the story. So, stories about fictional characters experie..."

Thanks. That clarifies it for me.

I guess mine is fantasy since it includes the gods coming down from the heavens, a giant guardian for the Cedar Forest, etc. etc. The thing that confused me is that there really was a historical Gilgamesh. He is listed in the ancient Sumerian King List. And his story is written on clay tablets dated nearly 4,000 years ago.

But based on the way you and Theresa defined it, mine is closer to historical fantasy. Thanks for the clarification.

Theresa wrote: "Tamara wrote: "Hi Folks,

I've just released my new novel, Gilgamesh of Uruk based on the epic hero, Gilgamesh, from Ancient Mesopotamia. It's a Kindle book.

I'm wondering if any o..."

Thank you, Theresa. That helps to clarify it for me.

I hope no one here was affected by the glitch on Amazon over the past week. Apparently, free promotions weren't being listed as free on the Amazon US site for KDP authors :(. I have a big promotion coming up on Sunday that I'm going to be concerned about until I hear back from KDP that the issue is fixed. The authors I know of who were affected didn't have any paid advertising into it, but I feel bad for anyone who did.

That's awful! I hope amazon makes good on it and let's those authors run another free promotion with free exposure from them. That would be the right thing to do.

Tamara wrote: "Theresa wrote: "Tamara wrote: "Hi Folks,

I've just released my new novel, Gilgamesh of Uruk based on the epic hero, Gilgamesh, from Ancient Mesopotamia. It's a Kindle book.

I'm wo..."

You're very welcome, Tamara. It can get confusing at times. I have cameo appearances in my books by Queen Elizabeth I and the Medicis. By the sound of it, you are blending the historical figure of Gilgamesh with the mythology of the culture.

Marie Silk wrote: "I hope no one here was affected by the glitch on Amazon over the past week. Apparently, free promotions weren't being listed as free on the Amazon US site for KDP authors :(. I have a big promotion..."

Oh wow, that's terrible! Luckily, I didn't have a free promotion this past week, but I feel bad for those who did. I know sometimes authors can be penalized by advertising sites if the price isn't where its supposed to be when the promotion starts.

About ten days ago when i tried to upload my Gilgamesh manuscript on Kindle, the thing kept going round and round and getting stuck. Initially I thought I'd messed up because I'm not very techno savvy. I contacted the woman who had formatted it for me, but she kept getting stuck. I kept trying and finally called Amazon.

It turns out they had a technical issue from their end--maybe a similar glitch to the one about free promotions. Anyway, in my case, they fixed the glitch within 24 hours. I hope they fix this glitch quickly. And like Effie said, they should let those authors who missed out run another free promotion with free exposure.

My free promo went well yesterday. I hope this means Amazon has fixed whatever glitch was preventing free promotions from running as scheduled. The second book in my series got an ENT spot the day *before* my free promo of Book 1 (ideally I would have wanted it to run the same day, but I'll take what I can get with ENT). Here are the results of the promotion:

Saturday 47 sales of Book 2 on countdown with ENT ad, all other books were full price, 3K total KENP (average)

Sunday Book 1 was free, Book 2 still on countdown:

Book 1: Robin Reads, Book Cave, Booksends- 1057 downloads
Book 2: Reading Deals, Bargain Booksy, Fussy Librarian- 112 sales
4K total KENP

Monday No promotion sites booked, 46 sales across all books, last day of countdown for Book 2, all other books full price, 7K total KENP

All told during these 3 days, my books sold a total of 228 units.

I was going to do something for my books but I'm going to wait till the other holidays. Yes horror and Halloween go together but I'm going to try and play things quiet next three days with promos then take my big ideas for the next two months.

Oh my goodness, Marie Silk, great numbers! Congratulations.

Fantastic, Marie Silk!

Good results, Marie!

What do you all think is the best way to get the word out if you only have two titles so far? My first book is a contemporary romance and my second is a military romance, and they are both inspirational. I know a lot of the ads work if you have a series. Any good suggestions for two books that are standalone? Thanks!

Marie Silk wrote: "My free promo went well yesterday, so hopefully Amazon has fixed whatever glitch was preventing free promotions from running as scheduled. The second book in my series got an ENT spot the day *befo..."
Great results. And thanks for sharing.

Michelle wrote: "What do you all think is the best way to get the word out if you only have two titles so far? My first book is a contemporary romance and my second is a military romance, and they are both inspirat..."

Michelle, I write in different genres, too and have a few standalones. You can still advertise them on the sites mentioned in previous posts, but maybe instead of giving them away for free to spur sales of other books, you can sell them for .99.

Thank you, everyone :). My books are back to full price now. I edited my post above to include yesterday's results when I had no promotion sites booked as well as the KENP pattern over the promotion days. Based on past promotions, I expect the KENP to stay high over the next week, then taper down after that.

Good for you, Marie Silk. Congratulations1

Makes me want to get the promotion department revved up again but intent on waiting until my next book is out. And that seems to be a never ending work in progress.

I hear you, J. I'm stuck in my never-ending-work-in-progress. Promotion will have to wait for me...

D. wrote: "Michelle wrote: "What do you all think is the best way to get the word out if you only have two titles so far? My first book is a contemporary romance and my second is a military romance, and they ..."

That's something to consider, D, thanks!

Okay, a mixed bag on the launch of the new series:

Pre-order set up a month before, and with Itsy Bitsy book tours starting a fortnight before I had 25 orders before launch, 22 of which came good. Starting price 99c.

Launch day - Book of the Day 7
Launch +1 Fussy Librarian 17
Launch +2 Bargain Booksy 26
Launch +4 Just Kindle Books 10

Itsy Bitsy continues to tomorrow.

I hit 12,000 in Kindle sales and 150 in Scottish Crime, and have had over 100 sales so far on the new book plus halo sales on all my other books - probably my most successful launch week so far. Small beer by the standards of many here, but I'm quite pleased!

I was disappointed with Just Kindle Books - not sure what happened there. I had expected more and was doing the build up pattern of sales, but heigh ho!

Three reviews courtesy of Itsy Bitsy and one other so far.

Price going up to $1.99 tomorrow then to $2.99 in a fortnight - haven't launched like that before so we'll see what happens. The next in the series is due out in the New Year (when I can afford to buy a cover!) and that will prove interesting.

Congratulations, Lexie!!! That's some impressive sales. And think of all the exposure you're getting.

I have a question: Would you say that Itsy Bitsy book tour was the reason for most of your sales?

Oh my, Congratulations, Lexie! WOW. Good for you!

Depressed author. I have tried to blog on Tumblr etc. but unfortunately I am of the older age group and I have no idea how to go about it -- social media is a strange mystery to me. I have written books on the First World War which I really enjoy as I learn so much but I would like to sell some. Please can anyone help and advise me. Thanks.

Groovy wrote: "Congratulations, Lexie!!! That's some impressive sales. And think of all the exposure you're getting.

I have a question: Would you say that Itsy Bitsy book tour was the reason for most of your sa..."

I'm not sure it was as good for me as it might have been for Effie. The ones who have reviewed it seemed to find crime a new genre for them, and I've had good promos with Bargain Booksy and Fussy Librarian before. But the four reviews (another one appeared while I was posting above) that are on Amazon.com are via that tour - reviews are obviously not guaranteed, nor indeed need they be good reviews if they do appear. However, before the launch they were very busy plugging me on Facebook, so I'm sure there was some exposure from them and that helped the preorders.

Michele wrote: "Oh my, Congratulations, Lexie! WOW. Good for you!"

Thanks!

David wrote: "Depressed author. I have tried to blog on Tumblr etc. but unfortunately I am of the older age group and I have no idea how to go about it -- social media is a strange mystery to me. I have written ..."

Hi, David. You can sell books without social media. I don't use it at all anymore. I just didn't find it very effective. I'd suggest discounting your book and advertising on some of the sites mentioned in these posts. I'm sure you'll hear some other ideas here as well.

David wrote: "Depressed author. I have tried to blog on Tumblr etc. but unfortunately I am of the older age group and I have no idea how to go about it -- social media is a strange mystery to me. I have written ..."

Well, you've found Good Reads, and that's an excellent start! Have you joined some of the history fora? Is your work fiction or non-fiction? There are places for both! Get on there, talk about other people's work that you've enjoyed, books you've read for your research, chat with people online. When you feel a bit more comfortable with the conventions, then you can branch out. I know nothing about Tumblr (assumed it was for young people!) and before I started this self-publishing lark I barely knew one end of a computer from another, but you go bit by bit and learn as you go. Blogging is good - put in links to other people's websites and blogs that you've found useful or enjoyed. And keep smiling! Depression is an occupational hazard for an author but there are incredible highs, too!

David wrote: "Depressed author. I have tried to blog on Tumblr etc. but unfortunately I am of the older age group and I have no idea how to go about it -- social media is a strange mystery to me. I have written ..."

Hi David,
Are you near any military bases or museums? Offer to do a short talk or just a book signing if you're shy. Sometimes, you have to start small and local and build an audience that way. Or, if there are craft vendors coming up in your area, check with those. Sometimes those are best because the people are already planning to buy! I am doing two in November and I enjoy them. Good luck and let us know what you've come up with!

Hey everyone!

I'm brand new to the group and am in LOVE with the fact that a group like this exists. I've always found the elitism and anti-promotion efforts on other sites/platforms to be discouraging, so it's nice to see a place where people can promote their works from a place of honesty/sincerity.

I'm a newly self-published first time author, as of a couple weeks ago. I published a book on eating disorder recovery, something that's near and dear to me. The entire process took about 8 months and was done on top of the 2 jobs I'm working, so it's been a pretty crazy year so far, yet I'm SO happy with the end product. It's something I've put my all into and can confidently say I truly believe in.

I've recently used WhizBuzz for book promotions, have done some FB ads (not much - total of like $25 spent), and am only now moving into AMS advertisement territory, which should be interesting.

I'm excited to get to meet all of you and join in relevant discussions! Calling myself an author now is weird but so, so much cooler than I would've thought.

-Ari

Theresa, your books sound interesting with Queen Elizabeth I and the Medicis. So much intriguing history at that time!

Lexie, well done on your book launch :)! I hope you continue to see sales after you raise the prices.

David, welcome to the thread :). IMO Social media is more for engagement (not necessarily sales) from potential readers, and oftentimes it's lot of work with little to no reward (like talking to a wall). There's a wealth of information in this thread to be found if you start at page 1 and read through about what has worked for other authors and what has not.

Ari, welcome to the thread :). Congratulations on your new book!

Lexie wrote: "David wrote: "Depressed author. I have tried to blog on Tumblr etc. but unfortunately I am of the older age group and I have no idea how to go about it -- social media is a strange mystery to me. I..."


Thanks Lexie, Writing is a new hobby for me in my retirement which I really enjoy. The books are non-fiction about the First World War. I am hoping to publish another in the next few days where the ending includes my impressions of the war which may be controversial to some, so hopefully my writing is starting to show my feelings instead of just facts. The research I did upset me so much that I joined Liberty, the human rights charity. My amazon book page link is: https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B07DLFK3Z8

Michelle wrote: "David wrote: "Depressed author. I have tried to blog on Tumblr etc. but unfortunately I am of the older age group and I have no idea how to go about it -- social media is a strange mystery to me. I..."

Michelle wrote: "David wrote: "Depressed author. I have tried to blog on Tumblr etc. but unfortunately I am of the older age group and I have no idea how to go about it -- social media is a strange mystery to me. I..."

Michelle wrote: "David wrote: "Depressed author. I have tried to blog on Tumblr etc. but unfortunately I am of the older age group and I have no idea how to go about it -- social media is a strange mystery to me. I..."

Thanks Michelle, I will contact a bookshop and see what response I get. I only became interested in writing while editing my wife's book about her live of trauma and rejection as a child and how she is overcoming this. My link to my Amazon page:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B07DLFK3Z8
My wife's link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B07DYRW3RS

D. wrote: "David wrote: "Depressed author. I have tried to blog on Tumblr etc. but unfortunately I am of the older age group and I have no idea how to go about it -- social media is a strange mystery to me. I..."

Thanks D. I will try lowering my prices. Link to my Amazon page:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B07DLFK3Z8