BOOK PROMOTION SITES--THE ONES THAT ACTUALLY WORK! > Likes and Comments
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Effie
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Jun 24, 2018 05:55AM

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Marie-Silk those figures are great! What would you say you did to get that amazing pre-order figure? Also how did those promo sites promote you without reviews? Is that because you had many other reviews on other books?

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Hi Stephen, I didn't actively promote the novella while it was on preorder because I think promotion dollars are better spent once a book is available for purchase. I did put the title and blurb in the back matter of another book in the series that was selling well. I think this is where the bulk of the preorders came from.
Since the book hadn't been released yet, it had zero reviews when I scheduled features with those promo sites. A few of them had no review requirement at all, others were okay with promoting a title with zero reviews as long as the author had other books with reviews with a decent star rating average.


Also, wanted to share with everyone to be wary of OnLineBookClub.org. Seduced by their 600K membership, I spent $500 (OUCH!) on their advertising which boasted big sales, and didn't see an increase in sales until two months later when I did promotions with ERNT, BargainBooksy, BookGorilla, and The Fussy Librarian.

Part of me wonders how the new GDPR might have affected the advertising sites. My last promo (on June 3rd) had results on the low side for ads I used. I have a promo coming up on Wednesday so I'm wondering how it will perform compared to past promos before GDPR.



we've all done it once. I spent a fortune on book tour with Pump Up your Book because she boasted to be the best, have a pipeline to the more important magazines, & media, be the oldest and most experienced and have the best results. I spent around the same as you did on your ad with horrible results. I've spent a 5th of that money on book tours where the host worked hard for me, communicated constantly and the results were great. We live and learn through experience. I also hires a person to do some PR for me a little over a year ago and she took $250 from me and didn't do a thing. She closed up her business (all online) and couldn't be found again. Now, I don't use anyone unless I know another author who has used them and would recommend their services.
Marie Silk,
You make a great point. I think this might be part of the problem. I usually get a lot more activity with my UK kindle countdown. The sales are practically non existent this time around. All my sales on the promo are coming from the US.

It's a set of rules from Europe that went into effect at the end of May involving how customer data and email marketing should be handled. Many companies went so far as to email their subscriber lists with new privacy policies and a button to re-confirm the subscription. If any of the promotion sites we use are only sending email newsletters to people who have re-confirmed their subscriptions, that could be a small fraction of the subscription base that they had prior to this.

It's a set of rules from Europe that went into effect at the end of May involving how customer data and email marketing should be handled. Many companies went so far a..."
Cool. Thanks Marie!


Sorry, Michele. And yes, your input will certainly help other authors to stay clear.
It occurs to me, $500 is a lot of money, so if they boast that kind of success but don't deliver, you should at least get some of that back.


Sounds like they are being very strict about it having to be a true re-opt-in for the mailing list. That's a good thing for other authors with that to know.


Thanks!


It was a while ago and I don't think I wrote too much. I probably only said that it won an award and which award it was. I didn't say anything about genre or the blurb.
Last time I submitted I mentioned my social media reach and how many reviews I had. It didn't help.
I'm hoping to get in with an aggressive price on the box set when it's ready. I hear they love to have box sets on their site. We shall see!

Thanks, Effie - I've contacted them. 24 hours isn't much!


Bookbub always says in their emails to try again in a month. I don't think they consider how many times you've been rejected. I thought that since I was accepted once they would give me greater consideration. I found that not to be true either. I think it depends on how many other books they have in your genre for that time period. I also think that the traditional authors are using them for their backlists and they give them priority. Nora Roberts and elfin Hilderbrand's older books will have more clout than unknown Effie Kammenou with her new title.
Groovy,
Riffle did not pay off at all. I will no longer pay that kind of money for an ad unless I know for sure they are proven to drive sales. $100 and only 53 sales total. I took several ads that day so not all of them came from riffle. In fairness, I'm not getting the results from any ad I've gotten in the past. Bargain booksy usually brings 100 sales. I only got 40. I think Marie Silk might be correct with her theory about the new European rules. All my sales are coming from the US even though I'm running a countdown in the UK also.

So I'm experimenting. My countdown ends tomorrow at midnight. The only ad I have in for tomorrow is Bookraid for Waiting For Aegina. Today I only had an ad for the same book with Bookcave and Evanthia's Gift still out sold WFA. I wonder if when they click onto the page they see that WFA is the second book and decide to buy the first one.
So, I just set up a bookbub ad. One for each of the two books on countdown. $75 budget for each book and a bid of $1.25 cost per click. Let's see if I make my money back. I find that I still have decent sales with the bookbub ad, but it doesn't compare to the bookbub submitted deal.




Effie, you must've used great keywords. What did you use? What genre are your books?


I am running a Book Promotion right now with Itsy Bitsy, started on Sunday - two weeks for The Scrying and another two for The Hallowed. They are great to work with and I am getting a lot of exposure, we will see what comes of it with regards to sales etc.
I have a Kindle Countdown for The Scrying coming up in early August. Had to push it out so I could get in with the big guys, specidically Book Barbarian which promotes sci-fi/fantasy. I am not putting The Hallowed on sale as I want to see if the first book on sale will generate sales on the second in the trilogy. This is my first promo since The Hallowed came out so we will see :)

I'm thinking of trying a BookBub ad. How much was your book? And how is it going?

D I’ll let you know at the end of today how the bookbub ad fared.



In another issue, I contacted amazon late last night regarding my reviews. I want a reason why I lost 3 two weeks ago and 1 yesterday. I also want to know why readers have contacted me to tell me they are having difficulty posting a review for the new book. I want to know which reviews they removed and why. I'm exclusive with amazon and follow their rules. This morning I woke up to find another review gone for both EG & WFA.


I miss talking to you, but I'm loving your little guy's instagram profile!"
Haha thanks! Ike is more popular than I am. You and I will have to catch up soon!

In anoth..."
I had a review removed when I first published The Scrying and although I could still see it on my Amazon Author profile it was not on the main site. I contacted Amazon central to ask why and the gentleman I spoke with told me that amazon has an entire dept. dedicated to checking reviews to validate them. He assumed it was removed because the review in question was either connected to me through a social media site or because we had the same zip code so it might be someone I know? After digging a little deeper I discovered that she was my friend’s husbands, best friends, girlfriends, friend.....did you get that lol. I don’t know her personally but there is a likelihood we might have crossed paths at some point.
Check your Amazon author page and see if the missing reviews are still there, it might give you some insight.

In terms of the BookBub ad, congratulations on selling 76. That's better than nothing! Question: What price did you charge for your book?

I've had 4 reviews disappear for one of my books one by one for no reason probably months after they were posted. Amazon told me they can't say why a reviewer would remove a review, which I don't think is the case. It's either some glitch or Amazon removes reviews for perceived violations and there's nothing you can do.

Jaci, that’s really reaching on a personal connection and so unfair. I’ve done many local events where people bought my books. They are all exempt because they live near me or spike to me? That’s ridiculous.

Look at this article I’m included in. Hope this gives me more exposure. https://www.buzzfeed.com/authorkcasey...