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

Marie, also keep in mind though that clicks can be KU users who can borrow for free. My KENP has gone through the roof this month. I’m sure my AMS ads are contributing to that.

Interesting. I need to think about this!

I never thought of that avenue, either. A TV show that's similar to your book is indeed interesting. I have a novel that's very similar to the relationship between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle before they were married. And I wrote it a year before they became an item. I can tie that in somehow. Good tip, Marie Silk.

Effie, I hope all your friends in Greece are safe and well. It's a nasty business there just now, isn't it?

It's awful I'm beside myself. I've spoken to many people. They need blood, medicine, water. Thousands have lost their homes. Over a hundred that we know of have died. Many more injuries. It's 30 miles East of Athens. They get wildfires every year, just as California does. But they have never seen anything like this.

Thanks for asking.

They're in our prayers.

Oh, Effie, so sorry! I'll keep them in my prayers as well.

Thank you, Michele. I hate to see this happen anyplace, but this is especially distressing for me.

Me, too, Effie. I'm so sorry about what's happening over there. Let's hope and pray they get it under control and there are no more casualties.

There seems to be out-of-control fires all over the country.

No, It's not all over the country. It's 30 miles east of Athens. It's a mountainous area and right now it's 104 F. Plus it's extremely dry. It's hard to control and the rescue worker have been working around the clock. Firefighters have come from Italy and Spain to help. We see how difficult it is to control in California. It spreads and spreads. There is little to no rainfall this time of year.

Sorry, I didn't explain that right, Effie. What I meant, was that there seems to be out-of-control wildfires everywhere. I know we're having our problems here in the US with them. People here are also losing their lives and homes. In the East it's floods, and in the West it's Fires and extreme heat. So let's keep everyone in our thoughts and prayers.

A hundred people that you know Effie! How awful!

It's been a tragic week. A friend of mine lost her husband to suicide a month ago. On Monday, she decided to join him.

There just seems to be way too much pain and sorrow in the world. I've been in a very negative philosophical mood all week. What's the point to life, everything just ends in pain and sorrow sooner or later.

That being said, on a lighter note, I hope everyone is having some good sales at least!

No Shannon, Not a hundred people that I know. A hundred total casualties so far.

I'm sorry about your first and her husband. That's tragic. Horrible things happen in the world, but beautiful, wonderful things happen too. Unfortunately, we get bombarded with all the grim news and the beauty of life is never shared as much as it should be.

The point of life is joy & love. If we didn't experience pain or difficulties we wouldn't appreciate the good. we would take it for granted. Every day is a gift and even on the bad days, the hope is that the next day will be better.

Thanks, Effie, I'll try to keep that in mind!

I'm an optimist. I try to look on the bright side, even when it seems the world is bleak. There is always beauty and goodness to be found.

That's one of the things that shines most about you, Effie, your optimism. Even when a promo doesn't go the way you want, you're upbeat and positive. And like some others here, whose support and thoughtfulness for everyone on this thread that I really appreciate, you're always kind to everyone. I'm doing my best to be more of an optimist. It's a work in progress:)

Have a fun weekend, everyone. And I hope your promos do very well!!!

Thank you, Groovy! I try. We all have our moments, but I try to rid myself of any negative thoughts quickly. It's wasted energy.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Just received this in my email. Don't think I'll be trying it, though:

Emma

Hi,

Do you want your book to hit the bestseller rank? One of the best ways to do that is to promote your book as much as possible. However, you need to promote your book at ONLY THOSE places which guarantee you a specific RESULT, otherwise you are just wasting your money.

I am different from most book publicists you may have come across. I promise not just to promote your book to thousands of readers across social media, I also guarantee you a certain number of downloads and/or purchases. You either get the RESULT, or a REFUND; there is nothing in between and no hidden fine print. As of this writing, no other website is offering guaranteed kindle book promotion results at an affordable rate. If you want to know more, please reply to this email.

Emma Garnet

Don’t do it. No one can guarantee downloads unless they are doing it themselves like I suspect books butterfly does. You want real readers. Not fake ones.

Definitely stay away from anything that guarantees purchases and downloads. As a general rule, I stay away from any service that sends me unsolicited emails. I usually see negative reports about these from other authors later. I can't think of any legit or effective promotion service that sends unsolicited emails to authors.

I agree!

Distinctly dodgy!

I'm so glad all of you replied with tips of your own. This really goes a long way in helping others, which is what this thread is all about. Years ago, when I was new to this, I probably would have gone for it. So, yes. Thank-you!

I ran another one-day free promotion on the first book in my series yesterday. It got 1575 downloads with newsletter features on Freebooksy, Booksends, and Fussy Librarian, and ranked #71 in the Free Kindle Store. Earlier this month, I reported that my free promo with a Robin Reads feature had less than 800 downloads (quite a bit lower than what my book usually sees with them). I'm happy with the results of yesterday's promo. I have one more free promotion day before my Select cycle ends in 3 weeks so I need to decide what I want to do with it. I might go with a Book Cave feature since I haven't done one of those in a while :).

Congratulations, Marie Silk! Being ranked #71 in the Free Kindle Store and getting 1575 downloads are impressive results.

I did a promotion yesterday with BargainBooksy, charging $.99 for my eBook. Unfortunately, my publisher, Page Publishing, doesn't post results until 7 to 8 weeks later, so I don't know actual sales. However, my Amazon ranking went from 558,889 to 6,707. Any estimates on how many books were sold? Is there a guideline to correlating rankings with sales?

There are some rank:sales calculators like this one:

https://kindlepreneur.com/amazon-kdp-...

but keep in mind that it's only guesswork and can vary based on KENP and average daily sales.

Thanks, Marie Silk. I tried the calculator and it said I'd sold 22 books. Unfortunately, at $.99 a copy, that doesn't cover the $55 promotion cost. However, I appreciate the information and will keep the kindle calculator for future references. Thank you!

Congratulations, Marie Silk and Michele. I'm impressed with the both of you. I hope everyone else's promotions are doing well. I can't wait to try that calculator:)

Michele, you sold more than 22 books to have that ranking change so drastically. My first day on my promo my ranking was 119,000 and went to 2,500 and I sold 69 books. You must have sold at least that many.

Thanks, Groovy.

And, thanks Effie. I sure hope I sold more than 22 ebooks. I used the calculator that Marie Silk had suggested, and typed in the ranking I achieved without identifying where my novel had started. I'm perplexed about how the number of books sold could be calculated using only the ending rank. Perhaps I missed something...

Looks like everyone's promotions are doing well. I've been busy with working on getting book 3 ready, a new job, and terrible allergies.

I've been following the news of the fires both here and in Greece. It's so very sad!

I haven't had any promotions since May. I'm in the middle of two book tours. One for the trilogy box set and one for the second book alone. Right now I reviewing the audio files for the audiobook. When I'm done with that - and done paying for it, I'll set up another promotion.

Theresa, all the best on getting that new book ready, and congratulations on the new job. I used to get terrible allergies, but now I take a vitamin cocktail, and I haven't been sick from it in years. (I just probably jinxed myself:)

Effie, I hope your book tours are doing as well as you expect. Two questions:

I know you recommend Itsy Bitsy, what's the other tour site you recommend?

Annnnddd: I know it's only been two weeks since the author takeover, have you seen any good results from that as regards sales and new followers?

I also haven't done any promotions since the beginning of the year. I'm concentrating heavily on my next book so it can be released by Spring 2019. When I'm done with that, then it's overhauling my website, getting a few new covers, and nothing but promoting.

I'm also using Love Books Group for the other book tour. I've used them before.

I've gained some steady sales and new fans since the author takeover. The networking connections were great. Some bestselling authors who were on that tour have friended me and are following me on twitter. They have retweeted many of my ad posts and commented on them which opens me up to their thousands of followers. It's all about building slowly on the many aspects that get you where you want to go. I've also gained many new bookbub followers.

Oh man catching up on these comments just took me over half an hour!! Thanks for all the data everyone. I have to try and keep this all mind.

I decided to release them together because the first is actually a full length novel made up of two short stories that I wrote before. I felt it wasn't that exciting to just release that by itself...fingers crossed that was the right decision!

Lots of people replied to me and thank you for the data. I am trying to remember everything to reply to... I apologise if I have forgotten anything.

I think it seems basically a definite no to try Goodreads ads and giveaways. Like you said, adding onto to-read shelves is nice for exposure, but that doesn't necessarily translate to anything.

I decided to offer to my mailing 5 arc copies of my first book this month and then the same for book 2 next month. To generate excitement and perhaps some advanced reviews. I had 48 responses asking for it, which made really happy!!

I am going to book some book tours and blog tours for the release soon.

I would like to book promo sites for fairly soon after the release to try and generate momentum. Any advice on this? You can do Kindle countdown deals one day at a time right? Maybe I could do some sporadic one day deals over that first month, what do you think? Do you think is better to do the days together?

Free promo days can be done one day at a time. kindle countdown deals have to be done in consecutive days.
Submit to Bargainbooksy, ENT, Robinreads. There are some others. I have to look at my list and I'll get back to you.

That's good, Effie. I hope when good things like this happen, you and your family break out the celebration drinks:)

I would like to see your list, too. I think we left the original one on the old thread.

Groovy wrote: "Theresa, all the best on getting that new book ready, and congratulations on the new job. I used to get terrible allergies, but now I take a vitamin cocktail, and I haven't been sick from it in yea..."

Thanks Groovy! Things are finally moving smoothly for book 3 so I think I'm on track for a late Sept or Oct release. I'm happy with the new job, a bit of a learning curve since I haven't worked retail in forever, but I like it so far.

Congrats on not getting sick with the allergies. I am going to order more Airware nasal filters. They work pretty well in filtering out the mold and ragweed spores.

Groovy, they are all baby steps. Nothing major.

I think I put the list here too when we first started. It's let. I'll have to do it tomorrow.

My allergies haven't been too bad. Mostly fall and spring seasons are bad for me. But with the constant barometric pressure changes, I've been battling migraines.

Congratulations, Groovy, on your good health! Oh, Effie, so sorry to hear about your migraines. They can be debilitating.

Thanks. Thank God for Imitrix!

Effie, that's okay. If you put it here, I can go back and find it, you have enough to do.

I hope everyone here gets through the upcoming fall allergy season without too much hardship. I wish you all good health.

A few years ago, a telephone operator, to whom I was complaining about my bill too, could hear how sick I was and told me her secret: She takes the strongest behind-the-counter allergy medicine to build her immune system up before allergy season hits. It works! I take Wal-Zyr D, a generic brand by Walmart.

I know y'all didn't ask, so I won't bother you with my vitamin cocktail that keeps the colds, bronchitis attacks, and flu at bay. But if this can help one person get relief, then I am grateful to pass it on:)

That's Zyrtec. I take that all year round. The brand one.

Effie wrote: "Free promo days can be done one day at a time. kindle countdown deals have to be done in consecutive days.
Submit to Bargainbooksy, ENT, Robinreads. There are some others. I have to look at my lis..."

Thank you that's good to know.

Effie and Theresa, I know you have had really good results with Itsy Bitsy and I know Mark didn't. So I was just having a look really at what they do etc.

Did you guys do a blog tour or a book tour, because they seem to include totally different things?

I know Mark did a book tour and they posted in many many groups and did ALOT of promotion, but then when you look at the posts basically none have engagement and it seems to be the same of most posts in the group...so that's kind of worrying.

Made me wonder if you did blog tours and maybe that was the success?

I have to look and see what I signed up for. I believe I did a book release, book blitz and blog tour. I did get a tremendous amount of posts/promotion but from the blogs that featured me it resulted in many reviews because they featured my book on their site and had reviewed it for their blog.

Stephen wrote: "Effie and Theresa, I know you have had really good results with Itsy Bitsy and I know Mark didn't. So I was just having a look really at what they do etc.

Did you guys do a blog tour or a book to..."

I haven't used Itsy Bitsy yet. I believe it might have been Jaci who also used them??

Groovy wrote: "Effie, that's okay. If you put it here, I can go back and find it, you have enough to do.

I hope everyone here gets through the upcoming fall allergy season without too much hardship. I wish you a..."

Yep, I alternate between that and Claritin because occasionally after taking Zyrtec for so long your body builds up an immunity to it like any other drug. This year just has been particularly brutal and I didn't have all my resources on hand I ususally do. Airware labs here I come...

I officially have bronchitis. It sucks.

I'm so sorry, Theresa. I do, too. I know what you're going through. I remember the coughing spells, especially at night. Since I started taking Iron and Vitamin C, I haven't had a severe attack in a couple of years, or a cold. And I just bought a Treadmill to strengthen my lungs (and some other things:)

Were you just diagnosed?