Now that ain’t working; that’s the way you do it – Dire Straits




Despite some questionable lyric choices (who’d have thought Dire Straits would use the word “faggot”?) it is a classic song, at least this side of the pond.


“Money for nothing” – something a lot of indie authors have to deal with. Not getting money for doing nothing; that may be what some people think happens with writing but we know much better, don’t we? Lots of work for little pay is the average life of an indie author.


No, by quoting from this 1980s gentle rock classic, I mean spending money and getting nothing. It is no surprise that with the explosion in the number of indie authors kicking around these days there has also been a huge increase in the number of websites offering marketing and promotion services. Every indie author is looking for a way to rise above the crowd, to leap up like a beautiful Scottish salmon rising majestically from the icey waters of obscurity.


Just remember what happens to most salmon when they swim upstream.


Yes, there are many websites out there that will gleefully snap you up and take your money and you will get absolutely not a single sale more for the investment. However, that’s not to say all promotional websites are a waste of money. Everyone who has tried promotional websites will have their favourites and failures, but in my experience of trying to find which are most successful, the results seem to often be a consequence of genre. There are a lot more people looking for romance novels than anything else, and a lot more websites pandering to that particular market.


So if you, like me, have attempted to write something not so easily defined, something you might dare to class as “literary fiction”, what sites are right for you?


I have just finished a three day promotion of my first novel, “The One: The Tale of a Lost Romantic in Seoul” at 99 cents and 99 pence. It was by no means my most successful promotion in terms of numbers, perhaps because I decided to try a new way of doing it. For each day of my promotion, I used (a) different website(s) to see if it would be clear which were more successful for sales.


While there are a lot of circumstances that influence sales, such as which day of the week and which day of the promotion, hopefully this advice will help one or two of you in planning your next promotion or sale.


I shall go through each of the sites I used and state my general opinon on them as well as a general hit or miss rank. Please do note that this is all based on personal experience, so please let me know in the comments if you have had a different experience.


Up first is:


eBookSoda – $10


This was my first time using eBookSoda and for a mere 10 bucks, it is worth a gamble. They do have requirements regarding reviews, but they are very relaxed at only an average of 3.5 out of 5. They also accept new released with no reviews (within three months of publication). All in all, very friendly, except my sales were a complete bust that day and I didn’t even make back the small investment. So for me, I won’t be using them again, but perhaps genre fiction would be more successful. Verdict: MISS


Free Kindle Books and Tips – $25


This was also my first time using FKBT. They claim to be able to reach 675,000 people, which is pretty impressive if true. It should also be noted that despite the name, your book does not have to be free, it just has to be discounted. There are a number of different options available for promotions, starting at $25 and running up to $200 depending on whether you wish to be featured or not and the price you are selling your book at. I chose the cheapest option because I am tightfisted wanted to spread my marketing budget across a number of sites. Requirements aren’t too bad, they want 4 stars out of 5 across 8 reviews, 4 of which should be verified purchases. They also have a seperate promotion offer for new releases, so yay for that. This site promoted my novel on, by far, my most successful day of sales and while there is no way to know if all the sales came from this site, I will most definitely be using them again in the future. The price is good and the sales don’t lie. Verdict: HIT


Choosy Bookworm – Free!


This was either my second or third time using Choosy Bookworm because there are so few sites that offer any sort of free promotion. They do offer featured and guaranteed slots at prices running up to a reasonable $20, but I have stuck with the free option every time. They do say they receive 10 submissions for every free slot they have available so you may be rejected but that hasn’t happened to me yet (because I’m awesome, obviously). This promotion ran on the same day as FKBT, so it contributed towards my best sales day. Verdict: HIT


BookSends - $20


My first time using BookSends left me feeling decidedly “meh”. The promotion went out on the “middle” day for sales, not the best but not the worst. They claim to have over 100,000 “active readers” on their lists, and also claim that the likes of Harper Collins and Penguin Books have advertised with them, which seems a little hard to believe but I can’t be bothered investigating the claim. I may be willing to give them a try in the future, but I doubt it. Verdict: MISS


Awesome Gang – $10


Even if you don’t advertise with Awesome Gang, I strongly suggest you get involved with the community in the Facebook group. The person who runs it, Vinny, is a really nice guy and offers some great advice. That said, this is my second time advertising with Awesome Gang and I’ve not been disappointed with the results either time. For only ten bucks, it is definitely worth your time. Verdict: HIT


Digital Book Today – $30


The most expensive of my promotion sites is also one I am unsure of. It was my first time using Digital Book Today, and their website is a bit of a mess (not that mine is anything special). They claim to get 100,000 visits a month and they have an absolute catalogue of promotional options, running from free to expensive (I think, I still can’t work out everything on the website) but I still am not sure how much this site contributed to my sales. That could be said of any of the websites, of course, but in the end considering the higher price of this website, I think I will have to give it a pass next time around. Verdict: MISS(ish…maybe)


The Fussy Librarian -$14


This blog post is getting to long, so let’s cut to the chase. I like The Fussy Librarian a lot. It used to be free to advertise with them but they had to start charging due to demand. Requirements are 4.0 or above over 10 reviews – they are proud of their fussiness, an aspect I don’t mind at all. $14 is the most expensive option, prices go down from there. I’ve used them a few times and been happy. Verdict: HIT


Okay, that’s enough! I know a bunch of other sites that I have tried on my previous promotions, and some I have not tried yet, but I will talk about them another time.


I would love to hear your suggestions or success stories in the comments. In the meantime, come back soon as I plan to list my favourite indie books of 2014, and I won’t even include my own on the list!


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Published on December 22, 2014 08:19
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