Support for Indie Authors discussion

note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
86 views
Archived > Readers In The Know. com?

Comments Showing 1-9 of 9 (9 new)    post a comment »
dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by [deleted user] (new)

I did use them once, and took advantage of their free ad, but had no results from it. However, the book I advertised wasn't free or discounted.


message 2: by Christina (new)

Christina McMullen (cmcmullen) I haven't used their services, but they have a fantastic resource where they list out a bunch of promo sites on a spreadsheet that can be sorted based on search filters. I've found some great advertisers through them.


message 3: by [deleted user] (new)

I've just gone through their videos. It sounds really good for readers to get free books, but it doesn't sound very good for authors.

Basically, they are a site to help readers find free books–notifying when books are free on Amazon. So if a reader can wait it out, they will never have to buy a book from Amazon again. However, that's not good for the author––having thousands of people waiting it out for their book to be free means no income.

Plus, if authors join the site they are require to pay (I can't find how much the standard fee is yet) to have a profile. Readers don't pay.

And of course, authors can pay to advertise.

Basically, it seems a lose/lose/lose for the author.

Do anyone know how much it costs for an author profile after the trial period? (I've googled and can't find it - yet.)


message 4: by La-Lionne (new)

La-Lionne Racy wrote: "I've just gone through their videos. It sounds really good for readers to get free books, but it doesn't sound very good for authors.

Basically, they are a site to help readers find free books–not..."


Not necessarily. Back in 2012, I took a chance on an unknown self published author. Her book was free on Amazon. Out of complete boredom I desided to read a paranormal romance. Back then it wasn't my jam, at all. 4 years later I call myself one of her biggest fan and have read every one of her books.

I think when a book is free, readers are more likely to take a chance on a new author, because they have nothing to lose.


message 5: by Jen Pattison (new)

Jen Pattison | 13 comments Racy wrote: "Do anyone know how much it costs for an author profile after the trial period?"

I've just joined and promoted my Countdown deal, so I'm still in the 2 month free trial. I read that it's £20 per year after that and if I remember correctly you can list up to 6 books on your author profile.


message 6: by Laurie (new)

Laurie Gienapp | 45 comments Christina wrote: "I haven't used their services, but they have a fantastic resource where they list out a bunch of promo sites on a spreadsheet that can be sorted based on search filters. I've found some great adver..."


I took a look at their promo site spreadsheet, during my 'free trial'... all of the sites charged a fee.. and I could find nothing that showed how effective each promo site was (or wasn't). Christina... could you share which advertisers you felt were great?


message 7: by Christina (new)

Christina McMullen (cmcmullen) Laurie wrote: "I took a look at their promo site spreadsheet, during my 'free trial'... all of the sites charged a fee.. and I could find nothing that showed how effective each promo site was (or wasn't). Christina... could you share which advertisers you felt were great?"

You can sort them by whether or not they charge a fee or have a free option. There are some that are out of date, but for the most part, they've kept up on current pricing. Most free promos are not guaranteed, so bear that in mind. Some sites are always free, but others will offer paid guarantees.

As for what works, that's subjective. If I'm paying, I expect to see a certain result based on what I've paid. If the promo was free, any boost is a good boost.


message 8: by E.P. (new)

E.P. | 57 comments Readers in the Know charges 20 GBS (approximately US$27 when I signed up) for a year, and you can promote your book every 30 days with them (I think you can also do multiple books, I just haven't done that). I've used them a couple of times and I get a handful of downloads from it. For approximately US$2 a pop, it's probably worth it (in my opinion), especially if you have multiple books, but if you're on a tight budget I might skip it for something like BookScream ($5 for a feature). That's just my experience.


message 9: by [deleted user] (new)

Jen wrote: "Racy wrote: "Do anyone know how much it costs for an author profile after the trial period?"

I've just joined and promoted my Countdown deal, so I'm still in the 2 month free trial. I read that it..."


Do you think it is worth it for you?

Looking at it from the outside... They don't seem to have as many readers (at the moment) and are basing their whole business off locking into Amazon freebies. I wonder how long Amazon is going to let them do that. As a business you wouldn't want someone stealing all your free ketchup to make a profit off it when it is supposed to be a service to your own customers. But, if they have made a deal for Amazon to also get a cut of their profits...


back to top
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.