Over the previous two weeks I ran a series of book promotions for two of my previously published novellas. Before I made the decision to promote, I searched the internet for authors forums and blogs, looking for their opinions and results of their promos. That was helpful, so here is a report on the results of my advertising promotions. The very first book that I published came out about a year ago and I also promoted one of my later two books, which has been available for about five months. Both of these books are slightly less than 50,000 words,(that length is referred to as a novella). They are in the science fiction, dystopian category. No Normal Day sells for $1.99 regularly and is the first of a four part series. The Days After (Big River) sells for $2.99 and is the first of two. Both of these books were put on sale for .99 for the promotions.
I have done no other promotions of my books, except a "book tour" back in the late fall. I want to say up front, counting the earlier book tour, I ran promotions with nine companies and my total expenditure was close to $550. Indie publishing is free to the author and I have spent no other monies on promotion this year. To my great surprise, all of my books have shown much more sales than I ever expected. Over the last couple of months, however, (this excludes my newest release) the sales have really dropped into a steady small trickle of everyday sales. It seemed to me that a little promotion wouldn't be a bad idea. I want to say that each of these companies are honest and professional and each delivered exactly what they promised. These are only my personal results and opinions. I also have to add that I believe the reduction in price to .99 contributed at least half of the positive results.
FIRE and ICE BOOK TOURS--(prices are very affordable and you choose that amount you wish to spend on give-aways) I love this site and the personal attention and job that they did for me, Shelly was fantastic. I saw no instant and big increase from this promo, but definitely had some long term increases, especially in my foreign (UK) sales.
BARGAIN BOOK HUNTER/ PIXEL SCROLL--(prices very affordable) great venues to promote free or discounted books.
ASK DAVID--(ONLY $15.00 for a year with this site and you can add as many of your books as you wish). I think this promo site is just a wonderful bargain. A great and professional presentation. "David" offers excellent support and an interest in benefiting the author. I am so pleased with the service here.
KINDLE BOOK NATION--(About two thirds of my money went to this site, it is pricey). I had two different promos on two days with KND. I definitely saw a jump of about triple in my daily sales and a very large increase in my Amazon sales rank. If you are an Indie author, you have probably already figured out, the better your rank, the more visibility and promo you get on Amazon and of course that translates into sales. I believe the large majority of writers who use this site, see big results. I, personally would never spend those $$ again, unless I decide that the long term results pay off. So far, it was a flash. In my case, I am not convinced yet, that it will be worth the money spent.
KINDLE BOOKS and TIPS--(Another very affordable site) This promo was for my later release and there was a very noticable bump in sales and rank.
PIXEL INK-- This is a nice free site that will accept your promotion, but can't guarantee your book will be featured on the day of your sale.
FIVERR-- (only cost $5.00) This is an interesting site that actually offers all kinds of services, etc. and will send your book promotion to many sites.
IT'S WRITE NOW--(Very affordable $10.00 for multiple days promotion) Great site for promos.
FREE & DISCOUNT BOOKS--(Prices start at about $20) Different options and days to choose from at affordable prices, great looking site.
KINDLE BOOK REVIEW--(Prices starting at $25.00) I admit to being a day away from my promo with this company. It is a nice looking site, with many options to choose from. Their customers have very good results and I am expecting the same.
***some of these sites even offer review services. Obviously, my extremely varied reviews will tell you that I just don't believe in soliciting or paying for reviews. It's just me, but it doesn't seem right. I wouldn't lie and say that I always accept my reviews with cheer, but it is what it is. Each must make his/her own decision about that.
Here is my opinion as far as book promos for Indie authors. They are necessary, unless you're just writing for the pure joy of it and don't care if you sell books. In this competitive independent publishing culture, if you would like to sell books, you will probably have to let go of a few dollars for promotion. I do not Facebook, Tweet or what-ever....the promos got me a considerable amount of that kind of exposure. If you are frustrated because some of the more expensive promotion sites will not accept your book, get over it. There are plenty of affordable, even cheap sites that will bring you some success. Do your homework and really weigh the cost of promos as to the result you expect or will actually get.
Finally, a very sincere warning. I was such a newbie a year ago. I knew nothing about publishing a book on Amazon or anywhere for that matter, absolutely nothing. I was totally unprepared for the vicious negative reviews when they appeared. If you work to give your work more exposure, such as with promotions, that is exactly what you will get, more exposure. In this world today, it is just the way things are; with that exposure will come the bad, as well as the good.
Those horrific zombie, writer devouring monsters will come crawling out of the depths. All frantic and excited to have the fresh amateur author flesh to gobble up. They are just waiting out there to tell you how they wish they could give you a "negative star" review...how .99 or free was way too much to pay for the excessively boring, grammatically ignorant piece of rubbish that you offered...how, even though they just read the first few pages, it was just too awful to endure anymore. With determination and their burning eyes, their fingers literally disintegrating from just opening your e-book up on their reader, they will regurgitate out their warning to the rest of the reading world. Do not ever buy anything that this author writes!
Sigh-h, I warn you, be ready for it. My advice to you is dig around in that excrement for the morsels of truth, clean them off, use the stinking bits to improve your writing and flush the rest. Good Luck. JO
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