A couple of months ago, our own Bob Hammond wrote a post discussing some promotional sites for authors he found to be ineffective. Shortly after that post, James Thomson, from eBookBooster, one of the sites mentioned, contacted IU to express his concern, and to see what he could do to make Bob’s experience better.
I’ve used a lot of promotional sites over the past few years. A couple of them do offer refunds if the author doesn’t see results, but most — understandably — don’t. I was impressed by James’ willingness to reach out, and began an email correspondence with him regarding his services. Given James’ willingness to engage and work towards a happy resolution, I thought it only fair to give him the opportunity to better explain the services he offers, particularly since his services are a bit different. I’ll let him explain.
Me: Tell us a little about yourself. What got you interested in running a book promo site?
James: My name is James Thomson and I first became interested in providing the book promotion service eBookBooster.com after submitting promotion information for one of my wife’s eBooks to the many sites that list free/bargain eBooks. It was a fairly tedious and time consuming process, and made me think back to the early days of the Internet. Back in the mid 1990’s there was a service called “Submit-It.com” where webmasters could submit their websites to the various search engines and directories available on the Internet. A light bulb went off in my head and eBookBooster.com was born.
Me: How long has the site been going?
James: Started in January 2013
Me: What sets your site apart from other promo sites?
James: We were the first website available to offer this service and to this day we still submit every eBook manually to ensure accuracy of information submitted. We should not be compared to a service like BookBub (which I recommend to everyone), but more of a lower cost additional or entry level promotion service for authors to help spread the word.
Me: Tell us about your strategy for promotion – how do you reach readers?
James: Our strategy is pretty simple. Currently we have over 45 sites that accept free eBook promotion submissions and 25 sites that accept submissions for bargain eBooks. We do all of the submitting for you, so you can focus on writing, relaxing, etc. We save you the time and trouble of having to fill out all of the forms. Most of the sites we submit to are in a blog-type format and some also have a newsletter which may list your eBooks. The eBook sites we submit to make the editorial decision on which books get posted. In a way, we are similar to a news press release service.
Me: Are there certain metrics a book must satisfy before being accepted for promotion?
James: Some sites have a minimum 5-review requirement and a couple have a 10-review requirement with a minimum 4-star rating. Not all sites have this requirement as they like to be open to new authors as well as newly released books. Quality of the eBook cover is another factor that can make a difference.
Me: Are there genres you don’t accept?
James: We accept all genres, but there are a few sites that do not accept erotica.
Me: What is your general turnaround time from when the author pays to when the promo runs?
James: We try to shoot for a 48 to 72 hour turnaround time. We typically wait 24 hours to give authors time to notify us if any corrections are needed before we start submitting.
Me: What else can authors do to promote their eBooks?
James: If possible, I recommend authors set a goal to take at least one action a day to promote their books. There are many things you can do and a good starting point is to pick up a copy of “1001 Ways to Market Your Books” by John Kremer. The latest edition is a few years old, but should be able to provide enough ideas to keep you busy for a while. Another recommendation is “The Newbie’s Guide to Publishing” by J.A. Konrath as well as his self-publishing blog at http://jakonrath.blogspot.com. KBoards.com is a great place to give advice and get advice while promoting at the same time. Tweet or make a Facebook post daily, start an email newsletter, experiment with offline marketing, get a domain name and web site, etc. Be persistent and keep the momentum going.
Me: Where can readers go to find out more?
James: Please visit us at www.eBookBooster.com for our Free or Bargain eBook Promotions. For Indies Unlimited readers you can use these links for a discount on your next order:
IU discounted order form for our Free eBook Promotion Service: http://www.ebookbooster.com/vip.html
IU discounted order form for our Bargain eBook Promotion Service: http://www.ebookbooster.com/vipbargain.html
Thank you for the opportunity to interview with Indies Unlimited and I wish everyone continued success in their writing/publishing/marketing endeavors!
Me: Thanks so much for stopping by, James.
Hello Linda,
for sure a great service they offer – and for a reasonable price.
The only problem with their website is: You cannot recommend them, as they do not have SHARING BUTTONS – like IndiesUnlimited – on their site, in order for users to recommend them to their peers, and for potential readers to recommend signing up with them for their email list.
Like your blog posts
Cheers, Doris
Thanks, Doris! I invited James to stop by, so hopefully he’ll swing through later and see your suggestion.
Hello Doris,
Excellent suggestion and we’ll do that shortly. Thank you for suggesting it. 🙂
Sincerely,
James
Good old Bob Hammond has his uses doesn’t he?
He’s an interesting guy. 🙂
This is a question for James. Based on this, my understanding is that your service charges to input our book data on sites where it is free to advertise a book. So, if the author has already submitted to some of the sites you use, should they wait to try your service (as many sites won’t run a book more than once in a three-month time span)?
Are authors generally able to get slots on the dates they want on most of the sites you feed to?
Hello RJ,
Yes, that is a correct description of our services. It is usually best to wait at least 30 days for each unique title before resubmitting. If you have a different title under same author I usually recommend waiting at least a few days or a week and not promote them all on the same day.
Usually the more notice you give the better your chances of getting listed. But there are other criteria such as how many reviews, cover quality, rating, etc.
Thanks!
James
eBookBooster
Thanks! Pinned & shared…because yes, it gets the word out. 🙂
Thanks, Linda. 🙂