New Book Promo Sites, Blogging, Freebies…

As we constantly search for ways to introduce readers to our work, a few opportunities have recently crossed my path. There are two new promotion sites that look promising, Amazon have added Prime Reading to their Prime program, giving away your product seems like it could be advantageous once again, and there’s another outlet where you can blog.

Here are my findings.

BookPebble

These guys are new and have put together a nice, professional site. Right now it’s free to advertise as long as you meet their requirements. Basically that means five or more reviews with a 3.5 or greater average, no errors, professional cover, and priced at $4.99 or less. You’ll find exact requirements on their page. I’ve heard results ranging from zero to forty sales by using them. Their Alexa ranking is okay and growing steadily. Take advantage of them while it’s still free; I have a feeling they’re here to stay.

BookRaid

Again, this is a newer site but they’re working hard to find ways to help us. They recently switched from free to a small cost-per-click rate. Their requirements are pretty lenient and they will promote perma-free books as well. I had decent results from them recently and from the correspondence we had and the professionalism of their presentation, I think they’ll continue to grow. Their Alexa also isn’t super, but the arrow is pointing upward. They are definitely worth checking out.

Amazon Prime Reading

Amazon has been busy. They recently expanded into the grocery business, unleashed a music subscription service that will compete with Spotify, and added Prime Reading as one of the perks US Prime members can enjoy. I was contacted a month or so ago and asked whether I’d like my latest novel, The Dead List included as one of the one thousand or so books added to the initial Prime Reading program. I did and although I don’t have specific sales/borrows numbers yet (this book was published through Amazon’s Kindle Press so there’s a sixty day reporting lag), my ranking has been steady in the 10 to 20K overall range all month without running other promotions. This is a book that was released ten months ago, so those numbers are quite acceptable. Any new Amazon program is going to receive substantial screen time as they try to make it work, so watch this one. If it becomes a benefit for books published through KDP Select (as I imagine it will), and you’re sitting on the fence on whether to go wide or through Select, give this perk some consideration.

InstaFreebie

As we know we need to build a mailing list independent from our book distributors. These guys have found a way to help us with that. Through their site you give away one of your books, novellas, or short stories for free and InstaFreebie will pass along the email addresses of your new readers. RJ Crayton does a great job of explaining how it works at the link above. InstaFreebie claim to have 350,000 subscribers and their Alexa ranking is strong. Right now they have a free thirty-day tryout deal so jump aboard this one while you can.

Niume

This is a blogging site where you can create and share blog posts: for free, of course. The visits to my personal website spiked considerably when I posted a recent blog. There’s also a revenue generating aspect that I haven’t investigated. Alexa rankings don’t always tell us everything, but they can be a good indicator of activity. Niume’s site is currently in the 7,000 worldwide range and under 2,000 in the US. These are strong numbers and show real growth from other recent comparisons. And, it’s a site where you don’t have to spend lots of time. You can create and post your blog, get out and hopefully attract some new readers. They recently shared an article on 24 ways to attract more readers to your blog. It’s worth checking out (see link above).

As you plan your Christmas promotions for all those newly-unwrapped Kindles, pay attention to the above opportunities. It was a long, slow sales summer for many of us so any help, especially when it’s free or almost-free is very welcome. Good luck!

Author: Martin Crosbie

Martin Crosbie is the administrator of BookDoggy.com and writer of seven published novels. His self-publishing journey has been mentioned in Publisher’s Weekly, Forbes Online Magazine, and Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper. You can learn more about Martin on his Amazon author page. View all posts by Martin Crosbie