From the Mail Room: How Do I Know Which Book Promo Sites Are Legit?

mail-room-author-emails-office-899351_960_720A reader sent in this question:

I was wondering if you could please help me. My 5 free days with Amazon KDP Select is up, so I’m still way within the 90 enrollment period.

There seems to be many ‘book promotion’ sites, where the bought Kindle can be advertised through their website, tweets, etc. However, most of these do not specify that it is a one-off fee. My hesitation is submitting my book details to lots of them which are affordable, but having extra taken out of my account on a monthly basis, when as far as I’m concerned, it has only been a one-off payment.

Are such book promotion places generally legitimate? I have used the Facebook campaign ads, but so far with no real success. I’m trying to decide what my next step should be.

Many thanks.

Here’s the answer from our awesome team of authors: Continue reading “From the Mail Room: How Do I Know Which Book Promo Sites Are Legit?”

Book Promotion Site Spotlight: BookDoggy

bookdoggyToday we have a special treat – my first ever interview! Since the interviewee is a dog, like me, our admin thought it would be a good idea to call me in for this one – you know, so I could see eye-to-eye, so to speak, with the subject. In case you don’t know who I am, I’m Mr. Pish, the IU mascot, and author of a bunch of books – more than I can count on my paws, anyway. And today I am excited to interview the lovely black Lab – BookDoggy – about her new book promotion site.

Hi there, BookDoggy. Welcome to Indies Unlimited. I guess I need to start by asking: how did a nice dog like you get involved in promoting eBooks?

I didn’t think authors were getting their money’s worth from most promotion sites and I thought I could do a better job. Continue reading “Book Promotion Site Spotlight: BookDoggy”

Some Book Promotion Sites Have Lost Their Luster

helpful bob hammondBob Hammond here. And just as I promised, too. I am living up to my new year’s resolution by paving it forward and providing all you little indies with tidbits of info to help you be successful in 2016. After 2016, you’re on your own.

In any case, this past Monday, Belinda Claymore – wait, my personal assistant just nudged me and said “Melinda Clayton.” I don’t know who that is. Probably one of my many fans. She can wait a minute or two while I tell you this very important information. Anyway, this Lucinda chick wrote an article about book promo sites losing their effectiveness. I decided it was time for me, Bob Hammond, to look into what Matilda had written to see if I could come up with some empirical evidence to either back it up, or debunk it. So, I had one of my many personal assistants who had run promos on some of my bestselling novels keep track of all the statistics. Because – you know that if there are no sales, it can’t be any of my books at fault. It must be the site!

About a year ago, I gave Judy my American Express Platinum card and told her to have at it. Now, today, exclusively right here on Indies Unlimited, we’re going to release her results. That’s right, I’m going to share my secrets with you, because that’s the kind of guy I am. Helpful. In any case, here are a bunch of numbers and dollar signs and website names that frankly mean nothing to me, but maybe they will be helpful to you. Continue reading “Some Book Promotion Sites Have Lost Their Luster”

Book Promo Sites: How long do they work?

promo sites gone bad Kombucha_mold_2
Have promo sites lost their freshness?

As the IU minions sat around the gruel pot and discussed various promo sites, a trend seemed to present itself: almost everyone has seen a reduction in the effectiveness of these sites in the past year.  Because of that, I’ve decided to be a little more open than I usually am regarding book sales and advertisements. This isn’t a humble brag, like people who drop into discussion boards and say, “Gee, my book has been out for two days already and I’ve only sold 325,957 copies. Am I doing okay?” Don’t you just want to throw something? On the flip side, it’s also not a whine or a whinge.

Instead, it’s a look at the effectiveness of various ad sites over time in my experience. The scant numbers I put forth here are scientifically negligible, but I do wonder if others see it, too. Continue reading “Book Promo Sites: How long do they work?”