OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn
One of the keys to promotion is building an email list of fans who like your books. This is a non-negotiable in terms of book marketing, but building that list often takes a long time!
One way to move the needle quickly in terms of sales and ranking is by using paid promotion sites that have lists of avid readers who might be interested in your book.
This is a short-term tactic, not a long-term strategy so should be used in conjunction with other marketing.
Note: This is NOT the same as ‘buying email lists' which is a scam – don't do that!
Who should consider paid promotion?
It's worth using paid promotion if:
- You have a book with a great cover and great reviews. The social proof of reviews is critical for people to trust the buy process.
- You can reduce the price easily and quickly for a short period – which means you need access to the ‘back end' of the publishing process, which generally means it's open to indie authors only
- You have more than one book, and it's definitely worth putting the first of the series on special
- You have a budget for promotion, as you may not make back what you spend – results vary.
What is BookBub and how does it work?
On the other end of the process, they also offer a paid promotion service to authors where you can advertise to this list.
I like the fact that the listing is curated, so not all books are accepted, only the ones with good reviews. You can't automatically pay, they have to check your book out first. This is a great idea because it means their list stays happy and keeps buying. An email list becomes unresponsive if you send out stuff they don't want.
Yes, their prices are high and change monthly BUT you have to weigh up the up-front price over potential book sales and the impact on your rankings and the algorithm. Exact outcome is hard to show over the long-term, but my results are below.
OK, first up – any results will vary depending on an incredible number of factors, so don't assume my results will be yours if you try this route. My husband is a statistician and he has also reminded me that this is anecdotal evidence only, and not statistically significant, so don't apply my results to your possible situation.
Also, we all know that the algorithms at Amazon and other sites change regularly and what worked this week might well not work next week!
Plus, these sites change a lot, prices change monthly and new players emerge. So take this as one example in a snapshot of time!
Pentecost is an action-adventure thriller, the first in my ARKANE series. You can read more here. It has 92 reviews with 4 star average on Amazon.com, 31 reviews with 4 star average on Amazon.co.uk and 215 reviews on Goodreads fed to Kobo with 4 star average. So it was in a good position before the promotion and there are 2 other books now available, Prophecy and Exodus. Pentecost is also available in print.
Service used:
* BookBub 1 day promotion for Pentecost, An ARKANE Thriller (Book 1). Cost ~$200.
* I went for the Religious & Inspirational list instead of the Thriller list because this series often ranks well in that category anyway. Even though the books are not religious, they are based on Biblical and supernatural themes. It's a smaller list than the Thriller one and therefore is much cheaper, but doesn't go to as many people.
* Reduced price from $2.99 to 99c on Amazon and Kobo (as those are the sites it's easiest for me to change prices quickly on). I decided to use a price instead of going free because I wanted to actually make some money and the algorithms prefer paid books these days.
Stats prior to the promotio
Amazon.com: #41,304 in Kindle Store
Amazon.co.uk: #6023 Paid in Kindle store, #26 in Religious Fiction
Kobo: #908 in Religious Fiction & Literature
Day of the Promotion
* Amazon.com & Amazon.co.uk: 717 at 99c and 30% royalty = $215.10 (Pentecost only)
* Sales of Prophecy and Exodus were also up – ~50% more, so ~45 copies at $4.99 = $157.18 (70% royalty)
* Kobo: 10 @ 99c = $3 (hmm … )
Approximate income: $375.28
Highest ranking reached:
Amazon.com: #236 in Kindle Store, #3 in Kindle – Religious Fiction, #3 in Genre Fiction -> Religious & Inspirational, #2 in Christian/Literature & Fiction/ Mystery. #14 in Movers & Shakers.
Amazon.co.uk: #2658 in Kindle Store, #11 in Religious Fiction,
Kobo: #431 in Religious Fiction
Stats a week after the promotion:
Amazon.com: #7532 in Kindle Store, #26 in Christian/Literature & Fiction/Mystery
Amazon.co.uk: #12,637 Paid in Kindle store, #44 in Religious Fiction
Kobo: #260 in Religious Fiction & Literature
The books are slowly dropping, but the rankings have definitely been impacted over the last week.
Was it worth it?
Yes, it was definitely worth it, and I will certainly use the service again but I would probably go for the Thriller listing instead in order to reach more people and attempt a higher place on the charts. The Religious & Inspirational list was possibly not the best as many people would be looking for the more Christian end of the reading scale.
In terms of ranking and visibility, it was definitely great for moving Pentecost back up the charts. I made my money back, which was great, but the spike in the data was more important in the longer term.
I have had similar results from a paid promotion before when I used Pixel of Ink who are no longer doing this service. New sites also spring up all the time, so keep an eye out for opportunities.
Have you used paid promotion for your book? Would you consider it? I'd love to know your thoughts so please leave a comment below.
Top image: Bigstock price tags
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1 2 3 4 Next »Great to see actual statistics. Very encouraging since it is becoming more difficult to keep good ranking now that KDP Select free days aren't as effective. And it has made me realize that you write books that I want to read!
Thanks Michelle - I write books I want to read too :) so I hope you enjoy the ARKANE series!
Good post Jo. I'm definitely all for the entry fee, it serves as a great filter for their readers along with checking for reviews. I love that you keep trying new things, an entrepreneurial approach. Keep it up!
I shall forever be experimenting Ant - love to Oz! Glad you're flying the indie flag down under.
Sooooooooo much valuable information on your site. I appreciate that it's anecdotal and "not statistically significant" but I am inspired by your transparency. I just launched my debut novel with almost no platform - I didn't even know the word until I stumbled in here a few days ago. I'm currently putting everything I earn and *only* what I earn back into promotion. It's forcing me to be very intentional and creative with my budget. Now that you've been at it a few years, you might enjoy seeing how some of the things you do play out for the new guy (Click my name! Click me! :) ) In any case, please accept my sincere gratitude for sharing so much with us so freely. I point my friends your way.
Thanks Liam and all the best with your book - I would add that my income and sales went up significantly after the 3rd book, so keep on playing with promotional stuff but focus on writing more quality books as well.
Mission accepted. (The promotional side can be addicting can't it?)
Thanks for sharing, Jo, and for all you do. I refer a lot of aspiring authors to your site. I have used BB on several occasions with varying results. I've never lost money on it, but I have seen a decrease in results since they lowered standards and increased the number if books per email, but there are a lot of things I like about the way they do business, and - bottom line - it always pays for itself. (In my experience.) Their growth in the past year is astonishing. I wouldn't be surprised to see Amazon buy it. I'm about to try the Action/adventure list this month.
Thanks Joni and I appreciate you sending people this way :) It's great to hear that you also rank BookBub as a service, there are very few that many of us find work consistently.
Definitely great to see the numbers.
Love that you keep sharing your results with us, Joanna. A lot of people seem to enjoy Pentecost :)
Great posting, Joanna. I think you should run it again in the thriller category. I ran a Bookbub in Feb in thrillers and can attribute 1348 US sales, 4 refunds, and 2 UK sales* for the ad. I believe the difference in our numbers is due to the list size (440K v 170K).
Peace, Seeley
* What's up with that? You guys still pissed about that little revolution or something? :)
Thanks Seeley - and yes, I will go for the Thriller category next time as I think the book fits better there. I just didn't want to pay that much :) but now I've done a test run I'll go all in next time.
Re your UK sales, perhaps it's because in your blurb, the first line says that Pia was 'an international soccer star' which British people just don't associate with women - sad but true ... I'm so glad your US readers don't feel that way!
Very transparent analysis Joanna and anecdotal is all anyone can really offer because stats for one book would not necessarily translate to another. Have you any explanation of the differences between your rankings on Amazon.com versus .co.uk? Is is simply a reflection of sheer numbers or national tastes? I am considering uploading the print book to both CS and LS , and wonder what your advice on this might be. Amazon makes books 'currently unavailable' at the drop of a hat- unless they hold the cards.
I am considering some kind of paid promotion, but doubt that my book 'Involution- An Odyssey' could be sufficiently targeted by Bookbub, or that its readership ( and I believe there is one) would identify the category ( or indeed that I would) Has anyone you know used PR for Books for targeted PR?They seem to advertise very liberally but whether that means success or imminent failure is hard to guess. One of the things OLD authors have to weigh up is that the time for much more prolific writing is strictly curtailed!
On the UK and US sales, I think that there are fewer people on the BookBub listing in the UK and there are fewer Kindle readers here anyway. Plus my books are squarely aimed at the US market for 'religious thrillers' like Dan Brown, which are bigger in the US. Again, anecdotal and entirely my opinion ...
On your book - you MUST have 2 categories to load your book onto Amazon or other book sales sites, so you have to pick a genre. You should also be picking 3-5 comps or comparison authors so readers can hook their minds around what the book is like. Feel free to say " X meets Y" if you like, but none of us are truly original and there are buyers buy in categories :)
My experience with PR is that it is too scattergun and you spend a lot of effort, time and sometimes money, with very little result. I made it onto national TV, radio and national papers and sold about 15 books - that took months of work, vs the above paid promo which sold that many. However, again, only my opinion!
Thank you for the very informative post. You answered many of the questions I had in considering a similar paid promotion. Now, if only I could hone in on the right genre to focus on.
as my comment above Ashley, really think about 3-5 comparison authors first - that will help you narrow down your niche.
Good post, Joanna. I recently took out an ad with BookBub to promote my KDP Select free promotion. Although many argue that KDP 'doesn't work' these days, I managed to give away over 40,000 copies of my debut novel over a three day period, selling several hundred copies in the following week.
BookBub definitely works, and I'll be taking out an ad again some time in the future. Delighted it worked for you too!
Ryan
Hi Ryan, that's fantastic - and yes, you can advertise free, which is a great idea for a debut novel and brilliant that you had some sales.