The results of what may or may not work part #3

Okay, now that my latest promotions are nearing their ends I can safely post my opinions of each of them. As I said from the start, I was trying something new with these latest promotions. Instead of booking one-day sponsorships for large amounts of money on some very popular websites I figured I’d try more long-term placements for less money and see how they fare.

First I’d like to say that I have had some success with sites like Bookgorilla and Kindle Fire Department. Their one day sponsorships are expensive but I did get quite a few sales from them. If it’s all about exposure than these types of sponsorships do work, but you have to sell an awful lot of books to make back your investment. Most of my latest experiments with promotion cost less than $20 with only one costing more.

If you’re trying a bookbooster service (where for a fee your book is sent to dozens of freelisting websites) don’t bother. Although I did get a few emails saying my books had been listed, I saw nothing to indicate that these listing had any effect on sales. I’d say it’s better to contact the site yourself and manually input the data needed. I’ve found that these sites are way more willing to place your book for free if you inform them personally that you will be promoting their site on your own sites.

I also placed my books on the sites AskDavid, Goodkindles, and DigitalBookToday. These sites offer long-term placement. After two weeks on the sites I can say that my sales have increased. Here’s the kicker, though. The most expensive sponsorships have yielded the least sales while the cheapest investment saw the most increase. So, what’s the best you ask?

Believe it or not, I can trace the most sales through AskDavid, which is strange because I’ve read threads that say the site did nothing for author’s sales. At $15 for a lifetime placement of all of my nine books it’s a steal. The day I uploaded my material and the sites went live I saw an increase in sales of all my books (even one that hasn’t sold a copy in two months). For the money, AskDavid sets up a nice page that you can also promote separately yourself. This is just my own experience and opinion. The site may not work for you.

The worst sales came from DigitalBookToday. I saw almost no increase when the placement started, yet it was the most expensive sponsorship at a combined $100 for two spots on the site. It is a good-looking site with a pretty good Alexa ranking, but it just didn’t seem to attract readers.

The last site, Goodkindles, also increased sales but the book I sponsored, DROP OUT was only at the top of the site for one day. You can boost the book back up to the top one time after thirty days, and the book stays on the site archives forever if a reader wants to delve. At @ $20, I’d say it’s iffy. Though like I said, I’m looking for long term placements of my books.

All in all, I am a big fan of getting my books on as many permanent sites as possible for a minimal amount of monetary investment. I may never pay big money for a big placement on a big site again. Though the anticipation of results from a big promotion can be exciting, it’s usually a letdown when the results aren’t what was hoped or expected. I’ll stick to grassroots marketing for now.