Where Are You Advertising That's Working? - Page 2

Dodge · 02-12-2011, 02:15 AM

Don't forget that you can post your eBooks and print books to BookBarista.com for FREE.

Best deal in town! Tell a friend

mathewferguson · 02-12-2011, 07:43 AM

I put Blurting Beetles of Baloogo Loogo up on a torrent. It's been downloaded 16000+ times. Can't really measure the advertising effect - it was up on the torrent long before I put it up on Kindle for sale.

I did briefly try Google Adwords but because it was linking through to Amazon, I can't track when a click becomes a sale.

Anke Wehner · 02-12-2011, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by M T McGuire

While I'm writing, where do you put most of the information about other novels etc, at the beginning or at the end of an e-book? I'm sure lay out probably contributes to selling success but I don't want to put too much in at the front or people may give up but at the same time, if they download a sample, it's nice to think they'd see where to get other books or the free stuff.

Speaking as a reader, I don't like stuff that gets between me and the story. If it's just one sentence or a very short list that fits on the copyright page, that's OK, but a long list, and/or something including plot synopses, in my eyes belongs in the back.

If the book was good, I'll look for that information, and after the end is a logical place for it, because I can tell if I like the book after reading it, not before.

randyflycaster · 02-13-2011, 09:31 AM

I took a one-day sponsorship on KND, and I sold 26 books. I think the sponorship would have worked much better if I had waited until I had some good reviews, but I wanted to get the ball rolling.

Also, I'm getting clicks on my Goodreads ad. Again, good reviews will be very helpful.

Randy

TJager · 02-19-2011, 02:29 PM

I've done a lot this past week as my second YA book was released including joining here

Facebook fan page
Twitter
I have a blog.
I joined:
Goodreads
LibraryThing
Authorsden
Kindleboards
Nookboards
Shelfari
Absolutewrite
bookandreader

I join forums and talk to people, promote where I can. It also helps when you're writing for YA to have a teenager

My oldest has spread the word to her friends. Hopefully, some of these things will help.

sportourer1 · 02-20-2011, 08:50 AM

I cannot bring myself to pay for advertising, too big a gamble.

jumpingjack42 · 02-22-2011, 10:23 AM

I've not published as such yet, so don't know if I "count", but for my serial novel I have found that I get heaps of visitors from just posting an announcement (on the same thread of course) on here in the Author Promotions section.

I also post the same announcement on kindleboards, but the response is tiny in comparison to mobileread.

I've built up an email list that also goes out when every episode is done, and its just for those who have signed up on my website, so almost guaranteed to be people into the series. I'm also always asking anyone on the list to pass the episodes on to their friends if they like it.

I just think you are better off posting to a few hundred who you know like your writing, rather than a few thousand who never heard of you. (maybe both would be better?)

Small steps

jeffreymoss · 02-23-2011, 12:04 AM

From my experience, and I have a friend with a similar experience (although in her case she wasn't selling a book like I am), internet ads like Facebook, Google, and MySpace are not that effective and can be quite expensive. They can certainly bring a lot of traffic to whatever site you direct them to, but the conversion rate of clicks to sales is really low. Since you pay per click, regardless of the outcome, that results in a pretty ineffective means of advertising. Yes, you can do quite a bit to focus your ads to a particular demographic group, but I never found a way to do that which was effective. Thank goodness I had a lot of free credits to burn!

The best way to sell books is friends and word of mouth, in my opinion. We're all looking for that "Tipping Point", that maven and/or salesperson who really champions what we are doing and tells a lot of other people about it. Sadly, almost all my friends don't read fantasy/sci fi novels.

Oh well. It would be great to sell my books, but to publish in this day and age is exciting and fun enough to make the experience well worth the effort. Hopefully most writers feel the same way.

jumpingjack42 · 02-25-2011, 04:39 AM

@jeffreymoss
Agreed, I'm looking forward just to the whole process of publishing my books myself. I get a lot of readers of my free serial book and it will be interesting to see if any of that turns into sales of my other stuff. I'm expecting it to be a low percentage. I think things change a lot when there is a $ sign involved.

I've joined a few different places to promote my writing, but I still struggle with the whole idea of marketing my writing.

bthrowsnaill · 02-27-2011, 08:40 PM

To those who have advertised at KND, do you feel that it was a "one time boost" to sales, or do you feel that it established some permanent momentum in the form of an improved trend in overall sales over an extended period of time?
Thanks in advance.

sportourer1 · 03-03-2011, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mel Comley

You could get involved in #samplesunday on twitter.

Put a sample on your blogpage add #samplesunday to your tweets and other authors will tweet you. It's thought polite to retweet them back! lol

What is samplesunday?

BrentKnowles · 03-03-2011, 01:44 PM

Thanks for the great info. I've done ads through Facebook, LinkedIn and Google (had free credits) and achieved nothing so its nice to see some other alternatives I can check out.

- Brent Knowles, author of the "End of the Road", "Digital Rights -- A Writers of the Future Winner" and more.

GoblinWriter · 03-04-2011, 01:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bthrowsnaill

To those who have advertised at KND, do you feel that it was a "one time boost" to sales, or do you feel that it established some permanent momentum in the form of an improved trend in overall sales over an extended period of time?

I was hoping for the latter, but most of the sales came the first day. I did break even, or pretty close, on the cost of the ad, but sales quickly dropped back to the norm. I've heard stories of people in popular genres getting a more permanent boost (because they sold enough to jump into bestsellers lists, I presume), but I suspect those are rare cases.

bthrowsnaill · 03-05-2011, 01:37 PM

Thanks, GoblinWriter. I've decided to try a kindleboards banner. I'll share the results here after the ad runs.

M T McGuire · 03-06-2011, 05:21 PM

I've been trying to run a goodreads ad but am failing dismally at the moment - due to some incompatibility issue with firefox I think. So I will have to download chrome or ie and do it in that.

Has anyone tried selling through goodreads? I am having a completely dire time trying to code up my book to make an e-pub file but if I ever manage to build the wretched thing I thought I'd give it a go.

Cheers

MTM

02-22-2011, 10:23 AM	#22
jumpingjack42 DiSpLaCeD Posts: 98 Karma: 100000 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: kindle 2	I've not published as such yet, so don't know if I "count", but for my serial novel I have found that I get heaps of visitors from just posting an announcement (on the same thread of course) on here in the Author Promotions section. I also post the same announcement on kindleboards, but the response is tiny in comparison to mobileread. I've built up an email list that also goes out when every episode is done, and its just for those who have signed up on my website, so almost guaranteed to be people into the series. I'm also always asking anyone on the list to pass the episodes on to their friends if they like it. I just think you are better off posting to a few hundred who you know like your writing, rather than a few thousand who never heard of you. (maybe both would be better?) Small steps Last edited by jumpingjack42; 02-23-2011 at 07:39 AM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Signatures used for advertising	Ea	Feedback	131	12-28-2010 11:02 AM
Advertising in eBooks	jhempel24	General Discussions	52	08-30-2010 05:27 AM
Advertising in Books	Robin O'Neill	Writers' Corner	15	08-22-2010 02:15 PM
eBook Advertising	paulckennedy	News	114	02-22-2010 03:37 PM
Alexander: want info on advertising	Robertb	Astak EZReader	3	10-07-2009 07:16 PM

02-12-2011, 02:15 AM	#16
Dodge Sparks fly off my pages! Posts: 123 Karma: 250002 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: San Francisco Bay Area Device: Kindle	Don't forget that you can post your eBooks and print books to BookBarista.com for FREE. Best deal in town! Tell a friend

02-12-2011, 07:43 AM	#17
mathewferguson Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Melbourne Device: Kindle	I put Blurting Beetles of Baloogo Loogo up on a torrent. It's been downloaded 16000+ times. Can't really measure the advertising effect - it was up on the torrent long before I put it up on Kindle for sale. I did briefly try Google Adwords but because it was linking through to Amazon, I can't track when a click becomes a sale.

02-13-2011, 09:31 AM	#19
randyflycaster Zealot Posts: 113 Karma: 1000858 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: New York City Device: Sony 350	I took a one-day sponsorship on KND, and I sold 26 books. I think the sponorship would have worked much better if I had waited until I had some good reviews, but I wanted to get the ball rolling. Also, I'm getting clicks on my Goodreads ad. Again, good reviews will be very helpful. Randy

02-19-2011, 02:29 PM	#20
TJager Enthusiast Posts: 37 Karma: 510020 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: TX Device: Kindle	I've done a lot this past week as my second YA book was released including joining here Facebook fan page Twitter I have a blog. I joined: Goodreads LibraryThing Authorsden Kindleboards Nookboards Shelfari Absolutewrite bookandreader I join forums and talk to people, promote where I can. It also helps when you're writing for YA to have a teenager My oldest has spread the word to her friends. Hopefully, some of these things will help.

02-20-2011, 08:50 AM	#21
sportourer1 Writer Posts: 117 Karma: 560236 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: London UK Device: none	I cannot bring myself to pay for advertising, too big a gamble.

02-23-2011, 12:04 AM	#23
jeffreymoss Bard Posts: 17 Karma: 20000 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: iPad	From my experience, and I have a friend with a similar experience (although in her case she wasn't selling a book like I am), internet ads like Facebook, Google, and MySpace are not that effective and can be quite expensive. They can certainly bring a lot of traffic to whatever site you direct them to, but the conversion rate of clicks to sales is really low. Since you pay per click, regardless of the outcome, that results in a pretty ineffective means of advertising. Yes, you can do quite a bit to focus your ads to a particular demographic group, but I never found a way to do that which was effective. Thank goodness I had a lot of free credits to burn! The best way to sell books is friends and word of mouth, in my opinion. We're all looking for that "Tipping Point", that maven and/or salesperson who really champions what we are doing and tells a lot of other people about it. Sadly, almost all my friends don't read fantasy/sci fi novels. Oh well. It would be great to sell my books, but to publish in this day and age is exciting and fun enough to make the experience well worth the effort. Hopefully most writers feel the same way.

02-25-2011, 04:39 AM	#24
jumpingjack42 DiSpLaCeD Posts: 98 Karma: 100000 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: kindle 2	@jeffreymoss Agreed, I'm looking forward just to the whole process of publishing my books myself. I get a lot of readers of my free serial book and it will be interesting to see if any of that turns into sales of my other stuff. I'm expecting it to be a low percentage. I think things change a lot when there is a $ sign involved. I've joined a few different places to promote my writing, but I still struggle with the whole idea of marketing my writing.

02-27-2011, 08:40 PM	#25
bthrowsnaill Dreamer Posts: 112 Karma: 501282 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Philadelphia, PA Device: kindle	To those who have advertised at KND, do you feel that it was a "one time boost" to sales, or do you feel that it established some permanent momentum in the form of an improved trend in overall sales over an extended period of time? Thanks in advance.

03-03-2011, 01:44 PM	#27
BrentKnowles Author Posts: 38 Karma: 540064 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Edmonton Canada Device: iPad	Thanks for the great info. I've done ads through Facebook, LinkedIn and Google (had free credits) and achieved nothing so its nice to see some other alternatives I can check out. - Brent Knowles, author of the "End of the Road", "Digital Rights -- A Writers of the Future Winner" and more.

03-05-2011, 01:37 PM	#29
bthrowsnaill Dreamer Posts: 112 Karma: 501282 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Philadelphia, PA Device: kindle	Thanks, GoblinWriter. I've decided to try a kindleboards banner. I'll share the results here after the ad runs.

Advert

Advert

03-06-2011, 05:21 PM	#30
M T McGuire Addict Posts: 231 Karma: 1006970 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England Device: kindle	I've been trying to run a goodreads ad but am failing dismally at the moment - due to some incompatibility issue with firefox I think. So I will have to download chrome or ie and do it in that. Has anyone tried selling through goodreads? I am having a completely dire time trying to code up my book to make an e-pub file but if I ever manage to build the wretched thing I thought I'd give it a go. Cheers MTM