Book Promotion Articles | Self-Publishing Review

What Book Promotions Are OK and Not OK on Amazon Now

This is the first in a series on author internet outrage and Amazon adventure by Cate Baum.

There’s been a fair amount of internet hysteria lately regarding Amazon’s court cases against authors, and confusion about getting book reviews through promotional services. Here’s how to tell what’s acceptable, and what’s not, and the truth about those court cases.

First, let’s start with what book promotion techniques are acceptable to Amazon.

What’s OK

1. Using promotional services that promote to reader lists

Examples: BookBub, SPR’s Kindle Promotion Packages, BookGorilla.

Why is this OK?

A UK or US-based service that has built […]

Cate Baum2018-05-10T06:44:47+02:00October 6th, 2017|Categories: Features|Tags: Book Promotion Articles|

Best Free Book Marketing Sites

Most know that BookBub is very expensive, as well as very difficult to get into. SPR’s own BookBub alternative (starting at $199) has no barrier to entry, but it’s also expensive if your budget is…zero. There are a number of BookBub-style newsletter services that allow for free submissions. These submissions aren’t guaranteed, and many offer a paid option to guarantee inclusion, but it’s still helpful if you really have no budget for book marketing, or you want to pad out your paid efforts with some other services.

As with pay sites, it’s best to spread out these listings over 3 […]

Lysa Grant2022-09-11T15:55:06+02:00July 19th, 2017|Categories: Features, Resources|Tags: Book Marketing Advice and Tips, Book Promotion Articles, Newsletter Campaign|

15 Places for Authors to Write a Guest Post

Blogging is an essential part of book marketing. It’s always a bit mystifying to hear authors say, “I don’t know what to blog.” You’re a writer! It’s part of the job. If readers like the way you put together a post, they’ll be more likely to check out your book.

However, blogging can also feel like writing into the wilderness, especially if your site gets scant traffic, which is usually the case for new writer’s sites. If your blog (or book) is hurting for viewers, a good practice is to post on a blog with a built-in audience.

CreativIndie has […]

Lysa Grant2018-05-10T06:45:25+02:00June 30th, 2017|Categories: Features, Resources|Tags: Author Blogging, Book Marketing Advice and Tips, Book Promotion Articles|

Essential Knowledge For Every New Self-Publisher

Self-publishing can be equally exciting and overwhelming. On the one hand, it’s the best opportunity for most of us to realize our dream of publishing a book. Who wouldn’t be excited by the thought of expressing their ideas creatively and hopefully making some money in the process? There’s a heck of a lot to learn. Dave Chesson of Kindlepreneur takes a look.

Writing a book is only part of the process. To experience success, self-publishers must be effective in many different areas, including marketing and strategy.

It can be tricky to know exactly where to focus our limited time […]

Dave Chesson2019-02-03T09:38:04+02:00April 25th, 2017|Categories: Features, Member Blog|Tags: Book Promotion Articles, Dave Chesson Articles|

How Authors Can Use Amazon Smile to Raise Money For Charity

When it comes to charity, we’re adept at giving online, especially when it doesn’t cost a dime to support your favorite cause. Amazon Smile is a tool that authors can leverage to sell books at the same time as making some money for just about any organization there is.

Amazon Smile is a subdomain of Amazon that sells exactly the same products, but gives users the opportunity to choose a charity to support.

“AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support your favorite charitable organization every time you shop, at no cost to you. When you […]

Cate Baum2020-02-20T13:30:15+02:00March 28th, 2017|Categories: Features|Tags: Amazon News and Tips, Book Promotion Articles|

3 “Great” Book Marketing Ideas That Were a Waste of Money

Indie author Duke Diercks talks about Facebook Ads, digital marketing, and how he “stalked” Adam Sandler…

If you’re paying attention, I put the word great in quotes. That’s because perhaps I alone thought these ideas were great – at least one of them anyway!

Here’s the deal: as a newly self-published author, I was eager (read: desperate) to get my book noticed. I also have a background in digital marketing so I am familiar with certain online advertising avenues. Immediately, I came up with two ideas to get some exposure:

Facebook Advertising
Advertising on a High-Traffic Blog

The third idea[…]

Duke Diercks2018-05-26T15:50:28+02:00March 23rd, 2017|Categories: Features, Member Blog|Tags: Book Promotion Articles|

3 Golden Rules For Your Amazon Author Page

A Guest Post by Kindlepreneur’s Dave Chesson on the importance of the Amazon Author Page.

In the increasingly crowded world of self-publishing, it’s important for authors to do everything in their power to stand out from their competitors.

Of course, a quality book is always the best way. There is no substitute for a carefully crafted, well-edited book with an attractive cover.

While an author’s book is and always will be the main way to attract sales and fans, it is far from the only way. In fact, as more and more self-published authors up their game in terms of […]

Dave Chesson2020-02-08T16:01:03+02:00March 13th, 2017|Categories: Features|Tags: Amazon News and Tips, Book Promotion Articles, Dave Chesson Articles|

Mythbusting The Amazon Algorithm Part III – Verified Customer Reviews and the New Amazon Guidelines

There are some home truths we need to examine that authors are not really grasping about the Amazon Algorithm since I started this series. So in this installment of “Mythbusting,” I’m going to get into what the algorithm’s new Machine Learning model and new Amazon Guidelines mean for Verified Customer Reviews.

MYTH 1 – By figuring out what keywords people search for you can get customers to find your book

TRUTH – Meh. Here we go again. My answer to this is “Are you a robot?” You would have to be Hal 9000 since the new algorithm came along. Let’s […]