Book promotion report 2: Paid

Well, well. I paid $15.00 US or £11.94 in real money to be in the ereaderIQ newsletter for one day only and shifted 220 copies of Arnos Hell my little horror novella. Maybe I‘ll get more reviews.

I’ve no idea how this compares to other authors, but it seems okay to me. My social media peddling of free books moves very few, less than 20. That’s probably because the same people see them over and over again and hate me. People who have signed up to get emails about free books make better customers than people looking for amusing cat videos. David Gaughran is right about that. 

The paid advertising also gave the book a ranking on the Amazon UK store. 

• Best Sellers Rank: #7,918 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
  • 246 in Horror (Kindle Store)

But not on Amazon US, which is odd because ereaderIQ feeds into Amazon.com and not other countries. Oh well. I may try them again. 

Most book promotion sites require a minimum number of good reviews before they will take your money. Unfortunately, most of my books have very few reviews, so I need to get more before I try them. 

Another benefit I just noted is that this little boost has put Arnos Hell at the top of my Amazon author page, which sorts by popularity, followed by Brigstowe Dragons and Fixing Forcalquier, even though they only ‘sold’ a few. It worried me that my books on the author page were subsumed under other books where I’ve had a story published, but even a little boost puts them on top. I’m happy to make visible those other books, Schlock webzine etc, but on my page I prefer my stuff on top. 

Arnos Hell is free until 30th August 2024 if you want a copy. And even if you don’t, it still is. 

P.S. As of Thursday, 29 August, Arnos Hell has shifted 246 copies and is up to #34 in Horror on the US Kindle Store. Hooray! 

• Best Sellers Rank: #1,214 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
  • #34 in Horror (Kindle Store)

It’s at #239 on the UK Kindle horror list. 

• Best Sellers Rank: #9,042 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
  • 293 in Horror (Kindle Store)

What a rewarding hobby this is!