Book Promotion Services Self-Published Authors Should Consider
Now that you’ve written your book and prepared it for publication, it’s time to shift your full attention to promoting it. Book promotion requires just as much hard work and careful consideration. To ensure that your book is read by your target audience, you must choose the right book promotion services and tools.
The best ways to promote your book are through your website, through social media, and through author events.
Author website
Being an author (traditionally published or self-published) in the information age requires an author website. Your website is an invaluable marketing tool: It is generally the first place that people go to learn about you and your work. Through your website, you can create and grow a mailing list, strengthen your brand, and, most importantly, provide direct links to the retailers that sell your book/s. Also, with regular updates (e.g., news, blog posts, etc.), as well as seasonal or special features, you can stay engaged with your audience.
Social media
Embrace this marketing tool because it will be instrumental in establishing your brand and identity as an author and building your fanbase. If you’re already active with a personal account or two, it’s better to keep separate professional/business accounts.
If you’re one of those people who are wary of social media, rest assured that you can choose to dedicate your accounts solely to your writing and your books. For starters, you don’t need to maintain an account on all platforms. You can chose two or three that suit your particular promotional needs best. It’s not a bad idea, however, if you shared a few personal touches now and then so readers can get to know you a little bit, without getting too familiar.
Generally:
- LinkedIn is the place for professional posts and cultivating thought leadership.
- Facebook is great for sharing stories and community building.
- Twitter is effective for sharing news and views.
- Instagram is perfect for sharing images and videos.
- TikTok is great for videos that entertain, educate, and/or inspire.
- YouTube is ideal if vlogging ties in nicely with your books.
- Pinterest is the platform for inspirational and how-to content.
Author events
Events like book readings at bookstores and libraries; appearances on a local radio show, television talk show, or a podcast; and/or the virtual equivalents of the previous options are a great way to expose your work to a bigger audience.
People can’t read a book if they don’t know it exists. All authors need to do marketing, regardless of how they published.
—Jo Lindsell
Book Promotion Services That Are Worth Checking Out
Self-published authors have an abundance of options when it comes to book promotion services. All you have to do is do some research and make the best choice.
We have created an overview of 17 service providers below.
Book Adrenaline
https://bookadrenaline.com/
Focus: Mysteries and thrillers
Every day Book Adrenaline sends out an email alert to their subscribers with limited-time free and deeply discounted Mystery and Thriller e-books. With over 35,000 subscribers—that is, over 35,000 avid readers of mystery and thriller stories—Book Adrenaline offers extensive exposure for authors writing in this genre. They boast of a global quest for “hidden gems” and are partnered with all major e-book retailers to bring their readers their fill of the best thriller and mystery stories, wherever they may wish to read them (computer, phone, tablet, or e-reader).
Book Bongo
https://bookbongo.com/
Book Bongo offers specialized e-book promotion services for authors and publishers. Promos start free with their Free Bongo Boost—as long as your book ticks the box on both quality and value: “If we like your deal, we'll tweet your book. If we love it, we'll post it on our Facebook page.” If you want more, you have six paid promo plans to choose from, starting with Book Bump at $9.99.
Best Book Monkey
https://bestbookmonkey.com/
Best Book Monkey offers new and established authors alike much-needed exposure through their daily curated list of books posted on their website and through their Best Book Deals newsletter. Their subscribers indicate which genres they are interested in and their preferred days to receive the newsletter. You can choose between free and paid promotions.
Bookdealio
https://www.bookdealio.com/
Bookdealio is an e-book deals newsletter with 395,500-plus subscribers and counting. They offer an e-book deal promotion: Authors can add a link to their website or an e-mail newsletter sign-up form. You can run a one-day e-book deal promotion based on category, with option for an additional social promotion. You can also run a full-price title (e-book or paperback) for a four-week duration.
Book Doggy
https://bookdoggy.com/
BookDoggy brings to their readers both USA Today and New York Times best-selling authors and new and rising literary names. They feature free and almost-free eBooks available from Amazon, Kobo, Apple, Barnes and Noble, Google, Smashwords, Bookfunnel, Story Origin, and Prolific Works. They can also accommodate your book/s in audiobook format.
Book Raid
https://bookraid.com/partners
Book Raid promotes discounted and free e-books. For discounted e-books, they require at least a 50% discount to promote the. They also offer an affordable solution to your book promotion needs: a cost-per-click promotion model based on your book sales price. You pay only for the clicks you get through their newsletter, with a maximum of $60 per promotion.
BookRunes
http://bookrunes.com/
BookRunes prides itself on its global reach, specifically targeting readers from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and India. Free and discounted books are updated daily by 8:00 a.m. Pacific time. BookRunes is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program.
Book Talk
https://www.booktalk.org/
BookTalk.org is a combination of free book discussion group, book club, and online reading group. It has thousands of members and hundreds of forums. BookTalk’s promotion plans include Book Stack (display of book cover image in the Book Stack section of the Home page sidebar), Top Slideshow (display of book cover image in the top slideshow section), and Side Slideshow (display of book cover image in the Side Sideshow section)—all of which depend on your preference as far as duration goes. You can also purchase their Featured Books Page or the Emerging Author’s Page.
BookTrib
https://booktrib.com/
In addition to being a site for readers to discover new authors, BookTrib is also an editorial and marketing engine for authors. It boasts of more than 90,000 unique monthly visitors and offers a portfolio of affordable, effective programs (including Books to Screen, Ebook Promotion, and Testimonials) designed to help authors get noticed by readers and cultivate a following.
ExciteSteam
https://excitesteam.com/
Focus: Romance
ExciteSteam is an e-book promotion service that offers the best and hottest deals in romance and erotica stories from the most popular authors in the genre. They promote books through their daily newsletter, their website, and their Facebook page. The ExciteSteam site is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. They list free books on Amazon and Barnes & Noble and priced (discounted) books on Amazon and other retailers.
Hello Books
https://www.hellobooks.com/
Readers can simply sign up for free and discounted books ($0.99) of their preferred genre/s at Hello Books’ website. Then they wait for the books to arrive. Subscribers can expect to receive an email from Hello Books every Friday informing them of special offers on books that belong in their preferred genres. Authors, on the other hand, apply to get their books included in the regular emails and in the advertising campaigns that Hello Books run. The goal is to bring all weekly promoted books to the attention of as many readers as possible.
Indie Book Lounge
http://indiebooklounge.com/
Indie Book Lounge treats their subscribers to a comprehensive catalog of books by indie authors, and authors can list their books for free. Indie Book Lounge also has a dedicated page for erotic literature—Erotica Book Lounge. To ensure maximum exposure, you can choose Indie Book Lounge’s Genre Sponsorship feature. By sponsoring a genre, your book will always appear first in the samples display on their home page for your genre.
Indies Unlimited
https://indiesunlimited.com/
Indies Unlimited is dedicated to providing relevant information and book promotion services to independent authors. You don’t need to pay any fee to get featured, and promo options include Thrifty Thursdays (authors can list their free or 99¢ e-books) and Print Book Paradise (for print books priced under $15). Thrifty Thursday kicks off at 5:00 a.m. Pacific time, and Print Book Paradise (a.k.a. Mr. Pish’s Print Book Party) takes place every first Sunday of the month, beginning at 5:00 a.m. To get additional exposure, Indies Unlimited hosts a Flash Fiction Challenge every Saturday at 9:00 a.m., Pacific time.
LitRing
https://litring.com/
LitRing was founded in 2017 and boasts of a readership of over 100,000 readers who are treated to book giveaways, access to authors, and a huge inventory of titles featured in enjoyable selections. Services for authors include features in their Reader Newsletter, group promos, and book launch boosts. LitRing promises results that go beyond short-term goals. In addition to the previously mentioned services, authors who are members of the LitRing Tribe can also choose such promotion services as Author Facebook Takeover (host a party with LitRing’s VIP Reader Group), Turn-Key Promo Package (a promo blast package consisting of twelve weeks of stress-free, discounted marketing), and Round Robin Cross Promotions (six months of cross-promotions with same-genre authors).
New Free Kindle Books
https://newfreekindlebooks.com/
The New Free Kindle Books platform provides readers with an updated listing of free and discounted e-books. They offer authors guaranteed listing and e-book promotion help. Book promos will be listed on their front page and included in the subscriber emails. They provide a list of e-book promotion sites to help indie authors with their Kindle e-book “Free Days” and “Countdown” promotions.
PublishDrive
https://publishdrive.com/
As a global operation, PublishDrive ensures that you and your work get exposure to your target audience all over the world. Their promo programs for authors include Price Promotion (allows you to set up and run price promotions for your books), Review Copy (they send free review copies to Apple Books, Google Play Books, Kobo, and many more, as well as send e-books straight to reader devices), and Featuring (they will get you featured with thousands of their store partners and get your book featured on book promotion sites, newsletters, and more).
The Fussy Librarian
http://www.thefussylibrarian.com/
The Fussy Librarian promotes your book through their two newsletters: The Mostly Bargain Ebook Newsletter (125,000 subscribers) and The Free Ebook Newsletter (600,000 subscribers). They send out a daily email to their subscribers. In addition, your book will also be included in their searchable database for thirty days as part of your fee. They accept new releases, pre-orders, and box sets.
Marketing is not a one-time thing. It is an ongoing process that you must keep doing to continue selling books.
—Sarah Bolme
Conclusion
Marketing is crucial to your success as a self-published author. With technological innovations making more book promotion options available even to authors who are not published by a traditional publishing company, promoting your book is easier than ever. Just be sure to use the right book promotion services and tools to reach your audience and ensure healthy sales figures.
With over one million new books published each year, the world doesn’t need more authors who just write more books. Rather, the world needs more authors who know how to get their books in front of more readers.
—Rob Eagar
FAQs
What is the status of the global publishing market today?
The global book publishing market is valued at $143.65 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach $163.89 billion by 2030.
Are self-published books selling well?
The annual sales figures for self-published books is at 300 million units sold. The number of self-published books has increased by 264% in the last five years. Kindle Unlimited’s inventory is 85% self-published books. Self-published books account for 31% of Amazon’s e-book sales.
When should I start marketing my self-published book?
The actual best time to start promoting your book is before its launch—ideally about six months prior to the release date. First-time self-published authors should consider organizing their marketing one year in advance.
Which countries have the most thriving book market?
The current Big 5 in the global book market are the United States, China, Japan, Germany, and India.
