Back in January I published a post about my first real attempt to utilize email marketing companies to gain new readers for my book. At the time, only the first book in my series was out. In the post, I compared different email marketing companies, so be sure to check it out if you haven’t yet: Email Marketing Companies Compared.With the release of the 2nd book in my series, I decided to place both books on sale. For my first novel I used the $0.99 price point, and I offered a 25% lower price if the 2nd book was purchased via pre-order (or around the time of the release). Below, I will tell you about which companies I used as well as my results.
Note:

• I emailed BookBub (hey, why not)- and submitted Silenced Memories. They responded quickly by saying no. Their reason: The book was on sale less than 90 days ago. I never read the fine print, because to be honest, I never expected to get in…
• I also hoped to get my book back in ENT (E-Reader News Today). The promotion I ran last time had my book in the top 100 for Romance Suspense for–well … about two hours. But still … Unfortunately, by the time they responded to me, they said they had zero availability.
• I also tried Books Butterfly– They slotted me for April (even though I requested the first week in March, saying they were booked up until then). My book is not on sale in April though, so that did not happen as well. *Books Butterfly has a sales guarantee*

What was my strategy?

My goal was to get back in the top 100 for Silenced Memories, and I hoped that those sales would lead to sales for my 2nd book. Because I could not get into ENT or BookBub, I decided to use several companies- and hoped for the same effect.

DID IT WORK for Silenced Memories? Well, close…

*I got back into the top 100 for Romance Military on Amazon.com (and around 1,000 in the overall Kindle store. (Lasted for over 24hrs this time)… Top 50 in Amazon France for romance military and romance suspense. Top 30 for Romance Military in Canada.
*I also went from 196,000 on B&N to 996 for one whole day! Woohoo.

Who did I use for my 2nd book?

1. Tues (3/1) Fussy Librarian for my NEW RELEASE. Yes, they accept new releases. Did it generate sales? It is hard to tell for Amazon/Nook/Ibooks, because I had the ad out the day of my release. I do know that it drove a lot of traffic to Smashwords, because I didn’t advertise my book as being in Smashwords (other than with Fussy Librarian)–and some sales were generated on there, so I assume I can correlate those sales with this ad.
2. Sun (3/6) Romance E-book Deals (only $15)- and they also will advertise a new release. Again, it is hard to say how many sales were a direct result of this ad, but it was almost a week after my release (so I’d say at least 10 came from this ad)…
3. 2/29-3/4: BLOUR TOUR. 39 Blogs Advertised my book.

Silenced Memories, book 1: Due to the close proximity of the ads it is hard to guarantee which ad created the exact number of sales, but this should give you some idea..

1. Thurs (3/3) Romance E-book Deals for Silenced Memories as well. (11 sales the day of the ad).
2. Fri (3/4) Book Gorilla – 70 sales on Amazon (zero on others)
3. Sat (3/5) BookSends – 58 sales on Amazon (3- other)
4. Sun (3/6) MyRomanceReads (hefty ad fee of $90)- 120 sales on Amazon, (16-Other)
5. Mon (3/7)- Sale but no ad: 50 sales on Amazon (still in top 100-hit the night before); 7-other
6. Tues (3/8)- Sale, no ad: No longer in top 100 -32 sales on Amazon; 2-other

What is crazy is that ENT only cost $45, but produced the same results as those 4 campaigns above combined … So, I recommend ENT!!
Now, what will I do when my books are back at full price for adverting? Stay tuned for my next advertising post in regards to Facebook ads!

Please, share what has worked for you!