15 things you should know before starting your KDP ebook promotion – part 1

Before I published my book on Amazon, I already knew something about KDP ebook promotion opportunities. I dug into a lot of information on how to do it, what sites to use for ebook advertising, what are the best days to run a free promo and so on. But I couldn't find a single list of all mistakes an indie author can make while promoting his/her book, or a list of things they should know before starting their ebook promotion. So, here goes:

1. Don’t promote on holidays. Seriously, don’t do it.

If you think that because of the holidays there will be a lot of people looking for free or discounted books – you’re right. But there will also be a lot of books that are actually famous, and your little indie gem will just get lost in the big holiday sale. Of course, there’s a chance you’ll do just fine, but do you want to take chances while losing your 5 precious free days?

2. Promote on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays.

Weekends are okay, but not that good (according to the others’ experience). And Mondays and Tuesdays are dead days. Everyone’s trying to wake up and work after the weekend, they don’t have the energy to browse books.

3. When submitting your book to free promo sites, don’t just stop at 5 sites.

You never know how many will actually feature your book on the chosen day (if you didn’t pay for a guaranteed listing), and you can end up with no promotion (not that free listings bring great results, really). From my experience, if you do everything fast and have a premade list of sites suitable for your book and budget, you’ll need about 4 hours to submit your book to 50 sites and forums. Make time for submitting your book and use as many sites as possible to maximize your book sales. If you don’t have time, focus on those that send out a newsletter.

4. Make a list of the sites you can use, but don’t make it too early.

When I found how many sites offered ebook advertising services and free book promotion, I made a list right away. I had 40 sites where I had to submit in advance and 15 sites to submit my book on the day of the promo. I had to move my promo in the end, and when after a month I got back to that list, WOW half of those sites didn’t work, had changed their policies, weren’t taking submission, or something else. In the end, I had to sit late at night and pick new sites for my promo. It’s an exhausting process because you have to find the right page, read the right info, check if the site is still working, and check if it’s suitable for your book. If you want to do it fast, read Organize your ebook promotion and maximize your sales.

5. Don’t rely on remembering to do something.

Use notifications on your PC or phone. There will always be something surprising and distracting, and you’ll just forget what you needed to do. There are some sites where you can post about your book on every day of the promo, like WorldLiteraryCafe forum. Set an alarm that will remind you to post everywhere you need in the morning.

Here's the second post about this topic.

#tips #ebookpromotion