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Share and browse author services experiences on Indielisters

17K views 120 replies 27 participants last post by  jasonbladd 
#1 ·
Update: There's a new list on Indielisters! We've started a database for Author Services Reviews.

-Do you use an amazing cover designer?

-Have you paid for a marketing or promotion service that just wasn't worth it?

-Discovered an online summit with awesome discounts and content?

Share all of your author services experiences with the author community so they can find the best products and value!

"It's like Angie's List for authors"

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Hello Kboarders,
Indielisters is helping authors develop a method for their book promotion and author services-picking madness. Browse the lists to find out what works. Then share your results and experiences to help out your fellow authors.

Let's get our experiences out of the trenches and into the light, and all in one spot!

Gain access here

And when you add your results, let authors know by posting a "reply" in this thread!

-Jason
 
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#4 ·
Welcome to Kboards! [br][br]You're welcome to promote your business and website here in the Writers' Café![br][br]Now that you have an official thread, you'll want to add your listing to our Yellow Pages Listing, found here:[br]http://www.kboards.com/yp/[br][br]The listing is free to KB members and is completely self-service; you can add and edit your listing from the page. More information on our Yellow Pages listing can be found here.[br][br]In your thread here, we ask that the same basic rules be followed as we have for authors in the Book Bazaar: you may have this one thread about your service and must post to it rather than start a new thread each time. New threads about the service wil be removed. Please bookmark this thread so that you can find it again to post to. And, you may not make back-to-back posts to the thread within seven days. If someone responds (such as this post), you may reply but otherwise must wait seven days, thanks![br][br]Betsy[br]KBoards Moderator [br][br]Note that this welcome does not constitute an endorsement or vetting of a service by KBoards. Members should do due diligence when considering using a service, for example, by asking KB members for feedback and doing an Internet search such as "service provider name" complaints.
 
#7 ·
I have added numbers from my three most recent promotions for $0.99 books.

I think helping others get an idea of which promotions work in various genres is very important, so thanks for this.

For those interested here, the results I shared were as follows:

1. Robin Reads - $0.99 reduced price promotion for Soul Stealer - Legacy of the Blade. 23 sales. I have given away between 500 and 700 on free promotions with Robin Reads. This was my first promotion for a paid book. Soul Stealer fell in line with predicted results for a fantasy book.

2. Book Barbarian - $0.99 reduced price promotion also for Soul Stealer. 38 sales. I have always been happy with Book Barbarian.

3. BKnights - $0.99 reduced price promotion (basic package mentioning the Kboards discount) for Shadow's Rise - Return of the Cabal. 5 sales. From what I understand, BKnights does better with free promotions. Also, with all the packages offered, there can be a challenge finding what works. Obviously, my paid promotion was not one of the more successful options.

Good luck to everyone on their promotions!
 
#12 ·
I think this is an absolutely great idea.

Just one concern, though:
How do you prevent false information from being entered, perhaps by a dishonest promo site, in order to skew the data?
Hopefully it wouldn't happen, but Hope is a poor watchdog.
 
#13 ·
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#14 ·
Asher: thank you! Paltry promo results are exactly what we need!

Adrian: of course, that is a concern. There are a few different methods to combat this if it becomes a problem. I've toyed with the idea of requiring a screen capture of the promo submission or confirmation email. Definitely something to think about.

Phoenix: thank you! Hopefully we can implement some controls to prevent the same kind of thing from happening! I already have some in place! ;)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
#15 ·
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#16 ·
Phoenix, I checked out the threads you sent and they had some great things to offer. As far as useful goes, the list will evolve as the author community provides feedback as to what the most useful information is.

The IndieListers is spreadsheet is not manipulated directly. IndieListers add their information by using a password-protected Submission Form.

As far as inaccurate data goes, the biggest threat would be from someone with malicious intent. For this reason, IndieListers uses an Author Verification process to verify the registration email before granting the access to the password-protected Submission Forms.

I've also added a mandatory "Disclosure and Statement of Good Faith."

If IndieList grows big enough, we might be able to detect anomalies in the data that are inconsistent with a particular service's norm.

Every venture requires a little bit of faith and honesty. But I realize we live in a fallen world where virtue is not always the aim.

I'm always open to suggestions to make it the best resource possible! :)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
#17 ·
Authors, 
  The IndieListers community continues to grow, and I'm starting to get some great feedback! So far, people are liking this tool.

I also continue to see gratitude for authors who post their book promotion results in places like these forums.

The point of IndieListers is to make it easier to find this valuable data, and to try to get it all in one place!

So if you've just wrapped up a book promotion, or have one coming up, we'd love to see your results posted on IndieListers!

You can find out more in the link on my signature line :)

P.S. My next FREE promotion is going on January 25th, and so far I have lined up ENT, BookSends, ChoosyBookworm, Digital Books Today, plus more, all strategically chosen by analyzing the data on IndieListers.

 
#19 ·
Hello Kboarders!

  I just wanted to give you an update on IndieListers. We've already hit over 100 subscribers which is totally encouraging!  So far we have Indie authors, hybrid authors, and USA Today bestselling authors browsing the list and sharing results from their book promotions.

We've also had authors with agents and publishers assistants asking to help and share their numbers.

Very cool!

I'm waiting for our first New York Times bestselling author to join.

Is it you?

Anyway, I continue to see good threads about promos here. I'd love for you to help us get them all in one place for everyone to see!

Also, I'm continuing to make improvements and am always open to suggestions.

Hope to see you on board! Check it out in my signature line (IndieListers).

 
#20 ·
The waiting is over. We now have New York Times Bestselling authors on IndieListers!

I just ran my second free promo for One of the Few on 25-26 Jan.

I used IndieListers data to optimize and plan my promos.

The result was 5,475 downloads, #1 in four Amazon categories, Top 3 in two others, and #41 of all free Kindle ebooks.

This is the highest number of downloads on IndieListers for a promo without a BookBub ;)
 
#23 ·
Aderyn Wood said:
This sounds good and when I get more time a bit later I'm going to join. I have a question in the meantime, is it possible to get a view of which promotion sites work better for specific genres?
Aderyn,
That's the kind of question that I hope IndieListers can answer in the future, when we have more data to analyze.
 
#26 ·
Hi Jason,

I don't quite understand how your list is different from what Sharon Karaa is doing. She compiled a spreadsheet of many promo sites and included their results. Granted, it's not an average of many different authors, but I found her spreadsheet extremely helpful.

As far as USA Today and NYT best sellers, I think for me it makes me less interested in participating. I'm not in the same league as those authors. What works for them won't help me. In fact, even the results of long time successful indie authors who shared their info here won't necessarily help a newbie. I guess I don't understand how results could be quantified in such a way that they help different segments of authors.
 
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