In yesterday’s blog-post I talked about some self-promotion work. I shared that through a mention on Bookhippo (a site that costs nothing to advertise with) Rope Enough (Romney and Marsh File#1) scrambled into Amazon’s top 100 free books for an hour or two. It then fell away quite rapidly so that by last night it was back to #275 in the free charts. Rope Enough was downloaded just over 200 times on its best day. I’m not complaing. It was a boost to downloads.
Last night at 8pm GMT another promotion kicked in – one that I’d paid $50 for. This time with Bookbub (another book promotion site). When I went to bed at about 9pm GMT (I live Turkey, which is 2hrs ahead of UK so don’t start on me) Rope Enough was still in the low 200s. It didn’t look particularly encouraging.
When I woke up this morning I reached over for my Kindle on the bedside table and had a quick look to see if there had been any impact on downloads overnight.
Anyone who is looking for a new way to go from a state of half-sleep to instant-wide-awakefulness, write a book and sign it up with Bookbub. I haven’t gone from the horizontal to the vertical that quickly since my little boy crawled in the bed in the middle of the night and peed all over me. (At fifty-something that is not to be underestimated as an horrific experience. Especially when for a few agonising, confused, fleeting seconds you think it was you who wet the bed.)
As can be seen from the screen grab above, Rope Enough started my day at #1 in the overall Amazon Kindle charts. For a free book it cannot get any higher than that. That seems to me to be $50 well spent. Time will tel if there is a knock-on for sales of the other books.
So, the question I’m sure all my reader and writer virtual friends are screaming at their computer moniotors is: how many downloads did it take to get to the #1 spot?
What do you think?
Oliver Tidy 
Great just great, now do it with a paid for book.
Thanks, David. That would be nice. I’m certainly thinking of having a go with a paid book.
I’m signed up to Bookbub and I’ve found some little gems on there(free and paid) so I check my email that they send me each day. I knew you had put Rope Enough on there but it still gave me a bit of a thrill to see it listed.
I wish you the best of luck with your “self promotion”
Denise T
Thanks for your comment, Denise. And thanks for your good wishes. It all helps. I think I will try Bookbub again, but I understand it is very hard to get listed. Luck was obviously with me this time. 🙂
Great news! As soon as I read this I just had to go and look, mostly because of your comment about it being in the top 100 for an hour or so, then falling away quite rapidly. I’m delighted to see that it is still there in the top slot at 9.15 GMT. I imagine that feels like the best $50 you ever spent. I hope you are right about the potential knock on effect for your other books.
Thanks for your comment, Dawn. Naturally, I’m thrilled with the way things have started. I do hope the knock-on sales materialise – I’ve just booked a month in the Seychelles for one on the promise of them. 🙂
Yeah right
Well done! Book Bub does seem effective. Looking at the top 100 thrillers there are quite a few which I have I’ve come across via them.
PS random fact: Bulls Eye was the name of Bill Sikes’s dog in Oliver Twist. (I’ve obviously been watching too much Dickensian, which won’t mean a thing to you in Turkey. But recommended when you’re back in the UK.)
Thanks, Sarah. Based on my experience, Bookbub is an amazing author resource. I almost put a picture of the dog on the blog to go with the title. I loved the way Oliver Reed called the dog’s name in the film.
Best wishes.
Erm, eleventy something, give or take the few? Enjoying Unhappy Families, I’m at the halfway mark. Russell
Hi Russell, Good to know UF is going well. As for your guess – cold!
Best wishes.
I’m subscribed to Bookbub, they suggested Rope Enough to match my criteria. It was a free download to my Kindle. What’s not to like ? Well nothing really, I thoroughly enjoyed the read . Now do I pay a reasonable £1.99 for another ? Or do I look for something else at no cost on Bookbub ? Or do I read “The day of the Jackal ” again ?
Dave
Good to know that you enjoyed the read. Thank you. If it were me, I’d probably buy R&M#2 – R&M#6 and then pre-order my anthology that’s now available for pre-order as of today (it has a R&M story in it) …. but I could be biased. 🙂
Best wishes.