lost lake press | CKBooks Publishing

I have not tried to get a Bookbub deal, but as they article mentions, it is hard to get picked, even though you’re paying them to put up your book for sale (what a deal for Bookbub!)

Keep in mind, putting a book on sale (they recommend .99) means more eyes and hopefully more reviews. But you can’t count on the reviews. As indie authors, we all know how hard it is to get people to leave a review, even if they liked the book.

The best reason to do sales like this if you have multiple books or you have a book series and you’re putting your first book in the series on sale.

I’ve used The Fussy Librarian for promoting my historical-fiction series (my Rose series) and used the first book for free (they also offer bargain sales promotions). I had over 1000 uploads (for free) of Rosebloom (and a few reviews too!) but then also got 100+ sales at the regular price of the second book and less of the third book in the series.

You can also do ads on Bookbub, which are a different thing. Valerie Biel, of Lost Lake Press and her blog readingwritingandroaming, breaks down the process of Bookbub ads.

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BookBub editors share their top tips for strengthening your BookBub Featured Deal submissions for the best chances of being selected!

Source: 10 Things to Try If Your Book Doesn’t Get a Featured Deal

Thinking about setting up a website and not sure which company might be best to use?

This post by Alessandra Torre doesn’t go into any depth, but it gives you a bit of information about three of the most common companies.

I use wordpress for two of my websites: my personal one (free), and my work one (this one you’re on -$99/year, site ground for my domain name $15.95/year). I use wix for my books ($126/year for a 3 year contract, Hover for the domain name $15.17/year).

My wordpress accounts are not ones where I have to know code (wordpress.com), so they were fairly easy to set up. It takes a lot of time, but it’s fairly user friendly. There is also a different type of wordpress account you can have that takes more computer knowledge (self-hosting wordpress. I think that’s the type Alessandra is referring to). I know Jane Friedman has blogged on setting up a website, including a wordpress account, so if you want to learn more, go to her site.

I agree that wix is fairly easy to use but both wordpress (my type of account) and wix take a bit of computer knowledge, but neither requires coding. I don’t think the “just a few hours” comment Alessandra makes is quite accurate, but it won’t take you weeks, maybe days.

I am not a computer wiz by any means so I understand if you would prefer to have someone else do it for you. I highly recommend Valerie Biel at Lost Lake Press for setting up your website. She is an author as well, so she knows where we are coming from and what we need. I am also familiar with Joanne Sprott – Cosmic Whispers Design; she’s part of an editor group I am also a part of where she was recommended as a web designer (EFA – Editorial Freelance Association).

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Your author website is the cornerstone of your brand and should highlight your books, yourself, and your newsletter signup. If you don’t have a website yet – don’t worry! There are several easy website builders that will allow a complete novice to build a site in just a few hours.

Source: Best Website Builders for Authors — Alessandra Torre Ink