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It's 450$. That a lot of money for a new author. Is it worth the bucks?

Arch wrote: "It's 450$. That a lot of money for a new author. Is it worth the bucks?"

For my personal experience with it, I'd say no. I received a total of three reviews. Your money could be better spent elsewhere.

I agree. I used NetGalley, too, and got only one review. I'd suggest using a book blitz and blog tours.

Arch wrote: "It's 450$. That a lot of money for a new author. Is it worth the bucks?"

Hi Arch, there are other sites you can use that will post your book on Netgalley for a limited time that are far less costly. It's a good way to 'try' them without the huge expense. I did that and received several reviews, so I just signed up with them. Links probably aren't allowed, so message me if you would like a few suggestions:) Merry Christmas!

Hey Dan,

Please, tell me a bit more about book blitz and tour.

Hey Gail,

I sent you a request. Looking forward to chatting with you. :) Merry Christmas!

@Arch � based on my 1 limited experience, I’d have to chime in with the others here and say it’s hard to justify at the full price. If you’re somehow able to take advantage of a discounted rate (as @Gail suggested), it may be worth considering depending on your genre (popular/in demand = better potential). That’s the route I took albeit with limited success.

I've not used NetGalley, but $450 is a lot of money for any new author. I'm also not crazy about blog tours. The last one I participated in had bloggers who didn't read my book and so didn't ever post a review on Amazon or GoodReads. I'm not sure book blogging is really a thing anymore!

I think your time and money would be better spent on getting professional editing and covers; getting involved with Facebook groups in your genre; and working (however slowly) to build up your reviews on Amazon and here. I'm also on Twitter and have a following there focused on my genre, and I do post some ads there (I use BookBrush to create them, but there are other companies that can help with that).

I use Amazon ads. Also, I advertise periodically with Fussy Librarian and a few other book ad sites. I just published my 4th book and I'm thinking about making my 1st one permafree for Kindle. I don't make much on it at 99 cents, and I think it could be a gateway for new readers to discover my other books.

I also recommend making your book free on Kindle from time to time, assuming you're in KDP Select. I view it as a way to get more reviews, which adds to your visibility on Amazon and eventually to more sales.

Some writers I know are on Instagram and like it, but I've never gotten into it. I don't think there's a cost to that.

Eileen wrote: "I've not used NetGalley, but $450 is a lot of money for any new author. I'm also not crazy about blog tours. The last one I participated in had bloggers who didn't read my book and so didn't ever p..."

Great advice Eileen!!

Great indeed, Eileen. I feel like book blogging isn't a thing anymore. Everything seems to revolve around social media. I consider reviews a social feature as well.

I'm trying hard with Instagram and a bit of Twitter, but I need to be really invested to create good relationships. It's really not my thing so I'll probably try some ads and Fiverr services for exposure.

Eileen wrote: "I also recommend making your book free on Kindle from time to time, assuming you're in KDP Select. I view it as a way to get more reviews, which adds to your visibility on Amazon and eventually to more sales."

For many people, this doesn't work at all. There are a lot of readers who download free books on sight because they're free but never read them, because they have a pile of those.

Eileen wrote: "working (however slowly) to build up your reviews on Amazon and here."

Any tips on that matter? I think that's the hardest part, knowing how to start with building an audience.

Tomas wrote: "Any tips on that matter? I think that's the hardest part, knowing how to start with building an audience...."

Probably not what you want to hear Tomas, but I don't think there are any shortcuts for that. What worked best for me was a US BookBub deal. Garnered me over 100 Amazon ratings. Obviously, not easy to get accepted though.

Eldon wrote: "What worked best for me was a US BookBub deal. Garnered me over 100 Amazon ratings. Obviously, not easy to get accepted though."

I would LOVE to know how you were accepted for a Featured Deal. I only tried 1 book so far but rejected. I know if you are accepted, they're great. Any idea if it's #reviews, #followers, book content/genre, etc.? Good for you for succeeding in it!!

Eldon wrote: "Probably not what you want to hear Tomas, but I don't think there are any shortcuts for that."

I know that, and I'm not looking for a "get rich quick" method. Just anything that'd get my foot out of the door, because it's not like people would notice a book that's at #2,5M-th spot in the rankings. But what I mostly see is "you need reviews to have a meaningful chance at decent ad results" but how do you get reviews without having reviews...?

About featured deals... not only hard to be accepted, but aren't they crazy expensive anyway? I've seen a screenshot that showed it may cost around $2000... who the hell has that money to spare these days?

Sure, I could run a normal countdown deal, but I have no clue how to promote that in a way that wouldn't make a hole in my pocket.

EDIT: also, a major method like a featured deal wouldn't be too good an idea until I have the trilogy complete as the people would probably forget my book before the next one is out, hence I'm looking for some small-scale method.

Gail wrote: "I would LOVE to know how you were accepted for a Featured Deal. I only tried 1 book so far but rejected. I know if you are accepted, they're great. Any idea if it's #reviews, #followers, book content/genre, etc.?..."

BookBub will tell you that number of reviews doesn't really matter to them. Each of their selections is curated by an actual person looking at what they need for the day in question. Best advice for landing the deal is to just keep applying. Believe me, I've been turned down FAR more than accepted.

Tomas wrote: "Eldon wrote: "Probably not what you want to hear Tomas, but I don't think there are any shortcuts for that."

I know that, and I'm not looking for a "get rich quick" method. Just anything that'd ge..."

Ads and other newsletter promo sites can help you gain the visibility you seek Tomas :)

I don't want to derail the thread too much; Eldon, would you mind if I messaged you for specifics during the week?

Don't hesitate to share more in this thread, Eldon.

BookBub featured deals are great, but getting them is tough.

I've only gotten one and it was an International Featured Deal. Apparently those are easier than US deals are. It wasn't a fabulous success, but it made me happy. International deals are easier to get than US deals are.

One thing I should say is that you need to expect to have a hole in your pocket. There are a few fortunate, blessed, lucky authors who hit it big with their first novel. They are as rare as hen's teeth. I was not one of them. Every review or rating I have prayed devoutly for.

This whole experience of writing has been a huge learning curve - from formatting, editing, cover design, the intricacies of marketing, websites, etc., etc., etc. Marketing especially.

One woman I met who had written a pretty good children's book told me she expected that Amazon would do the marketing for her. Not going to happen.

Authors need to take the plunge and figure out marketing - BookBub Ads vs. BookBub featured deal; Fussy Librarian; Book Gorilla; Amazon ads; etc., etc., etc. The landscape changes every day.

I would recommend signing up for David Gaughran's emails on book marketing. He's been at this for years longer than anyone.

Tomas wrote: "I don't want to derail the thread too much; Eldon, would you mind if I messaged you for specifics during the week?"

Feel free Tomas :)

Tomas wrote: "Eldon wrote: "Probably not what you want to hear Tomas, but I don't think there are any shortcuts for that."

I know that, and I'm not looking for a "get rich quick" method. Just anything that'd ge..."

BookBub featured deals are pretty expensive, but the price is based on the genre and the number of people asking they send emails to asking for books in that genre.

The international deal that I won was expensive and, in truth, I did not make that cost back 100%, even though I sold more copies of my novel that month than I have in any other month.

One thing I learned in marketing my book is something I had never internalized before: the US market dominates!! People I know who have gotten the US deal have more than made up for the cost of the featured deal.

The thing is, I've heard that once you get a foot in the door with BookBub, the more likely you are to get another opportunity with them. I haven't tried again with them yet since I think you have to wait at least 6 months before applying again and I just recently passed that date.

Eileen wrote: "BookBub featured deals are great, but getting them is tough.

I've only gotten one and it was an International Featured Deal. Apparently those are easier than US deals are. It wasn't a fabulous su..."

Agree - David Gaughran knows his stuff. And he offers a free course.

Eldon wrote: "Agree - David Gaughran knows his stuff. And he offers a free course."

I've read his books. I didn't finish the video course - much of it was in the books as well, and I'm not much into video format because a book takes all my focus while video with just a person reciting something leads to me doing other stuff and eventually filtering the sound out.
But he outright advises to not spend too much money on promoting a series that's not finished yet. At the same time, he advises building an audience during that time, which does seem to be self-contradictory to a degree, because you won't have people just stumble upon your book by chance unless you're in some very specific niche with very low competition.
(SPOILER: Sword-and-Sorcery and Coming-of-age Fantasy aren't low-competition genres. That's why the US featured deal can cost around $2000.)
Hence why I'm looking at some low-spend methods that'd give me a couple of genuine reviews. Because trying to sell a series without reviews won't help that much even if it's complete.

Yes, US is the dominant ebook market. Even I, who is from Europe, buy books from Amazon US because they have way more filtering options (sub-genres) than the localized counterparts. So a lot of e-book shoppers on Amazon US are likely international. I think that's also reason why it's hard to get a decent promotion - as one thing seems to work better, people flock there and it drives the price up to the point it stops working so well. believe Amazon ads are on a rollercoaster in that aspect (in some genres maybe). And many of the smaller deal sites may not have that good results.

Eldon, I'll try to message you later this week - I will be a bit busy now, and we may get more facts and opinions here in the meantime, so it may not be needed as much by that time.

Going back to the NetGalley question, I agree it is expensive, but I did decide to use it for my first novel and will do so for my second, too. It is a good way to get reviews, and I have gotten a good amount of reviews on NetGalley.

The problem is, not enough of those reviews get shared by the reviewers on Amazon and Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, too, where more people can see them, but some do. Some reviewers also share on their social media channels, which is a plus.

You should keep in mind, however, that you can take part in "shares" of NetGalley, where a third party sells you a month for your book. I know Xpresso tours does this. I know there are others, but I don't remember their names - but should be easy to find. These share arrangements cost much less, and still get you the reviews, so it's worth considering.

Hope this helps answer your question.

Kimberly wrote: "Going back to the NetGalley question, I agree it is expensive, but I did decide to use it for my first novel and will do so for my second, too. It is a good way to get reviews, and I have gotten a ..."

Is it to indiscreet to ask how many reviews you got and how beneficial they were if they weren't much shared here or on Amazon?

Arch wrote: "Kimberly wrote: "Going back to the NetGalley question, I agree it is expensive, but I did decide to use it for my first novel and will do so for my second, too. It is a good way to get reviews, and..."

Not at all, Arch. I received 21 reviews on NetGalley (still up, so I hope some more will trickle in since others have the nobvel). 6 also copied the reviews over at Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ and 3 on Amazon. 6-7 did their own site blog posts or Instagram, so overall I found it quite a positive experience - especially as a new author.

4 were negative reviews and the rest quite positive feedback, so I also use a lot of the pull quotes from those NetGalley reviews to promote my novel, citing it as a NetGalley review (they are public, even to non-NetGalley members, so anyone can search them). As a new author, I've found it helpful, although I agree you may want to consider one of the broker services for discounted prices. Hope this helps.

Kimberly wrote: "Arch wrote: "Kimberly wrote: "Going back to the NetGalley question, I agree it is expensive, but I did decide to use it for my first novel and will do so for my second, too. It is a good way to get..."

What was your starting expectations? What were your criteria of success?

My expectation is to get reviews on Amazon and Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, so 9 reviews for 450$ is too expensive for me (not even certain I'd get the same amount). I want to compare my criteria with yours. You seem to value pure feedback and be able to quote reviews for promotion purposes. What else do you value?

As mentioned above, for me it is useful for getting reviews. As a new author, I still need to build up a subscriber list to offer ARCs and to receive reviews in another way. So for me, this was useful - even if I would have preferred more cross-over to GR & Amazon. As I already mentioned, I will use it again since I also want to receive reviews for my second novel. My criteria for success is pretty straight-forward. I need reviews.

But if you do go this route, I'm suggesting you don't so directly, but get a NetGalley slot through a broker-type agency. I'm most familar with Xpresso ($65 for a month/$180 for three months), but there are plenty of others at about the same price. Then you can try it out and see if it works for you, without having to invest too much.

Kimberly wrote: "As mentioned above, for me it is useful for getting reviews. As a new author, I still need to build up a subscriber list to offer ARCs and to receive reviews in another way. So for me, this was use..."

Ok, that answers what I was wondering. Thanks so much. I'll try Xpresso. I never heard of them.

Eileen wrote: "I've not used NetGalley, but $450 is a lot of money for any new author. I'm also not crazy about blog tours. The last one I participated in had bloggers who didn't read my book and so didn't ever p..."

I appreciate your insights. I do notice that I receive invitations to purchase review packages and when I investigate some of these, it seems that there is limited reaction to the reviews posted. I wonder, therefore, just how much it raises the profile. I like your suggestions about professional editing and cover design, and shall look into the "Fussy Librarian."

Anne wrote: "Eileen wrote: "I've not used NetGalley, but $450 is a lot of money for any new author. I'm also not crazy about blog tours. The last one I participated in had bloggers who didn't read my book and s..."

I'd be very careful purchasing review packages Anne. There's a lot of leeway there to offend Amazon's ToS

Eldon wrote: "Anne wrote: "Eileen wrote: "I've not used NetGalley, but $450 is a lot of money for any new author. I'm also not crazy about blog tours. The last one I participated in had bloggers who didn't read ..."

Eldon wrote: "Anne wrote: "Eileen wrote: "I've not used NetGalley, but $450 is a lot of money for any new author. I'm also not crazy about blog tours. The last one I participated in had bloggers who didn't read ..."

Eldon wrote: "Anne wrote: "Eileen wrote: "I've not used NetGalley, but $450 is a lot of money for any new author. I'm also not crazy about blog tours. The last one I participated in had bloggers who didn't read ..."

Sound advice and thanks, Eldon! I am learning slowly that there are rules about what reviews can be published and where, and I appreciate your feedback on this issue. Reader reviews and reviews that are not purchased seem to give a more thorough and honest treatment, I would think.