Book promotion sites can be a powerful way to get your book in front of new readers, which is why some authors work with as many free and paid book promotion sites as possible.
Whether you love this style of kindle book advertising or not, you can't deny its effectiveness. But finding sites to work with and researching their requirements can be time consuming. Plus, you don't want to work with sites that aren't worth your time or your money.
That's why I've compiled a list of popular book promotion sites based on my own experience and the recommendations of other authors.
Some are free, while others…not so much. Also, each site has their own set of requirements in order to be accepted. So, to help you out, I did some research on each one and wrote a quick bit about their stipulations and focus.
The list below will allow you to quickly see the most popular book promo sites that offer a free level of service. Make sure to check the notes to the right and ensure your ebook meets the requirements. Many of these I have used, while others were ones I collected based on recommendations from by other authors. So please keep that in mind, and, if you find one to be incredible or terrible, let me know and I'll update as necessary.
| Service | Price | Erotica Allowed? | Requirements and Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inkitt | Free | Yes | Not only will they submit your book to their thousands of readers, they will also offer you a publishing deal worth thousands of dollars if their readers like it. Fiction Only. |
| Awesome Gang | Free - $10 | Yes | Access to one of the best free book email lists. The paid option offers a guaranteed spot on the home page and also various social media promotional boosts as well. |
| Indie Author News | Free - Paid | Not Stated | Fiction and Nonfiction both welcome, possibility to become the 'author of the day' and gain greater levels of exposure |
| Pretty Hot Books | Free - $25 | Yes | $25 guarantees a featured spot on homepage for 7 days and send out to their social media platforms as well. |
| Digital Book Today | Free - $30 | No | 4+ average review score required, plus over 40 reviews for nonfiction and 18 for fiction |
| E Reader Love | Free | Not Stated | Many genres and type of book found on this site. Also offers a specific ability to promote box sets. |
| Discount Book Man | Free - $15 | Yes | For front page listing for 5 days, pay $15. Sends out to both email and social media. |
| Book Bongo | Free - $150 | Not Stated | Paid options include the ability to be promoted to various Facebook groups and to be featured as a banner ad on the site. |
| This Is Writing | Free | No | Gets you an author page and even a guest post allowing you to promote your work. |
| Kindle Book Review | Free - $45 | Not Stated | Free option requires 14 day advance submission and is not guaranteed, Paid option requires 24 hours notice and is guaranteed |
| EBooks Habit | Free - $15 | No | A minimum of 5 reviews |
| Lovely Book Promotions | Free - $10 | Not Stated | Must submit your book at least 5 days in advance. The paid option includes your book being promoted to over 60 Facebook groups. |
| New Free Kindle Books | Free - $25 | Not Stated | Allows for permafree books to be listed. Paid option offers a larger amount of display space on the promo page. |
| Topless Cowboy | Free - $20 | Yes | Specializes in cowboy and western romance, but open to erotica and romance of all kinds. |
| It's Write Now | Free - $20 | Not Stated | Only paid option offers guaranteed listing. |
| Content Mo | Free - $3 | Yes | Free listings limited to 2 per month |
| One Hundred Free Books | Free - $100 | Not Stated | No guaranteed selection |
| Frugal Freebies | Free | Yes | Not just focused on Ebooks, this site has a lot of different giveaways and freebies. |
| Armadillo Ebooks | Free - $25 | Yes | Option to upgrade to a listing for 15 sites for $25. Other requirements are not stated. |
| Book Angel | Free | No | PG 13 content only, so definitely no erotica, but also no severe violence or other violations of their ethics. |
| Free Books | Free | No | This service has a special section for permafree books. If your book is permafree, it can have its own permanent listing page. |
| Korner Konnection | Free | Not Stated | Primarily promoted through a popular Facebook page. |
| Deal Seeking Mom | Free | Not Stated | Offering deals on many different products, not just books. Despite the name, this is the type of site which any bargain hunter might come across. |
| eReaderIQ | Free | Not Stated | Contact to discuss suitability of your book |
| I Crave Freebies | Free | Not Stated | Contact to discuss paid options. No clear information is provided upfront. |
| Mobile Read Forum | Free | Not Stated | Forum only, no form of promotion outside of this. |
| Totally Free Stuff | Free | Not Stated | Just as its name suggests, Totally Free Stuff offers lots of things for no cost, not just ebooks. |
| Bookpraiser | Free | Not Stated | Free account creation required. Offers the ability to create an author page on the site in order to feature more of your work on a longer term basis. |
| Reading Deals | Free - $29 | No | No sexual content, no hate speech. Good quality covers only. 10,000 words minimum. 5 reviews with a 4 star rating. |
| Free Today | Free | Not Stated | Facebook group only, no website running at the moment for this service. |
| eBookStage | Free - $50 | Not Stated | Must have a quality book cover and a 'good' review score (not specified exactly) |
| Ask David | Free - $15 | Yes | You can submit the same book once every two weeks. |
| Authors Den | Free - $75 | No | A basic account is free, but there's a fee to get 'gold' membership and receive a higher level of exposure |
| Book Circle | Free - $20 | No | Free listings aren't guaranteed. Paid listings are guaranteed, with more expensive options bringing a higher level of promotion. |
| AllAuthor | Free - $59 | Yes | The free option offers a basic author page, listing on the Author Directory, and the option to add up to 4 books. No special requirements. |
| Gain Reads | Free - $15 | Yes | Submit up to three book links. Books have to free or discounted to 99 cents. |
| Indies Today | Free - $79 | No | Submit up to three book links. Books have to free or discounted to 99 cents. Submit your promotion at least 24 hours before your deal begins Submit each book title no more than once per calendar month. No specific review/rating requirement, but all books go through an internal review that considers your book’s cover, summary, details, and reviews. |
| Dango Books | Free - $10 | Yes | The discounted price must be below $2.99. Your book must be at least 125 pages. Children’s, non-fiction, and cookbooks do not have to meet this requirement. |
| Best Book Monkey | Free - $10.50 | Yes | Paid option guarantees placement in daily newsletter to readers. All accepted books are listed on the website and shared on social media. Books must be priced below $4.99 and contain a minimum of 15,000 words (unless it's a children's book, graphic novel, or other visually-focused work). |
| RdrStr | Free - £25 | No | All genres fiction and non-fiction. No gratuitous violence or racism. £25 guaranteed front page for six months. |
| clickINQ | Free | Yes | Book Must Be Free or .99 and on Amazon |
Below is a list of the top paid promotion websites. These services either offer to send your book to other promo sites (saving you time and energy) or will offer your book to a premium group of readers. In most cases, you'll get a better quality output through these sites…but at a price.
Also, keep in mind the list of paid sites below includes some that I haven't personally used, and some that I have. I've worked to compile as legitimate of a list of book promotion sites as possible to make it easier for you to see what is out there. If you come across any you love or hate, let me know and I'll keep the list up-to-date.
| Service | Price | Erotica Allowed? | Requirements and Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Just Kindle Books | $18 - $43 | Yes | Has a highly engaged newsletter readership and Facebook following. Promotes mostly romance, erotic romance, mystery/thriller, urban fantasy, & women's fiction. Next-day submissions accepted. Top-notch customer service. |
| Book Goodies | $10 - $399 | Yes | Submit 5 days in advance. One of the few paid services to explicitly allow erotica (no pun intended). Flat rate promotion, no complicated array of options to navigate and decipher. |
| Free Booksy | $30 - $200 | Not Stated | Pricing depends on genre. Horror and travel are at the cheaper end of the spectrum while fantasy and romance are the most expensive. The size of the email list used by the service differs per genre, as each list is targeted to specific genre fans. |
| Steamy Romance Books | $34.99 - $349 | Yes | Specifically for erotica books. On another page, they also offer paid features as well. |
| Book Bub | $113 - $3,984 | Not Stated | Very strict acceptance criteria, excellent average ROI. Countless authors have reported huge success after being featured on Book Bub. The most popular genre on Book Bub, crime, has almost 4 million subscribers on the list. |
| Kindle Nation Daily | $29.99 - $139.98 | Not Stated | Offers myriad packages. You can buy either daily, weekly or monthly packages, and have the option of choosing to promote to specific genre pages or to the whole site in general. Service claims to be able to reach up to 180,000 Kindle owners each day. |
| Digital Book Today | $20 | Not Stated | Submit at least 4 days in advance. Onsite calendar feature allows you to quickly and easily see whether it will be possible to promote your book during your desired time. |
| LitNuts | $25 | Not Stated | Focused on indie books, but will consider self-published books as well. Can be any price point. |
| Author Ad Network | $129 | Yes and No | Promotes your book to 28 different promotion sites and other social media programs. If erotica, they'll only promote to certain sites that allow it. |
| Book Reader Magazine | $20 | Yes | $20 guarantees a featured spot on the homepage for 7 days. Also, allows you to submit an author interview for free. |
| Good Kindles | $25 - $45 | Yes | The costlier packages come with prominent home page promotion, social media and newsletter features. |
| Free Kindle Books and Tips | $25 - $125 | Not Stated | No specific details offered, authors must contact the site and ask for more info about what the service entails |
| Hot Zippy | $23 - $337 | Not Stated | One of the biggest ranges of options and prices available. You can promote your book for up to a month using this service. You can also choose shorter promotional periods, such as one day. |
| Author Marketing Club | Varies | Not Stated | Service offers submission to 28 separate platforms. Many other tools found on the site which may help with your promo efforts, such as a 'bookalyzer'. |
| Free Books Hub | $10 - $20 | Not Stated | Your book will be promoted via email, on the website and through social media. Extra payments can be made in order to be more prominently displayed on both the site and on Facebook. |
| EBook Deal Of The Day | $5-10 | Not Stated | Costs $5-10 per marketplace (e.g Kindle, iTunes etc). Also offers a specific Kindle India promotion option. |
| Snicks List | $1 - $5 | No | One of the two cheapest paid promotion options. You can choose the number of days your promotion will run, with very small price increases for extra days. If you have a permafree book, your promotion will run for a year for only $5. |
| Buck Books | $9 - $29 | Not Stated | Book must be 0.99 or less during promotion, at least 10 reviews with an average score of 3.8 or higher, well written book description, pro cover design (specifically not Fiverr) |
| Awesome Book Promotion | $10 - $25 | Yes | 5 different platforms available. You can choose to spread out your promotion on specific dates on each of the 5 sites or stack them all in one day. |
| Planet Ebooks | $20 - $60 | Not Stated | Books with reviews preferred, but no minimum quantity/score |
| Hidden Gems Books | $10 - $50 | Yes | Thousands of quality subscribers and growing daily, newsletter goes out twice a week and price varies on package. All genres of romance. Also has an ARC program for attracting honest reviews |
| Bargain Booksy | $20 - $195 | Yes | Price paid depends on genre. More popular genres have a bigger list and therefore cost more. |
| Book Basset | $8 per day - $22 per day | No | No explicit content whatsoever allowed. Choice of either being a 'featured author' or being the giveaway of the day. |
| Book Gorilla | $50 - $100 | Yes | Erotica is accepted but must have "literary quality". Books must have 5 reviews with an average of 4 stars and be over 100 pages in length. |
| Book Lemur | $25 - $35 | No | No minimum review amount stated but "the more quality reviews the better". |
| Many Books | $29 - $79 | No, but states will in future | Your book must have at least 10 reviews with a four star or better rating. Your cover must be professional. |
| Riffle Books | $150 | No | Books must be over 150 pages and professionally edited and presented. |
| WhizBuzz Books | $49 | Yes | Erotica is accepted but only if the cover and title are suitable for a general audience. The fee buys promotion both on site and on social for one year. |
| Genre Pulse | $16 - $50 | Yes | No special requirements. Genre Pulse prides themselves on 'not being fussy.' |
| Robin Reads | $40 - $85 | Yes | Books promoted specifically by genre. Erotica is allowed but featured separately. Books must have a good cover and good reviews to be selected. No minimum reviews. |
| Ebook Hounds | $10 - $50 | Yes | Nonfiction books must be over 100 pages. Fiction books must be over 150. At least 10 reviews averaging 3+ stars. |
| The Fussy Librarian | $10 - $57 | Yes | Book must be $5.99 or less on the day of the promotion. |
| Book Barbarian | $35 - $55 | No | Books must be sci fi or fantasy to qualify. Must have at least 10 reviews with an average of 3.5+ stars. |
| Pillow Talk Books | $35 - $250 | Yes | Promotes all romance genres, including erotica and dark romance. Promotions include social, website, and newsletter blast. Daily emails and rush order options. |
| E Reader News Today | $40 - $140 | No | Full length books only. No minimum requirements but reviews are taken into consideration. |
| TCK Publishing | $10 | No | Professionally designed book cover, must have at least 10 reviews on Amazon, average review rating of 4 stars, book must be $0.99 or cheaper at time of promotion |
| BookMelon | $19 - $49 | No | Nonfiction only, High-quality professional book cover, Must have more than 10 ratings (prelaunch book promotions excluded) on your chosen book sales platforms and an average of over 3.5 stars |
| BookDoggy | $18 - $20 | Yes | Your book is included in their newsletter and website. Includes a personalized post on their Facebook page. Will link to a series pages, specific giveaway pages, or a link to a video. |
| Unlimited Readers | $9 - $18 | Not Stated | Must be on Kindle Unlimited for at least the next 30 days. No specific review/rating requirement, but all books go through an editorial consideration that appraises your book’s cover, summary, and reviews. |
| bookdealio | $70 - $250 | Not Stated | Either Free or discounted by at least 50%. Typically, the highest price point in our deals portion of the newsletter is $1.99. Apply about 1 month in advance. |
| kbookpromotions | $140 - $780 | Yes | eBooks only. Max price is $9.99. |
| Books Go Social | $89 - $499 | No Erotica | Amazon and Facebook ad programs with NetGalley and Editorial Reviews |
| Book Tweeters | $15 - $65 | No | Tweet Your Books to 500,000+ Readers for 1-5 days |
| BookRunes | $25 - $40 | No | Must be $2.99 or less. |
| eBookSoda | $29 | Yes | Your book must have at least 8 reviews unless it's a new release and an average of 3.5 stars or more. Priced at $4.99 or less on the day of the listing. |
| Red Feather Romance | $100 - $125 | Yes | Must be rated 3.5 stars or higher, 50+ pages, Must pass editorial review |
| Book Cave | $11 - $39 (Genre) | Not Stated | They generally like to see at least 10-20 reviews, and love to see a lot more. If it is a newer release, reviews on the author’s other books may be taken into consideration, but even then, you should have at least 5 reviews. |
| Book Adrenaline | $15 - $30 | No | Mystery or Thriller genres only. Stand-alone novels or the first book in a series only. Free or discounted by 50% or more. Books should have at least ten reviews with an average star rating of 3.5 or better on the Amazon.com |
| ExciteSteam | $15 - $75 | Yes | All titles must have an average review of 4 stars or higher (new releases will be evaluated on the basis of the author's back list reviews). Free and discounted books are preferred. |
| Love Kissed Book Bargains | $5 - $50 | Yes | Your book must be priced under $2.99, have a professional cover, and a ranking of 3.5 stars or more. |
| NewInBooks | $299 - $499 | Not Stated | All books are subject to editorial review. Your book must be released in the past 120 days to qualify. |
| Romance Reads | $85 - $175 | Yes | Book must be either free or discounted with the highest price being $0.99. High-quality cover required. |
| Free & Discounted Books | $12 - $25 | Not Stated | Submit at least 5 days in advance. Almost every genre imaginable found here. Also the option to list any permafree books you may have. |
| BookRaid | $0.15 - $40 | Yes | High quality covers only, no minimum reviews but reviews taken into account, price is cost per click basis with $40 maximum charge |
| Booksliced | $18 - $43 | Yes | Erotic romance accepted, but only if the cover is tasteful. No other specific requirements listed. |
| Thrillerfix | $49 - $499 | Not Stated | Must have a great cover, blurb, reviews. |
| The eReader Cafe | $25 - $40 | No | A minimum of 3 reviews with a score of 4+ Book must be submitted at least 3 days in advance and be over 100 pages in length |
| Artisan Book Reviews & Promotion | $25 - $390 | No | Please submit your book for approval for our proven book & author promotions & marketing campaigns. |
If you know of a legitimate site that should be featured here, contact me and let me know!
These book promotion sites have collected a very targeted bunch of emails or built up a large social media account and are willing to do some free book promoting on your behalf.
All you have to do is submit your book information for a promotion, and they'll blast it out to their – hopefully – avid readers. With all of those free downloads, the hope is that some of them will leave a review and the spike in downloads will help with your Amazon rankings.
So, why do they do such an amazing free service?
In many cases, these free and paid book promo sites will use their Amazon Associate link to point to your book. That way, if someone clicks on it and downloads it, the site will get a percentage of anything the person ends up buying within 24 hours of clicking the link. Yup…that's how Amazon Associate works.
But don't let that get you all riled up! These book promotion sites are basically free advertisement for you. By getting the clicks and downloads, your book will become more popular by the minute…and all you had to do was fill out a form. It's a win-win situation.
Some even do it to see how well your book performs with their readers and will then turn around and offer you a very profitable publishing deal like Inkitt does — which is kind of brilliant if you think about it.
Discover the how, why, and when of book promo site marketing in this free video.
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Now, if you are a writer with frugal living habits or just someone on a budget, you can take the above list of book promotion sites and hand-jam your information into each one. Grab a bottle of wine and some ice cream because that will take a little bit of time.
But, if you're a fan of outsourcing, another option is to go to Fiverr and pay someone to go through the lists above or follow their own list – although I don’t think they will be as thorough as my list. Typically, I will send my Virtual Assistant this list and have them do it for me, but until you make the VA leap, see if you can find someone on Fiverr to do it for you.
(P.S. None of these are affiliate links)
BKnights on Fiverr: This guy or gal is the bomb diggity of promotion sites sales. While his or her services have changed a bit recently, you still have the option of promoting your free or discounted book on their website and to their email list full of hungry readers.
Book Kitty Facebook Promos on Fiverr: Through this gig, they'll promote your book on 5 popular Facebook pages that the gig runner owns. With 600+ positive reviews, it's a favorite and go-to gig for many.
James H. Mayfield's Promotion Service: This one is my favorite — coming from my good friend Holger (uses a pen name). Honestly, he has the most experience with working with these free sites. I took a peek at his analytics and well…the guy's a pro. Plus, he offers other types of promotions to include Facebook, Reddit, forums and others. If you're looking for a free book promotion, (he does not currently do 99¢ promos), this one is worth checking out.
If you would like to make some extra cash, go ahead and start your own Fiverr gig and email me your link. I'll include you on this post….talk about FREE publicity!
If hiring someone to do this is not your thing, then you could always venture into the programming side of the world. Here are two programs/services that you could try. Neither of these links are affiliate links because I don't use them so I can't say with certainty that they are good or work. But if you try them, let me know your thoughts in the comments below:
Disclaimer: Writing a post about this is pretty hard because every day these sites are are changing, going out of business, or just disappearing. I cannot promise that the information above will be the same when you click on the link. However, in an ever quest to publish amazing content, please, by all means, contact me and let me know if any information has changed. I will be sure to update the site to reflect this. Till then, stay frosty and enjoy!
Alrighty guys, well I hope you enjoyed this list. Now go out and make the most of it, and be sure to download my list of personal favorite book promotion sites below.
Cheers,
After you grab my personal favorite book promo sites below, check out the other fan-favorite posts:
There are over 127 different book promotion sites listed in my article. Some are good and others not exactly worth your time. But there are some that make the cut – both paid and free. Check out my list of favorite book promotion sites and the numbers to show you why I like them.
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I found this article useful and have been slowly working my way through the lists.
Thanks for the help. I’m going to go through all of it. I’m glad you placed the free advertising is never a miss so I’m going for it now. I feel many people know of my work but never anyone taking the time to buy or read or whatever them. So slowly but surely going through the lot thoroughly as all the writing is done so the reward for the readers exist only now. I like the info on Amazon Associate which makes me believe in you and me more. Thanks again! #GoldLiterature.