C. M. Skiera's Blog

Did you know there are over 250 websites where an author can promote their book deals and giveaways? To me, that number is daunting. How do you create a strategy to advertise your books with so many options and so little data on actual performance results? I recently read a guest post on Indies Unlimited by Jason B. Ladd of IndieListers , a new website that features a free database of book promotion results. You have to sign up to view the results (and to enter your own data to share, if you wish), but registration is free, so I joined the site. The  IndieListers  database displays actual performance results uploaded by authors on their advertising purchases. Currently, there are over 300 entries posted by authors on their various ad campaigns. What kind of results are posted? You can find the following information (depending on the level of detail the author provides while entering the data): The name of the advertising service(s) used, The fees paid to run the a...

In February, I spent $20 for a Goodreads ad for my epic fantasy ebook  Crimson & Cream.  To place an ad, Goodreads charges you for an initial set amount (a minimum of $10) and each click your ad receives deducts the cost per click (CPC) from your total amount paid. For example, if you spent $10 to start your campaign, and set your CPC to $1, you would get charged $1 for each click, up to ten, when your $10 would be depleted and your ad would stop running. You can set the amount you pay per click, although the instructions indicate the more you pay per click, the higher priority your add receives in placement. If you don't receive any clicks on your ad, Goodreads will refund your money upon request. So far, I've had $11.30 deducted from my $20 payment from a total of 10 clicks on my Crimson & Cream ad. Here's an update of the ad's performance results to date (other than sales, these statistics are provided on your Goodreads Campaign Page): Total views o...

I've posted about Pro Writing Aid (PWA) previously , and compared the online editing tool to other similar products. As you may recall, I found their free editing tools an excellent resource, comparable to some for-pay services. I ultimately purchased their 1-year premium package, and was pleased with the additions offered in the for-pay product. Since then, my  PWA premium subscription  ($35 a year) expired, and in November, 2015, during a Cyber Monday 48-hour special, I signed up for PWA's lifetime membership ($50 at the time, regularly $120). In January, PWA invited me to join their affiliate program, and I did, so to be transparent, if you buy their product through this website, I'll receive a commission on the sale. That being said, I used PWA for years prior to joining their affiliate program and find their editing tool outstanding. In fact, while PWA's premium additions save time and increase the tool's efficiency and flexibility, the core editing functio...

What is LibraryThing ? In its simplest terms, LibraryThing is a website for creating your own professional-quality online book catalog. However, LibraryThing also connects people with similar reading tastes, recommends books to read based on your catalog and ratings, showcases local events, hosts groups and discussion boards, features book giveaways, and much more. Goodreads (and the former Shelfari) is probably the most recognizable service similar to LibraryThing, although they are not carbon copies of each other. I'm going to focus on one specific function on LibraryThing; the LibraryThing Member Giveaway. These giveaways allow members (authors, publishers, and agents) to list books (paper, ebook, or audio book) for free giveaways. The giver pays shipping or provides ebooks via downloads or e-mail. The giveaway winners are randomly chosen by LibraryThing, and the book giver is provided information on how to contact the winners with their free books. A feature of the givea...