Authors Looking directly for Readers discussion

I have tried twitter and facebook. I have tried setting up a basic website...I've even tried some "in your face announcements" for which I've been scolded.

Outside of paying a fortune for banner ads which might not even work, what strategies have paid off with sales on your end?

This is a good idea for a thread, I hope people contribute to it.

I've had some success with Kindle Countdown promotions but as my book has only been out for a month, I'm still learning the ropes. Also I try to blog a couple of times a month. Joanna Penn at the creativepenn.com has some really good tips.

I ran across some virtual book tours. I'm considering that. Does anyone have experience with those?

Romina wrote: "This is a good idea for a thread, I hope people contribute to it.

I've had some success with Kindle Countdown promotions but as my book has only been out for a month, I'm still learning the ropes..."

That website is actually thecreativepenn.com

Hi all
I keep watching for advertising that converts to sales but have seen very little evidence of it, even from major publishers. It seems that fame and notoriety are what sells but I'm too much of a shrinking violet for that. Some of you won't be like me. Do something crazy if you dare. Get noticed. Get your name and face out there.

Early reviews are key. I love the Goodreads giveaways to get people to add your book to their shelves as well as get reviews. Don't be afraid to giveaway a ton of books to generate word of mouth recommendations.

I try to have a few things going at any given time to keep the ball rolling. Goodreads giveaways, social media posts, free promotions, countdowns, etc.

I did try my first ever blog tour with Xpresso Book Tours. I offered a $25 Amazon gift card giveaway through a rafflecopter with them and it brought a lot of entries. There seemed to be a decent amount of interest from blogs but as far as how many sales it brought in, I'm not really sure. I don't think it was enough to cover the cost of the blog tour. So you'll have to decide if you're after exposure and okay with not breaking even or if you are only willing to pay for a service if your costs will be recouped immediately.

Of all the promotion methods I've used, the absolute most effective has been using free promotion days with Kindle Select (for the first book of my series) along with advertising the sale with ebook marketing sites.

Been there, done that, Jaqueline. Zilch! Also paid three so-called quite expensive promo website con artists with the same result. Twitter and Facebook have worked best, but after trying everything, including AskDave (who does give a damned good service free) with 29 novels I'm about ready to give up. www.mysterieswriter.weebly.com