This has been a week where I truly contemplate where I go from here. Nothing seems to get any traction, and I've spent more time looking at metrics than writing.
Since my last blog, I've had a week of serious doubt. This blog, if lucky, gets 5 reads over time (spiking to 11 max), and I just don't know how to drive more traffic. Maybe switching to my own website was the wrong thing to do? Who knows is the answer to that. I am looking every day to improve my visibility, but I might as well staple the money I spend on the wall because I don't appear to be getting any traction.
This tells me I am obviously doing something wrong, but I don't know what. Algorithms don't seem to like my content, and nobody—even with the cover change—wants to read my book! At least, that's how it feels.
💸 The Cost of Marketing Experiments
I seem to be making continuous mistakes when trying to advertise, which costs me time and money.
The Book Adrenaline Blunder
I paid just over £26 ($30) to advertise my book for 99p/c on a website called Book Adrenaline, which sends emails to over 36,000 readers in the mystery/thriller genre.
My Mistake: I supplied all my links, but I forgot to manually reduce the price on my Amazon account, which is separate from my Draft2Digital account. Amazon wouldn't let me lower the price without being enrolled in Kindle Unlimited, so the price remained at £2.99 on Kindle, not the 99p/c advertised. I sincerely apologize if you tried to buy it for your Kindle from that ad!
How many did I sell? I haven't a clue! It takes a while for these sites to report sales data, and right now, the reports still read zero.
The Booksprout Dilemma
I even renewed my subscription to Booksprout for another month (about £6.50/$9) to try and get more reviews with the new cover (max 25 claims).
- Result: So far, after two weeks, I've had 262 impressions, 5 views of the landing page, and 0 takers. Nobody, even with the new cover, wants to read my book for free.
- The Review Hold: The 5-star review I received from the last round still isn't showing on Amazon. Booksprout confirmed it's "delayed" and that Amazon can be slow (it's been 23 days) or sometimes rejects reviews. I couldn't even contact the reviewer just to say thanks.
I am feeling disheartened, and it makes you wonder if it is worth spending another £600 on a cover for Book 2.
🔍 New Avenues: Free Tools & Discovery
I cannot afford to spend money on sites like BookClub.org or BookSirens with no guarantee of return, so I am focusing on free discovery tools:
I found an excellent blog on Pinterest called "100 Free and Paid Book Promotion Sites" by Kindlepreneur. If you're a new author, I wish I had known about this list back in early 2025! Find their blog here: https://kindlepreneur.com/list-sites-promote-free-amazon-books/
I am testing three sites from that list:
- CreativeBooks.com & BestBookMonkey.com: I submitted my book for promotion today (my promo day on both sites). I will tell you how it went next week!
- BookPraiser.com: I chose the free service to add my book to their library for discovery. It takes time to be added, but my thought is: it's free, why not? It's another site where you can find my new cover.
📦 The New Covers Are LIVE (And They Look Amazing!)
I'm thrilled to report that my publishing hurdle is officially cleared! All my book formats now feature the stunning new cover: the ebook was updated, and the hardback was uploaded and is now available as well. I just hope people like the cover as much as I do and that it helps people at least want to read it.
On Saturday, paperback copies of my book arrived with the new cover, and they look great, honestly. Again, if you want a new cover, get in touch with Peter and Caroline at BespokeBookCovers.com—you won't be disappointed!
🍮 Local Promotion: The Book and Pudding Club
These new copies are all for my local promotion! I am going to deliver them to the Book and Pudding Club at their next meet-up on December 3rd. They meet at a lovely little cafe right here in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, called The Hive. I cannot wait to get the books into their hands and go back in the New Year for the Q&A to see what they all thought. This local initiative is all about getting honest reviews and connecting with readers right here in my home city.
📚 What Am I Reading? (A New Action Hero)
I nearly bought Book 3 in the Troy Stark Thriller series after finishing Books 1 and 2, but then I realized I had another book by Jack Mars already on my TBR list!
I’ve switched to Any Means Necessary from his Luke Stone Thriller series. I've only just started it and am about 10% in. Like the Troy Stark books, it is fast-paced, and I'm eager to see where this new adventure takes the character. I will share my thoughts as I progress through the book next week.
Want to see all my latest reviews and reading progress for series like this? You can find me here:
- Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/dcsalmonbooks
- Fable: https://fable.co/daniel-salmon-267793179821
About Me:
Hello and welcome to Swmming Upstream the home of my blogs. I am D.C. Salmon and I write pulse-pounding adventure thrillers that blend real-life unsolved mysteries with modern-day action.
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