Here’s my annual analysis of my marketing efforts. This is pretty much all that I do in the way of marketing: I run (or try to run) a promo every month in a different email/newsletter.
The bar graphs are screenshots from my Amazon KDP reports. Each blue bar shows the total number of my books that were ordered that month. Since I have a six-book series, the full-series promo at Written Word Media tends to bring in the most orders. A full-series promo is pricey at $170, but cost-effective for promoting six books at one time.
2025 was a case study in what happens to my sales when I DON’T run a promo. I was so shocked and discombobulated by events in Spring 2025, following the inauguration of cheetolini, I forgot all about scheduling promos. As a result, my March-April-May sales were flat-flat-flat.
To perk things up, I scheduled a short stack in June, running a promo at Robin Reads on June 18, followed by the Fussy Librarian on June 20. July got skipped, but my Full Series Promo at Written Word Media on August 31 continued to produce results into September.
To finish the year on a rising note, I scheduled another double-promo in November: BookRaid and Robin Reads. Then wrapped things up in December with the always-reliable Book Barbarian, a site that specializes in fantasy and science fiction.
Overall, my ebook and print sales were down in 2025. My best results came from audiobook sales. My Featured Audiobook Deal at Chirp was a wild success, by my standards. I don’t know if Chirp (BookBub) was impressed by the final tally of the month-long sale, but it was definitely a boost to my spirits and my income, seeing hundreds of audiobooks sell, and gaining several nice new reviews.
In 2026, I hope to return to a regular monthly promo, adding EReader News Today back into the mix. I missed ENT entirely in ’25, but I’ve submitted Book 1 of my Waterspell fantasy series for a January spot there, in hopes of grabbing a place before their month’s newsletters fill up.
Most of these promos cost $45 to $65. Doable on a budget, even mine.
To compare these results with what I’ve experienced in earlier years, check out these posts:
- Book Promo Sites: My 2024 Results
- Book Promo Sites: Ranked and Updated (2023)
- Book Promotion Sites Ranked (2022)
- Focusing the Plan (2021)
I hate marketing and I’m really bad at it. Running paid promos in newsletters is the easiest and most effective approach I have found. What promo sites do you recommend? What have your experiences been with pay-per-click ads at Amazon, BookBub, and Facebook? I have tried those, but I’ve found them to be way overpriced and ineffective for my books.
