AUDIO BOOK PROMOTIONS: WHAT I DID...AND THE RESULTS

BY ADAM COPLAND

I recently had my indie published novel, Midnight in Silverton: American Gothic, turned into an audiobook using ACX. The idea being, of course, that converting your work into an audiobook is part of an overall strategy to promote the book: The more formats you have for potential readers (paperback, eBook, audiobook, puppet show, etc), the better off you are.
 
With ACX, I opted for royalty share with my narrator who did a fantastic job, truly bringing my humble book to a new level. And theoretically, your narrator should be promoting just as much as you are.
 
Once completed it was time to promote it, drawing as much attention to it, as well as my other works and myself as an author in the process.
 
ACX offers several helpful features to help promote. These include free promotion codes for the US and UK which you can hand out to friends, family, and promotion sites (more on that below). You also get a link (with QR code) that links directly to the book on the Audible website. When first time Audible users sign up through the link, you get a “bounty” which you share with your narrator, which is in the neighborhood of $50.
 
So, with my limited time and resources, here is a quick rundown of my activities when I was ready to promote:
 

• Prior to the release of the audiobook, I mentioned its imminent arrival during a podcast interview.
• Once I had the QR code and link in hand, I shared it on all my social media outlets which included my personal Facebook page, my author Facebook page, NIWA Friends & Fans Facebook page, NIWA Members Only Facebook page, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.
• I directly emailed individuals I knew would be interested or had been waiting for the audiobook to be ready.
• I followed up the general announcement with two short videos made from Wavve (https://app.wavve.co) that featured a still image of the book cover or interior art overlayed with a wave form that moved with sound clips from the audiobook. Subtitles accompanied the images, making it possible for people watching them on their phone to see the narration even when their phone was on silent.
• After eager friends and family and other well-wishers had obtained their audiobooks, I made another announcement incentivizing with free promo codes and asking people to contact me directly for the codes.
• By now, a handful of sales had occurred, and I received praise from those whom I knew personally who had listened to it.
• I paid audiobookreviewer.com $35 (and a free promo code) for an expedited review.
• I paid audiobookwormpromotions.com $125 for an advertisement on their site (which resulted in the single largest bump in sales…but still only about 10 downloads).
• 8/8/22: I paid freeaudiobookcodes.com $12 to post half of my remaining free promo codes. Within a week they were all grabbed up (about 30).
• 8/9/22: Two 5-star reviews appeared, one comparing me to James Joyce, another to Edgar Alan Poe. I made graphics of the quotes and shared the heck out of them on social media.
• 8/9/22: I inquired about advertising with audiobookradio.net. I got an almost instant response from their contact form asking for a five-minute audio sample clip. I sent it.
• Reached out to other audiobook promotions sites, but either they did not respond, or they wanted waaaay too much money.
• I read and watched the free material ACX has on their audio community for suggestions to promote.
• 8/31/22: I paid onlinebookclub.org $148 for a review (which normally has a three-month turnaround time).
• I tried to upload one of my Wavve videos to my Amazon product page, as that is an option, but for some reason I couldn’t get it to happen. Contacted Amazon, but they never responded. I’ve actually forgotten about it until recently.
• 9/9/22: London-based audiobookradio.net finally got back to me. They asked, rather than advertising, would I be willing to be interviewed, donating to their nonprofit in lieu of paying an advertising fee? After perusing their website (which is very extensive and reminded me of NPR) I was happy to agree. I paid $150.
• 10/14/22: After several hiccups and technical issues, I had an hour long Zoom interview with audiobookradio.net. Half the time was devoted to discussion about me and my writing craft, and the other half featured sample clips of my audiobook. It’s scheduled to air the following month. About this time, my 17th audiobook sold (yes, that is how few books my efforts so far had gotten me).
• 10/22/22: Review from onlinebookclub.org drops with a 4/4 rating. Their process has this cool feature where the reviewer (a volunteer member of the site) is required to provide you with detailed notes proving that they listened to the story. My reviewer had a lot of positive things to say and latched onto plot-points that most readers had missed. She also provided three grammatical and spelling errors which had escaped everyone. I’ve since gone back and fixed them. I also made a graphic of key quotes from her review and shared on social media. Views of my review on onlinebookclub.org’s site reach 84 when I first visit it.
• 10/28/22: Another audiobook sells, my 18th to date. 
• 10/30/22: 215 views of my review on onlinebookclub.org.
• I get confirmation as to when my audiobookradio interview will air. It will broadcast just like a radio show, so the opportunity to listen to it is limited. I do my best to communicate this to my community with a graphic with all the pertinent air times (three times over a 24-hour period).
• 11/11/22: The interview with audiobookradio.net airs.
• I’m told the interview will air again in another week. I make another graphic to promote, this time with Wavve to include an audio clip of the first interview.
• 11/17/22: Audiobookradio interview airs a second time.
• 11/20/22: Oddly, all sales across all formats drop to near zero.
• 11/30/22: Audible, the host website for my audiobook, starts to promote my book on their own along with other similar genre books. I frequently see it in ads while on Facebook and Instagram.
• 12/3/22: Views of my review on onlinebookclub.org reach 305.
• 1/28/23: Sales across all formats (and all titles, not just Midnight), and KENP read, have been zero for two solid months.

 
You can imagine my frustration. I just had the most successful run of promotions ever and the exact opposite happens. I went from some sales prior to my promotions, to a few more, to none. In six months, I’ve sold 18 audiobooks, received three positive reviews (all of them high ranking), received no bounty payouts, and only 11 promo codes have been used (apparently, all those people at freeaudiobookcodes.com like to collect codes, but not use them).
 
Now, Midnight in Silverton: American Gothic may not be the best story in the whole-wide-world, but it’s by no means terrible. I’m a decent writer, who wrote a decent story that has a quality, eye-grabbing cover that promises the adventures of a modern-day pulp thriller. If nothing else, the few reviews and comments from this process actually back this up.
 
So, I don’t know what the deal is. Naturally, I can always do better promoting. But given what I have done? Zero? Really?
 
I’d like to think my experience is the exception, not the rule, so don’t let it dissuade you from your own promotions. Many of the sites and tools I used are valid and worth using. I especially have high praise for Wavve, which is particularly useful if you’re a podcaster.
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Best of luck to you. You certainly can’t do any worse than me, so there’s that.

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GET YOUR COPY OF      
MIDNIGHT IN SILVERTON 
          (click on the cover)      

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​Pinterest Pins  
(click on images)

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Video Promotions

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Review Bubbles