There are a number of different ways to promote e-books. I presume that it's erotica, yes? The first thing you want to do is to get lots of reviews. That's free promotion to everyone who visits that site. If it gets top marks, it will only add to sales. If the review isn't terrific, that's not such a bad thing, because most readers are pretty forgiving if they like the plot. They understand that reviewers are people too and not everybody agrees on likes/dislikes.
Here's a list of romance websites/magazines that will also do most erotic:
1. Blythe Barnhill, All About Romance -
[email protected]
2. JoAnn, Fallen Angel Reviews -
[email protected]
3. Kathy Boswell, The Best Reviews -
[email protected]
4. Simone, The Romance Studio -
[email protected]
5. Kelley Hartsell, LoveRomances -
[email protected]
6. Linda Westburg, RBL Romantica Reviews -
[email protected]
7. Livia, Romance Readers Connection -
[email protected]
8. Editor, Word Weaving Reviews -
[email protected]
9. Tracy, Roundtable Reviews -
[email protected]
10. Editor, Romance Junkies -
[email protected]
11. Terrie Figueroa, Romance Reviews Today -
[email protected]
12. Vickie Denney, Reader to Reader Reviews -
[email protected]
13. Hank Wagner, Hellnotes -
[email protected]
14. Melinda Barrera, Enchanted in Romance -
[email protected]
15. Jacqueline Lichtenberg, Sime-Gen Reviews -
[email protected]
16. David, In Other Worlds -
[email protected]
17. Tara Green, Romance Designs -
[email protected]
18. Karen, Find Out About New Books & Coffeetime Romance -
[email protected]
19. Mireya, Just Erotic Romance Reviews -
[email protected]
You definitely want to send it to JERR, since they're the most respected erotic reviewer.
Next, you'll want to join some Yahoo and Google romance loops and introduce yourself. You don't have to actively post bunches afterward and can get digests for a time, but the initial introduction will do you worlds of good. You can find loops and groups by clicking on the "Groups" link at both the Yahoo and Google sites and typing in "erotica" or "romance", and then choosing the ones to join. Some of them get a lot of mail, but a lot of them really don't. Still you might want to set up a special free e-mail account just for your loops. That way, it doesn't clog up your regular box. Again, except for a bit of time, this is free.
I haven't found that guestbooks work all that well. Frankly, you end up getting more spam than visitors. Lots of authors started with guestbooks but many have given them up because you can't hardly wade through the spam to get to the real posts.
Conferences are another good way to get exposure. If you can't afford to attend, there's nothing saying that your BOOK can't! Again, another reason for loops and groups is to find people who are already going to the conference and might be willing to take a small batch of postcards or bookmarks to place on the goodie table. Last year, I attended one conference, but my BOOK attended eight! LOL!
Bookmarks aren't very expensive to buy from sites or they're easy to make in most word processing programs. Some inexpensive places to get bookmarks are Earthly Charms,
http://www.earthlycharms.com ; Vista Printing,
http://vistaprint.com. I was really happy with the postcards from 4over4.com,
http://www.4over4.com
If you want to put a few more dollars into the marketing push, you might consider a program that Romantic Times has started. For a fee of $100, you can send them bookmarks, postcards or posters that they will include in the package with their magazine to 700 romance-friendly bookstores all over the country. That's a HUGE benefit, because some of the romance-friendly independent stores are starting to carry e-books on the shelves. If even 10% think it's interesting, your sales could skyrocket. You can find this at:
http://www.romantictimes.com then click on "Writers" at the bottom and then on "Ad Rates and Deadlines" and "Special Mailings". I'd like to give you the direct link, but there isn't one. They have a very frustrating site, because everything is in frames, without individual web page addresses.
Those are a few suggestions to start with. Yell if you have any more questions!