PromoFinder at promofinderbooks.com
The Promo Stacking Cheat Sheet
A friendly plan from PromoFinder for your next free or 99 cent run.
You're about to put a book on sale, free or 99 cents, and you want more than one site talking about it. Stack them. Give each site its own day while the low price is still up.
This is a planning sheet from one indie author setup to another. It won't promise you downloads or sales. It will help you book a week you can actually run.
When to book
Bigger, general sites often fill up. Give yourself two to four weeks, and longer if you can. Smaller and genre sites can sometimes take a booking closer in, but earlier is kinder to your calendar.
Pick the reader price and the sale dates first. The book should still be free or discounted on the last promo day.
When a site tells you their cutoff, write it in the table. The gap between today and the day you want readers to see the deal is your lead time.
How to order the days
Don't drop every site on the same morning. A reader can only discover the book once.
On the day the price drops, book one bigger, general site. Over the next day or two, add a genre site that fits the book, while the sale is still on. A smaller site can follow after that if you want a longer tail.
Stop when the sale ends. A promo after the price goes back up sends people to the wrong page.
Here are a few sites from PromoFinder so you can see the shape of a week. The prices are the ones on their cards today.
Bigger, general sites
- Best Book Monkey. Takes every genre. Good for free books and for discounts like 99 cents. $8 to $20. Fine with Kindle Unlimited.
- OHFB. Covers Romance, Mystery/Thriller, Fantasy/Sci-Fi, and more. Good for free books and for discounts like 99 cents. $29 to $125.
- Bargain Booksy. Covers Children's, Christian/Inspirational, Nonfiction, and more. Good for discounts like 99 cents. See site for pricing.
- Freebooksy. Covers Romance, Mystery/Thriller, Fantasy/Sci-Fi, and more. Good for free books and for discounts like 99 cents. Check their site for the fee.
Genre sites
- Kids Lit Book Cafe. Children's books. Ask which deals they feature. Check their site for the fee.
- Book Barbarian. Fantasy/Sci-Fi. Good for free books and for discounts like 99 cents. Check their site for the fee.
- Book Adrenaline. Mystery/Thriller. Ask which deals they feature. Check their site for the fee.
- Love Kissed Book Bargains. Romance. Good for discounts like 99 cents. Check their site for the fee.
BookBub is the big general site most authors hope for. It's selective, and it's pricey. Apply early, often two to four weeks ahead, and build the rest of the week as if the answer might be no.
Free or 99 cents
Free and 99 cents are what the reader pays. Your fee is a different number.
For a free run, including a KDP Select free day, pick sites that feature free books. The examples that say they're good for free books are a place to start. Ask if you're unsure.
For 99 cents, pick sites that feature discounts. Some sites do both. Read their page, then book.
If a price on a card says Free, your fee is $0. That's uncommon, and it still doesn't change what the reader pays.
Kindle Unlimited: if a site says they're fine with it, you can relax a little. If they don't mention it, just ask.
Your week
Write one row per promo. Reader price is what shoppers pay. The other column is what you'll pay the site.
| Day | Reader price | Site | What you'll pay | Booked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||
| 2 | ||||
| 3 | ||||
| 4 | ||||
| 5 | ||||
| 6 | ||||
| 7 |
Checklist
- I picked free, 99 cents, or another discount.
- The low price stays up through the last promo day.
- The sites I booked fit that deal, or I asked them.
- Genre sites match my book.
- I checked today's fee on any site that doesn't show one here.
- I saved each confirmation.
- I'll write down my own downloads and sales afterward.
PromoFinder helps you find promo sites. https://promofinderbooks.com. Prices change, so check the site before you pay.