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Nate’s Big List of Free & Paid Book Promotion Websites

As everyone knows, an ebook is an author’s best marketing tool. You can trade a free ebook for a mailing list signup, or drop the price and rack up a lot of sales.

But in order to do that, you’ll need to get your ebook in front of potential readers, and that is where paid and free ebook sites come in.

The following lists are a compilation of promotion sites, both free and paid. I have not used them all, but I have filtered out the more disreputable companies (Inkitt, for example) as well as any site that couldn’t pass the smell test. I also skipped sites that offered no info on how you could join and promote your work (you would be surprised how often that happened).

Update: The list was updated on 10 December 2018, 29 February 2020, and on 9 May 2020.  Dead sites were removed at that time, and new links were added.

The sites vary from forums where you can mention an ebook deal to services you can use to trade an ebook for emails. Each site has their own requirements, and so to help you out I did a little digging on each site, wrote a quick description, and then sorted the site into the appropriate list(s).

I initially started with just two lists, much like what Kindlepreneur published several years ago, but once I started classifying the sites I found had at least four different categories:

  • sites for building a mailing list
  • sites for building/managing an audience, and
  • free & paid book promotion sites

I have 80 sites listed in this post, but I would love to add more – especially for the first two categories. So if you have a site you’d like me to add to this list, please fill out the form at the end of this post.

Let’s start with the services that can grow your mailing list. This is a short list, but these sites can be incredibly valuable in the long run because they give you a chance not to just give away an ebook but to connect with readers.

Mailing Lists, Ho!

 

Site Cost Erotica allowed? Details
author’s website free  yes An author’s website should be your first choice for giving away a free ebook in exchange for signing up for your mailing list.
Book Funnel $20 to $250 a year yes BookFunnel is a little pricy but on the upside it makes it incredibly easy for a reader to download your ebook.
InstaFreebie (aka Prolific Works) free to $50 a year yes InstaFreebie is a slightly cheaper alternative to BookFunnel. There’s an ongoing debate as to which is better.
StoryOrigin free unknown This site is explicitly designed to help authors grow their mailing list.

Those sites are great if you want to build your mailing list long-term, but what if you want to promote your career and build an audience?

Author Promotion Sites

Site Cost Erotica allowed? Details
eReader Girl $100 unknown "Author of the Week" featured post
Indie Author News unknown unknown Site promises author interviews and banner ads but does not give specifics.
Book Praiser free to $180 unknown Not a deals site so much as an author and book promotion service.

Do you just want to give away an ebook today?

There are hundreds of sites that can help in a wide variety of ways. Some just list your ebook deal on their site, while others have an email newsletter. Some are free, while others charge fees.

Let’s start with the free sites (in no particular order).

Free Book Promotion Sites

Site Cost Erotica allowed? Details
Free Books and More  free yes The ebooks can be either free or paid, but they must have at least 10 reviews, a minimum 3.5 star rating, and be at least 100 pages long.
MobileRead Forums free yes This is less a book promotion site than an online community that keeps a section just for ebook deals
Awesome Gang free or $10 yes AG promotes ebook deals to its 55,200 FB and its 14,500 Twitter followers. It also has a newsletter, and for $10 you can be featured for two days.
Reading Deals free or $29 no Content quality standards, and at least 5 reviews with a 4 star average.
The Book Circle free to $19 no At the free tier, you might get your ebook listed on their deals page and promoted on social media. The paid tiers guarantee promotion.
eBook Stage free to $50 unknown Must have a quality book cover, and a an average review of 0.0 stars or higher.
Ask David free to $10 unknown Newsletter promotion is free, but if you want Tweets that will cost $10.
Free Today on Kindle & Beyond free unknown Facebook group only
Book Hippo free unknown  UK-focused service, free account is required
Free Kindle Books free* unknown No restrictions on price or free book, but placement is only guaranteed with a donation.
Totally Free Stuff free unknown A site with links to lots of free stuff, including ebooks.
Zwoodle Books free no Hate, religious, and sexual books discouraged. 4+ star ratings preferred
I Crave Freebies free (paid?) unknown Free books only. There may be a paid tier but you will have to inquire.
eReaderIQ free to $40  yes  This site scrapes the Kindle Store, and will find your ebook when it goes on sale. You can also pay for extra promotion.
New Free Kindle Books free, $5 unknown Free and discounted ebooks. Placement is a crap shoot. The $5 guarantees the book will be listed.
Deal Seeking Mom free unknown A site with links to lots of free stuff and great deals, including ebooks.
eBook Korner Kafe free yes appears to be FB only
Book Angel free no Free or cheap books. Must be PG13. Appears to be UK-only.
Free Books free yes There’s a section for permafree.
Frugal Tips and Freebies free no free ebooks only
The eReader Cafe free, or $40 no Three review, 4+ star rating  minimum.
Armadillo eBooks free, or $20 unknown No restrictions stated
Indie Book of the Day free unknown eBooks reviews for quality and ratings.
One Hundred Free Books free unknown acceptance not guaranteed
Content Mo free to $30 yes* Initial listings are free. Paid tiers include social media shares, featured blog post.
It’s Write Now free to $20 no Must cost under $1.
Topless Cowboy free yes Focused on cowboy romance.
Lovely Books free to $10 yes Five day lead time required. $10 gets your ebook shared in 60 FB groups.
eBooks Habit free to $15 no Acceptance not guaranteed on free tier
Kindle Book Review free to $20 unknown see above
eReader Girl free to $20 unknown free listings only for free ebooks. Acceptance not guaranteed.
Kindle Book Promos free to $40 unknown No restrictions stated
Book Bongo free to $50 unknown Acceptance not guaranteed on free tier
Discount Book Man free to $15 yes No restrictions stated
Pretty Hot Books free,  $25 yes $25 guarantees social media promotion as well as a featured spot on the site’s  home page for 7 days.
DigitalBookToday.com free to $20  no The ebooks at least 18 reviews and a minimum 4.0 star rating. Will list for up to 4 consecutive days if free that long.
AllAuthor Free to $59  yes AllAuthor provides various marketing tools and promotions to author on their website. Most popular tools provided by allauthor are a magic tool, review gif maker, instant mockup, tweet scheduler and many more. they also conduct cover of the month contest every month which helps the author in their book promotion and. allauthor provides both free and paid membership with memebrship author can list upto 4 books. Pro memebrs can utilize all the marketing tools provided by allauthors.
Indies Today $free to $9  no Free books are promoted for free. Discounted books are promoted for $9. Books are promoted on website, email newsletter blast, and social media.
your site here $??  ?? ???

 

Paid Book Promotion Sites

The following sites don’t offer a free tier.

 

 

Site Cost Erotica allowed? Details
Book Raid up to $10 yes  BR has quality standards ad charges per click to promote your book on its site and newsletter.
Planet eBooks $20 to $60 unknown eBooks will be promoted in the newsletter and on social media.
The Fussy Librarian $9 to $18 yes Ten reviews, 4-star rating. TFL tailors its newsletter to a reader’s preferences, and only recommends books in genres a reader expresses interest in.
BookBub varies yes Selective on what they will accept. Good track record.
eReader News Today $35 to $120 no Free or cheap ebooks accepted. Checks books for quality.
Free Kindle Books and Tips $25 to $60 no 4-star average, and 8 reviews minimum.
Hot Zippy $23 to $337 unknown Free, discounted, and regularly priced ebooks accepted.
Many Books $29 unknown Ten reviews required. eBook must be free or deeply discounted.
Good Kindles $25 to $45 yes No restrictions stated
Kindle Nation Daily $30 to $120 unknown Free or deeply discounted books recommended but not required
Book Goodies $7.50 tp $40 yes Only free ebooks accepted
FreeBooksy $40 to $150 yes Targeted genre mailing lists.  Only free ebooks accepted.
Book Gorilla $50 to $100 yes* eBooks must have 5 reviews  and a 4 stars average.  100 pages plus length required.
Book Lemur $25 to $35 unknown More expensive books will cost more to promote.
Book Barbarian $30 to $50 no SF&F only. Discounted or free books. Minimum 3.5 star rating. Cost varies by cover price.
Red Roses Romance $15 to $30 yes Erotica and Romance only. Discounted or free books. Minimum 3.5 star rating. Cost varies by cover price.
Book Adrenaline $10 to $20 no Thriller only. Discounted or free books. Minimum 3.5 star rating. Cost varies by cover price.
eBook Hounds $10 to $45 yes Cost varies by genre
Whizbuzz Books $49 no explicit cover images n\a
Bargain Booksy $25 and up yes Books priced $3.99 and below, no minimum review requirements,
Red Feather Romance $100 and up no Free and discounted steamy contemporary romance. Must be rated 3.5 or higher.
NewInBooks $299 and up no For new releases in Mystery, Romance, Literary Fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy and Biography
Early Bird Books/Open Road Media $75 to $300 no Reach consumers looking for ebook deals via Early Bird Books, or genre readers via one of other sites: The Lineup for readers of true crime and horror; The Portalist for fans of science fiction and fantasy; Murder & Mayhem for lovers of crime fiction and thrillers; A Love So True covering romance and relationships; and The Archive for readers of history and non-fiction.
BookDeal.io $70 to $250  no Bookdealio is an ebook deals newsletter designed with authors in mind. Along with an ebook deal promotion, authors may add a link to their website or email newsletter sign-up form. The cost to run a 1-day ebook deal promotion is $70, weeklong promotion or full-price book promotion costs $250.
WordLikes $15 to $250  yes Book promotion through LinkedIn recommendations and Email marketing.
BooksShelf Free / Paid  yes Bookshelf is also a place where authors can promote their work for Free. We also have Paid options for extra promotion which start from $5.99. We offer a variety of services as well (design, marketing, etc.).
HumanMade Free to $4.99  no humanmade.net offers a variety of free and paid book promotion services. We offer: Regular Listing (Free), Powered Listing ($4.99), Free Books & Deals (for free and discounted books) ($3.99) in addition to Advertise with Us (open for authors) ($5 – $50). We accept most of fiction and non fiction genres. We don’t require reviews, ratings or proven sales record on Amazon or other vendors as a condition for accepting books. Services are available for published, self published and indie authors. All book formats are accepted.
BookDoggy $18  yes (some) We link free books to Amazon, Kobo, Apple, and Barnes and Noble, or Bookfunnel, Story Origin and Prolific Works. For Amazon submissions, your book must be available on the Amazon US site. If your goal is to gain subscribers submit Bookfunnel, Story Origin, and/or Prolific Works links only. If you’re trying to improve your rankings submit Amazon, Kobo, Apple, and Barnes and Noble links.
Social Reads $29.99 – 39.99  yes My website encourages organic sharing of discounted books by holding a weekly social media sharing contest. Authors benefit by having their books shared organically through social media. Readers benefit from access to a growing section and a chance to win prizes for sharing content.

Special note: As I’m still building content, all book submissions prior to 01 October 2020 will be absolutely free!

Unlimited Readers $9  yes Kindle Unlimited books only. Books are promoted specifically to Kindle Unlimited subscribers. Pricing is $9 for one genre or $15 for two.

Disclaimer

One problem with this type of post is that sites like the ones listed above are changing every day. New ones open every so often while (thanks to Amazon) existing sites sometimes go out of business or just disappear. The links listed above were valid when I published this post, but I can’t guarantee that the sites will still be there when you click on the link.

Please do let me know if any of these sites go dark (or if a new one launches), and I will be sure to update this list.

[contact-form][contact-field label=’Site name' type=’name' required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Website' type=’url' required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Your email' type=’email’/][contact-field label=’Cost' type=’text’/][contact-field label=’Erotica' type=’radio' options=’yes,no’/][contact-field label=’Details' type=’textarea' required=’1’/][/contact-form]

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Comments


Mike Hall January 22, 2018 um 2:55 pm

Minor point: I don’t think you should really call ereaderIQ a book promotion site. It is very much a service to readers telling them when books or authors they have selected have seen price reductions (not necessarily just a sale) or an e-book version of a paper book has been published. From an author’s point of view, if the reader hasn’t already selected that author or one of their books – or if the price reduction does not meet the selected criterion – then the subscriber will hear nothing about them.


Tammi Labrecque January 22, 2018 um 4:29 pm

@Mike Hall

https://www.ereaderiq.com/advertise/


Peter Winkler January 22, 2018 um 5:16 pm

Few if any of these promotional sites will be of use for the ebook version of a traditionally published book, since the author can’t give it away or discount its price.

Nate Hoffelder January 23, 2018 um 8:53 am

Well, these sites are only of use to publishers, anyway. It’s just that some of those publishers are handling their own books, while others are not.


Modi Gliani January 22, 2018 um 6:12 pm

Freebooksy now runs Bargainbooksy for books not free but priced $5.00 or less.


Kaz Augustin January 22, 2018 um 9:14 pm

Thanks Nate, and to the commenters as well. Getting back into the writing after 3 years away (intensive homeschooling). Have bookmarked this page for future reference. 🙂


Mike Hall January 23, 2018 um 2:50 pm

Tammi, yes in theory to adverts on ereaderIQ but in practice the only contact I have with the site is when they tell me about changes for a book/author that I’ve put on to watch (or when I add a new book/author) so the adverts are to all and intents invisible since I’m not going to go there at all often (even assuming that they are not blocked by Adblock Plus.) Still, I hope they are generating ad income so as to keep them going as I believe that they were hit hard by Amazon’s (unjustified in their case) changes to affiliate sales.


Tammi Labrecque January 23, 2018 um 4:07 pm

@Mike – Before telling me I’m wrong, maybe read the information on the page I linked?

All three of the advertising opportunities on that page are deal newsletters which go out daily . They do not require going to the ereaderiq page to see them. People who sign up for the newsletters get email from them, as with Bookbub or Freebooksy. Booksends in particular works fairly well, especially given the price.


David Gaughran January 24, 2018 um 5:52 am

EreaderIQ has a free price-drop service, yes, but they monetize it with a deals newsletter that they have had for at least five or six years.

I’ve been advertising on EreaderIQ for much of that time. They have a number of cool features you can’t get in most other places – such as highlighting KU books, adding the audiobook deals, and advertising up to 5 books in a series simultaneously.


Rose English January 24, 2018 um 5:20 pm

Thanks this is a most useful list for Indie Authors. I am sharing it with my friend cheers 🙂


Robert Manley January 25, 2018 um 7:04 pm

What is the return on these sites? I don’t see an ROI, which is what will determine if the site is useful. If I spend five dollars and only get four sales, that site isn’t useful. Great list, but that’s all it is.


[Download] Self-Publishing: The Carnival of the Indies Issue #89 | Free eBooks PDF February 26, 2018 um 1:58 am

[…] Hoffelder presents Nate’s Big List of Free & Paid Book Promotion Websites posted at The Digital Reader, saying, “You can’t sell an ebook if no one knows it is on sale, […]


Self-Publishing: The Carnival of the Indies Issue #89 – Romaniatv stiritv stiri mobil stiri romaniatv February 26, 2018 um 7:27 pm

[…] Hoffelder presents Nate’s Big List of Free & Paid Book Promotion Websites posted at The Digital Reader, saying, “You can’t sell an ebook if no one knows it is on sale, […]


Pedro Barrento May 30, 2018 um 5:42 am

I’ve written a detailed account of a Kindle Countdown Deal, listing promo services I used, costs incurred and results. There aren’t that many such accounts on the Net and none that I know of that are recent so I think it sort of complements the above article.
https://ideasforarevolutioneng.wordpress.com/2018/05/24/how-to-promote-part-five/


Katherine October 24, 2018 um 11:35 am

I would like to add another one to the list. It’s completely free. Their promotion includes adding the book (cover, description, etc.). If you’re interested go check it out and fill out the form. http://www.kindlerella.com/2018/09/free-book-promotion-on-kindlerella.html You’ll get a confirmation mail once your book is live on their blog. I mean, it’s a free exposure, so why not?


S C Hamill October 29, 2018 um 10:06 am

Try here:

https://bookpromotion.site

https://bookpromotion.website


chrisvolkay September 17, 2019 um 3:30 pm

the KINDLE BOOK REVIEW took 46 dollars of my money and did nothing pure rip off should be off list. i’m going to continue flaming them and filing complaints


9 places to look for readers who write reviews – Build Book Buzz September 25, 2019 um 8:01 am

[…] free e-book offers. (The Digital Reader has done a lot of the work for you; scroll down to “Free Book Promotion Sites.”) In addition, let your email list and social networks know that the book is free so that […]


How to Self-Publish a Book | DIYMarketers February 16, 2020 um 11:12 am

[…] List of Book Promotion Websites […]


Tom Scott June 4, 2020 um 4:58 am

The best book promotion site is actually Amazon, sorry to say. We’ve doubled sales every 45 days since the end of 2019 by contributively commenting on reviews of books related to ours, Stack the Legal Odds in Your Favor, which has been called "the most important book written this century for Americans!" We also simultaneously highly recommend You Have the Right to Remain Innocent with almost every comment. If you value your own life or the lives of loved ones and live in Amerika, these are absolutely crucial reads.


How to Self-Publish a Book That Will Build Your Brand – Title Here February 1, 2021 um 4:57 am

[…] List of Book Promotion Websites […]


Mike May 11, 2021 um 9:28 am

Hi!,

Great list!

I tried to submit this site using the form above, but unfortunately it doesn’t work, so here’s the site!:

https://freebooktips.com

We’d love to help promote your book. Books of almost any genre accepted. We do request a minimum 3 reviews at 4-star average, and that the book have a professional-looking cover.

Thanks!


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