Our Story
Do You Know Our Story?
In 2009 I, (Jeff Bennington), wanted to cross promote my book by highlighting other authors on a Google blog (Blogger). I was new to self publishing like many of you and had no idea what I was doing. So I immersed myself in marketing research and found that it was recommended to feature other authors, because well, what goes around comes around. That’s when I, by chance, started The Kindle Book Review. For almost a year I featured random, well-reviewed mystery/thrillers and other books a few times a week. It was a lot of work, but I loved doing it. I wanted to let readers know that there were a lot of excellent Indie authors out there at a time when “Indies” were fighting the stigma of poor quality. Some of the authors I featured were working hard promoting their books, while some were more concerned about writing and invested very little in book promotion. So when I’d see a book with 55 reviews (for example) and a 4.9-star rating on Amazon, with very few sales, I just had to feature that book. Some of the books I featured were WOOL by Hugh Howey (who eventually won our Annual Kindle Book Awards (Sci-fi division), and other excellent books that were under the radar at that time.
As an author I understood the value of any publicity I could get. And the authors I featured felt the same way. They were very grateful. In fact, one of those early authors suggested we start posting ads in the side bar. Say what? I never even considered that. But on the first day we announced that we were posting $10 ads in the side bar, they sold out in less than 24 hours. I was totally blown away, and humbled by the response. It was clear that authors needed more promotional opportunities.
At that time that I felt a new sense of responsibility to the authors who advertised on our site. I felt like I owed it to them to not only stay on the forefront of new trends, but to create new and creative marketing tools in the ever-changing world of ebook promotion. In the process, I wrote a book called THE INDIE AUTHOR’S GUIDE TO THE UNIVERSE (Now, The Indie Author’s Guide to Publishing Success) and later, HOW TO HIT #1 IN AMAZON’S FREE STORE. Through it all we maintained a strict qualification standard of 10 reviews with a 4.0-star rating (now 3.5). A year later, my wife Amber and her friend Heather joined me, and as a result we’ve created one of the most responsive, affordable, and customer focused book sites on the web.
By 2012 we created new options to meet the needs of authors and readers with NEW releases, and implemented promotions that coincided with Amazon’s KDP Select promotions like: FREE book reviews, Free ebook promotions, 99¢ Library, Today’s Countdown Deal, and our Kindle Book Awards and giveaway opportunities. We also offer features like social media add-ons and Facebook “Boost” options. Today we have dozens of reviewers who have voluntarily reviewed almost 2,000 of your books, we’re celebrating our 5th Annual Kindle Book Awards, and we’ve more than doubled our subscribers and social media base in the last year, reaching a total of over 112,000 subscribers and fans.
To celebrate our accomplishments, we’re offering a FREE copy of The Indie Author’s Guide to Publishing Success to any author interested in expanding their understanding of the ebook publishing life. Admittedly there are a few outdated segments regarding KDP Select because it has changed over the last few years, but much of the content is just as relevant, and dare I say, critical to an author’s success. Some of those important topics are pricing, marketing, the business of writing, book cover design, and many other topics that have helped hundreds of authors over the last few years. To receive your free ebook, just shoot me an email at: jeffbennington @ ymail dot com. I’ll send a PDF within 24-48 hours free of change.
All to say, we couldn’t have reached so many readers, and expanded our reach and promotions without the help of independent and small press authors and readers like you. And because we cherish your support, we’re committed to growing and expanding our promotional reach on your behalf. So thanks for reading and thank you for your continued support.
The Kindle Book Review Team