Sometimes it’s easy to take for granted the technological advances that happen almost daily in the 21st century.
Perhaps at no previous point in human history has there been such a rapid-fire release of new products, services and innovations available to the general public. Some great, some small, it is inevitable for it to be impossible to keep up with all of them. Such is the rapidity with which these advances occur, almost every industry has been revolutionised in a relatively short period of time.
The literary world is no different, and the dual combination of the internet and e-books has resulted in a myriad of companies providing newly needed services and offerings for both readers and authors alike. Not only has this created a previously unthinkable ease of access for readers looking to find new books, but authors also have avenues to self-publish their work and make a real success of it in a way that just was not possible previously.
One such company whose business model is centred around the uptake of the Kindle is eReaderIQ which describes itself as the ‘easier, faster and smarter way to find kindle’.
In this eReaderIQ review, we’ll explore exactly what it is that they do, how this benefits both readers and writers and whether or not their services are worth consideration.
What is eReaderIQ?
eReaderIQ is essentially a promotions and tracking service for Kindle books. They aim to help the reader make faster, easier and smarter decisions when it comes to managing and using their Kindle. Given the sheer quantity of offerings now available for readers, they want to help the reader find the best book for them, allowing them to spend less time shopping around and searching and instead more time reading. It’s worth mentioning that
eReaderIQ is a part of the Amazon affiliate advertising programme which gives them the chance to earn advertising fees for linking products back to Amazon's website. This is standard practice for websites of this nature but it’s worth bearing in mind. Readers can also subscribe to their mailing list and receive a daily email alerting them to the best book deals available based on their interests. Their main service is completely free for readers to use and does not require any account creation unless they wish to join the mailing list or utilise the author tracking service which notifies them when a writer they follow releases new material.
Authors can promote their work on their site in a number of different ways. The first option is to submit a book to be featured in their ‘Daily Deals & Steals’ newsletter which will land in the inbox of over 47,000 eReaderIQ audience inboxes.
The second option is to purchase a ‘Featured Author Post’ promotion. This will be on ‘Book Basset’ which is eReaderIQ’s blog. Each day Book Basset features one author's work with a dedicated post featuring up to five of their books, a tweet containing the same information and will be posted to their Facebook page.
Lastly, eReaderIQ has teamed up with BookSends for a promotional offering. Combined they have an audience of over 150,000 readers and offer a variety of price points and packages depending on the writer's goals.
In short, eReaderIQ acts as the middle man connecting writers with new audiences and increasing their readership, for a fee.
What types of books are promoted on eReaderIQ?
As per their packages page for writers looking to utilise their services, they are genre-agnostic and focus more on the calibre of the work rather than a specific topic or theme. The landing page on their website has a ‘Today’s Picks’ section of which we’ll feature a handful of titles below to give you some insight into the types of books you can expect to find.
- Flip Flops and Murder – H Y Hanna
- The Last Resort – Sal Bianchi
- Fun in the Sun – Maisy Marple
- Amy’s Forever Love – Lyn Cote
- White Cloud – Joy Slaughter
- Heart Healthy Cookbook – Tracy Burke
- Balance Exercises for Seniors – Michael Smith
- When Justice Calls – SJ Zeller
- Only Watching You – Mark West
- Wasp Canyon – Danielle McCrory
As you can see, from exercise manuals and cookbooks to romance and thriller, eReaderIQ really do feature any and every genre.
Can authors submit to eReaderIQ?
In a word, yes. However, there are a number of criteria stated that eReaderIQ looks to fulfil from any writer looking to work with them.
Any writer can submit their work for free to be listed on the website for readers to search and find of their own volition. This of course does not come with any guarantee that it will be featured, found, read or any other desirable outcome that the writer will be looking for.
Authors using paid promotional services, are asked to consider the following when making a submission.
⁃ Well-rated. They are looking for books with at least 5 reviews and a high overall average. Books with fewer reviews may be considered if the author has a history of good ratings
⁃ Attractive. They want the cover art to be attractive and professional
• Free or discounted by at least 50%. The promise they make to their readers is that they will only feature books that have been deeply discounted.
• The best deal available. They will not consider your book if it has been offered for a better price in the last 90 days
• A limited-time offer. While they may consider permanently free titles, they will not feature low-price offers which are always available
• A full-length book. Novellas and short story collections are unlikely to be accepted if they are not free.
• Fresh content for their audience. They will not feature the same author more than once every 30 days, nor will they feature the same book more than once every 90 days.
What are some alternatives to eReaderIQ?
There are of course a number of alternative options available to using eReaderIQ. Naturally the most conventional of these would be to submit your work to a traditional publisher. If accepted, their in-house marketing team would take care of all of the promotion and reaching of audiences and would not charge the author a fee. If anything, writers often receive a stipend or advance from a publisher for the right to publish their work. The downside to this is that the submission process is time-consuming and the volume of competition means the chances of having a submission accepted is not very high.
Any author considering working with eReaderIQ will of course be au fait with all the nuances of self-publishing. Doing this, allows them to retain all the creative control and provides full autonomy over their work. The challenge is not the release of the book which is simple but how to market the book and get it into the hands of as many readers as possible:m. That is where a company like eReaderIQ could well come in, or the writer may feel like they have the tools at their disposal to do this on their own. This could be through social media, a blog or their own paid advertising on other sites.
eReaderIQ Review – Final Verdict
For writers who have self-published and have an ebook offering, there’s no doubt that using eReaderIQ’s services will increase the chances of people finding and reading their work. The price points are all very reasonable too with many options available for less than $50. However, the sheer volume of titles seemingly recommended on their site, combined with the relatively strict criteria around the pricing of the book may put some writers off who feel they have what they need to go it alone. Ultimately it will be up to each writer to consider the best path for them but they could do far worse than take a look at eReaderIQ providing the circumstances are right.
