Advertising my ebook question

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   Eric Redposted 23 months ago

   Hello everyone,
   
   Apologies if this has been asked before, but I wanted to know if it were possible to advertise my own ebook series in an article for hubpages. I am thinking of writing about how I came up with the idea for my fantasy series and the inspiration behind it while including a link to purchase the book/ebook. It won't be overtly promotional but obviously will include that element. Is this okay to do?

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      Kenna McHughposted 23 months agoin reply to this

      I believe you can promote your series in your profile.

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      Mike Grindleposted 23 months agoin reply to this

      The short answer is no.
      
      What you could do is try re-framing this to focus on the reader. For example, you could write an article like '20 ways to find inspiration for your fantasy novel' and lean into your personal experience as an author.
      
      As Kenna mentioned, you can mention your book in your profile. Also, you can add website links. So while you can't promote your book directly, you might get a few click-throughs to your book. You can think of it as indirect content marketing.
      
      Hope that makes sense and helps :-)

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         jansharesposted 23 months agoin reply to this

         Hi Mike and Kenna,
         Thanks for the info. Please direct me to where it's stated that we can put links to our business/book websites in our profile. I mention my book in my profile but thought that any self-promotional links were against TOS.

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            Mike Grindleposted 23 months agoin reply to this

            On your profile page, under the section "links" you can add a link to your personal website, as well as all of your socials.

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               jansharesposted 23 months agoin reply to this

               Oh yeah, where we have all our links. I didn't think about that. My brain is thinking since I would be promoting to sell books, it would look sketchy. My counseling website is for a service. Thanks.

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               jansharesposted 23 months agoin reply to this

               Looking at it again, Mike, I was reminded that the section was meant for social media links to get followers. So, I'm still wondering if a link to sell a product would be against TOS. Maybe I'm overthinking and getting in the weeds with this. I hope Matt will come by, as Kenna said.

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                  Kenna McHughposted 23 months agoin reply to this

                  +1

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                  Mike Grindleposted 23 months agoin reply to this

                  Hi Jan. To be clear, I'm not talking about a link to say, an amazon page, but a link to a personal website, which Hubpages allows writers to link.
                  
                  Being that a site is your own, your are free to put whatever you please on your site, including promotional materials for books, newsletters etc. It's no different than if I linked to my Twitter, and pinned a tweet promoting my book. So long as your not directly linking to what constitutes as an ad or marketplace page, there shouldn't be an issue.
                  
                  So, in a roundabout way, Eric could theoretically drive traffic to his site/social media, and thus, his book by being a great contributor on Hubpages (or any other content site).
                  
                  To be clear, I'm not saying this is effective, at least not here on HubPages. After all, only a handful of people will actually click through to profile pages. But it's a better route than trying to directly advertise a book.

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                     jansharesposted 23 months agoin reply to this

                     Got it. It is my personal website for my book, unlike my personal website for my counseling service (which includes my book). What Eugene said about the link not being a hyperlink in the profile helps, too. Thanks for breaking it down further, Mike. HP should compensate you. Let's see if Matt will weigh in.

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            eugbugposted 23 months agoin reply to this

            I mention my Facebook group in my profile and haven't had an issue. Hyperlinks don't work in profiles, they just display as plain text, presumably to stop us self-promoting, or at least to stop Google treating profiles as spammy.

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               jansharesposted 23 months agoin reply to this

               Thanks, Eugene.

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            Kenna McHughposted 23 months agoin reply to this

            Jan, Hopefully, Matt or one of the staff will guide you on what you can add to your profiles. I've seen Matt post that it's an option.

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               jansharesposted 23 months agoin reply to this

               +1

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   Rupert Taylorposted 23 months ago

   No. HubPages does not allow self promotion of any kind.

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      jansharesposted 23 months agoin reply to this

      That's what I thought, too, Rupert. I need clarification.

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         tsmogposted 23 months agoin reply to this

         I don't know what the trend is today for moderating articles that are self-promotional. However, at the FAQ for overly promotional it states:
         
         My article was moderated for being overly promotional; what does that mean?
         
         Purely promotional offers and articles designed only to promote other sites or businesses are not allowed. In particular, the following actions are likely to get your articles identified as overly promotional:
         
             Including more than 2 links to any one domain
             Keyword stuffed: repeatedly emphasizes words or phrases (often times     with bold or italics)
             Short "teasers" with links to "read more" at another site
             Solely promotes a product, site, program, organization, or service
             Excessive Amazon Capsules
             Including links to a page that contains largely the same content as your article
         
         Please note that promotional links are links that you have any interest in promoting (your blog, your Website, affiliate offers, etc.). Links to well-known Web resources which you don't have any personal interest in (like Wikipedia, news sites, encyclopedias, open directories, etc.) are exempt from this limitation.

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            jansharesposted 23 months agoin reply to this

            Thank you, tsmog.

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   jansharesposted 23 months ago

   Hi Eric,
   Didn't mean to take over your post. I hope some of the concerns I'm bringing up are helpful for you, too.

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      Eric Redposted 23 months agoin reply to this

      Not at all, Janshares. I’m grateful for all input!

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         jansharesposted 23 months agoin reply to this

         

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