Post-Release Report: Phantom Algebra

Here is my post-release report for my latest release, Phantom Algebra, a standalone YA horror set in The Haunting of Pinedale High shared universe. I have another post-release report that might interest fellow authors, https://www.danscifi.com/post/post-release-report.

You can find my other marketing posts below:

• Email List Promo - What I've Experienced

• Social Media Promo - What I've Experienced

• Build your Newsletter list 101

• Influencer Marketing

• Revisited: Email List Promo - What I've Experienced

• Feature Deal Report

As I've stated previously, I'm not a book marketing maven. I'm just another soul lost in the promo wilderness!

Post-Release Report: Phantom Algebra

Overview

Phantom Algebra is my fourth release. To get the word out and make sales, I followed tactics similar to those I used with my previous novels, along with two new gambits. My street team didn't work out. The new tactics worked marvelously.

I do know one thing for sure, overall, Phantom Algebra is receiving the best reviews any of my work has garnered. I'm darn pleased about that.

Newsletter

As with my release of The Wrath of Monsters, I leaned heavily on my newsletter list and skipped the blog tour. I think this worked out okay once again. It's hard to tell exactly how many sales my newsletter generated, but I can say it performs better at generating sales than a blog tour does.

Now, a blog tour can help get the word out about you and your book, but that is an additional cost that might be better spent elsewhere. I have done review blog tours in the past, but again, the one I used was pretty pricey, and while it did generate reviews, it didn't produce enough to justify the cost. I don't know, I might try BookSirens or VoraciousReaders instead for that purpose.

Bottom line, if you don't have a newsletter, start building one! AuthorsXP and Fiction Atlas are two affordable options to get started. Your newsletter will allow you to pursue permission marketing to your subscribers, which generally has a higher conversion rate than other forms of marketing. Essentially, your subscriber give you permission to market to them when they sign up for your newsletter.

ARC Readers/Street Team

The street team was a big disappointment this time around. I've had okay luck with my street in the past, both for The Blood of Faeries and The Wrath of Monsters. I did successfully recruit people for the Phantom Algebra Street Team via social media and my newsletter. However, when I sent out the eARC, I didn't receive a single review. I'm not sure if this was a technical issue on my end or what. I'm not too pushy, so I didn't harass people about whether they received the eARC or why they hadn't posted a review, etc.

I will recruit people for future releases and cross my fingers for better luck.

Influencer Posts

If you're not doing influencer posts, you should be. I've talked about this many times in the past…it's a must do! It does take a little bit of effort, but it shouldn't cost a dime and the right influencer could introduce your work to a large audience.

This time I had three prominent posts:

• John Scalzi's Big Idea Post: I always make sure to have a post on Scalzi's blog to correspond with a release. He has a massive audience of speculative fiction readers. I have had people contact me to say they bought or read my book after reading about it on Scalzi's site.

• Author Magazine: I had a blog post on Author Magazine's site, which is associated with Pacific Northwest Writers. It was also a paying gig, so big win. 

• Uncaged Book Reviews: I also had a nice author interview in Uncaged Book Reviews.

• Ginger Nuts of Horror: I did an author interview on this prominent horror site out of England. The site also offers reviews, so I submitted a request. Much to my surprise and considerable pleasure, not only was my book reviewed, but it also made onto their The Ultimate YA Horror Reading List: The Best Young Adult Horror Books of 2025 alongside books and authors of much greater prominence! I really felt like I was punching above my weight. So this worked out much better than I dared dream.

LibraryThing Giveaway

LibraryThing is similar to Goodreads. The cool thing is you can run a giveaway for either an ebook or a physical copy for free! Free is always good for indie book promotion, especially if it works well. I thought this giveaway worked pretty well, honestly. My book received a couple of stellar reviews and might get more. I will definitely use this service again.

BookBub New Releases for Less

If you've read my marketing post before, you know I think BookBub Featured Deals are the bomb. If you have a release under five bucks, you can apply for a New Release For Less promo. If you can afford the price tag, which varies (I think), definitely apply. This promotion will move books.

Reels

I am not an expert on social media, but I had read that Instagram Reels do better than regular Instagram posts. This time around, I made reels instead of regular posts. This worked out quite well for getting more eyeballs on my content. The reels consistently outperformed my other Instagram content.

Conclusion

If you've read this far, I'm probably preaching to the choir when I say: "marketing" is easy, but marketing effectively is incredibly hard. My hats off to the people who have the knack for it. Unless you're a superhuman TikToker or cracked AmazonAds, the best marketing opportunities remain your newsletter and influencer marketing. I plan to continue searching out influencer opportunities for my two releases in 2026. As always, good luck hawking your books!