[A. N. Other Author]

I don't have enough of a back-list to really benefit fully from a Bookbub, but I'm interested in whether it's only established books with dozens of reviews that get selected. Reading their criteria, reviews help but do not form the only basis of their decision. I imagine for them to select a new release it would have to be from a writer with a ton of good reviews on quite a few previous books.

 

[Usedtoposthere]

Thing is, BookBub is a discount service. You probably aren't going to be discounting a brand-new release--at least not if you're an author who sells very well, which is the only kind of author I can imagine BB accepting for something like this.

The exception would be if you're offering the book for a couple days upon release at a discounted price to launch it (in a case where you hadn't done a preorder). In that case, I'm not sure if BB would take it ahead of time, sight unseen, no matter how many reviews you had on your other books. No idea. (Because they wouldn't even be able to look inside the book.)

 

[Edward W. Robertson]

They quit doing new releases about two years ago. In recent times, the soonest I've seen them advertise a book is about sixty days after its release, and always with a bunch of reviews etc.

 

[A. N. Other Author]

I'm thinking exactly that. I assume it would have to be a returning customer who they trust and who has sold well with them before. If they say "hey, I sold 5000 copies of my xxxxx novel last November and I'll be discounting book xxxxxx for two weeks when I release it..."

 

[A. N. Other Author]

They quit doing new releases about two years ago. In recent times, the soonest I've seen them advertise a book is about sixty days after its release, and always with a bunch of reviews etc.

Guess that makes sense. I was just curious.

 

[cinisajoy]

I'm thinking exactly that. I assume it would have to be a returning customer who they trust and who has sold well with them before. If they say "hey, I sold 5000 copies of my xxxxx novel last November and I'll be discounting book xxxxxx for two weeks when I release it..."

I know one guy that discounts his new release for One day when it is published. But I don't think he wants a Bookbub on it because it is for his mailing list.

 

[Usedtoposthere]

I know one guy that discounts his new release for One day when it is published. But I don't think he wants a Bookbub on it because it is for his mailing list.

I do it for two days, typically. Either on preorder or on release. I do promote it. The best thing for a book is a jump up into high-visibility territory. There are a LOT of readers out there. If BB offered this, I'd do it in a heartbeat. But, alas...

 

[Usedtoposthere]

Interestingly, my first German book did well on release, for first two weeks. In the 100s-200s in the store. So you know what Amazon did? Yep, they discounted it! For a month. Then it did much, much better--for six weeks (including after it came off the promo). It wasn't 99 cents or anything--it was $2.49, I think, down from $4.99. But I made a lot more money than if it had slid down the rankings at $4.99.

I thought that was interesting. Like I said, I never discount until about 9 months in, except that initial burst. But Amazon knows its onions when it comes to pricing and promotion. (Of course, they also have all the tools to promote the heck out of your price-discounted book. But still.)