[Anon because VS]

Longtime lurker here with a question.

We (well, okay, my husband since it's his book) finally snagged our first BookBub Featured deal back in January for "Demons & Angels (Walking Between Worlds, Book I)". It was US & International for 99 cents, and we did really well! Made all our $$ back and then some, started seeing some great read-thru numbers...until COVID-19 came along. We're finally get back into the read-thru game now, after a few months of straggling sales.

This brings me to my question. I applied for another Featured Deal for this book and got the "You're In!" email today, only this time it's International only. While the cost is significantly lower ($118 for Supernatural Suspense), I'm not sure if we should confirm without US being part of the deal. A significant amount of the sales from the January deal were from the US, and I'm wondering if there is any way we could hope to recoup the cost if it's an International deal at 99 cents.

I'm also wondering if it was too soon for me to consider another BB deal in the first place - is there such a thing as running a BB deal too soon after another one?

I should add that this book is the first in a trilogy, it's regularly priced at $2.99, and it's NOT in Kindle Unlimited.

Any and all thoughts are appreciated - thanks!

- Dawn

 

[nightwork]

i don't accept international only bubs

internat'l to them is UK, AU, CA, IN

IN won't buy books, AU & CA have weak currencies, you're depending on UK to profit

meanwhile you're getting reduced royalties in your biggest market Amazon US because you can't lower your prices in UK, AU, CA without hitting that 35% royalty button

i would politely refuse the deal, having given a polite refusal a couple years ago hasn't prevented me from getting better BB featured deals that include the US

 

[ShayneRutherford]

AU & CA have weak currencies, you're depending on UK to profit

Also, a lot of Canadians buy books from Kobo, and a lot of the ones that do buy from Amazon buy from the .com store instead of the .ca store.

 

[H.C.]

My first Bookbub was International only (next three were all Full deals!). I made the cost 3 times over at least, if memory serves.

 

[CassieL]

I've had two international-only BB deals in the last six weeks, one for a cozy mystery series, one for a YA fantasy series. The cozy one did not earn out right away. That was my first time ever having that happen. The YA fantasy did on the day of the deal. The difference between the two came down to sellthrough to the rest of the series. I had almost no same-day sellthrough on the cozy whereas for the YA fantasy about every 20th person bought the entire trilogy with books 2 and 3 priced at $4.99.

I think with a trilogy you're more likely to see sellthrough than for a series of related standalones, which is more what my cozy series is.

For the YA fantasy this was my fifth or sixth deal on that book. I used to get a BB about every six months on it. I have two categories it can list in, so I'd switch back and forth between the two but have always earned out pretty much immediately. BB sets limits on how often you can have a deal and I think those limits are based upon when they think you can have a profitable promotion again.

So if it were me, I'd take the deal. I do know of one author who went back and said no and they gave him a full deal, but I don't think that happens often.

 

[ShaneCarrow]

It won't do anywhere near as well as your previous one, but I'd be very surprised if you don't see a return on investment, especially considering it's the first of a trilogy.

 

[Trioxin 245]

Here is another way to think on it. Another author did not want the international part and that is why BB is offering you the scraps. Why did the other author not want the international? (hint because they know its not worth it)

A few here will tell you its worth it, I don't think it is. YMMV.

 

[H.C.]

Here is another way to think on it. Another author did not want the international part and that is why BB is offering you the scraps. Why did the other author not want the international? (hint because they know its not worth it)

A few here will tell you its worth it, I don't think it is. YMMV.

If they will let me buy the international only and run it for one of my books I will gladly take it. PM me if this is somehow possible and you don't want it OP.

 

[Ted Cross]

I had an international only a few years ago and did okay, making back slightly more than I paid, but then I recently had one (July) that didn't get close to making back the cost. I had zero sales in India but also zero sales for B&N. I suspect Bookbub didn't run the B&N part of the ad, though they should have since I did have the sale price set.

 

[H.C.]

I had an international only a few years ago and did okay, making back slightly more than I paid, but then I recently had one (July) that didn't get close to making back the cost. I had zero sales in India but also zero sales for B&N. I suspect Bookbub didn't run the B&N part of the ad, though they should have since I did have the sale price set.

Check that they run all that you've paid for on each deal.

 

[kwest]

I had International Only back in November 2019 that sold somewhere around 150 copies. With sell thru it barely earned out.

 

[Ted Cross]

Check that they run all that you've paid for on each deal.

I didn't know any way to learn this. The ads went out to only international subscribers, if I understand it right. Is there a way to always see what they run if you aren't a subscriber?

 

[CassieL]

Here is another way to think on it. Another author did not want the international part and that is why BB is offering you the scraps. Why did the other author not want the international? (hint because they know its not worth it)

A few here will tell you its worth it, I don't think it is. YMMV.

I'm not aware of any author who has had a US-only deal that didn't first have an international-only deal. I've had US-only deals but only after I'd had international-only. International seem to be the way that BB tests out a book to see if it will perform for their readers. But happy to be proven wrong that there are authors who only apply for and only get US deals.

 

[H.C.]

I didn't know any way to learn this. The ads went out to only international subscribers, if I understand it right. Is there a way to always see what they run if you aren't a subscriber?

You can see on their website what your book is being listed as. You can also subscribe to the newsletter with international and cancel after your run, or ask someone on Kboards to check for you.

 

[kwest]

I'm not aware of any author who has had a US-only deal that didn't first have an international-only deal. I've had US-only deals but only after I'd had international-only. International seem to be the way that BB tests out a book to see if it will perform for their readers. But happy to be proven wrong that there are authors who only apply for and only get US deals.

That's interesting. I had my first Bub back in 2013, and another few sprinkled throughout the years. All of my ads were US and International as far as I recall. It may be different these days, though. My first BookBub feature cost $70 to target sci-fi reader and it yielded 30k free downloads. 2013 was a good year.

 

[nightwork]

I had an international only a few years ago and did okay, making back slightly more than I paid, but then I recently had one (July) that didn't get close to making back the cost. I had zero sales in India but also zero sales for B&N. I suspect Bookbub didn't run the B&N part of the ad, though they should have since I did have the sale price set.

they don't send internat'l deals to Barnes & Noble

 

[Anon because VS]

I had an international only a few years ago and did okay, making back slightly more than I paid, but then I recently had one (July) that didn't get close to making back the cost. I had zero sales in India but also zero sales for B&N. I suspect Bookbub didn't run the B&N part of the ad, though they should have since I did have the sale price set.

I'm pretty sure they only do B&N when it's a US deal.

 

[Anon because VS]

If they will let me buy the international only and run it for one of my books I will gladly take it. PM me if this is somehow possible and you don't want it OP.

After seeing all of the responses here, we decided to hit the CONFIRM button. Sorry! This trilogy does pretty well in Australia, and it could always use some more exposure, so we figured we'd give it a go. The deal is for next Tuesday, so not much time to stack anything. We are going to discount world-wide, so I'm thinking a BB ad campaign is going to be our best bet for grabbing some US sales.

Many thanks to everyone who gave their input, it is very appreciated! You people are awesome!

~ Dawn

 

[CassieL]

That's interesting. I had my first Bub back in 2013, and another few sprinkled throughout the years. All of my ads were US and International as far as I recall. It may be different these days, though. My first BookBub feature cost $70 to target sci-fi reader and it yielded 30k free downloads. 2013 was a good year.

As I recall they didn't always have that international-only option. It's maybe only three or four years old? But most people I've heard of in the last year or two who get offered their first BB on a book the offer was an international-only. I only had my first BB in 2017 and I've had them across four categories (YA, fantasy, cozy, and romance) and for each category (three different titles across three different pen names) I was offered an international-only the first time I was accepted. But, of course, others may have other experiences.

 

[Wayne Stinnett]

AU & CA have weak currencies, you're depending on UK to profit

How does the strength of their currency make a difference if you're pricing your books correctly in those stores? Set your price so that your royalty in the CA and AU stores is the same after conversion.

To the OP, I've had 24 BookBub featured deals in the last six years. Three were US Only and three were International Only. The US Only obviously did very well, as did the 18 US and International deals were also good. Most have been on my first in series, which has been featured seven times and will be featured in the US and International again next Tuesday. They always pay for the ad and then some.

The question of will it work has to address the goal. If the goal is to make money, no, it probably won't. If your goal is to increase readership internationally, yes it will. On the day of the International only deals I had, revenue was up about half the cost of the ad, over the previous ten days' average. Sell through was almost non-existent. By my best, most conservative calculation, I lost about $20 each time.

Will I accept an International Only in the future? Yes. Every time. It's BookBub.