[BrianKittrell]

Just had a mention in the fantasy email list run by Bookbub. Good service. It's a free book, but the exposure will be priceless, I think.

I've been very busy lately (and thus absent 'round these parts), but I wanted to drop by and mention the goodness. I was around #100 in the free store prior to the promotion, and it went to #80, then to #10. It's been frozen for quite some time, but I doubt I'll go any higher than #10. (And who could complain?)

 

[Lisa Grace]

Fantastic Brian!

 

[Rachel Schurig]

That's great! I saw you in my Bookbub email today and grabbed my copy. Hope you get many resulting sales!

 

[IB]

Brian, Good to see you again! And congrats on the Bookbub mention!

 

[matthewturner]

Congrats, Bookbub does seem to have some kudos about it at the moment. Hopefully you can climb a few places higher

Matthew Turner

 

[trublue]

That's great. I have a free promo ad with them in feb
I'm also waiting to see if they take book 2. I would love
That. Brian, that's awesome!

 

[P.A. Woodburn]

Congratulations, Brian. Thanks for the information. Every little bit helps.

 

[Aya Ling]

Congrats, Brian! With the glut of free books, #10 is an awesome rank 

 

[Becca Mills]

That's great! I saw you in my Bookbub email today and grabbed my copy. Hope you get many resulting sales!

Me too on all the above! Congrats!

 

[KC75]

Nice! I've seen Bookbub work wonders for a lot of indie authors I know. One thing I am wondering is whether they tie you in to not doing freebies for a certain time after your promo.

My strategy for the release of Cruxim was to go in Select for 90-days and try my hardest to shift as many books as possible the first 6 weeks, and then do a Bookbub ad that would drop it to a half-price offer. After that, I'd resume Select and then when/if the ranking dropped again, in the final days of my exclusivity, I'd run the Select freebies. But someone has told me that they tie you in to not making a better offer for three months *after* your Bookbub deal. I couldn't find that in their site information, so I wonder if it is in the contract?

If so, it'll make my Select enrolment a waste of time, or mean I have to wait until six months in if I want to do a Bookbub ad that isn't for a free book. Anyone know? Anyone care to share their strategy?

 

[Saul Tanpepper]

Great results, Brian! BookBub is running mine freebie tomorrow. Don't think I'll reach quite as high as you, but any bump on a perma-free is welcomed!

 

[JRTomlin]

Nice! I've seen Bookbub work wonders for a lot of indie authors I know. One thing I am wondering is whether they tie you in to not doing freebies for a certain time after your promo.

My strategy for the release of Cruxim was to go in Select for 90-days and try my hardest to shift as many books as possible the first 6 weeks, and then do a Bookbub ad that would drop it to a half-price offer. After that, I'd resume Select and then when/if the ranking dropped again, in the final days of my exclusivity, I'd run the Select freebies. But someone has told me that they tie you in to not making a better offer for three months *after* your Bookbub deal. I couldn't find that in their site information, so I wonder if it is in the contract?

If so, it'll make my Select enrolment a waste of time, or mean I have to wait until six months in if I want to do a Bookbub ad that isn't for a free book. Anyone know? Anyone care to share their strategy?

They won't accept an ad if you've done a freebie for that book within the previous 90 days.

I've run ads with them and I made no agreement about AFTER the ad, but they limit authors to advertising with them to once every 30 days and the same book once every 90 days. I don't think they try to control what you do otherwise.

 

[KC75]

Thanks so much,  JR Tomlin.

I'll stick to my plan then of running a Bookbub deal before I utilise free days and then skipping out of Select after one 90-day period. After I do a Bookbub ad, I'm happy to look at other promos for a while. Diversity is my plan for 2013 following an initial Select run. I'm just not seeing the sales that used to piggyback a Select free run as much.

 

[heavycat]

I can't help but wonder if Bookbub is "publisher-lite."   We considered them for one of our upcoming free runs and the approval process seems (I'll be diplomatic here) formidable.  By my reading, of our ten books, only one qualifies on paper and I'm fairly certain it would be rejected at step #2 by the "editorial team" on the grounds it is "not a good fit for our audience."

Then there's the fact the "editorial team" writes a blurb and assembles the "creative" which raises trademark and trade dress issues.

I see this kind of thing as (for now) benevolent influence over writers.  "Just follow these instructions and we'll give you access to the teeming masses of readers at our beck and call."

I'm having trouble understanding how that is different from "send us a very nicely formatted inquiry letter and in about eight months..."

Every time I visit their site all I see is "gatekeeper."

 

[JRTomlin]

I can't help but wonder if Bookbub is "publisher-lite." We considered them for one of our upcoming free runs and the approval process seems (I'll be diplomatic here) formidable. By my reading, of our ten books, only one qualifies on paper and I'm fairly certain it would be rejected at step #2 by the "editorial team" on the grounds it is "not a good fit for our audience."

Then there's the fact the "editorial team" writes a blurb and assembles the "creative" which raises trademark and trade dress issues.

I see this kind of thing as (for now) benevolent influence over writers. "Just follow these instructions and we'll give you access to the teeming masses of readers at our beck and call."

I'm having trouble understanding how that is different from "send us a very nicely formatted inquiry letter and in about eight months..."

Every time I visit their site all I see is "gatekeeper."

It's their business and their customers they're presenting us too. We deal with "gatekeepers" all the time. ENT has requirements. Review blogs have requirements. None of them ever said they wouldn't make us jump through hoops if we want access to what they have.

As for trademark issues, I see no trademark involved except their own name which they have every right to protect.

 

[BrianKittrell]

I'm having trouble understanding how that is different from "send us a very nicely formatted inquiry letter and in about eight months..."

Every time I visit their site all I see is "gatekeeper."

Lots and lots of differences, really. I think it was $60 for a single mailing to several thousand readers, not "sign here and we'll take 80+% of the profits." It's just a book promotion emailing list, not a publisher. If you win big, you win big. If you don't recoup your costs, well, better luck next time. If you can't get approved, see what's holding you back and try to improve on that aspect however you can.

On one hand, I can see how it could be annoying not to get approved for an ad, but on the other, I think labeling services like this as "gatekeeper" is... a bit much. They run a list, and they know what their readers might like. If they receive a request from a book that might not match up to their readership and they offered it anyway, they could face unsubscriptions from their lists. Give the people what they want and all that.

 

[Atunah]

As a reader bookbub is the only free/bargain book email I still get. Besides ereaderiq, but I check those out on the site.

What I like about bookbub as a reader is that its selective and its not just freebies but also sales or just good deals. And I can narrow my email specific by genre. So I only see the books I would normally be interested in. So for authors they have a better chance of being seen by potential readers that actually read the genre they write.

I hadn't even heard of the site until recently. Targeted marketing.

 

[heavycat]

It's their business and their customers they're presenting us too.

Fair enough. It's my $300 and my company's book.

As for trademark issues, I see no trademark involved except their own name which they have every right to protect.

We have a name and trademarks which we have every right to protect. When a third party presumes to assemble "creatives" without supervision or approval by the owner of the trademarks they are utilizing (in our case, Palace in the Sky Productions LLC) then there most certainly are trademark issues. Expensive ones.

But beyond that what I object to is the attitude of superiority that is subtly implied. It's all about "their audience" and "their name" and "their property" with no regard or concern for the property, audience and name of their paying clients. They simply arrogate to themselves a superior position and their clients are expected not only to fall into line (and stay there), but to pay for the privilege and relinquish control of their property in amounts and for durations determined solely by them.

That sounds like a lot like what we decided to become independent from originally. Maybe I'm wrong. I think I'll pass on the whole "sign here to probably be rejected" deal, though.

If you can't get approved, see what's holding you back and try to improve on that aspect however you can.

Then I'm working for Bookbub, right?

They run a list, and they know what their readers might like.

That was the philosophy that supported the traditional publishing industry, wasn't it? If they know what readers like why aren't they writing books?

(For the record, I have nothing against Bookbub, and they haven't rejected us. I'm speaking rhetorically)

 

[IB]

Lots and lots of differences, really. I think it was $60 for a single mailing to several thousand readers, not "sign here and we'll take 80+% of the profits." It's just a book promotion emailing list, not a publisher. If you win big, you win big. If you don't recoup your costs, well, better luck next time. If you can't get approved, see what's holding you back and try to improve on that aspect however you can.

On one hand, I can see how it could be annoying not to get approved for an ad, but on the other, I think labeling services like this as "gatekeeper" is... a bit much. They run a list, and they know what their readers might like. If they receive a request from a book that might not match up to their readership and they offered it anyway, they could face unsubscriptions from their lists. Give the people what they want and all that.

What Brian said.

 

[KC75]

The reason Boobbub works is thanks to the loyalty of the readers on their lists. Those readers buy books, and they buy them at Bookbub's recommendation because they trust Bookbub to weed out titles that aren't up to scratch.

So while authors are paying sometimes big bucks to advertise, the true clients that Bookbub has to keep happy are the readers. Without those lists of readers prepared to put their money on the table for Bookbub's recommendations, they wouldn't have any "paying" clients at all. And judging by the success they're having, I'd say it is a business model that is working for them.