Is doesn’t take long in the indie publishing world to discover the significance of BookBub. Back in the good ole days (like 2015), securing a BookBub Feature Deal could potentially send an author with a multi-book series soaring toward 6 figures. But dreams of a life of luxury were quickly dashed when Amazon changed their elusive algorithm diminishing the impact of a BookBub-driven sales spike.
Even though yachts, personal chefs, and owning your own private island may be out of reach, BookBub still has the power to take an author from hobo status to established professional. In recent months BookBub has added to their repertoire, but they weren’t super creative in naming their partner options which can be confusing. In addition to a Feature Deal, BookBub offers Featured New Release, plus a New Release Alert, and a Preorder Alert.
Click the chart below to get a full-sized PDF of the BookBub comparison.
In addition to a Featured Deal, BookBub now offers a New Release Feature. Books still have to go through a rigorous editorial selection process and you get one chance at it, but if you get it, an email goes to U.S. BookBub subscribers who’ve signed up to receive emails for new releases in a specific category. It’s pricey for most categories, but has great potential.
But don’t confuse a New Release Feature with a New Release Alert. Any author with an eligible book and an author profile can sign up for a New Release Alert. It’s FREE, but the catch is that it only goes to YOUR U.S. followers. So if you have 7 followers, 7 emails go out, but if you have 7,000 followers…it obviously has a greater potential.
And then’s there’s a Preorder Alert. The time frame on Preorder Alerts is somewhat confusing, so be sure to read BookBub’s requirements. The caveat for Preorder Alerts is that you have to have at least 1,000 U.S. BookBub Followers. This email will go to all YOUR followers and it costs 2¢ for each email. That’s a super-ecomical deal!
In addition to these offerings, BookBub also has paid ads. There’s a sea of information out there about what’s working and not working. How about you? Have you tried BookBub ads? What’s working for you?
Something else to consider is that BookBub does a ton of research and A/B tests everything. So simply glancing through your daily BookBub email could glean information about what’s working in your genre.
BookBub also sends out fantastic information in their Partner emails and has a very helpful blog. So even though riding the BookBub train may not get you to your private island, it’s still one the best resources for indie authors to make significant progress.
Check out SkipJack author, Pamela Fagan Hutchins’ recent blog on the subject HERE.