One of the most successful companies at using email to market books directly to readers has launched another advertising vehicle, this time for newly released titles
BookBub, founded in 2012, is an email service best known for sending daily alerts about free or discounted full-length ebooks to millions of readers every day. While the emails are free for readers, publishers and authors must pay to have their books featured.
As BookBub has grown over the years, so have their offerings. But it all started with what’s known as the Featured Deal. This is the signature alert email that goes out to BookBub subscribers, letting them know about the deeply discounted ebooks in their selected genres. To be featured, publishers and authors must apply for a space and be selected by the BookBub editorial team, then pay a set rate. (Here you can check current pricing by genre/category.) Because the ads are known to have good return on investment (ROI), they are highly sought after, producing a competitive field of applicants—meaning the acceptance rate can be fairly low for self-published books.
The latest offering from BookBub is a separate Featured New Release email. Unlike the Featured Deal emails, these emails focus on new books released within the past two weeks, discounted or not. As with the Featured Deal, authors and publishers must apply for consideration and be selected by the BookBub team. BookBub accepts applications for books up to six months before the release date, and the book must be available for pre-order with at least one retailer to be considered. Learn more here.
Don’t confuse this new paid opportunity with the free New Release Alerts. Any author can create a BookBub author profile on the site, then benefit from New Release Alerts, which are email alerts sent for free to readers who have chosen to follow their favorite authors on BookBub. Any confirmed new release will result in an email alert—it requires no action from the author. (This raises the question, of course, of how an author can acquire reader-followers on the BookBub site. One way is to share your book recommendations, as described here.)
Less well known are BookBub Ads, which are open to anyone at any time. BookBub Ads have been available since 2016 and consist of dedicated space in the daily emails that BookBub sends. These ads are open to anyone selling any type of book—full price, discount, audio, box sets, etc.—and there is no editorial selection process. Instead, the advertising process is based on an ad auction platform, similar to other online ad systems you’ll find at Facebook or Amazon. You can target your ad based on book author and book category, set a budget and schedule, and upload an ad visual you’ve created.
We asked BookBub if they see any difference in how BookBub promotions work for traditional publishers as opposed to self-published authors. Katie Donelan, head of partner relations, told us they hadn’t noticed any trends, and added, “For all our products, I think success hinges more on the partner’s goals for the promotion. Depending on whether you’re aiming to maximize sales vs. maximize ROI vs. maximize exposure, we’d suggest using different strategies and tools. We often publish case studies on our partners blog to give partners insight into how other people are using BookBub’s platform to accomplish specific goals.”
Bottom line: Placement in a Featured Deal on BookBub remains sought after. Authors are also more frequently pursuing BookBub Ads as part of an overall promotion-stacking effort (mixing advertising, discounts, and promotions across a series of platforms). Anecdotally, we’ve heard that indie authors can have a more difficult time with return on investment when promoting full-priced ebooks, but there are many variables, such as reader engagement (which Donelan mentioned to us). As with any advertising effort, best results require precision targeting and strong creative (i.e., a great ad). Donelan says, “We’d suggest starting with very small test campaigns (~$10) and reaching out to us for advice or help anytime.” You can also peruse specific advice on BookBub Ads here.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
