Bookbub New Releases for Less - worth it?

[KinkyCat]

I was just picked up for a New Releases for Less Bookbub add in the Fantasy genre (over $500 cost for that spot) for my perma-free first-in-series book (the second book will be on pre-order before the first-book release date), so I was wondering if anyone had any luck doing one of these.  A quick search on Reddit showed not many people were happy with their results so I'm second-guessing myself over my decision to accept.

[alhawke]

The problem is cost. I've done about five of these. The promotion will land you more than any other promotion out there in sales, but $500... ouch. This is not a standard BookBub. You're not gonna make your money back and you're not going to sell 1000s of books. If you do the promo, and looks like you are, make sure your book is in series and that you keep your new release price high, priced at least $2.99. You won't sell as many books but you'll still get back a couple hundred dollars.

For me, it's still worth it in advertising a book launch. They used to say spend around $500 in marketing to launch a book... ah, well, here you are. The promo should land you a new release bestseller tag--not guaranteed but more likely than anything else.

Your other option is Written Word Media's New in Books feature. Pretty comparable when you look at it because it's half the price.

If the book isn't in series for co-sales, I'd hesitate. Good luck!

[LilyBLily]

The Written Word Media Book Launch package presumes the book is being discounted, right? It mentions placements in discount newsletters. For romance, it costs $499.

[KinkyCat]

The problem is cost. I've done about five of these. The promotion will land you more than any other promotion out there in sales, but $500... ouch. This is not a standard BookBub. You're not gonna make your money back and you're not going to sell 1000s of books. If you do the promo, and looks like you are, make sure your book is in series and that you keep your new release price high, priced at least $2.99. You won't sell as many books but you'll still get back a couple hundred dollars.

For me, it's still worth it in advertising a book launch. They used to say spend around $500 in marketing to launch a book... ah, well, here you are. The promo should land you a new release bestseller tag--not guaranteed but more likely than anything else.

Your other option is Written Word Media's New in Books feature. Pretty comparable when you look at it because it's half the price.

If the book isn't in series for co-sales, I'd hesitate. Good luck!

I forgot to mention (and have added it now) that my book is permafree and is the first in a new series.  The second book will be fully-priced at $2.99.

Your comment does make me second-guess my choice even more. . .

[KinkyCat]

The Written Word Media Book Launch package presumes the book is being discounted, right? It mentions placements in discount newsletters. For romance, it costs $499.

It's a perma-free.  Very stupid of me not to mention that before.

[Jeff Tanyard]

Never done one of these before, but I'm curious to see your results.  Please keep us in the loop.  And good luck.   

[KinkyCat]

I contacted Bookbub several hours ago about any estimates they might give regarding the New Release stuff (such as they give on the Featured) but I have yet to hear back from them.  Hopefully they'll reply back soon with a response which I can post here, though my question was specific to my permafree in my specific genre (Fantasy).

[alhawke]

The Written Word Media Book Launch package presumes the book is being discounted, right?

I've run NewinBook promos pricing the book at $2.99 before. Technically, that's discounted as the book every day price is $4.99. $2.99 tends to be a nice sweet spot for launching my books.

Many Bookbub New Release promos have books priced at $2.99 or higher (cause they've figured out the #sales don't land much different).

It's a perma-free.  Very stupid of me not to mention that before.

Your launch is a permafree? I've never launched a book as permafree, so I'm not sure how that would go with BookBub new release for less. Please let us know.

[KinkyCat]

I decided not to play the guinea pig and cancelled the promotion.  Too expensive for such a risk and I'll be spending half that ($260) on a Written Media package promotion with three sites I have good to great success with.  I'll let you guys know how that goes in January.

But here's the email they sent back which made me think they don't have much faith in their own promotion (not providing any click/sale info for that company is also definitely suspicious to me):

Thanks for reaching out! I completely understand wanting to get some more information on the New Releases for Less product to see if it's a good fit for your goals, and I would be more than happy to offer some insight here.
 
We don't currently have any average click or sales data available for each category ? I'm sorry about that! However, it's great to hear that this is something you're interested in. In case it's helpful, we do have a great case study here that has some information about use cases and sales results which I would definitely recommend taking a look at.
 
In terms of sales for this product, one thing I do want to note is that we often think about the value of New Releases for Less features differently, in comparison to some of our other promotional tools. Unlike Featured Deals, whose deeply discounted prices we control, we don't require any discounting or control the prices of the titles featured in New Releases for Less emails.
 
As such, a large part of the value of New Releases for Less is in its exposure ? while our new release features do drive a certain measure of sales (which can vary in comparison to Featured Deals), its value is also rooted in the attention it can help drive for a title early on in its release. We've heard from partners that this level of exposure for a new release is much more valuable than for a backlisted book, like one we'd feature in our daily deals emails, whose performance and price are more rooted in ROI.
 
If you're curious to learn more about these exposure benefits, we have a great article here that goes over some of the benefits of this tool that I would definitely recommend taking a look at.
 
I hope this context is helpful as you think through your promotion strategies. Please let me know if I can be of any more support moving forward, and have a great rest of your day in the meantime!

[alhawke]

I get the concerns. I still use the service because of its effectiveness for a book launch with ranking and visibility, not for its affordability. Their standard promotion still pays for itself, of course.

Good luck with WrittenWord Media!

Another thing to consider, KinkyCat, is running BookBub ads for your new book, especially if you're already savvy with BB ads and now how to use these. Ads are something I don't use enough of with marketing launches.

Final idea is to apply for a standard Bookbub a month or so after the book's release. If it's a smaller category, or you have lots of reviews to bolster, you might be selected for one of these. I did that with my release Mother Savant by running a LGBTQ promotion (much smaller category than sci fi) six weeks after its release a few years ago. And with the book being in a small category, they accepted it with only 4 reviews at the time.