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Anyone use BookBub?
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Lily
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Jun 11, 2015 07:55AM
A friend recommended but I'm always wary of sites offering books for free. It looks legit, but stil. Anyone have experience with BookBub? Worth it? Legit? Not worth it at all even if some of the books are free?
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I don't use bookbub, but I do use freebooksy.com and I get a lot of cool, free books from them. They just send one email per day, and when you sign up you check the genres you want to receive and you get a list of all the books in the genre free on that day. From what I've heard, bookbub is also legit. I haven't used them, but I know people who have, and I haven't heard anything bad yet.
Hah! My friend recommended Bookbub instead of Freebooksy lol
Lily wrote: "Hah! My friend recommended Bookbub instead of Freebooksy lol"LOL. Did they say why they didn't like Freebooksy? I will say that I think bookbub has a tougher vetting process, whereas with freebooksy anyone can use it. But bookbub is also expensive to list with, so you may miss out on some cool indie books with them.
She just pointed out that Freebooksy tends to lean toward, um, other subgenres.Yay freedom of speech...
Lily wrote: "She just pointed out that Freebooksy tends to lean toward, um, other subgenres.Yay freedom of speech..."
Oh yes, they have THAT too. But you sign up for what you want, so you dont have to be exposed to that genre if you don't want to be lol. They have plenty of other genres as well.
True, I've been looking at both sites, and hey, if the author wants the books to be free for a limited time, who am I to judge?Anyway, like I said, just wary. There are so many scamming sites out here, it's hard to navigate sometimes.
So far I will say freebooksy is legit. I never got any other emails from book sites either, as in freebooksy sharing my email address.
Okay, that sounds good. So it's the authors themselves advertising as free and not the site doing it for them?
I've been receiving Bookbub emails for a while now, and have bought books from the adds. They refer you to the place where the book is on sale (Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, Smashwords, Apple etc.). Authors are paying these places to advertise their books so it's all legit.I like them, but then again, I registered with so many of these sites. I also receive deals from these: Reading Deals, eBooks habit, the fussy librarian, love vampire novels, and Digital book spot. (I don't really use them anymore. You need to go on their website to see the deals as opposed to the others who send you the deals within the message.)
With all of them I got to chose what genres I read so they only send me deals within my choices. You can always change your settings along the way.
I haven't tried freebooksy, but as you can see, I like receiving emails with deals. I just joined Story Teller Alley a few minutes ago. Of course, often the deals are repeated on many of those sites. If an author has a sale somewhere and have money to spend, they'll more likely use more than one.
Oh and I'm pretty sure they don't share the emails as I don't receive more junk mail after joining a new site.
Lily wrote: "Ah, thanks for the info, GG!"My pleasure. I'm glad if it can help.
So it seems these sites are just collecting all the free or discounted books in one place. Have I got that right?
Lily wrote: "So it seems these sites are just collecting all the free or discounted books in one place. Have I got that right?"That's pretty much it Lily, but the authors have to actually pay the site to get their books on the mailing list. So, for us random free book promoters, we wouldn't see our book on the mailing list unless we paid to get on it.
Ohhh, so there's no way this is stolen or anything. Thanks guys, I feel better now :)
I love freebooksy. If anything, I get too many free books from it. I don't have to time to read what I have now! That's why I haven't bothered to sign up for any of the other free promotion book sites.
That's the other thing that worries me, the addiction factor lol
Nope, not stolen, just helping the authors spread their promotions. Many will only accept books with a certain amount of stars. Others will only accept a book if it's on special for a limited time. And yes, they charge for the advertisement. Some like the Fussy Librarian offered it free when they started but then people had to have a certain amount of good reviews on Amazon (I believe it was ten reviews 4* and above, or something like that), which crushes hope for struggling authors.
Though, from the other side of things, I can understand having some kind of standard, like 10 reviews. If a book isn't deserving of 10 4+ reviews, that's not really crushing hope. That's honesty. Yeah, I know, it really sucks, but just the way it is.And actually, as a book consumer, I'm glad there are standards. If these sites accepted very single self-published book no matter what, it wold take me hours to wade through the titles, and I'd probably give up.
Lily wrote: "That's the other thing that worries me, the addiction factor lol"It's there, trust me lol
Lily wrote: "That's the other thing that worries me, the addiction factor lol":P yes, it's addictive. The first emails I received, I was so excited I took many books that makes me wonder today why I even bothered. ;)
Now I'm more selective, sure, but I'm always hoping one of the books on my to-read list will show up there. Saves money. :P
Also helps discover great books.
Oh, wouldn't that be nice?New email: We noticed a title on yout GR to read list is now free!!!
Sigh, if only...
Mod
Justin wrote: "I heard BookBub costs money..but I'm guessing that's their author services."That's it Justin. And it's REALLY expensive too.
Justin wrote: "I heard BookBub costs money..but I'm guessing that's their author services."It cost money for author to have their book on the daily list but not for the subscribers.
Lily wrote: "Oh, wouldn't that be nice?New email: We noticed a title on yout GR to read list is now free!!!
Sigh, if only..."
Yeah I wished Amazon at least would do that with their wish list. (Free or on special).
G.G. wrote: "Lily wrote: "Oh, wouldn't that be nice?New email: We noticed a title on yout GR to read list is now free!!!
Sigh, if only..."
Yeah I wished Amazon at least would do that with their wish list. (..."
You'd think they would. I don't get it.
Lily wrote: "G.G. wrote: "Lily wrote: "Oh, wouldn't that be nice?New email: We noticed a title on yout GR to read list is now free!!!
Sigh, if only..."
Yeah I wished Amazon at least would do that with their..."
Would give a purpose to that wish list.
I'm actually starting a BookBub campaign tomorrow, if you're interested in seeing what it can do for a three-year-old book with a terrible cover, lol. BookBub is totally legit, regardless of how mine goes, and you don't have to post your book for free. Mine will be at $0.99. I have done other sites before, which were free, and some had amazing success, and some, not so much. And when you combine them...
To clarify, I am asking as a reader. If Jason wnts to share his experience as an author, and I hope he does, he'll have to start a new topic :)
As a reader, you have absolutely nothing to lose but a lot to gain. :)
Bookbub are kind of like the 'big name' in ebook promotions where authors are concerned. They charge an arm and a leg, but apparently get great results. Unfortunately, they reject 80% of the books people request to have on there. They rejected mine, which was a shame, but it did save me bout $300 in advertising costs, and mine was one of the cheap genres! However, everyone says a book advertised with them will sell fantastically.
Lynne wrote: "Bookbub are kind of like the 'big name' in ebook promotions where authors are concerned. They charge an arm and a leg, but apparently get great results. Unfortunately, they reject 80% of the books ..."Yeah, but this topic isn't about advertisting.
Oh shit. I just now saw I accidentally put this in Author Chat when I meant to put it in General Chat. Fixed now and sorry for the confusion!
Sorry, I was just talking about my experience with Bookbub. I was trying to indicate that yes, it's legit, because authors do pay for their service.
Lily wrote: "Oh shit. I just now saw I accidentally put this in Author Chat when I meant to put it in General Chat. Fixed now and sorry for the confusion!"I was going to say that Lily lol. It did say "Fringe Authors Chat" Do you use Bookbub? so I could see how people got confused. It's all good now though. You wont need to call out #MistressLily :D
Well, as a reader, I pick up free and discount books from them easily once a week if not more often. You can find some of the biggest names using them
*hanfs head* Really sorry, guys... *toes floor*
Lily wrote: "So it seems these sites are just collecting all the free or discounted books in one place. Have I got that right?"BTW Lily, in case this wasn't fully clear. Freebooksy doesn't actually "have" the books. You get an email with the book listed, and then it has links to Amazon, Nook, etc, wherever the book is listed for free. You then click on the link and go to the site to get the book. So in answer to your question, yes, it does basically just collect them in one place.
Quentin wrote: "Lily wrote: "So it seems these sites are just collecting all the free or discounted books in one place. Have I got that right?"BTW Lily, in case this wasn't fully clear. Freebooksy doesn't actual..."
Ohhh, so more like a collection of links to books that happen to be free right now. More like... a mailing list.
Lily wrote: "Quentin wrote: "Lily wrote: "So it seems these sites are just collecting all the free or discounted books in one place. Have I got that right?"BTW Lily, in case this wasn't fully clear. Freebooks..."
Mailing list, that's exactly what it is.
Lily wrote: "Quentin wrote: "Lily wrote: "So it seems these sites are just collecting all the free or discounted books in one place. Have I got that right?"BTW Lily, in case this wasn't fully clear. Freebooks..."
Exactly lol. When I saw your response about the books possibly being stolen I wondered if anyone had really explained how it worked. I see what your concern was now. You were worried it was a website with a bunch of free books, which possibly could have been stolen. But no, it just lists books free on reputable sites. Like I said, my biggest problem with it is just too many free books !
I get emails from them every day and usually I pick about 4 books a week. Most of them are free but I have paid for a couple of them at the discount price if it's from an author I read regularly. It really doesn't help with my book addiction but I Love it!
