BookBub, arguably the most popular ebook price promotion and giveaway service (with more than 5 million subscribers) has been blogging case studies and Q&As with authors and traditional publishers for nearly two years now. We reviewed the well of content they’ve generated and uncovered the following best practices.
A backlist giveaway, prior to a new release in a series, is the most commonly used and successful strategy. BookBub statistics show this works best and reaches the highest number of new readers when the giveaway lasts more than three days and applies to the first book in the series. Of course, ensuring that word spreads about the free ebook also requires considerable legwork and sometimes expense (BookBub advertising!). This strategy could also be used for backlist standalone titles, but may not have quite the same impact.
However, a backlist giveaway relies on making money off other titles, rather than the title being promoted. If the purpose of the discount is to increase sales or revenue of a specific title, then the discount on that title should run for five days or fewer. That way, when the book returns to full price, it will still be higher on bestseller lists and will maximize full-price sales. Additionally, for authors with only one book, BookBub recommends pricing at $2.99 (rather than $1.99 or $.99) to maximize earnings.
Caveat: Authors trying to hit a bestseller list with a specific title should keep the price low for an entire week and focus on driving sales within that week. This usually works when discounting your most popular book, where there’s already a high number of reviews; sales increase by 15 percent when a discounted book has at least 150 Amazon or Goodreads reviews. It’s not counterintuitive to discount your bestselling book if you’re attempting to hit a bestseller list—since that will drive sales even more.
According to BookBub’s tests, the most effective book description copy will speak directly to the reader (“If you love thrillers, don’t miss this action-packed read!”) and not be shy about mentioning high reviews or ranking (“with nearly 300 five-star Amazon reviews!”). If the author or book is award-winning, that should also be worked into the copy. Finally, most dramatically, book descriptions including blurbs specifically from other authors get 30 percent better click-through than blurbs from industry publications.
It’s worth browsing a few specific Q&As and case studies for more insights:
- “How a Bestselling Author Promotes Books in a Saturated Market”: look for the part about repackaging and relaunching books to achieve greater success
- “How I Sold 130x More Books With BookBub & Countdown Promo”
- “A Literary Agent’s Advice on Book Marketing & Discounting”
- Also, for spreadsheet geeks: BookBub’s Author ROI Calculator
Side note: Read about traditional publisher perspectives on discounting as discussed at Digital Book World earlier this year.
Bottom line: Discounting and giveaways work best as part of a big-picture marketing and promotion plan. According to BookBub data, discounting doesn’t hurt the value of an author’s work when used to boost discoverability and find new readers. BookBub is one of the only companies offering hard data on how to improve discounting and giveaway strategies for short-term and long-term success.
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.
