BookBub Review: What is BookBub and Is It Worth It?

Check out any writing or self-publishing group and you're bound to find somebody talking about BookBub. And in this BookBub review, we're going to explore exactly why that is.

Here's more info on marketing your book because I know you're interested.

In this article, you will learn:

• What is BookBub and how they reach out to readers
• What BookBub can do for authors looking to promote their latest work
• How you can apply for a BookBub promotion and when you should
• Is BookBub actually worth it?

What is BookBub and What Does It Do?

BookBub is a completely free service for readers that allows you to stay up-to-date with all the latest and greatest in your favorite genres. It works by analyzing your profile and selected genres to create a list of potential reads for you. All of which are handily sent straight to your email.

But here's the kicker… BookBub doesn't actually sell any books. They not only find the choicest books for you, but where you can get them for the best deal. They'll give you options from retailers such as Amazon, Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, and others.

They also provide readers with two unique and awesome features.

Real Time Updates from the Authors You Love Most

When setting up your BookBub profile, you have the option to follow particular authors. And whenever your favorite authors release anything book related, you'll be among the first to know. This isn't just new releases either. You'll be notified whenever their books are on promotion, pre-order, or anything else. BookBub offers one of the best ways outside of the author's personal pages to keep you notified.

Get Book Recommendations from People You Trust Most

Ever get stuck trying to figure out your next read? Sometimes, all you need is a good recommendation. And while Aunt Myrtle may make a mean banana pudding, you might want to avoid her dedication to Harlequin Romance novels. That's why BookBub's made it easy for you to get the recommendations of those who may share similar tastes in books. You have the option to see the recommendations of all your friends, family, or book club members (provided they've set up an a BookBub account). You also have the option of seeing what the BookBub editors suggest and even your favorite authors!

If you're an avid reader, I'd highly suggest that you get involved with BookBub.

BookBub Review for Authors: What can BookBub do for me?

After seeing what BookBub can do for readers, this has got to be awesome for the authors behind their recommendations, right?

And that's absolutely true. BookBub offers a second-to-none premium book promotion service for those interested. As a matter of fact, USA Today best-selling author and creator of The Self-Publishing Formula Mark Dawson has this to say about BookBub:

“BookBub is the gold standard when it comes to finding new readers, and they provide some of the best author resources in the business…”

And when he says it's the gold standard, I wholeheartedly agree. Let's review the ways that BookBub goes above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to handling your book promotion–both pre-order and new release.

BookBub can drive your pre-orders higher than ever thought before.

When it comes to pre-orders, BookBub does it best and here's how.

Targeted Pre-order Alerts

Through BookBub's reader database, they can pinpoint those who are most likely to read–and therefore buy and pre-order–your book. They'll send the appropriate alerts out to those with an initial interest. And if you're an author with 1000 or more followers on BookBub, they'll send out a dedicated email to all of your fans that you've got something coming for them.

BookBub's Pre-order Ads

Ensure your ads are seen by the right people through BookBub's self-serve ad program. Here you can target your followers, followers of similar authors, or just fan of the genre. On top of that, BookBub provides you with super fast reporting so you'll be able to see whether or not your ad copy is doing its job well.

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Launching a new release is made even easier with BookBub.

This might be where BookBub most benefits an author. Launching a new book can be terrifying. And with so many new books being released every single week, it's hard to ensure that your book doesn't drown between the waves. But BookBub can help you out with this.

New Release Alerts for Followers

BookBub will send a new release alerts to each one of your followers that way they know you have something for them.

Featured New Release Alerts

These are pretty awesome. BookBub sends out a periodic email highlighting the best new releases of each category to all of its accounts. This allows you to put your book in front of millions of readers easily.

BookBub Ads

This is just like the ad process for pre-orders. Customize your campaigns to ensure you can put your ads right where they need to be.

Run Featured Deals

BookBub claims that 70% of authors sell more copies of their other titles after a featured deal. And after seeing what they can do, I'm apt to believe them. A featured deal is where you can run a discount on a back-listed book and then promote your new release for full price in the discounted book's back matter. So for instance, if you sold Part One at a discount, your readers will see Part Two as a full priced featured deal upon finishing. And if your Part One story was great, Part Two has a much higher chance of selling.

Be Recommended

Another great way to improve your visibility is to ask other BookBub authors and followers to recommend you. This will then reach out to their followers. A great way to start getting recommended is by reaching out on social media.

How Can You Apply for a BookBub Promotion?

So now that we've covered in this BookBub review what it can do for you, how do you actually apply for one?

The first step is to create a BookBub partner account. This is super easy to do. All you need to do is provide your name, email, and a password. And that's it!

You can now start creating ad campaigns or setting new deals such as featured alerts.

BookBub Ad Campaigns

BookBub Ads work very similar to Amazon AMS. (For more info on those, check out my FREE AMS COURSE.)

You set your targeted audience, time for the ads to run, budget, and bid per click. BookBub's ads run on a pay-per-click basis meaning that you won't pay until someone actually clicks on your ad. However, that does not mean that your ad will be consistently visible. You'll need to find the perfect balance between how much you're willing to pay per click and how much is needed to show your ad. Because the higher you bid, the more likely your ad will be shown.

Featured New Release Pricing

For new release features, pricing is dependent on the amount of subscribers BookBub has to a certain genre or category. At the time of writing this, Historical Fiction is the most subscribed to category with over 2,070,000 subs. And this is the most expensive category to purchase a feature. The cost is currently running at $1000.

However, authors in the LGBT category would spend much less. The feature would run $50. Again, this is due to the amount of subscribers in that genre. For a full list of BookBub new feature pricing, check out this table!

So that's it? Just sign up?

BookBub seems pretty easy, right? Well here's the thing.

BookBub is pretty selective. Not just everyone can take advantage of their featured deals. They are extremely competitive and vet their selections very intensely.

During the application process, they provide an “optional” place to put comments as to why your book would be a good fit. This optional place is not really optional. You need to be able to convince BookBub that your book is worth their time. Along with, BookBub has their own requirements that you need to be able to meet including:

• Professionally Designed Covers
• A lot of great Amazon reviews (think 50-100)
• Good editorial reviews

But if you do happen to pass the rigorous inspection criteria, there are so many great testimonials to using BookBub.

BookBub Review: What's the Bottom Line?

So what should you take away from this BookBub review?

I honestly believe that BookBub would be a wonderful asset for any author serious about promoting their book. Just be sure that your book is up to their caliber before submitting.

But don't fret if your book is rejected. You won't be able to reapply for that particular book until after a 30-day period. But that can provide you more time to perfect your book and its presentation.

Cheers!