A solid S-Tier towards the charts 🥇

(here comes the big boss battle)  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Hey, Want a solid S-Tier towards the charts? The Book Marketing Tier List is back for the Big Bad Boss Fight. We're going to break down the final level, the most stupendous marketing options, the most superlative sales generators, the tactics with the most supernatural powers. Yeah, I'm not totally sure what the "S" stands for either, but I do know these are the very best: · BookBub Featured Deals · Email Newsletters · Facebook Ads We are doing something a little different with S-Tier - in honor of its stellar status. Each of these are big and complex and worthy of attention all on their own. We'll break down each over individual emails, so you don't get another 4,000-word monstrosity like last week's 500-Day Review of the reMarkable 2. This week: BookBub Featured Deals. I'm not going to waste much time explaining what they are – unless you have been living blissfully in the woods for the last several years you should know BookBub. Instead, we will drill down into maximizing your chances of getting a Featured Deal, where it fits in your overall marketing strategy, and, most importantly, how to get the most out of your Featured Deal with promo stacking, multiple series discounts, advertising, and even your email list and new releases. Yes, we're going to talk about how to use a Featured Deal to help send a (full-price) new release into outer space. If you missed any previous episodes of the Book Marketing Tier List, catch up on A-Tier here and work backwards from there. BookBub Featured Deal Getting a BookBub Featured Deal is like dating a bikini model; it's theoretically possible. In reality, the bar seems so high that many people don't even try. This, I respectfully suggest, is a mistake. I don't have one simple trick to guarantee you a BookBub Featured Deal, or a date with a bikini model for that matter. But there are ways you can improve your chances. 1. Genre-appropriate presentation is critical. BookBub has a strong sense of what each category's readers respond to best; it has years of data at this point and a bunch of smart booklovers working for it. This means your blurb, title, sample, and (by far the most important) your cover all need to be on point. BookBub doesn't have the time to read submitted books. While it does curate heavily (only a small proportion of submissions get selected), it can only do this on markers of quality rather than quality itself. BookBub is not some kind of literary charity – it's a business and it will choose books that it knows will appeal to readers. BookBub isn't going to look beyond a subpar cover because it knows that its readers won't either. 2. Reviews help - but don't despair if your review count is still low. (On that note, this is my video on how to get reviews – the one I neglected to link to a few weeks ago. Warning: it's a few years old and contains extreme lockdown beard.) Anyway, books regularly get picked without lots of reviews so consider this a soft requirement - in contrast with most other promo sites, BookBub doesn't actually have a hard requirement here. Reviews help, for sure, but they aren't a dealbreaker. Neither will 20,000 reviews guarantee you get picked, BTW, so don't assume BookBub only caters for big names or bestsellers. 3. Being wide helps hugely. BookBub openly favors books which are not exclusive to Amazon – and it does so unapologetically; it has a large audience of non-Amazon readers. Their house, their rules, plus the reasoning holds up - they certainly do have a lot of Apple and Barnes & Noble readers especially. KU authors shouldn't switch off at this point because they can hugely benefit from free Featured Deals in particular – especially on a Book 1; the odds are against you, however. 4. You can help your chances by being persistent as well as offering as much flexibility as possible. Sometimes you're wedded to certain dates around launches, email swaps, Kindle Free Promotions, KU renewal dates, or whatever. But if you can be flexible, you increase your chances. Applying as often as permitted is a smart approach which can pay dividends (both of those pieces of advice come direct from BookBub BTW). It doesn't take so long to apply, rejections aren't personal - often a matter of timing more than anything - so don't necessarily take a refusal as an indicator of future success. 5. Work that comment box. Most people don't do this so here's when you get an edge: make sure to offer even further flexibility in the comment box at the bottom of the submission page. If your book genuinely could appeal to readers in more categories than the one you applied for, BookBub want to know this! (Again, this is direct from BookBub). You should also mention anything which can help them say yes - awards, accolades, juicy review quote, something nice someone said about you or your book; it can all help. You really need to pimp your book because this is the reality. A large number of indies are essentially competing for the leftovers these days. Large publishers get to submit for promotions 60 days in advance. Indie authors can only apply 30 days out; you don't need to explicitly favor the bigs if you let them pick the store clean before it opens. Again, not whining about this per se. But it's good to be aware of the realities here. Yes, it's super frustrating to sell millions of books and constantly get rejected because your book is in KU, but if it's any consolation I know wide authors in the same boat. The ways of BookBub are often mysterious, and frustrating. However, there's nothing like it. All the other promo sites in the world, combined, can't come near its power. A BookBub Featured Deal can throw a book into the Top 50 of the paid chats on its own and can push a freebie all the way to #1. It's a uniquely powerful marketing option – the Thanos of promo sites. As such, wide authors should probably make BookBub Featured Deals central to their strategy. If you can get 'em, build your launches and backlist promos around 'em. And if you can't bag a Featured Deal, start explicitly working towards that. Subscribe to the emails. Look at what they pick. Check your presentation. Especially take a look at your covers vs. the books they feature (and what is charting on Amazon). And be dogged. Don't let rejection get you down; be grateful your precious carapace of resilience just got an inch thicker. For KU authors, obviously you must be realistic here. You're going to find it harder, no point sugarcoating it. So really run through the list above and try to shine on every point. Be twice as persistent. Wear them down. Maybe they'll toss you the bone of an international-only deal. It doesn't have the same power but it's a fraction of the cost. Plus, it's a great excuse to focus on international pastures for once; why should Americans have all the fun? If you do well, maybe that will tip your next application over the edge, into the Land of Acceptance, where everyone lives happy and free because they are rich. Aside from the difficulty of being selected - which can be extreme for beginners in KU - the only real drawback is price. The cost is considerable as you can see on BookBub's pricing page. But if you also scoot across there to the average sales/downloads on the right, you can see the typical range which Featured Deals generate. The short version is that almost all authors make back the cost very quickly. Stories of books making a loss on this promo are few and far between (but does happen, occasionally). Much more frequent are reports of writers making back their investment by several factors - and my own experience aligns with that, as well as various friends and clients over the years, so it has been consistently profitable over time, even if BookBub does seem to shave down that ROI every so often. The benefits go far beyond immediate sales, though. A well-crafted campaign, superpowered by a BookBub Featured Deal, can keep a book or even an entire series at an elevated rank for weeks. The cruel tease for KU authors is that combining a Kindle Free Promotion and a BookBub Featured Deal can lead to fireworks in terms of sustained page reads for weeks afterwards, followed by many of those readers working through the rest of your series. It's worth filling out a form every so often, that's for sure. But here are my tips to truly get the most out of you BookBub Featured Deal because I don't want you just to scrape into profitability. I want you to blow the roof off this gin joint: (a) build a campaign One day of incredible sales is great and all but have you ever considered having several in a row? One of the few negatives of a BookBub Featured Deal is the dreaded "witch's hat" – i.e. where a spike in sales is extremely short-lived and the subsequent collapse is like the air fast escaping from your money balloon. You can ameliorate these effects by knowing how the algorithms work. Short version: try and generate several successive days of strong sales afterwards. You probably won't be able to match the spike from the BookBub Featured Deal until you have the money and experience to really scale your Facebook Ads, but there is huge value in doing it anyway - it helps your book to "stick" at a higher level and find a new, more lucrative baseline. (b) sell the farm Consider running multiple deals simultaneously to generate immediate sellthrough on your series. This can be especially powerful when combined with other promos - like Freebooky's Series Promos - and advertising. Amazon Ads can be tricky in these circumstances as the change in royalties on a discounted book can mess with your carefully calibrated ACoS. And the cost of advertising a freebie could ruin you, especially if you are aggressive with bids and budgets as part of your tactics. Be careful in both scenarios - I know many Amazon Ads veterans who pause ads in these circumstances, rather than trying to get them to row in behind the campaign. Facebook and BookBub Ads are a much more natural fit here. Facebook is clearly great for pushing discounts and freebies especially, as we will cover very soon. And then the synergies with BookBub Ads are clear, and discounts are what the audience was built around. Not only will a BookBub Featured Deal expand your pool of readers to target, I also find it can be very effective to swoop in the day after a deal. E.g. pushing a 99c Book 2 in the days following a BookBub Featured Deal on a free Book 1. So not just running multiple series deals, but promo stacking too, and then adding fuel to the fire with advertising. (This is how you start building a proper campaign BTW.) (c) launch into space If you really want to send your series into the stratosphere, consider combing all the above with a new release. You probably don't want to launch a book at 99c or free - unless you have a very clearly defined strategy, or else you are just throwing money away for questionable upside. (Not knocking anyone who has done this... I have done this.) But if you are launching a Book 3, for example, there's no reason why you couldn't shoot for a 99c or free deal on Book 1, discount Book 2 a little as well, and then push all three books together with things like series ads and social media also. Now you have your newsletter, BookBub, promo stacking, multiple series deals, advertising, and Amazon's algorithms all pulling in the same direction. And that can be incredible lucrative when you pull it off. "But that's not enough," you cry wantonly. "I need my own BookBub. I want that power at my fingertips whenever I like. I don't want some stupid beauty contest, I want to choose myself, dammit!" The room gasps at the sheer audacity of it all, but the ringmaster merely smiles. "Well, then I have something you are going to enjoy…" he pauses, "…next time." Dave P.S. Writing music this week is Derek Harriot with The Loser. Broomfield Business Park, Malahide, Co. Dublin K36 AT04 ​Unsubscribe | Update your profile​