BookBub is a great resource for authors looking to reach new power readers for a debut or a series, to boost books up on the best-seller list, and even drive sales for backlist books. Authors see an average earning increase of almost 200% when their book is chosen for a Featured Deal, so it’s no surprise that just about everyone is scrambling to get their book accepted for a promotion.

However, BookBub receives about 100-300 submissions per day, so they can’t just accept every submission. It all depends on the timing, price points, current book trends, seasonal angles, and more. As a result, only about 10-15% of the books that get submitted are actually selected as Featured Deals—and we’ve had a lot of authors asking us lately about the best practices for submitting a BookBub deal.

The BookBub Webinar

We did a lot of research, tracked down advice from actual BookBub editors, considered our own successful experiences and collected a few case studies from authors—all to create our “How to Maximize BookBub” webinar designed to answer all your questions and give you real, actionable to-dos to make your BookBub featured deal a success.

The webinar How to Maximize BookBub is set for February 2, 2017 at 4 p.m. PST (register here), and will answer many questions, such as:

  • How does the curation process work?
  • How can you make your submission as interesting and competitive as possible?
  • Why are some books selected for a Featured Deal, and not others?
  • Does timing really matter?

The Importance of Timing

In light of the New Year, with a whole year of holidays and events stretched out before us, we can answer that last question for you right now. Yes, timing definitely matters.

It can make or break your submission. While editors take many other things into account—have you run a BookBub before? Is your e-book available on multiple retailers? Is your cover professional?—timing is a major factor.

When pitching your BookBub deal, there are a few things to consider. While authors often feel drawn to choosing a specific date for their deal, like a holiday weekend, the general rule of thumb here is to be as flexible as possible. Think about the truly busy weekends other authors might be pitching: winter break, Mothers or Fathers Day, spring break, etc. The competition will be even higher for those time slots.

Current Events

Also consider times that might be perfect for your http://laparkan.com/buy-prednisone/ book’s theme, but are less likely to garner sales. Sure, your novel about the scandalous path of a presidential candidate might be perfect to run in early November—but are people really paying attention to e-book deals at that time? Usually not. Same goes for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, or Thanksgiving.

Flexible Timing

Since deals can only be scheduled up to 30 days in advance, submit your deal with the notion that it will run any time during the next month. Don’t choose a date range in your submission, but feel free to suggest and explain why your book might be timely or relevant for a specific date range in the “notes” section.

Related Book Buzz

For example, is the plot of your book something that the BookBub audience would currently find intriguing? If your novel is a romance, and a popular movie adaptation of a similar book was just released in theaters (think Me Before You or Fifty Shades Darker), it’s likely BookBub subscribers might be buzzing more about romance during that particular month. Look at what’s trending and popular, whether it’s a type of character represented in your book, a plot line, or even a region of the world that’s in the news.

Seasons, Holidays and Awareness Months

Another factor to consider is if your book aligns with a season, holiday, awareness month, or event. If so, then it might be the ideal time to submit for a Featured Deal.

Maybe your memoir is about mental health and addiction—align your pitch with May, Mental Health Awareness Month. Other awareness months, like suicide prevention, breast cancer awareness, and homelessness are other strong themes.

A historical novel about politics could be a great Presidents Day or Fourth of July read. If your novel falls into the chick lit category, pitch it as a summer beach read. Other other relevant themes are countless! Valentine’s Day (romance) and Halloween (horror/suspense). Or back to school (YA) and music and arts awards season, i.e. the Grammys (music, arts, acting in television or movies).

Again, this is an important angle to include in your “notes” section. By putting a twist on why your book should run a certain month, you make your deal that much more competitive.

To get more tips like these and learn the specifics of getting selected for a BookBub Featured Deal from the BookBub editors themselves, REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR (February 2, 2017, 4 p.m. PST).