Can't believe it's been two years since I officially used this blog for sharing publishing tips. Feels like it's been much longer and shorter than that at the same time. I actually wanted to write this post yesterday but didn't because I had no idea what to write. I did put up a post about my resolutions, though, and well - as fate would have it - I received an email a couple of hours ago that's directly related to yesterday's post AND provides me with the perfect topic for my anniversary post.
Some of you may have heard of Bookbub. It's considered by many as the best site for newsletter promotions, and you've a really good chance of breaking to every major retailer's Top 100 overall bestselling list during your deal period.
Naturally, this type of promo isn't for free. Prices are prohibitive, especially for us Third World folks and even more so when you're writing romance. However, I personally still think it's worth every dollar.
It's also NOT easy at all to get the site to select your book for a BB deal. Over at their blog, Bookbub initially said they receive 100 to 300 submissions per day, and only 10 to 15% of them gets selected. Now, that number is up to 200 - 300 submissions per day, with the same acceptance rate. So like I said, NOT EASY AT ALL.
Then again, the best things in life aren't for free. They're often what you need to sweat blood and tears for, and in return victory is so much sweeter because you know your hard work's paid off.
Naturally, this type of promo isn't for free. Prices are prohibitive, especially for us Third World folks and even more so when you're writing romance. However, I personally still think it's worth every dollar.
It's also NOT easy at all to get the site to select your book for a BB deal. Over at their blog, Bookbub initially said they receive 100 to 300 submissions per day, and only 10 to 15% of them gets selected. Now, that number is up to 200 - 300 submissions per day, with the same acceptance rate. So like I said, NOT EASY AT ALL.
Then again, the best things in life aren't for free. They're often what you need to sweat blood and tears for, and in return victory is so much sweeter because you know your hard work's paid off.
How do you get accepted for a Bookbub deal?
In a nutshell: There's no guarantee, unless maybe you're J.K. Rowling or E.L. James. But seriously, there's NO guarantee, and the best thing you can do is to keep trying (without being a prick about it, more on that later).
And just so you know how much "trying" people have done, here are a couple of success stories I've gleaned from the Internet:
Oh, and as for what I did --- well, first, a look on my submission list:
And just so you know how much "trying" people have done, here are a couple of success stories I've gleaned from the Internet:
- Mystery / Thriller, free and discounted
- New Adult romance, discounted (Marie Long is my hero!)
- Mystery / Thriller, KDP Select
Oh, and as for what I did --- well, first, a look on my submission list:
The screenshot doesn't show my first ever BBs, which were for Eternally Seduced (Boxed Set) and Nick and Lilac, because those were submitted by my former publisher. Nor does it show the first ever BB I personally submitted (as a self-publisher), which was for The Greek Billionaire Romance Serials (Boxed Set), because back when I submitted they didn't have a dashboard for partners / authors yet.
But hey, don't worry since I'm going to share below what I *mentioned* when applying as well as BB's responses.
But hey, don't worry since I'm going to share below what I *mentioned* when applying as well as BB's responses.
The Greek Billionaire Romance Serials: Rejected
Submission Date: September 16
Response Date: September 23 (1 week)
Price: $.99
Selected Category: Contemporary Romance
What I said (posted in the comments box):
I'm entirely flexible with dates. This is a new boxed set and I'll only set it at $.99 for Bookbub. Book 1 was part of the Billionaire Bad Boys of Romance, which made it to NYT's combined list of ebook and print bestselling list. Books 1 to 5 have an average rating of 4.0 and above on Amazon.
Book 1 (free) - 68 reviews, 4.1 average
Book 2 ($2.99) - 65 reviews, 4.6 average
Book 3 ($2.99) - 47 reviews, 4.7 average
Book 4 ($2.99) - 58 reviews, 4.1 average
Book 5 ($2.99) - 48 reviews, 4.5 average
Response:
Thanks for your submission. Unfortunately, we no longer feature collections that contain novellas with 3D covers. In the past when we've promoted box sets like this, we've received subscriber complaints and our authors have received negative feedback.
We appreciate your interest in working with BookBub.
P.S. I asked if they'd reconsider if I changed the cover, and they said I could always resubmit. So I did.
Response Date: September 23 (1 week)
Price: $.99
Selected Category: Contemporary Romance
What I said (posted in the comments box):
I'm entirely flexible with dates. This is a new boxed set and I'll only set it at $.99 for Bookbub. Book 1 was part of the Billionaire Bad Boys of Romance, which made it to NYT's combined list of ebook and print bestselling list. Books 1 to 5 have an average rating of 4.0 and above on Amazon.
Book 1 (free) - 68 reviews, 4.1 average
Book 2 ($2.99) - 65 reviews, 4.6 average
Book 3 ($2.99) - 47 reviews, 4.7 average
Book 4 ($2.99) - 58 reviews, 4.1 average
Book 5 ($2.99) - 48 reviews, 4.5 average
Response:
Thanks for your submission. Unfortunately, we no longer feature collections that contain novellas with 3D covers. In the past when we've promoted box sets like this, we've received subscriber complaints and our authors have received negative feedback.
We appreciate your interest in working with BookBub.
P.S. I asked if they'd reconsider if I changed the cover, and they said I could always resubmit. So I did.
THE GREEK BILLIONAIRE ROMANCE SERIALS: Accepted
Submission Date: October 1 (cover made into 2D)
Response Date: October 7
Price: $.99
Selected Category: Contemporary
What I said (posted in the comments box): I basically mentioned about their response re: cover, hence my resubmission (sorry, I can't seem to find their email for this).
Response:
Response Date: October 7
Price: $.99
Selected Category: Contemporary
What I said (posted in the comments box): I basically mentioned about their response re: cover, hence my resubmission (sorry, I can't seem to find their email for this).
Response:
Heart Racer: Rejected
Submission Date: March 1
Response Date: March 2 (1 day)
Price: Permafree
Selected Category: New Adult Romance
What I said (posted in the comments box):
I'd prefer to be categorized in Erotic Romance if possible but New Adult would also do.
Response:
Thanks for your submission. At this time, BookBub only features full-length works, so unfortunately this deal does not qualify for editorial review. We’ve included our page length requirements below:
Novels: 150+ pages
Nonfiction: 100+ pages
Cookbooks: 70+ pages
Children’s picture books: 20+ pages
We currently do not feature novellas or short stories.
Response Date: March 2 (1 day)
Price: Permafree
Selected Category: New Adult Romance
What I said (posted in the comments box):
I'd prefer to be categorized in Erotic Romance if possible but New Adult would also do.
Response:
Thanks for your submission. At this time, BookBub only features full-length works, so unfortunately this deal does not qualify for editorial review. We’ve included our page length requirements below:
Novels: 150+ pages
Nonfiction: 100+ pages
Cookbooks: 70+ pages
Children’s picture books: 20+ pages
We currently do not feature novellas or short stories.
Helios: Rejected
Submission Date: April 12
Response Date: April 14 (2 days)
Price: $.99
Category: Romantic Suspense:
What I said (posted in the comments box):
Hi! I'm hoping you can approve my listing for Romantic Suspense. Although Part 1 of the serial starts out in college, things significantly progress from there and gets really dark by Part 3 (it's actually the darkest of all my books, as evinced in the reviews), with issues such as sexual abuse and kidnapping tackled. If not Romantic Suspense, though, I'm also good with New Adult and College Romance.
Helios is a new bundled version of my biker serial. Swish (Part 1) has over 56 reviews on Amazon and average rating of 4.4, Burn (Part 2) has 44 reviews and average rating of 4.6, while the last book Click has an average rating of 4.5 and 51 reviews. Swish was also part of the NYT and USAT bestselling boxed set Wild Rides. I hope to hear from you! Thanks. :)
Response:
Thanks for your submission. Unfortunately, our editorial team has not selected this title for a BookBub promotion at this time.
Due to limited space in the email, we’re only able to feature about 20% of the titles that get submitted to us. The editorial team reviews all the submissions that meet our minimum guidelines for a certain category and price point, and selects the titles within that group that they believe will perform best with our members. Other titles the editors reviewed were better fits for our readers’ current tastes.
While this deal hasn’t been selected for a feature, here are some tips to make future submissions as competitive as possible:
- Submit your deal at a lower price point
- Submit other titles from your backlist
- Re-submit your title in a few months, when it might be a better fit for our readers
- Review additional tips here: https://www.bookbub.com/partners/submission-tips
Please wait at least four weeks before resubmitting this title for consideration.
Response Date: April 14 (2 days)
Price: $.99
Category: Romantic Suspense:
What I said (posted in the comments box):
Hi! I'm hoping you can approve my listing for Romantic Suspense. Although Part 1 of the serial starts out in college, things significantly progress from there and gets really dark by Part 3 (it's actually the darkest of all my books, as evinced in the reviews), with issues such as sexual abuse and kidnapping tackled. If not Romantic Suspense, though, I'm also good with New Adult and College Romance.
Helios is a new bundled version of my biker serial. Swish (Part 1) has over 56 reviews on Amazon and average rating of 4.4, Burn (Part 2) has 44 reviews and average rating of 4.6, while the last book Click has an average rating of 4.5 and 51 reviews. Swish was also part of the NYT and USAT bestselling boxed set Wild Rides. I hope to hear from you! Thanks. :)
Response:
Thanks for your submission. Unfortunately, our editorial team has not selected this title for a BookBub promotion at this time.
Due to limited space in the email, we’re only able to feature about 20% of the titles that get submitted to us. The editorial team reviews all the submissions that meet our minimum guidelines for a certain category and price point, and selects the titles within that group that they believe will perform best with our members. Other titles the editors reviewed were better fits for our readers’ current tastes.
While this deal hasn’t been selected for a feature, here are some tips to make future submissions as competitive as possible:
- Submit your deal at a lower price point
- Submit other titles from your backlist
- Re-submit your title in a few months, when it might be a better fit for our readers
- Review additional tips here: https://www.bookbub.com/partners/submission-tips
Please wait at least four weeks before resubmitting this title for consideration.
Kellion: Rejected
Submission Date: June 6
Response Date: June 9 (3 days)
Price: $.99
Category: Contemporary Romance
What I said (posted in the comments box):
Categories like Erotic Romance and New Adult Romance would work, too. Any date is fine as well. Lastly, this book has never been discounted to $.99. Thanks!
Response:
Thanks for your submission. Unfortunately, our editorial team has not selected this book for a BookBub Featured Deal at this time.
Due to limited space in the email, we’re only able to feature about 20% of the books that get submitted to us. Our editors review all the submissions that meet our minimum guidelines for a certain category and price point, and select the books within that group that they believe will perform best with our members. Other books the editors reviewed were better fits for our readers’ current tastes.
While this book hasn’t been selected for a Featured Deal, here are some tips to make future submissions as competitive as possible:
- Submit your book for a Featured Deal at a lower price point
- Submit other books from your backlist
- Re-submit your book in a few months, when it might be a better fit for our readers
- Review more tips here: https://www.bookbub.com/partners/submission-tips
Please wait at least four weeks before resubmitting this book for consideration.
Response Date: June 9 (3 days)
Price: $.99
Category: Contemporary Romance
What I said (posted in the comments box):
Categories like Erotic Romance and New Adult Romance would work, too. Any date is fine as well. Lastly, this book has never been discounted to $.99. Thanks!
Response:
Thanks for your submission. Unfortunately, our editorial team has not selected this book for a BookBub Featured Deal at this time.
Due to limited space in the email, we’re only able to feature about 20% of the books that get submitted to us. Our editors review all the submissions that meet our minimum guidelines for a certain category and price point, and select the books within that group that they believe will perform best with our members. Other books the editors reviewed were better fits for our readers’ current tastes.
While this book hasn’t been selected for a Featured Deal, here are some tips to make future submissions as competitive as possible:
- Submit your book for a Featured Deal at a lower price point
- Submit other books from your backlist
- Re-submit your book in a few months, when it might be a better fit for our readers
- Review more tips here: https://www.bookbub.com/partners/submission-tips
Please wait at least four weeks before resubmitting this book for consideration.
Yuri: Rejected
Submission Date: October 6
Response Date: October 8 (2 days)
Price: FREE
Category: New Adult Romance
What I said (posted in the comments box):
YURI has never been set free. Due to its steamy content, it would also work as a title for erotic romance.
Response:
Thanks for your submission. Unfortunately, our editorial team has not selected this book for a BookBub Featured Deal at this time.
Due to limited space in the email, we’re only able to feature about 20% of the books that get submitted to us. Our editors review all the submissions that meet our minimum guidelines for a certain category and price point, and select the books within that group that they believe will perform best with our members. Other books the editors reviewed were better fits for our readers’ current tastes.
While this book hasn’t been selected for a Featured Deal, here are some tips to make future submissions as competitive as possible:
- Submit your book for a Featured Deal at a lower price point
- Submit other books from your backlist
- Re-submit your book in a few months, when it might be a better fit for our readers
- Review more tips here: https://www.bookbub.com/partners/submission-tips
Please wait at least four weeks before resubmitting this book for consideration.
Response Date: October 8 (2 days)
Price: FREE
Category: New Adult Romance
What I said (posted in the comments box):
YURI has never been set free. Due to its steamy content, it would also work as a title for erotic romance.
Response:
Thanks for your submission. Unfortunately, our editorial team has not selected this book for a BookBub Featured Deal at this time.
Due to limited space in the email, we’re only able to feature about 20% of the books that get submitted to us. Our editors review all the submissions that meet our minimum guidelines for a certain category and price point, and select the books within that group that they believe will perform best with our members. Other books the editors reviewed were better fits for our readers’ current tastes.
While this book hasn’t been selected for a Featured Deal, here are some tips to make future submissions as competitive as possible:
- Submit your book for a Featured Deal at a lower price point
- Submit other books from your backlist
- Re-submit your book in a few months, when it might be a better fit for our readers
- Review more tips here: https://www.bookbub.com/partners/submission-tips
Please wait at least four weeks before resubmitting this book for consideration.
The Greek Billionaire and His Secretary Boxed Set: Rejected
Submission Date: January 29
Response Date: January 30 (1 day)
Price: $.99
Category: Contemporary Romance
What I said (posted in the comments box):
It's never been priced lower than $4.99 so I'm hoping $.99 will get me a lot of downloads. I'm open to having this as a free deal if you think it would be more effective. First book of the novelized serial is free and has 90 reviews so far, with a 4.3 average rating. The other three books in the serial also have a 4+ average rating.
Response:
Thanks for your submission. Unfortunately, this collection does not qualify for editorial review because it does not meet our guidelines for box sets and anthologies, which are as follows:
If a book contains multiple full-length works, it is considered a box set. All books included in the box set must be by the same author, and the majority of the books in the box set must be full length books (150+ pages for fiction, 100+ pages for nonfiction.) At least one book in the box set must meet our timing requirements: it must not have been promoted in the last six months, and it must be by an author who has not promoted a book with us in the past 30 days.
If a book contains multiple novellas or short stories (less than 150 pages), it is considered an anthology. Anthologies may contain works by a single author or multiple authors. Anthologies must have 2-dimensional covers (not box set style images), and the total pages of the anthology must meet our minimum page count requirements (150 for fiction, 100 for non-fiction.) Anthologies must contain standalone, complete works.
Please let us know if you have any questions. We appreciate your interest in working with BookBub!
Response Date: January 30 (1 day)
Price: $.99
Category: Contemporary Romance
What I said (posted in the comments box):
It's never been priced lower than $4.99 so I'm hoping $.99 will get me a lot of downloads. I'm open to having this as a free deal if you think it would be more effective. First book of the novelized serial is free and has 90 reviews so far, with a 4.3 average rating. The other three books in the serial also have a 4+ average rating.
Response:
Thanks for your submission. Unfortunately, this collection does not qualify for editorial review because it does not meet our guidelines for box sets and anthologies, which are as follows:
If a book contains multiple full-length works, it is considered a box set. All books included in the box set must be by the same author, and the majority of the books in the box set must be full length books (150+ pages for fiction, 100+ pages for nonfiction.) At least one book in the box set must meet our timing requirements: it must not have been promoted in the last six months, and it must be by an author who has not promoted a book with us in the past 30 days.
If a book contains multiple novellas or short stories (less than 150 pages), it is considered an anthology. Anthologies may contain works by a single author or multiple authors. Anthologies must have 2-dimensional covers (not box set style images), and the total pages of the anthology must meet our minimum page count requirements (150 for fiction, 100 for non-fiction.) Anthologies must contain standalone, complete works.
Please let us know if you have any questions. We appreciate your interest in working with BookBub!
Helios: Accepted
Submission Date: January 29 (yes, the same day! Their rules didn't mention I couldn't submit two books on the same day so I gave it a try. And it worked!)
Response Date: February 2 (4 days)
Price: $.99
Category: Romantic Suspense
What I said (posted in the comments box):
Helios has never been priced below $4.99. First book in this serialized novel is free and has over 60 reviews, with an average rating of 4.4. Books 2 and 3 have close to 50 reviews each and with an average rating of 4.7 and 4.5 respectively.
If you think going free for Helios is more effective, I'm all for it.
This is also considered by my readers as my darkest romance to date, which is why I think it would work in my selected category. However, since 2/3 of the novel has a university setting, it could also work well in New Adult romance.
Response:
Dear Marian,
Congratulations! Our editors have selected your book Helios (Full-Length Standalone Dark Billionaire Biker Romance) for a BookBub Featured Deal.
I want to note that while you chose Romantic Suspense as the suggested category in your submission, our editors have selected your deal for DARK ROMANCE & EROTICA based on where they believe it will perform best with our members’ interests. To view the date and details of your campaign, please click the button below:
Response Date: February 2 (4 days)
Price: $.99
Category: Romantic Suspense
What I said (posted in the comments box):
Helios has never been priced below $4.99. First book in this serialized novel is free and has over 60 reviews, with an average rating of 4.4. Books 2 and 3 have close to 50 reviews each and with an average rating of 4.7 and 4.5 respectively.
If you think going free for Helios is more effective, I'm all for it.
This is also considered by my readers as my darkest romance to date, which is why I think it would work in my selected category. However, since 2/3 of the novel has a university setting, it could also work well in New Adult romance.
Response:
Dear Marian,
Congratulations! Our editors have selected your book Helios (Full-Length Standalone Dark Billionaire Biker Romance) for a BookBub Featured Deal.
I want to note that while you chose Romantic Suspense as the suggested category in your submission, our editors have selected your deal for DARK ROMANCE & EROTICA based on where they believe it will perform best with our members’ interests. To view the date and details of your campaign, please click the button below:
A few things to consider:
- I always tell them my DATES are flexible. ALWAYS.
- As long as I remember to, I mention that I'm open to having my book set free. :D
- With Heart Racer, I was actually aware of their length requirements but then there was this book they featured that I believed was below 150 pages so I gave HR a try. Did not work. >.<
- With The Greek Billionaire and His Secretary Boxed Set, that's totally MY BAD. I should have made my cover 2D and let them know it's basically a serialized novel. I actually used another term in my submission (novelized serial) and I think that just made it worse. Drat! So yeah, gonna resubmit this maybe next month with a 2D cover.
- With comments, I admit to being LAZY at times. Sometimes, I just don't bother tooting my own horn, and yes this section really requires that. And I don't mind doing that if it means getting a BB deal. But sometimes, laziness gets the better of me, and yeah, MY BAD.
- Two reasons for the gaps between submissions (as you can see above, I don't submit books every week or even every month): I'm either licking my wounds (hehe) OR I don't have the budget for it yet (and you NEED to, because at times they'll schedule you for a deal just a few days after submission so you need to be prepared to pay right away).
- I do not ask for explanations about why they rejected X or Y.
- I do not make comparisons and ask them why they accepted X's 1 or Y's 2 and not my book Z.
- I do not submit any book that has below 40 reviews. If you've read Marie Long's post (linked above), you'll notice that she was able to get a BB deal with just 15 or so reviews. I don't think I can do that hehe. So I wait until I have 40 reviews minimum before submitting a book. P.S. Bookbub has stated in their blog they have no minimum requirement for reviews, but they do give extra brownie points for authentic (read: verified purchases basically or those from well-known reviewers) and positive reviews. They also mention category considerations; e.g. you need more reviews for competitive categories like contemporary romance.
- I do not submit any book that has an average review score below 4.0. As mentioned above, it's all about positive reviews so I personally feel that something below 4.0 isn't positive enough for BB.
- I don't know what their stand is on romance with Filipino characters and settings. I tried looking up if BB had anything to say about even just Asian lit or something that focuses on cultural differences but so far I've gotten nothing.
Ultimately, I thought I should share my experience since it does show that you should never let rejection stop you. They hurt like hell yes, and no matter how many rejections you get, they'll always sting but----
Just. Got. To. Keep. Trying.