# BookBub Alternative



## James Fraser (Mar 15, 2013)

I just wanted to let you WC KBers know that I'm in the middle of building an alternative to BookBub.

Distribution channels will be via email list and syndication through my very popular Kindle Android apps. Email list will hit 100,000 subscribers by end March and app users will have passed 1,000,000 by then. It is at this point that I aim to launch the service.

I know a lot of you are finding it difficult to get accepted onto BookBub these days, and many of you wonder where to promote next if you are one of the fortunate ones who happen to have already run a promo. I thought it was high time someone came up with a viable alternative. It might not have quite the level of impact that BookBub does in the early stages, but I aim to continue growing this service in the months and years ahead.

I also aim to change the offering in a significant way. I will invoice AFTER a campaign has run its course and users will ONLY pay for those sales which are directly attributed and tracked via my service. Fees will represent a percentage of the value of any given book and will allow a significant margin of profit for authors after Amazon's 30% and my percentage. Payment terms will be very lenient. So much so, that authors will be allowed to wait for the period of payment (for sales generated during my promos) from KDP before paying the invoice. This will alleviate the stress some authors feel about forking out up to $1,000+ up front (without guarantees, I may add) which BookBub and other services require.

Anyway, I'm just floating this concept to the community (as I do with many of my book marketing projects on KB) and wanted to know what you thoughts on it are / if you can think of any other features that you might want built into the finished service.

Thanks as always,
James


----------



## 90daysnovel (Apr 30, 2012)

ENT does a similar revenue share - and it's great as authors take no risk, and both parties split the spoils. Authors end up with extra as not all sales will be tracked (the extra visibility always adds to the bottom line). In principle, it should be win-win all around.


----------



## James Fraser (Mar 15, 2013)

90daysnovel said:


> ENT does a similar revenue share - and it's great as authors take no risk, and both parties split the spoils. Authors end up with extra as not all sales will be tracked (the extra visibility always adds to the bottom line). In principle, it should be win-win all around.


Yeah, win-win is my thinking. I obviously expose myself to the risk of clients not paying, but I'll have to just take that on the chin. I think most in this profession are an honorable bunch anyway


----------



## RM Prioleau (Mar 18, 2011)

James Fraser [BookGrow] said:


> I also aim to change the offering in a significant way. I will invoice AFTER a campaign has run its course and users will ONLY pay for those sales which are directly attributed and tracked via my service. Fees will represent a percentage of the value of any given book and will allow a significant margin of profit for authors after Amazon's 30% and my percentage. Payment terms will be very lenient. So much so, that authors will be allowed to wait for the period of payment (for sales generated during my promos) from KDP before paying the invoice. This will alleviate the stress some authors feel about forking out up to $1,000+ up front (without guarantees, I may add) which BookBub and other services require.


In a way, I can see why you're doing this, and it certainly makes sense, but I hate not knowing how much I owe beforehand. I like to budget my money so I know exactly how much to pay. I don't like getting surprise invoices.... Even providing authors with a ballpark figure might be assuring enough for me to know how much I am going to need to save up.


----------



## James Fraser (Mar 15, 2013)

RM Prioleau said:


> In a way, I can see why you're doing this, and it certainly makes sense, but I hate not knowing how much I owe beforehand. I like to budget my money so I know exactly how much to pay. I don't like getting surprise invoices.... Even providing authors with a ballpark figure might be assuring enough for me to know how much I am going to need to save up.


Thanks for your feedback. Good point. I will include estimates of conversion rates and likely costs for any given genre. I will aim to make this dynamic data which will update in accordance with how big my distribution network is. Obviously, as the target lists are growing all the time, these estimates will need to be adjusted regularly.

Hopefully though, giving authors the opportunity to pay after the following cycle of KDP payments will minimise the fear factor and allow for appropriate budgeting.

I should also add that the tracking cycle will only run for a fixed window of time. I'm thinking seven days from campaign launch. Therefore any additional sales tracked after the period will be gratis to the author. Hopefully, with a spike of sales and increased rank, there will be a decent period of increased residual sales too.


----------



## Colin (Aug 6, 2011)

Hi James,

My company would definitely be interested in this. And we'd be happy to pay upfront.


----------



## James Fraser (Mar 15, 2013)

Colin said:


> Hi James,
> 
> My company would definitely be interested in this. And we'd be happy to pay upfront.


That's great. Thanks for your interest, Colin! I'll be sure to announce it on here when it goes live


----------



## beccaprice (Oct 1, 2011)

I'm interested, but what is your "reasonable percentage"? and how do we apply?


----------



## James Fraser (Mar 15, 2013)

beccaprice said:


> I'm interested, but what is your "reasonable percentage"? and how do we apply?


Hi Becca. Pricing will work out as being comparable to BookBub; who take between 30-35% on total book price. Say a Kindle book costs $3.00. Author makes 70% (ignoring small delivery fee) on every sale. I aim to charge author a fixed 30% of the total value for every book sold, author makes $1.20 per book after Amazon's and my service's cut. The closing period for the sales attributed to me would be a week. Any other residual boost in sales that I've generated for the author after then they can keep. If I've got a list of say 100k emails (ignoring my app delivery here for a moment) with a click rate of 15% (my current average) and a sales conversion rate of 2% (also my current average) that makes 300 sales. That would make $270 fees payable to my service (payable after next KDP payment cycle). Author still makes $360 on the books I have sold for them and they benefit from the full 70% commission for books I have sold after 7 day period as well as the residual increased sales after my 7 day period is up (as their book will have been spiked up the rankings). Hope that makes sense?

Application to the service will be done through my platform. Just putting the finishing touches on the site now. Will be going live hopefully end March latest once the platform is connected up with my email list and apps.


----------



## 69959 (May 14, 2013)

I like that payment method. I recently ran a promo with ENT and it's nice knowing that because it's based on sales, I won't lose any money.


----------



## MonkeyScribe (Jan 27, 2011)

This all sounds good in theory, but my default is skepticism because of all the scams and semi-scams that pass through here. Is this Amazon-only? There's a huge need for something that works in the UK, and Nook, Kobo, etc., also need some extra marketing love.


----------



## 60169 (May 18, 2012)

Hey, James...

Like everyone on here, I'm always on the lookout for new venues, so I wish you luck.

Here's my one suggestion: Although I understand that some people will enjoy not paying until 60 days after the ad has run, personally I prefer to pay immediately, as soon as the amount has been determined. Maybe you could offer a small (10%?) discount to folks who pay within 5 days of receipt of invoice?

Also, as Michael says, anything that could be done to build a list that services the UK would be looked at very favorably, I think. I've mostly been invisible there, but when I managed to see a spike in visibility there about a year ago, I sold really well there, about a thousand copies in 30 days. I've probably sold less than 200 copies there in the trailing 12 months and would love to find a way to get "out there" again.

If you pull it off, we'll all beat a path to your door, waving our checkbooks.


----------



## Quiss (Aug 21, 2012)

How about freebies and permafrees?


----------



## Mark E. Cooper (May 29, 2011)

Sounds good in theory, but you will find most authors here use bookbub to promote either freebies or $0.99 deals. Now freebies obviously won't work for you even with tracking, so that is a huge downside unless you have a special freebie only set price. The $0.99 deals are doable, but Amazon will take 65% not 30%, so not much in it for you.

I do see other prices offered using bookbub, but by far the highest percentage is free or 0.99. Just saying.


----------



## Justawriter (Jul 24, 2012)

James Fraser [BookGrow] said:


> Hi Becca. Pricing will work out as being comparable to BookBub; who take between 30-35% on total book price. Say a Kindle book costs $3.00. Author makes 70% (ignoring small delivery fee) on every sale. I aim to charge author a fixed 30% of the total value for every book sold, author makes $1.20 per book after Amazon's and my service's cut. The closing period for the sales attributed to me would be a week. Any other residual boost in sales that I've generated for the author after then they can keep. If I've got a list of say 100k emails (ignoring my app delivery here for a moment) with a click rate of 15% (my current average) and a sales conversion rate of 2% (also my current average) that makes 300 sales. That would make $270 fees payable to my service (payable after next KDP payment cycle). Author still makes $360 on the books I have sold for them and they benefit from the full 70% commission for books I have sold after 7 day period as well as the residual increased sales after my 7 day period is up (as their book will have been spiked up the rankings). Hope that makes sense?
> 
> Application to the service will be done through my platform. Just putting the finishing touches on the site now. Will be going live hopefully end March latest once the platform is connected up with my email list and apps.


I like the idea, but this is about twice the price of ENT. They charge 25% of the profits, so in this scenario it would be roughly 150 to ENT and 450 to the author vs. for your model it would be 270 to you and 330 to the author. ENT is so effective, how would you be offering double their value?


----------



## James Fraser (Mar 15, 2013)

Stacy Claflin said:


> I like that payment method. I recently ran a promo with ENT and it's nice knowing that because it's based on sales, I won't lose any money.


Thanks Stacy. That's what I'm aiming to achieve.


----------



## Magda Alexander (Aug 13, 2011)

Will you accept erotic romance and erotica books?


----------



## James Fraser (Mar 15, 2013)

MichaelWallace said:


> This all sounds good in theory, but my default is skepticism because of all the scams and semi-scams that pass through here. Is this Amazon-only? There's a huge need for something that works in the UK, and Nook, Kobo, etc., also need some extra marketing love.


I understand your concern, Michael. Hopefully though, enough of you on here know me now as the 'book marketing guy' (from my other projects) to know that I'm not a scammer. Besides, in this instance, the only person who could be scammed would be me - by clients deciding not to pay me for results I generate (as I mentioned earlier).

Yes, this will be only for Amazon at the moment. Maybe I'll roll out to Nook etc. later, if things take off. Currently my UK list and app registration stands at around a third of the size of my US audience. I will only be tracking US sales, so any UK sales (or any other territories) generated as a result of my activity will be a bonus to the author.


----------



## Calvin Locke (Mar 6, 2012)

I'd be interested.


----------



## James Fraser (Mar 15, 2013)

Shawn Inmon said:


> Hey, James...
> 
> Like everyone on here, I'm always on the lookout for new venues, so I wish you luck.
> 
> ...


Thanks for your feedback Shawn. Clients will be invoiced as soon as the seven day tracking period is up. Therefore the choice will be there to pay right away if an author so wishes. I just wanted to include long period payment terms as a way of offsetting the 'risk' authors feel they might be taking by using the service. Paying after they've been paid seems a fair way of achieving this.

I do like your idea of offering a discount for speedy payment. I might well work this into the platform. Thanks for that!


----------



## James Fraser (Mar 15, 2013)

markecooper said:


> Sounds good in theory, but you will find most authors here use bookbub to promote either freebies or $0.99 deals. Now freebies obviously won't work for you even with tracking, so that is a huge downside unless you have a special freebie only set price. The $0.99 deals are doable, but Amazon will take 65% not 30%, so not much in it for you.
> 
> I do see other prices offered using bookbub, but by far the highest percentage is free or 0.99. Just saying.


And to answer you too, Quiss. I hadn't initially considered running free and permafrees, but if there is a big demand for them, then I will be happy to consider including this as an option. For the normal paid option I will make it clear that authors are recommended to only run campaigns if they have the 70% comms structure in place. Otherwise they will have to be prepared to incur a loss in order to get a spike in sales. May be worth it in some instances, though?

What are your thoughts on allowing just price-dropped books?


----------



## SLFleming (Sep 25, 2013)

Interesting! Subbing to hear more.


----------



## PhoenixS (Apr 5, 2011)

XXXXXXXXXX


----------



## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

Sounds wonderful! Where do I sign up?


----------



## James Fraser (Mar 15, 2013)

PamelaKelley said:


> I like the idea, but this is about twice the price of ENT. They charge 25% of the profits, so in this scenario it would be roughly 150 to ENT and 450 to the author vs. for your model it would be 270 to you and 330 to the author. ENT is so effective, how would you be offering double their value?


Hi Pamela. The percentage is something I could be flexible on in future maybe. However, in order for me to make this worth my while I will stick with the 30% commission for launch. I wouldn't have the clout at launch to be competitive in price with ENT anyway. Besides, it's not like authors are outlaying additional expense for the service. It's just a cut of profit. There aren't many services out there, and I don't imagine that being agressively competitive on price to ENT would make that much of a difference. My service could represent an additional and complementary one to BookBub /ENT etc. One that doesn't leave the author out of pocket.


----------



## James Fraser (Mar 15, 2013)

Magda Alexander said:


> Will you accept erotic romance and erotica books?


Yes, Magda. I will indeed.


----------



## James Fraser (Mar 15, 2013)

Phoenix Sullivan said:


> I really like the percentage model, such as what ENT is doing. Point of reference: ENT's cut works out to about 8 cents per 99c sale. They take 25% of the author's net.
> 
> Hmm. Those are some high CTRs and sales conversion rates to use as examples. What are you selling to base your current conversion rates on?
> 
> ...


Thanks for the detailed analysis Phoenix. Before launch I am going to test the platform thoroughly with my existing clients from BookReviewBroker.com 
I will give them free trials across all genres to stress test the platform and arrive at good estimates to quote on the site. Ultimately, I don't have to worry too much about managing client expectation. Books will do as well as they do and clients will only have to pay based on results generated.

P.S. My figures are based on performance of my list with Amazon Associates.


----------



## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

I think it's a good idea. I like knowing I'm paying for real sales instead of paying for possible sales.

How long do you track sales? Is it sales for just that day? Or several days out? Or for a month? (Assuming all the sales tracking will be through your coded link of course.)

I see no reason not to try this.


----------



## James Fraser (Mar 15, 2013)

Victorine said:


> I think it's a good idea. I like knowing I'm paying for real sales instead of paying for possible sales.
> 
> How long do you track sales? Is it sales for just that day? Or several days out? Or for a month? (Assuming all the sales tracking will be through your coded link of course.)
> 
> I see no reason not to try this.


Thanks Victorine!

I'm thinking of tracking sales for 7 days from launch of campaign. Any sales tracked thereafter are free. Non-us sales aren't tracked, so these are also a bonus. The idea (like other services) is to give a book a sufficient boost so that increased ranking and residual sales can kick in. Nothing begets more sales like more sales!


----------



## sstroble (Dec 16, 2013)

Are you going to require that a book have a minimum number of reviews before you accept it?


----------



## James Fraser (Mar 15, 2013)

sstroble said:


> Are you going to require that a book have a minimum number of reviews before you accept it?


I shouldn't think so. I'd like everybody to be able to promote their books. However, I'll have to have some 'editorial' oversight. If a book is blatantly crap and has terrible cover design, or, indeed, mainly bad reviews, I will reject it.


----------



## Saul Tanpepper (Feb 16, 2012)

I like ENT's model and the idea of paying for actual performance rather than potential performance. Regardless of how a campaign goes, an author will always make money and never lose money using this model, and for that I'n all for it. Regarding free, perma-free and steeply discounted books, I actually think we need a service which doesn't cater to those subscribers. There are enough options already out there. One reason BB doesn't do well with higher priced books is because their subscribers' sweet spot is in the sub-$2.99 range. While it's certainly the case that it'll take more time and effort to grow a list of readers who are willing to pay more for recommended books, I do think it can become a profitable and sustainable venture. The challenge would then be filling your recs with high-quality books that, for whatever reason, are never steeply discounted. I, for one, would welcome and support such a service.


----------



## trublue (Jul 7, 2012)

Sounds good but what about perma free?


----------



## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Sounds intriguing! What's the pitch to readers? If the books aren't discounted (Hey, check out these limited-offer discounts) or heavily curated (Hey, check out these five star titles), what's the pitch to readers that entices them to sign-up/open the email/etc?


----------



## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

James Fraser [BookGrow] said:


> Hi Pamela. The percentage is something I could be flexible on in future maybe. However, in order for me to make this worth my while I will stick with the 30% commission for launch. I wouldn't have the clout at launch to be competitive in price with ENT anyway. Besides, it's not like authors are outlaying additional expense for the service. It's just a cut of profit. There aren't many services out there, and I don't imagine that being agressively competitive on price to ENT would make that much of a difference. My service could represent an additional and complementary one to BookBub /ENT etc. One that doesn't leave the author out of pocket.


I think a lot of us would be willing to give your service a chance since we wouldn't be out of pocket. I think Phoenix's comments made some good points, but I do want to see more services out there in addition to BB which heaven knows gets enough of my money.


----------



## Philip Gibson (Nov 18, 2013)

Sounds promising. I hope it goes well.

How are you going about building up your email list, and what/who are these one million app users of which you speak?


----------



## James Fraser (Mar 15, 2013)

Monique said:


> Sounds intriguing! What's the pitch to readers? If the books aren't discounted (Hey, check out these limited-offer discounts) or heavily curated (Hey, check out these five star titles), what's the pitch to readers that entices them to sign-up/open the email/etc?


I haven't set this in stone as of yet. If I don't go down the route of having a requirement of price-dropped books I may just do it as 'recommended reads' type of pitch. Also worth my mentioning that each campaign will be sent out as a standalone run rather than mixed in with all my other normal price-drops and freebies which I scrape and post on a daily basis already.


----------



## James Fraser (Mar 15, 2013)

JRTomlin said:


> I think a lot of us would be willing to give your service a chance since we wouldn't be out of pocket. I think Phoenix's comments made some good points, but I do want to see more services out there in addition to BB which heaven knows gets enough of my money.


Thanks for your encouragement JR! Will be sure to announce it on here when the service has been tested and gone live. I'll probably even run some trials for KBers to get a bit of chatter going


----------



## James Fraser (Mar 15, 2013)

Philip Gibson said:


> Sounds promising. I hope it goes well.
> 
> How are you going about building up your email list, and what/who are these one million app users of which you speak?


Thanks Philip.

As far as list building and building of app user base goes... well, I'm afraid, that's a bit of a trade secret. Been working in internet marketing for 10 years now, so can't afford to give away my techniques  All I would say is that this project has now become self-sustaining. At the moment I am seeing exponential growth in terms of email signups and app downloads. Current app downloads are running at 2,000+ yesterday (total app downloads @ 20k+ now) with a 100-200 increase day on day. Email list growing at around the same rate as the app stuff but with 10% of the volume in terms of signups.


----------



## Andrew Ashling (Nov 15, 2010)

You will accept erotic romance. Does this also apply to gay romance with some explicit scenes?

ENT and BookBub don't, and they seem to be a major element of most marketing strategies. So, I definitely would be interested.


----------



## RJ Kennett (Jul 31, 2013)

Awesome. I was reading an article the other day talking about how e-mail is being replaced by texting and instant messaging services; that as e-mail relegated snail-mail to the realm of spammy advertisements, text and instant messaging was relegating e-mail to the realm of spam. I was thinking, "gee, wouldn't it be nice if there was a BookBub that didn't rely on e-mail, and instead was distributed via the avenues by which people actually communicate nowadays."

It seems you've done that. I love the app concept; I hadn't considered that as a medium.

Heck yeah, I'd be interested. When do we start?  

Is this going to be open to advertising to all, or will there be the same type of filter that BookBub uses? They seem to determine only to send works of a certain standard of quality, and I think as a result, that means their subscribers trust their recommendations. If it's open to all, I think it would lose some value to the subscribers and thus - to the advertisers.


----------



## phildukephd (Jan 6, 2013)

*James, this is a wonderful endeavor, count me in.* I am available to help with _*free*_ writing/editing services for this wonderful endeavor of yours. My website URL is in with my covers. Please email me, thanks.
*
Good luck and all success!*

Phil Duke Ph.D.
Omaha, NE


----------



## Maddie Cochere (Apr 1, 2013)

James, I'm definitely interested. It's frustrating that there are so few places to list a $2.99 book without discounting first.


----------



## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

Monique said:


> Sounds intriguing! What's the pitch to readers? If the books aren't discounted (Hey, check out these limited-offer discounts) or heavily curated (Hey, check out these five star titles), what's the pitch to readers that entices them to sign-up/open the email/etc?


this was my question also.

in additon, if you are including erotica (which I have no objection to), how will you ensure that the NSFW content is not in your e-mails?


----------



## jenminkman (Mar 2, 2013)

Oh, I'd definitely be interested in this! What a great idea indeed. If you need another guinea pig to test out your service, pick me!


----------



## dkw (Sep 20, 2013)

trublue said:


> Sounds good but what about perma free?


Bumping this question. Could you advertise a permafree and track sales based on the following books in the series?


----------



## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

dkw said:


> Bumping this question. Could you advertise a permafree and track sales based on the following books in the series?


The OP said upthread: "I hadn't initially considered running free and permafrees, but if there is a big demand for them, then I will be happy to consider including this as an option."


----------



## dkw (Sep 20, 2013)

Monique said:


> The OP said upthread: "I hadn't initially considered running free and permafrees, but if there is a big demand for them, then I will be happy to consider including this as an option."


Thanks Monique!


----------



## jackz4000 (May 15, 2011)

Hi James, I sure you'll do some tweaking and twerking with the numbers and details as you move forward. Phoenix's input was interesting. Looking at the big picture I think this is a win-win. Good luck, Jack


----------



## dotx (Nov 4, 2010)

Looking forward to this too!


----------



## MarilynVix (Jun 19, 2013)

I've been looking for something like this. It's hard when starting out to get reviews all in one place. A lot are in different places, and I've noticed a drop off in reviews on Amazon. I'd love to get in on the ground floor. The up front fees are always hard on the limited budget. I'd rather pay for the click throughs.


----------



## Heather Walsh (Jan 22, 2013)

Hi James, I would definitely be interested in this as well. Thanks for posting it and please keep me in mind!


----------



## legion (Mar 1, 2013)

Will definitely be on the look-out for this launch!


----------



## Writer1000 (Jul 28, 2013)

Thanks for answering all the questions the others have posted, James. I'd be interested in this too.


----------



## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Are KBers invited to join your mailing list? I love getting discounted books.


----------



## Philip Gibson (Nov 18, 2013)

So what is this "One million 'app users'" thingie?  Is it something everyone else understands but I don't because I'm a techie dinosaur?

If so, I resent that. I was the first teacher in my staff room to have a computer and printer on my desk.

They said I was pretentious.


----------



## James Fraser (Mar 15, 2013)

MirandaPCharles said:


> Thanks for answering all the questions the others have posted, James. I'd be interested in this too.


Thanks Miranda. Will let you know when it's live!


----------



## erikhanberg (Jul 15, 2011)

Can we sign up for the list of email addresses you're building? Or find your app in the appstore to download and use?

I'm assuming there are some books that you are offering right now to people who sign up too? Or are they signing up with no content yet?


----------



## purplesmurf (Mar 20, 2012)

erikhanberg said:


> Can we sign up for the list of email addresses you're building? Or find your app in the appstore to download and use?
> 
> I'm assuming there are some books that you are offering right now to people who sign up too? Or are they signing up with no content yet?


I googled it and found this (I'm assuming it's the correct site): http://www.bookgrow.com/


----------



## James Fraser (Mar 15, 2013)

purplesmurf said:


> I googled it and found this (I'm assuming it's the correct site): http://www.bookgrow.com/


No BookGrow is another of my projects. An author marketing exchange. I'm thinking of scrapping it and starting something else.

Here is my main app if some of you want to try it out: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kindle.for.android.free.books

Thanks,
J


----------



## 10105 (Feb 16, 2010)

Intriguing idea, and I'll be watching for your announcement.

This is from my curiosity and ignorance. How do you track the sales of someone else's books? And, assuming you can do that, how do you determine which sales are the result of your promotion of a book?


----------



## 10105 (Feb 16, 2010)

Al Stevens said:


> This is from my curiosity and ignorance. How do you track the sales of someone else's books? And, assuming you can do that, how do you determine which sales are the result of your promotion of a book?


That sure brought things to a screeching halt...


----------



## David Thayer (Sep 7, 2012)

James, please keep us posted as you move toward launch.


----------



## Maria Romana (Jun 7, 2010)

Al Stevens said:


> Intriguing idea, and I'll be watching for your announcement.
> 
> This is from my curiosity and ignorance. How do you track the sales of someone else's books? And, assuming you can do that, how do you determine which sales are the result of your promotion of a book?


I would assume he's using Amazon affiliate links, so he'll know exactly what sold through his links (as opposed to organic sales).


----------



## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

I am in for this, let me know when you're ready, please!


----------



## STubbs (May 13, 2013)

Is Amazon really ok with an app that mimics their logo and is called *"Kindle for Android"Free Books*?

Seems..... slightly scammy to me.


----------



## djv1120 (Dec 7, 2013)

STubbs said:


> Is Amazon really ok with an app that mimics their logo and is called *"Kindle for Android"Free Books*?
> 
> Seems..... slightly scammy to me.


It's risky to say the least. Google can, and will, take down apps and close accounts for deceptive behavior (I have personally lost a lot for far less). Facebook went through not that long ago and shut down every page that had Kindle in the name. They're starting to sneak up again, but I think there is a good chance that they do another purge at some point.

As an author paying on a commission basis, there isn't much risk, though. It's just a service that could get shut down at any time so I would not build a major marketing plan around this.

Just my 2 cents.


----------



## James Fraser (Mar 15, 2013)

STubbs said:


> Is Amazon really ok with an app that mimics their logo and is called *"Kindle for Android"Free Books*?
> 
> Seems..... slightly scammy to me.


Yes, it has been approved onto Kindle Fire too. Had to change the wording slightly for Amazon app store though. The branding looks similar, but is not the same obviously. They don;t have a problem with it as it went through a manual review.


----------



## James Fraser (Mar 15, 2013)

meromana said:


> I would assume he's using Amazon affiliate links, so he'll know exactly what sold through his links (as opposed to organic sales).


Yes this is correct. I will only be tracking US sales, so sales from any other territories will be a bonus to the author.


----------



## James Fraser (Mar 15, 2013)

djv1120 said:


> It's risky to say the least. Google can, and will, take down apps and close accounts for deceptive behavior (I have personally lost a lot for far less). Facebook went through not that long ago and shut down every page that had Kindle in the name. They're starting to sneak up again, but I think there is a good chance that they do another purge at some point.
> 
> As an author paying on a commission basis, there isn't much risk, though. It's just a service that could get shut down at any time so I would not build a major marketing plan around this.
> 
> Just my 2 cents.


I was contacted by Amazon directly a year and a half ago about my Facebook pages which had Kindle in the title. They were very polite and allowed me to change the names. All these pages are still in existence. Like I said, this particular app has been accepted by Amazon themselves as an approved app for the Kindle Fire - just had to change the wording slightly to include 'for Kindle fire'. There is no problem with using the trademarked name 'Kindle' in app titles so long as it is phrased correctly.


----------



## James Fraser (Mar 15, 2013)

David Thayer said:


> James, please keep us posted as you move toward launch.


Will do, David. Thanks.


----------



## James Fraser (Mar 15, 2013)

Al Stevens said:


> That sure brought things to a screeching halt...


Sorry for not replying to you sooner, Al. As someone else had rightly guessed, I will be basing tracking on Amazon Associates stats. Only definitive way to track sales. Non US sales will be free to the author.


----------



## Andrew Ashling (Nov 15, 2010)

Andrew Ashling said:


> You will accept erotic romance. Does this also apply to gay romance with some explicit scenes?
> 
> ENT and BookBub don't, and they seem to be a major element of most marketing strategies. So, I definitely would be interested.


Does it?


----------



## James Fraser (Mar 15, 2013)

Andrew Ashling said:


> Does it?


I don't see why not. What sells, sells what doesn't, doesn't. I don't know what % of my audience will be LGB or even T but I'd basically be happy to promote anything. If it's acceptable to be on Amazon in the first place, I don't see why any genre should be unacceptable to me.


----------



## Andrew Ashling (Nov 15, 2010)

James Fraser [BookGrow] said:


> I don't see why not. What sells, sells what doesn't, doesn't. I don't know what % of my audience will be LGB or even T but I'd basically be happy to promote anything. If it's acceptable to be on Amazon in the first place, I don't see why any genre should be unacceptable to me.


Thanks. 



> I don't see why any genre should be unacceptable to me


BoobBub, ENT, POI and some others seem to want to promote only books that are family friendly. (Killing people is family friendly. People loving each other not so much.)


----------



## erikhanberg (Jul 15, 2011)

Repeating a question that has been asked a couple times so far: where can we sign up for the email list to get emails about discounted books?


----------



## James Fraser (Mar 15, 2013)

erikhanberg said:


> Repeating a question that has been asked a couple times so far: where can we sign up for the email list to get emails about discounted books?


Sorry for not answering you earlier. You can sign up here: http://eepurl.com/McU25

This list sends out a daily summary of all of the day's free and price dropped books. When I actually come to run campaigns they will go out as individual mail shots.


----------



## Mark E. Cooper (May 29, 2011)

Just installed the app on my Nexus. Neat idea.

The Rocking Self publishing podcast had a guy on last week speculating about something we have talked about on the boards once or twice. Remember the thread where we were speculating about getting a dev to create an app for authors to use? The idea was to give it to your fans via your email list and then when a new book comes out they get a notification, a way to buy, and even download/read it?

Well it sounds like this is in the works or will be soon. It's a way to take charge of your own sales channel (for the next time a WH Smith thing happens) or even for the day you get banned or something from Amazon. Everyone here knows bad things can happen. Selling from your website wouldn't make up for it, but an app designed for your own channel and fans might.

Anyway, just wanted to say I like this app, and another bookbubish operation will always be welcome. More ways to promote my stuff is welcome.


----------



## djv1120 (Dec 7, 2013)

markecooper said:


> Remember the thread where we were speculating about getting a dev to create an app for authors to use? The idea was to give it to your fans via your email list and then when a new book comes out they get a notification, a way to buy, and even download/read it?


Are you talking about getting an author app made? If you are looking for somebody to make Mark Cooper Android app, PM me. I think I can help you. I've been thinking about starting a thread on this topic, but not sure how it fits the TOS for kboards.

Like I said, if your interested let me know.


----------



## J.E. Fishman (Jan 18, 2014)

I'm in, baby. All for paying for results rather than impressions. I've used BookBub successfully, but as you suggest too many are now getting crowded out. There's the Fussy Librarian...haven't tried it but I don't love the look and it doesn't show well on mobile. Mobile is the future of e-commerce.

I haven't done any promos for a while, but will be seeking again for my new Bomb Squad NYC series this fall. Sign me up!


----------



## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

J.E. Fishman said:


> I'm in, baby. All for paying for results rather than impressions. I've used BookBub successfully, but as you suggest too many are now getting crowded out. There's the Fussy Librarian...haven't tried it but I don't love the look and it doesn't show well on mobile. Mobile is the future of e-commerce.


b

I've had three books on The Fussy Librarian, and sadly, I can't attribute any sales to it. I mean, literally, no sales of a book on that day. Kind of disappointing because I appreciate all the work the people running The Fussy Librarian put into running the site.


----------



## Philip Gibson (Nov 18, 2013)

James Fraser [BookGrow] said:


> Sorry for not answering you earlier. You can sign up here: http://eepurl.com/McU25
> 
> This list sends out a daily summary of all of the day's free and price dropped books. When I actually come to run campaigns they will go out as individual mail shots.


Just signed up. I see you're in London. Hopefully, you'll be able to populate your list with a good number of UK subscribers. While I sell OK in the US, I for one could do with a good boost in UK sales.


----------



## Maria Romana (Jun 7, 2010)

Andrew Ashling said:


> ...books that are family friendly. (Killing people is family friendly. People loving each other not so much.)


Ain't it the truth!


----------



## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Who is Aubrey?


----------



## ElleChambers (Nov 5, 2013)

Count me in. This sounds great


----------



## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

I like the idea of only paying when (and if) you see results.
How would we pay you? PayPal?


----------



## James Fraser (Mar 15, 2013)

Monique said:


> Who is Aubrey?


Aubrey's one of my pen names for the book I'm trying to finish...


----------



## James Fraser (Mar 15, 2013)

Jan Hurst-Nicholson said:


> I like the idea of only paying when (and if) you see results.
> How would we pay you? PayPal?


Yes, would be via PayPal invoicing connected to my business account. I use it seamlessly with my www.bookreviewbroker.com project, so I don't see any reason to change.


----------



## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

Shawn Inmon said:


> If you pull it off, we'll all beat a path to your door, waving our checkbooks.


And even our cheque books


----------



## James Fraser (Mar 15, 2013)

Jan Hurst-Nicholson said:


> And even our cheque books


LoL 
I think they say check in the states unlike in the UK where we call them cheques like you...


----------



## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

MaryMcDonald said:


> b
> 
> I've had three books on The Fussy Librarian, and sadly, I can't attribute any sales to it. I mean, literally, no sales of a book on that day. Kind of disappointing because I appreciate all the work the people running The Fussy Librarian put into running the site.


Sadly, also my experience.


----------



## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

If you're going to market the books to readers as 'recommended reads' how are you going to determine the quality of the book, apart from looking at the cover and the reviews and perhaps a quick glance at the first page? If the book has no reviews it will be difficult to tell if it's any good. Just asking because if some dodgy books get through readers will lose faith in your recommendations. But don't want to have the 'gatekeeper' argument start up again.


----------



## gannboy (Jun 5, 2012)

Hi James,

When are you going to launch this services? What will be the URL to join this service?

Thanks.
Eddy


----------



## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

It's live already and called Genre Pulse.

http://www.kboards.com/index.php?topic=181784.0

http://www.genrepulse.com/


----------

