# An important heads-up regarding Books Butterfly



## benlovejoy (Feb 28, 2016)

TLR: Books Butterfly failed to deliver on a promo with a guaranteed result, and are now refusing to honour that guarantee.

Last month, I booked the Books Butterfly 'Pure Pearl' promotion for a free promotion of a brand new book on Amazon. The promo guarantees a minimum of 5,000 downloads at a cost of $400, with a pro-rata refund should this not be achieved.

In the terms, Books Butterfly said that they normally issue refunds as store credit, and I should advise if this was not acceptable, which I did by return. I stated that as the guarantee was key to me booking the promo, I would require a cash refund should one be necessary.

Books Butterfly proceeded with the promo, and there were a grand total of 743 downloads during and following the promo period (even crediting them with 100% of those downloads). I emailed them a screen grab showing these numbers (day one sales preceded their promo):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ccp7pcig815uoke/Screen%20Shot%202017-04-04%20at%2018.56.45.jpg

As they only delivered 14.86% of the promised number, that made the pro-rata fee $59.44. I therefore requested a refund of the balance of $340.56. Books Butterfly did not even reply to my email.

I then issued a refund request for that same sum via Paypal, and Books Butterfly has refused, instead trying to palm me off with a second promo.

Three obvious issues:

1. The company failed to deliver what it promised.
2. It then failed to honour its guarantee.
3. It is offering me a worthless alternative (if it didn't hit target on launch, it certainly won't do so when the book has been out for months)

Ben


----------



## benlovejoy (Feb 28, 2016)

This post appears to have resulted in an exceedingly rapid U-turn: the company has now refunded me ...


----------



## Usedtoposthere (Nov 19, 2013)

I'm glad to hear it. Really, for anybody--if a promo service is expensive, Google the name or search here. There are a number of expensive services like this that have some red flags around them. Guarantee of results is a flag, but there are some other smoky services also. 

For reference, $400 is more than a free US+international BookBub costs in contemporary romance, which can result in 50K downloads on that day alone. $400 for 5,000 downloads is way too much. Way, way too much. You're just so unlikely to earn that back on reads of subsequent books. 

(The other question is HOW a company is getting those downloads. Some services do deliver the downloads, but with consistently low sell-through to other books, which makes one question whether the book was downloaded by actual non-incentivized readers.)


----------



## Mare (Nov 3, 2015)

I'm glad you got your refund.


----------



## AllyWho (May 16, 2015)

There's lots of threads here about that service. Your experience is somewhat typical...


----------



## benlovejoy (Feb 28, 2016)

Rosalind J said:


> I'm glad to hear it. Really, for anybody--if a promo service is expensive, Google the name or search here.


Yeah, it was actually recommended here, but clearly experiences can vary ...



> For reference, $400 is more than a free US+international BookBub costs in contemporary romance, which can result in 50K downloads on that day alone.


I gave up on BookBub after about a dozen attempts with no luck. I am registered for ads, though, so I will try that.

Ben


----------



## benlovejoy (Feb 28, 2016)

Thanks, Mare and Alice. The really amusing part was the refund was conditional on me agreeing not to use them again – like I was going to!


----------



## kathrynoh (Oct 17, 2012)

Off topic - I don't really get why people "give up" on Bookbub. Once you have your books on their site, it takes about a minute to apply. Even if you are getting knockbacks, trend in reading change. A book that might not appeal to them a year ago might be exactly what they are looking for now.


----------



## benlovejoy (Feb 28, 2016)

kathrynoh said:


> Off topic - I don't really get why people "give up" on Bookbub. Once you have your books on their site, it takes about a minute to apply. Even if you are getting knockbacks, trend in reading change. A book that might not appeal to them a year ago might be exactly what they are looking for now.


I guess, but it feels like continuing after a dozen refusals is failing to take the hint ...


----------



## Harvey Click (Oct 28, 2013)

Rosalind J said:


> For reference, $400 is more than a free US+international BookBub costs in contemporary romance, which can result in 50K downloads on that day alone.


Unfortunately Bookbub won't advertise some of us. I've probably applied 20 or 25 times with no success.


----------



## Jennifer Morse (Feb 7, 2016)

BB has always honored their refund guarantee with me.


----------



## unkownwriter (Jun 22, 2011)

How long ago was this service recommended to you from here? Because just about everything I've read about them in the last four or more threads indicated there have been issues for a while (and not just here, but other writer forums).

Number 1 red flag:  guaranteed downloads.


----------



## amdonehere (May 1, 2015)

kathrynoh said:


> Off topic - I don't really get why people "give up" on Bookbub. Once you have your books on their site, it takes about a minute to apply. Even if you are getting knockbacks, trend in reading change. A book that might not appeal to them a year ago might be exactly what they are looking for now.


Pride I guess? I've only submitted one book twice and I promised myself if I get rejected both times, I'm not going to bother anymore. I'm sure everyone else and their mother here will say that's stupid, but I feel like, if they don't want me, I don't need to beg. I've heard they've run the same book every quarter. If they'd rather show their readers the same thing they'd been promoting rather than somethine new, then oh well. And they're veering toward trad pub more now too. In that case I'll go along my merry way.

Plus they put KU authors in a very difficult position. Between them and Amazon, I'll side with Amazon.


----------



## benlovejoy (Feb 28, 2016)

she-la-ti-da said:


> How long ago was this service recommended to you from here? Because just about everything I've read about them in the last four or more threads indicated there have been issues for a while (and not just here, but other writer forums).


Yeah, it was a while back. Ah well, lesson learned.


----------



## SB James (May 21, 2014)

kathrynoh said:


> Off topic - I don't really get why people "give up" on Bookbub. Once you have your books on their site, it takes about a minute to apply. Even if you are getting knockbacks, trend in reading change. A book that might not appeal to them a year ago might be exactly what they are looking for now.


This is my hope. They do encourage people to keep trying. I have yet to try, but I have heard this is true from others too.


----------



## Marseille France or Bust (Sep 25, 2012)

Excellent! Thanks for posting.



benlovejoy said:


> This post appears to have resulted in an exceedingly rapid U-turn: the company has now refunded me ...


----------



## Marseille France or Bust (Sep 25, 2012)

Books Butterfly or Book Bub?


Jennifer Morse said:


> BB has always honored their refund guarantee with me.


----------



## Annalise Clark (Apr 4, 2017)

benlovejoy said:


> This post appears to have resulted in an exceedingly rapid U-turn: the company has now refunded me ...


Funny how that works, isn't it?

I'm new here but I actually clicked on this thread because they were one of the promo companies in my list to research for a new book. Thanks for sharing your experience.


----------



## benlovejoy (Feb 28, 2016)

Annalise Clark said:


> I'm new here but I actually clicked on this thread because they were one of the promo companies in my list to research for a new book. Thanks for sharing your experience.


A pleasure.


----------



## 69959 (May 14, 2013)

benlovejoy said:


> I gave up on BookBub after about a dozen attempts with no luck. I am registered for ads, though, so I will try that.


I had two dozen rejections before my first BookBub acceptance. Sometimes you need more reviews, a better cover, or a better blurb. Unfortunately, they don't tell you. But if you ask here, people will tell you!


----------



## kathrynoh (Oct 17, 2012)

Stacy Claflin said:


> I had two dozen rejections before my first BookBub acceptance. Sometimes you need more reviews, a better cover, or a better blurb. Unfortunately, they don't tell you. But if you ask here, people will tell you!


I had a bunch of rejections before being accepted. One book I changed the cover on and its had two runs since then.

Definitely get more opinions if you keep getting rejected though. The things that are putting Bookbub off are probably putting a lot of readers off as well so it's only going to help.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

To avoid confusion, I recommend folks wanting to discuss BookBub, how to best secure a spot there, etc, start a different thread.  There has already been some confusion....

Betsy


----------



## FFJ (Feb 8, 2016)

Thanks for sharing your experience.

I had Booksbutterfly on my promo company list. Mark Dawson also recommended it in is 101 course. I'm shocked to hear that yourself and others have had issues. Sadly, I'm going to take them off my list for now. I don't have the budget to take too many risks for my upcoming WIP.


----------



## Guest (Apr 16, 2017)

I'm from Books Butterfly - We always honor the guarantee and always do a prorated refund in store credit

We had forgotten that we agreed to do cash refund for this author. We work with thousands of authors and less than 10 authors have ever asked for cash refund before promotion. So it's not easy to remember. A case of left hand not knowing what the right hand agreed to. Our apologies for that mix-up! We did a refund in cash as soon as the author sent us the email where we had agreed.

Only 8% of book promotions at $0 or at $0.99 miss. By the nature of it we're optimized for the 92% that don't miss and there isn't really a proper process for 'What if author had requested before the promotion for prorated refund in cash, and what if we had agreed' etc. It's a process issue, and we'll be working to improve that process so that mix-ups like this one don't happen again. I hope everyone will keep the bottom line in mind: We always honor the guarantee.


----------



## SC (Jan 6, 2017)

ireaderreview said:


> We had forgotten that we agreed to do cash refund for this author. We work with thousands of authors and less than 10 authors have ever asked for cash refund before promotion. So it's not easy to remember. A case of left hand not knowing what the right hand agreed to. Our apologies for that mix-up! We did a refund in cash as soon as the author sent us the email where we had agreed.
> 
> Only 8% of book promotions at $0 or at $0.99 miss. By the nature of it we're optimized for the 92% that don't miss and there isn't really a proper process for 'What if author had requested before the promotion for prorated refund in cash, and what if we had agreed' etc.


LOL. Their defense is "we're incompetent, we keep poor records of our business dealings, and we have a 'pics or it didn't happen' policy regarding any agreement we make with you."

Sorry, Books Butterfly, but the attitude you've displayed on this forum, in various threads, is more than enough to convince me to never use you. Your whole business comes across as so unprofessional.


----------



## HieroHero (Apr 11, 2017)

That's pretty terrible, glad you got your refund. Did any of the 743 people who did download your book leave a review?


----------



## benlovejoy (Feb 28, 2016)

Yes, did at least get some reviews.


----------



## Joss (Apr 11, 2017)

I did a Books Butterfly promo a while back. I don't remember the details, but I know they didn't deliver the guaranteed sales they'd promised, nor did they wish to issue a refund.

In the end, I forced a refund through Paypal.

Don't use these guys.


_edited to comply with forum decorum; PM if you have questions. -- Ann_


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Shawna Canon said:


> LOL. Their defense is "we're incompetent, we keep poor records of our business dealings, and we have a 'pics or it didn't happen' policy regarding any agreement we make with you."
> 
> Sorry, Books Butterfly, but the attitude you've displayed on this forum, in various threads, is more than enough to convince me to never use you. Your whole business comes across as so unprofessional.


I think this is uncalled for.

It seems to me that the response here makes it clear that BooksButterfly has heard the complaints and has decided to try to act to fix things. You failed to quote part of his response:



> It's a process issue, and we'll be working to improve that process so that mix-ups like this one don't happen again. I hope everyone will keep the bottom line in mind: We always honor the guarantee.


To do that is a bit misleading, no?

It's fine if you're still wary of the service and would prefer not to use it. I wouldn't even blame a person who'd used the service and received different treatment not to trust this response completely.

But, in this case, the OP ultimately did get what was agreed to, and ireaderreview has provided an explanation for what happened without threat, accusation, or defensiveness. His response here IS completely professional.


----------



## Pizzazz (Dec 14, 2016)

Shawna Canon said:


> LOL. Their defense is "we're incompetent, we keep poor records of our business dealings, and we have a 'pics or it didn't happen' policy regarding any agreement we make with you."
> 
> Sorry, Books Butterfly, but the attitude you've displayed on this forum, in various threads, is more than enough to convince me to never use you. Your whole business comes across as so unprofessional.


I got the most unprofessional email I've ever seen from Books Butterfly. So I will never use them again. In addition, I, too, have not been impressed by the attitude I've seen from Books Butterfly in various threads here at KBoards. (Not just this one.) So you're not alone in your opinion.


----------



## Guest (Apr 17, 2017)

In general, NO SERVICE can "guarantee" you a fixed number of downloads, sales, or reviews. Nobody. _You cannot guarantee something you have no control over_. And no service has control over who will or won't download something.

Now a service can tell you what their averages are if they maintain good records, and those averages can be very useful.

A service can "guarantee" your ad will be sent to X number of subscribers because they know how many subscribers they have.

A service cannot "guarantee" that those subscribers will download Y number of copies because if those subscribers are real people, the service can't control their actions.

Just as a general bit of advice, you should always pay close attention to people who offer guarantees on things outside their own control.


----------



## It&#039;s A Mystery (Mar 14, 2017)

Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> In general, NO SERVICE can "guarantee" you a fixed number of downloads, sales, or reviews. Nobody. _You cannot guarantee something you have no control over_. And no service has control over who will or won't download something.
> 
> Now a service can tell you what their averages are if they maintain good records, and those averages can be very useful.
> 
> ...


I agree in general, but i think in this case the 'guarantee' is more that if you don't sell as much as the figure they state, you get an in store credit (for want of a better term).

As far as I can tell, this is the only bit of their business which causes them trouble. I've used them before and they were good for me. I'm using them again in the summer.


----------



## CEMartin2 (May 26, 2012)

Great thread. Wish it had started before I threw away $100 to Books Butterfly.

My own experiment with them is ongoing at http://www.kboards.com/index.php?topic=249982.msg3480028#msg3480028

Long story short, Gold package guarantees 1200 downloads. Since I previously (2014) got 14,000 downloads in one day at Bookbub, I didn't bat an eye at that. By day 4 of my Books Butterfly promo, I have a whopping 256 downloads. While I admit it's entirely possibly to get 944 downloads today, day 5, I seriously doubt that's going to happen.

I'll also note that nowhere in the signup and pay process did I know that by having previously been a Bookbubber, or that the book is permafree, I was eliminated from a refund. I found that out in an email sent AFTER I paid. In fact, that email came in on April 17th, the same day my promo had already started.

I'm in agreement with the OP on this thread and so many commenters: writer beware.


_edited; send Pm if you have questions -- Ann_


----------



## Used To Be BH (Sep 29, 2016)

Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> In general, NO SERVICE can "guarantee" you a fixed number of downloads, sales, or reviews. Nobody. _You cannot guarantee something you have no control over_. And no service has control over who will or won't download something.
> 
> Now a service can tell you what their averages are if they maintain good records, and those averages can be very useful.
> 
> ...


That's wonderful advice. It's especially true of review services. They can offer your book to their subscribers, but whether anyone chooses to review or not is a different story.


----------



## Guest (Apr 22, 2017)

What Mr. Barnett said:

***
I agree in general, but i think in this case the 'guarantee' is more that if you don't sell as much as the figure they state, you get an in store credit (for want of a better term).

As far as I can tell, this is the only bit of their business which causes them trouble. I've used them before and they were good for me. I'm using them again in the summer.
***


*******
Yes, EXACTLY. Thank you for clarifying this

Think of the guarantee as

We'll bring a lot of horses to the water. Based on past trends we know that 1,000 to 2,000 horses will drink. So we guarantee 1,200 horses will drink (free book downloads)
If the horses don't drink

We'll run it again FOR NO CHARGE and send more horses so you get to a total of 1,200+ horses that drink


That's the guarantee.


----------



## CEMartin2 (May 26, 2012)

*Unless it's a prior bookbub or is permafree. Fineprint you dont reveal at the time of ordering.


----------



## SA_Soule (Sep 8, 2011)

Harvey Click said:


> Unfortunately Bookbub won't advertise some of us. I've probably applied 20 or 25 times with no success.


I agree with Harvey. I have tried so many times over the years that I doubt I'll ever get one.


----------



## Guest (Apr 24, 2017)

1) THIS: Harvey Click on April 04, 2017, 12:47:22 PM
Unfortunately Bookbub won't advertise some of us. I've probably applied 20 or 25 times with no success.

I agree with Harvey. I have tried so many times over the years that I doubt I'll ever get one.

***************************************************
At Books Butterfly we believe that there have to be promotion sites that are willing to take risky books and new authors and unproven authors

Take more risks
Take a chance on new authors
See if this unproven author is going to be the big new thing

Readers agree. In Mar 2013 to Mar 2017 our reader base has grown 100 times. Precisely because we focus on New and Exciting and the Reward of finding the next great authors. That is what readers want - there are never enough great authors. Discovery is the main thing - connecting readers with authors

Every author starts with zero reviews
Every author starts with no idea of marketing and sales

***********************

2) At Books Butterfly, we curate and promote 300+ authors every day.
200+ of these are indie authors
100 or more each day are unproven indie authors
30-40% are sponsors. Rest are curated
*************************

In comparison to most other book promotion sites, we take any author we think is promising, even in cases where there is a real possibility of failure i.e. poor quality cover OR zero reviews OR genres are a royal mess

******************
This causes the unintended consequence that a small percentage of authors get upset at us, precisely because we took their book for its promise as opposed to its current sellability. They misattribute the book's lack of sellability to us

*****************************************

2) No prorated refund for books run with Bookbub. That's a subtle hint - If you're a Bookbub approved author you're not our target client. If your expectations are set by Bookbub's model of one ad a day to million+ readers in a genre, we're not a good fit for you

A disconcertingly large number of Bookbub authors want to run a free Bookbub, get 30,000 free book downloads, then run with us at $0.99 or at $0, and curse us if it doesn't hit the guaranteed figure. They disregard the fact that they just gave away 30,000 free book downloads and reduced the sales potential of the book

Kindly read the terms, get the hint, and let us promote authors who haven't just killed their books' results potential by sending it to 1 million readers as book of the day. Not to mention for free books an extended stay in the Top 100 list

**************************************

3) Yes, we have a lot of flaws

The one flaw we don't have is a lack of readers

We have 5 million readers

If you promote with us and your book misses you have two paths

Path 1: Assume your book is absolutely perfect. Tell other people Books Butterfly is a scam. Get temporary satisfaction. Don't improve your book's sellability

Path 2: Ask yourself - Why did my book not do well if it went out to so many readers? If I fix the sellability, is that going to help me every single day for the rest of my book's life, and in every future promotion? Does that mean I should focus on making my book better at selling?

Whatever makes you happy

************************

****************
For the OP - refund offer was done before thread was started. We didn't even know of this thread until the day we responded. Threads at KBoards are great as they help temper expectations. You just have to email us for refund and let us know context. That's enough

For CE Martin - results are low because you already promoted it to death with Bookbub in 2016, and because we already mentioned it twice as curated pick - 
2016 - http://freebookdeals.com/2016/02/28/excellent-free-christian-romance-2-1-usa-today-bestselling-authors-100-free-kindle-books-10-excellent-kindle-book-deals/
2013 - http://freebookdeals.com/2013/10/02/133-free-kindle-books-for-wednesday-52-kindle-book-deals-oct-2nd/

If you don't like terms you can email us and we cancel promotion. You can't make up your own terms in your head, never email us, and then claim we are dishonest
*******************************

Authors, this is a Tragedy of the Commons type of situation

Every promotion site starts off with great hopes of helping lots of authors
Then they get a kick in the guts from some author misattributing things. Then a few more punches and kicks. Then they decide to punish Every new author because 1% or 2% of new authors blame them for the performance of books which only the author can make more sellable

We are stubborn as mules. So we aren't going to let 1 or 2% of authors scare us into turning away every new author

Temporary satisfaction of saying 'My book is perfect and it's Books Butterfly's fault my book promotion didn't go well. I'm above using the prorated refund in store credit' is not worth it

Much better to understand WHY the promotion didn't go well, do fixes, and benefit ever after

**************

Biggest thing is

If you take 100% responsibility for your book's sales, and look at every way of improving your book and its sellability, you will keep doing better
If you keep giving away that power to extrinsic things, then you won't do as well

No one other than you can make your book a success. All your tools (and that's what promotion sites are) are powerless until you wield them in your hands. All the power, literally and figuratively and metaphorically, is in your hands


----------



## benlovejoy (Feb 28, 2016)

Wow. I had kept some things back, but as you have now publicly demonstrated just how unprofessional you are, I will share the rest of the story.

I first contacted Books Butterfly on the second day of the promo to say this:


```
Hi,

Just checking on in this, as it’s only seen 317 downloads so far …

Ben
```
That email was completely ignored.

When the promo ended, I wrote a polite, calm email advising the results and requesting the pro-rata refund. I could have ranted at the fact that a promo slot had been wasted, that the company didn't respond before, that a launch opportunity is a one-off, etc, but I didn't What I sent was this:


```
Hi Abhishek,

So, this was a hugely disappointing experience. Of the 5000 downloads guaranteed, it saw only 743 – and that is crediting your promo with 100% of the downloads during this period. I’ve attached a screengrab.

This means you delivered 14.86% of the promised number, making the pro-rata fee $59.44.

A refund of the balance of $340.56 is due.

Please refund this to Paypal by the end of the week.

Thanks,

Ben
```
There was no blame, not even a complaint.

You know what came next - a refusal to refund. When they did finally do so, it was with ill grace and a very lengthy rant about how it wasn't their fault and they couldn't keep track of all their customer emails, etc, etc.

I then got a second lengthy email ranting about this thread, and then a third one of about a dozen paragraphs. I decided life was too short and left it at that. I had no intention of posting further in this thread - what was done was done. But given that the post above gives an impression which is as insulting as it is misleading, I am now doing so.


----------



## WriterRon (Apr 24, 2017)

Quote from Books Butterfly:

" Yes, we have a lot of flaws

The one flaw we don't have is a lack of readers

We have 5 million readers"

You make a lot of claims, Books Butterfly. Now explain how you have 5 million readers?


----------



## RaBrant (Mar 11, 2017)

I did a Books Butterfly promotion for $100 at the end of February for one of my books. I received about 1,000 downloads on Amazon from the promotion and some on the other retailers, so I feel like they fulfilled their end of the deal. It is interesting to note that most of the downloads came on day FOUR of the promotion. 

But then I did a promotion at another site for 40 bucks (ENT, I believe) and received 1700 in a day on Amazon and some on other retailers. But it was a different book that has never had a BookBub advertisement before. I

My question. What do you feel is a good ROI? How many free books downloaded makes you happy for 10, 40, 100? Obviously, there needs to be other ways than BookBub since with one title I can haven't been able to get a BookBub in a year, while they almost always accept another series I have under a pen name.


----------



## TaraCrescent (Mar 21, 2015)

RaBrant said:


> I did a Books Butterfly promotion for $100 at the end of February for one of my books. I received about 1,000 downloads on Amazon from the promotion and some on the other retailers, so I feel like they fulfilled their end of the deal. It is interesting to note that most of the downloads came on day FOUR of the promotion.
> 
> But then I did a promotion at another site for 40 bucks (ENT, I believe) and received 1700 in a day on Amazon and some on other retailers. But it was a different book that has never had a BookBub advertisement before. I
> 
> My question. What do you feel is a good ROI? How many free books downloaded makes you happy for 10, 40, 100? Obviously, there needs to be other ways than BookBub since with one title I can haven't been able to get a BookBub in a year, while they almost always accept another series I have under a pen name.


I personally expect 10 downloads minimum per dollar spent. If a site can't deliver that, then I take it off the rotation. Bookbub does light-years better than that; Freebooksy seems to deliver about 15-17 downloads per dollar spent for my books.


----------



## RaBrant (Mar 11, 2017)

Are you talking FREE book downloads or 99 cents?


----------



## Fel Beasley (Apr 1, 2014)

ireaderreview said:


> Authors, this is a Tragedy of the Commons type of situation
> 
> Every promotion site starts off with great hopes of helping lots of authors
> Then they get a kick in the guts from some author misattributing things. Then a few more punches and kicks. Then they decide to punish Every new author because 1% or 2% of new authors blame them for the performance of books which only the author can make more sellable
> ...


I find it both funny and sad that every time one of these threads pops up, you harp on author's taking responsibility for their dismal results with your promotional services and yet I have never, ever seen you take responsibility for anything. It's always 100% someone else's fault. Don't tell people to take responsibility when you won't do the same. It looks really disengenious.

And before you claim I'm a disgruntled former client or out to get you or something, I've never used your services. I've simply observed how you've spoken to people here. Your promos could be the greatest thing since Bookbub, I don't know. It just rubs me the wrong way to tell people to do something that you won't even do.


----------



## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

benlovejoy said:


> I guess, but it feels like continuing after a dozen refusals is failing to take the hint ...


I've known people who got one after more refusals than that. As a matter of fact for some reason after having had a lot of BB ads, I had 8 refusals in a row. Now I have had two acceptances in a row. No, I can't explain it, but it costs nothing except a few seconds, so why not try?


----------



## Imogen Rose (Mar 22, 2010)

Glad to hear it.


----------



## TaraCrescent (Mar 21, 2015)

RaBrant said:


> Are you talking FREE book downloads or 99 cents?


Free.


----------



## Guest (Apr 25, 2017)

Books Butterfly website design is enough to keep me away.


----------



## RedAlert (May 15, 2015)

The OP stated that he received his refund after the company made him agree to never use their services again.  This is what companies do to sever relationships with problem customers who are so annoying that, just to shut them up, they are given refunds, as long as they agree to go away forever.

Most of this thread has to do with bad business-bad blood comments that you can read and file away.  But, when I read what the company allegedly said to the OP, it really gave me such a negative feeling.  You just don't do that.  It really sends up a big, red flag about doing business with someone who would treat you like an enemy just because you stood up for yourself.  What a shame.


----------



## josielitton (Jul 21, 2014)

ShaneJeffery said:


> Books Butterfly website design is enough to keep me away.


Okay, I bit, went and took a look. My eyes, my eyes!

On a more serious note, there is one word that should make every potential customer turn and run from any promotion site: Guaranteed. With or without the a fig-leaf asterisk.


----------



## Guest (Apr 28, 2017)

> Regarding this: I find it both funny and sad that every time one of these threads pops up, you harp on author's taking responsibility for their dismal results with your promotional services and yet I have never, ever seen you take responsibility for anything. It's always 100% someone else's fault. Don't tell people to take responsibility when you won't do the same. It looks really disengenious.
> 
> And before you claim I'm a disgruntled former client or out to get you or something, I've never used your services. I've simply observed how you've spoken to people here. Your promos could be the greatest thing since Bookbub, I don't know. It just rubs me the wrong way to tell people to do something that you won't even do.


*************

This is a very good point

We take 100% responsibility. WE run your book again, for no charge, to get you the missing results

It's very painful to us too. Because we hate it that 8% of books we promote at $0.99 and $0 miss.

We put our money where our mouth is (guarantee) and run it again for no charge. We get more slot requests than we can run so if a book misses and we run it again, we lose the money for that new no-charge promotion slot for the book that missed.

It's not as if there are no consequences for us. It's very painful to miss (we take things very personally if a book misses) and it costs us an entire slot to run your book again and get you the missing downloads/sales

****
For the 8% of authors that miss 6% are fine with rerun
It's a very small 2% that want to go into negative assumptions

And that's the ENTIRE problem - Negative ASSUMPTIONS

*************
Nature of book promotion is that sometimes books miss. It's pretty reasonable to expect authors to say - OK, let's run it again
OR
No, i want only cash prorated refund (and if author agrees to not work with us again we are happy to do cash refund)

That's fine.

What we don't understand is automatic Assumption - my book missed so you must be a scam.

We do understand it can be very frustrating if your book misses, especially as most of our authors came via word of mouth after hearing about great results from other authors.
Some books do miss. We did not make your book miss on purpose. We are willing to run your book again for no charge to get you the missing sales/downloads

It serves no purpose to make negative assumptions

*****************

It's a very difficult time for authors as it's getting tougher and tougher to sell books and become a successful author. We are well aware of that and we help authors to the best of our abilities. 7% to 8% of the time books promoted at $0 and $0.99 miss. In those cases we run the book again for no charge. We do understand that authors whose books miss are upset - however, that does not mean we are a scam. If you email us calling us a scam - we're human and sometimes it gets to us and we respond with negative energy

Perhaps it's not clear to authors but if a book misses

1) We run it again and lose that make-up promotion slot
2) We have to handle the 2% who make negative assumptions and call us a scam
3) We do feel the pain of a book missing. It's sort of impossible not to feel pain because you know in many cases authors are putting a lot of trust and hope into your promotion of their book

Authors only pay for results. So there's no pain. Unless of course you make some negative ASSUMPTION and create some unnecessary source of pain for yourself. Start believing that the tough market and the pain it's causing you is somehow our fault. We just promote your book and if it misses we run it again, or if you agree not to work with us again, we do cash refund and wish you best of luck

***********************


----------



## mwgraves10 (Aug 15, 2017)

My results was no better. Only after a week of attempting to contact them about their "guarantee" I've still gotten no response. Avoid them at all costs.

_Edited, no name calling please. PM me if you have any questions. --Betsy_


----------



## Guest (Sep 13, 2017)

Issue with Mr. Graves was resolved in Aug (Aug 20th)

8% of $0.99 book promotions miss. That's just a fact of life when promoting mostly new indie authors

In this case book missed by a lot, which suggests book is not a good fit for our readers. It happens, albeit rarely (in 1% or so of our $0.99 book promotions)

Author preferred cash refund so we've done cash refund. Refund is normally only in store credit. For some cases, at our discretion, we do cash refund. A case like this where there seems to be no product market fit between the book and our readers - makes more sense to do cash refund

Author emailed us 9th.
We responded within a few days (by 12th). Author let us know on 17th he'd prefer refund and we did refund on 20th. Responding via email takes a few business days - so it's slow (email tag with a day to 3 days delay each round)

The delay is due to the nature of emails (it's only going to get looked at once a day, and it might be 1 to 3 business days before we respond). The delay has nothing to do with guarantee, which we always honor, and only with the nature of email where it takes 1 to 3 business days each way to respond

If you want a faster response just visit the website and try live chat, or just call us up at 1-844-WE-PROMOTE. Then you get an instant response and issue can be resolved in 2 to 5 minutes instead of 3 to 10 days


----------

