# Book Funnel VS Instafreebie: Who Would You Go With?



## A J Sika (Apr 22, 2016)

This year I've decided to work on growing my list, and that means I need to pick a giveaway distributor. Book Funnel & Instafreebie are the most popular and I'm trying to decide who to go with. Now, I know these things depend entirely on your situation so here are my stats:


I have an organic 500 strong mailing list through Mailchimp. By Organic I mean that I got them purely through back matter links in published books offering updates on the next book in the series. The response rate never falls below 60%.

To keep my list entertained, I usually offer a free bonus chapter based on my most recently published book. Since I write Romance, it's usually a 3-5k word feel-good sort-of-epilogue just to let them know that the couple are doing okay. I usually just post the story on Wattpad and direct my list there. I will keep posting these shorts on Wattpad since they introduce drive-by readers to my work, but I'd also like to give the stories directly to my subscribers in the format they prefer and can keep. Book Funnel could work for this, but Instafreebie will introduce me to new readers.

I just created my first reader magnet. It's a 3-part serial that follows one couple from their dating, to break up to getting back together. Part 1 will be free on all stores but the more places I can offer it, the better. Part 2 will be free to people who subscribe to my mailing list and Part 3 will be on sale. I will be using Mailerlite for people who come in to my list through Part 2 then later export the most responsive readers to my Mailchimp list. Instafreebie would be awesome for offering Part 1 & 2 but they don't integrate to Mailerlite. Book Funnel does.


Obviously Book Funnel is cheaper. But if Instafreebie gives me more advantages, I'll consider it. Who would you go with if you were in my position?

Thanks in advance


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## Steve Voelker (Feb 27, 2014)

Personally, I canceled my instafreebie after going through a group promotion. I know some people really like it, but I didn't find it all that useful as a discovery tool, and my readers weren't crazy about it. 

I REALLY like bookfunnel. The service is great, and my readers seem to like it. 


If I could offer some unsolicited advice on your plan: 

If you have book 1 available to everyone, and book 3 available to everyone, I personally would NOT make book 2 a newsletter exclusive. I find that readers get annoyed if they feel like the only way they can get a full story is to sign up for your newsletter. You will also get a lot of people signing up just for the book and then immediately unsubscribing. (And often marking you as SPAM out of spite for forcing them to jump through hoops for a book they would have gladly bought.)

If you have book 2 up for sale AS WELL AS being offered as a newsletter incentive, it will show the readers that what they are getting in exchange for their email address has an actual dollar value. They like that. 

Just my 2 cents!


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## A J Sika (Apr 22, 2016)

Steve Voelker said:


> Personally, I canceled my instafreebie after going through a group promotion. I know some people really like it, but I didn't find it all that useful as a discovery tool, and my readers weren't crazy about it.
> 
> I REALLY like bookfunnel. The service is great, and my readers seem to like it..............
> 
> ...


Thanks for the response Steve,

Everyone keeps saying how great Instafreebie is a discovery tool... it's good to hear the other side of the story.

I think I didn't explain the whole concept of my reader magnet series well. I plan on offering all 3 books in all stores I can get them into. Book 1 will be free. Book 2 will be 3.99 but free for anyone who signs up to my list and Book 3 will be 3.99. So yes, we are on the same page on that.


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## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

I have and pay for both, since they do different things and are not interchangeable.

Instafreebie is like a Facebook ad for subscribers, only way, way, way cheaper. Plus the people who sign up are actually readers. Of books, you know. Take part in the occasional author cross-promo and that's all you have to do. Watch the subscribers come in.

Bookfunnel is an excellent platform to deliver free books to readers. I have them so that I can palm off those annoying and pesky people who email you with messages like this (yes, in allcaps): YES I GOT THE BOOKS THANKS BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW TO PUT THEM ON MY KINDLE!!!!!

So I tell them to go to Bookfunnel and get the instructions or pester the people there with eye-stabbing allcaps. It's magic.


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## Andie (Jan 24, 2014)

Both, for the reasons Patty listed above.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

As the others say, I use both for different things. Bookfunnel for delivery to existing subscribers and InstaFreebie to gain new ones.


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## Guy Riessen (Mar 27, 2016)

Yep, both forth the reasons mentioned above. That said, Bookfunnel is now looking to start some method of discovery, to be determined, that we might see released relatively soon--this according to a survey of users they sent out, and their subsequent email response about what they learned.

Bookfunnel is 10X easier for readers to use. Instafreebie is a mire of steps--but, right now they're the predominant method for free-book list building, so we're kinda stuck with them for now. If Bookfunnel builds similar discoverability tools, I think you'll see lots of people shift in that direction.


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## edwardgtalbot (Apr 28, 2010)

Just to add to this, a key difference is that instafreebie collects email addresses for you and bookfunnel doesn't, right? So they would serve two different purposes, as others have said. 

My unsubscribe rate a month into instafreebie is staggeringly low - several hundred people have received either one or two emails from me, and I only have 7 unsubscribes. That's not very different rate from the several hundred I gained organically. But I won't know until May how good the instafreebie ones are when I launch a new book.


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## edwardgtalbot (Apr 28, 2010)

To add to my comment above, bookfunnel DOES collect email addresses if you pay $100 a month, but that is an order of magnitude higher expense than instafreebie.


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## Deuces Deleted (Dec 21, 2015)

Book Funnel is the win for me. InstaFreebie isn't right for my brand. I've had people respond to emails saying stuff like... Don't email me unless it's about free books. I deleted them. I'm not paying for subscribers who only want free words... I created a mobile app for readers to provide freebies to see if they would like to buy my books. That is more cost effective than paying for newsletters. So to answer the question for me BookFunnel is the win.


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## hunterone (Feb 6, 2013)

Patty Jansen said:


> I have and pay for both, since they do different things and are not interchangeable.
> 
> Instafreebie is like a Facebook ad for subscribers, only way, way, way cheaper. Plus the people who sign up are actually readers. Of books, you know. Take part in the occasional author cross-promo and that's all you have to do. Watch the subscribers come in.
> 
> ...


lol


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## edwardgtalbot (Apr 28, 2010)

Ryn Shell said:


> I pay US$100. a year for email collection, not a month, for that service from BookFunnel.


My apologies - it is per year. And it appears that they have automation with several mail providers. So I guess I am rethinking this whole thing - why would someone pay more for instafreebie when it doesn't appear to offer any advantages? I know instafreebie sends promo emails when there are group promos - is there any other advantage?


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## Guy Riessen (Mar 27, 2016)

Ryn Shell said:


> I think the main advantages are for those authors doing InstaFreebie group promotions.


This is the primary reason. Also Instafreebie does have discoverability whereas currently Bookfunnel does not. What do I mean? I mean Instafreebie has a newsletter, website and blog that features author group promotions. Bookfunnel does not. Instafreebie also picks (I don't know what determines this) certain books to feature in their media as well. Bookfunnel does not.

So far, I've had great subscriber open, click and retention rates with the 3 multi-author Instafreebie promos I've joined.

But as a book delivery service, Bookfunnel blows the doors off of Instafreebie.


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## edwardgtalbot (Apr 28, 2010)

arieswriting said:


> Whereas Bookfunnel is $20 a year with no freebie plan, but you also can't collect email addresses at that price, and it's only use is for handing out ARCs and having them handle any issues with that? You couldn't put the Bookfunnel link in your Mailchimp emails to hand out a freebie to everyone who joins your list, correct?


Yes, you could put your bookfunnel link in your mailchimp emails. In fact, that's how many people deliver the free books they offer in exchange for people joining their list. They can use a mailchimp form/page for signups and bookfunnel for delivery.

It's also true that instafreebie currently has discovery options that bookfunnel doesn't have, even if you pay $100 for bookfunnel and get the ability to collect email addresses. Most free book group promos use instafreebie, not book funnel, because there's a decent chance of getting into instafreebie's newsletter.

The debate will go on about the quality of subs obtained via instafreebie versus fb ads versus organic signups, with some having tremendous results with each and others having terrible results with each. So there isn't a one size fits all answer as far as that goes.


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## hardnutt (Nov 19, 2010)

I've found bookfunnel great. I've had 71 new sign-ups, and I've only used their service for a few weeks. I use the Mid-List author price-plan. At $100 a year/$10 a month, it's definitely worth it. I can collect emails easily - I just download their collated collection.

I create an enticing email on bookfunnel, and send it to my FB timeline, page, groups and twitter. That's all I've done so far, but it's been productive. I may try another FB Ad using them. I've not had much luck using these so far, but if the reader has actual human help, which bookfunnel provides, in getting the book onto their device, things might improve.


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## Guy Riessen (Mar 27, 2016)

arieswriting said:


> Just so I can keep this all straight, there's no way to collect email addresses at all with the free plan on Instafreebie? So you just offer a free book and then ... that's it? Hope they decide to join your list after or review the book?
> 
> So Instafreebie really only has a benefit if you pay at least the 20/monthly plan so you can make those potential readers join your list to get the book in the first place, right?


Yes.
No. What? Really, no. See Instafreebie has a 30-day trial that includes their full mailchimp-integrated email-collecting goodness. So do this...
1. Join instafreebie at the free level so you can get onto their forums.
2. Peruse their forums and find a couple (or more) multi-author promos which are going to start and run a month.
3. Contact the person running the multi-author promo and tell them you want to time the free instafreebie time with their promo and ask to turn in your links at the last minute--tell them you will provide the professional cover and a blurb as soon as they want it (then do that!)
4. Run your free Instafreebie trial time right along with your first multi-author promos.
5. make sure you share the promos with as many social platforms as you can during the promo--work hard to make a good impression with your fellow authors because that's always great 
6. Be absolutely stunned at how many email sign-ups you get!
7. If you don't want to pay $20 to run more promos right away, let your Instafreebie drop back to the free level until you are ready.


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## Steven Kelliher (Jul 12, 2016)

Excuse the possibly-dumb question, but can't you use Instafreebie in the same way you use Bookfunnel for delivery? Can't you just create a giveaway for your book file and set it to private, not public and send that link out to your list if you're offering a freebie?

I don't get what BF offers that you can't do through IF.


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## Lefevre (Feb 1, 2014)

edwardgtalbot said:


> To add to my comment above, bookfunnel DOES collect email addresses if you pay $100 a month, but that is an order of magnitude higher expense than instafreebie.


Just use the $20 a year book funnel service. All you have to do is create a list on mailchimp, put the book funnel download link into the appropriate mail chimp subscribe sequence page. Then just use that list link to collect an email from your book or wherever. Easy peezy lemon sqeezy

I tried both, but went with book funnel because my subscribers say they love it. Instafreebie is branded to attract free seekers, and I am not too keen on paying for subscribers who only want free books.

I suggest trying both with an A/B test and see what works the best for your type of books.


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## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

Steven Kelliher said:


> Excuse the possibly-dumb question, but can't you use Instafreebie in the same way you use Bookfunnel for delivery? Can't you just create a giveaway for your book file and set it to private, not public and send that link out to your list if you're offering a freebie?
> 
> I don't get what BF offers that you can't do through IF.


Instafreebie emails the book to people. Bookfunnel puts it on their device. You only need a few clueless emails from readers to know that there is a big difference.


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## Guy Riessen (Mar 27, 2016)

Patty Jansen said:


> Instafreebie emails the book to people. Bookfunnel puts it on their device. You only need a few clueless emails from readers to know that there is a big difference.


This. No question, BF wins hands down for delivery (they'll hand-hold the most non-tech person through the process. Really), which is why some people pay for both.


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## BookSproutChris (Dec 5, 2015)

I'm going to throw my name into the ring here. I recently introduced a "reader's choice" giveaway to Booksprout that gives readers the ability to choose whichever book they want from you when they join your list.

I created a demo so that people could see what it looks like:
https://booksproutapp.com/author/giveaway/748/mark-twain

Basically, as an author, I found that readers were more likely to subscribe to my list if they got to choose any book when they sign up. It was too tedious to do it manually for very long, so I automated the process and made it available to everyone.


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## A. N. Other Author (Oct 11, 2014)

I use both. With the instafreebie mailing list collection, my first welcome auto-responder says "thanks for signing up. [blah blah blah] if you have any difficulty getting the book from Instafreebie, here's another option: [link to bookfunnel]

I also use bookfunnel for ARCs and for another mailing list gathering service, so I already have an account anyway, meaning I'm not blindly paying twice.

I've had instafreebie for a month and gathered over 700 email addresses. I'm going to continue paying for one month at least then decide whether to continue based on how engaged those new signups prove to be.


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## SG (May 25, 2016)

Patty Jansen said:


> You only need a few clueless emails from readers to know that there is a big difference.


Yeah. Tell me about it.


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## edwardgtalbot (Apr 28, 2010)

ADDavies said:


> I use both. With the instafreebie mailing list collection, my first welcome auto-responder says "thanks for signing up. [blah blah blah] if you have any difficulty getting the book from Instafreebie, here's another option: [link to bookfunnel]


I don't know about you, but I get a great open and click rate on the first welcome email. Over 60% open and almost 40% click (meaning almost 2/3 of those who open it). I don't know if it's because instafreebie is tough to download or if they think those alternate links are for additional free books.


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## A. N. Other Author (Oct 11, 2014)

edwardgtalbot said:


> I don't know about you, but I get a great open and click rate on the first welcome email. Over 60% open and almost 40% click (meaning almost 2/3 of those who open it). I don't know if it's because instafreebie is tough to download or if they think those alternate links are for additional free books.


I get a good open rate and about a 40% click-through. I wonder if people get d/l the file from instafreebie intending to put it on their device later but then the welcome email comes in and some prefer that.

I get a better click through on one of my other emails, which directs them to my permafree in another series.

FWIW, i've been with Instafreebie about 6 weeks and participated in 2 cross-promos and now have 1000 subscribers from that.


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

This is a lot of instructions from Instafreebie for the reader to download. Surprised it is working so well for people.
(BTW: not really "instant." I picked a book to download and it took 40 minutes to hit my email.).

----
Your freebie has arrived!
MOBI files, like the one attached to this email, are only supported by Kindle E-readers and the Kindle app (Android, iOS, Mac, Windows).

Need a different file type? If the giveaway is still active, you can claim another copy here.

If you have a Mac/Windows computer, the easiest way to get your ebook to any Kindle device is with Amazon's Send to Kindle app. Check out our step-by-step guide here.

If you don't have a Mac/Windows computer available, follow these steps to send your ebook to your preferred Kindle device:

First, find your Kindle Email (through Amazon.com)

Login to your Amazon account through Amazon's website.
Go to: "Your Account" >> "Manage Your Content and Devices" >> "Settings"
Under Settings, go to "Send-to-Kindle E-Mail Settings" where your Kindle email is located ([email protected]​kindle​.​com).
Make sure the personal email you're sending from is on the "Approved Personal Document E-mail List," which is also under the Settings tab (just below the Send-to-Kindle E-Mail Settings).
Second, send mobi or PDF files to your Kindle Email (from your approved personal email address)

Go back to the Instafreebie email with your book file.
Forward your Instafreebie email instead of replying. Make sure you forward it to your Kindle email address. Write "Convert" in the subject line and click "Send." This will send it to your Kindle device for that email.
In the Kindle app for the device, click the "Sync" button (and wait a few minutes for it to sync, although it can happen right away).
Need help loading your freebie onto another eReader?

Learn more on our support page.


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## Gone 9/21/18 (Dec 11, 2008)

Just curious. Let's say I set up either an IF or BF account, upload something I want only my mailing list to get, and send out an email with the link. Then someone posts that link to say Goodreads. Am I right that then anyone who finds the link on GR can download the book?


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## C.F. (Jan 6, 2011)

BookSproutChris said:


> I'm going to throw my name into the ring here. I recently introduced a "reader's choice" giveaway to Booksprout that gives readers the ability to choose whichever book they want from you when they join your list.
> 
> I created a demo so that people could see what it looks like:
> https://booksproutapp.com/author/giveaway/748/mark-twain
> ...


This looks interesting. Thanks for sharing. Nice to see you're constantly improving Booksprout.


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## C.F. (Jan 6, 2011)

On the Bookfunnel website, under the mid-list and higher plans is says:
Watermarked files with Certified Mail and Giveaways

How does that work? Can anyone comment on it?


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## C. Gockel (Jan 28, 2014)

Despite the difficulty in managing the files, you do actually get readers from Instafreebie. I can tell because my sell-thru rate is pretty steady over time. When I see an extra 120 sales of my second in series, I notice--and I've gotten that post Instafreebie promos. I suppose I could add a different tracking link to the Instafreebie file to be _really_ sure, but ... eh ... no.


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## Viv Phoenix (Dec 19, 2015)

I opted for BookFunnel. The mid-list plan is $10 a month. It includes two pen names and mailing list integration. 

The deciding factor was that that Instafreebie collects and emails all subscribers for their own business purposes. With BookFunnel, my signups are mine. 

I'm considering Instafreebie for the cross-promotion and discoverability aspects, but I don't like putting my subscribers in the position of getting Instafreebie emails. It's been helpful to read about everyone's results.


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## GrandFenwick (Aug 24, 2015)

Dumb question: Can I use either of these services for books in KU? And how do these services compare to Bookcave, which I have used for a free group book promo and through which I got 200 new email subscribers and retained most of them.


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## rikatz (Oct 4, 2016)

I just signed up with Instafreebie, put two short stories on it, one science fiction story that was previously published but is now out of print and one brand new mystery story, a prequel to my mystery series, that has never been published. I have to admit, I don't really understand Instafreebie's business model. Wouldn't it work better, and wouldn't there be more subscribers, if all the books/stories on offer were listed on their website, so everybody could search and find something that they like?

As it is, I am responsible for marketing. I have a nice looking website that gets a visit or two per day. I have a Facebook page with 16 followers. I have an email list (Mailerlite--Instafreedie integrates with them now) with 10 names on it. Obviously, my ability to spread the word and attract subscribers is limited. If I could reach readers on my own, then I probably wouldn't need Instafreebie.


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## Caimh (May 8, 2016)

I recently cancelled my Instafreebie account and I know a few people who did the same. I found that despite having a strong on-boarding sequence etc, I didn't think the subscribers turned into buyers in any kind of significant numbers to justify the expense of time and money. As has been mentioned elsewhere, Instafreebie attracts a whole lot of free-seekers. I was also disappointed how many of the subscribers when I export the mailchimp list to Active Campaign were people who had subscriber previously. In other words, they just constantly grab loads of stuff, not knowing they already have it. I will say though, my freebie is a short story collection and not a first in series so that might have an effect. I also put a 10% taster up of my book 1 though. 

Bookfunnel works brilliantly for delivery and now they have the facility to collect e-mail addresses in cross-promotions they give me essentially what Instafrrebie did. I cancelled Instafreebie and upgraded Bookfunnel two days ago as that seemed the most logical step. Instafreebie may also work much better for some genres than others, so you should check with authors who write work similar to yours.


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## Guy Riessen (Mar 27, 2016)

ellenoc said:


> Just curious. Let's say I set up either an IF or BF account, upload something I want only my mailing list to get, and send out an email with the link. Then someone posts that link to say Goodreads. Am I right that then anyone who finds the link on GR can download the book?


You can limit both the time available and the number of copies available on both platforms. If someone posts on Goodreads, they too will have to stay within that limit (and that's also why a timed limit might be better, since you can also post that in your newsletter--from now until August 18, you can get my book for free! for example).

Garnering a bunch of new readers through Goodreads isn't exactly a bad thing, is it? You've got links to your other books, your mailing list etc, at the back and front of your books, right?


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## RD (Dec 19, 2015)

Is there a way to use instafreebie with your website subscribe page or is all set up to only work with mailchimp etc?


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