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Before You Sign Up…
BookFunnel is an ebook delivery platform that enables you to spend more time writing and less time managing your ARCs, reader magnets, and exclusive content promotions.
Dropbox, Google Drive, Mailchimp, they’ll all host your book files for you. And, no doubt, some readers will even download your book.
So, why should you sign up for a BookFunnel account? Because emailing a new reader a Dropbox link is not the same as sending them a book they can actually read. Sure, some folks are tech-savvy and know exactly what to do, but most have no experience with .mobi or .epub files.
BookFunnel walks your reader through the whole process, from downloading the file to actually opening the book. Our download instructions are tailored to exactly the device your reader is using. Some devices require a few more steps than others, and we are available to your readers if they have questions or run into trouble. Our stellar support team is fun, friendly, and can help any reader get a book to just about any reading device out there.
Do you know the difference between the first-generation Kindle Fire and the third-gen?
We do!
Did you know that Kobo e-readers have a built-in web browser that can download books?
No, and why should you? That’s not your job. You’re a writer, so go write! Delivering books and helping folks learn how to use their devices is our job. And we are really good at it.
It means we answer support requests from you and your readers first. When your readers need help with a book, they are automatically bumped to the top of the support queue. When you have a problem or a question for the BookFunnel team, we get to your inquiry first. Priority Support is available on the Bestseller and Small Publisher plans.
BookFunnel is not a promotional platform and we do not have a reader list. Readers will only find your book on our service if you (or someone else) sends them the link to it.
Because we are not a promo site, you can trust that when you send your reader to BookFunnel, they are only going to see your book. They will not receive free content by other authors on our service. While we will never solicit your reader, we think it is awesome when authors work and promote together, so we built this incredible tool and this handy board to facilitate those partnerships.
Getting Started
You upload your book to BookFunnel and create a download page to it. You can customize your page to really show off your book cover and wow your readers (find examples and some helpful advice here).
Then share the download page link with your readers and they can get your book. You can see an example of one of our download pages here:
Yes, if you are on a Mid-List plan or above, you can create a Giveaway page that will collect reader email addresses. You can see an example of one of our Giveaway pages here.
We will collect email addresses on your behalf and store them in a CSV for you to import into your mailing list service at your convenience. If you have Integration on your account, we can even add new subscribers directly to your ActiveCampaign, AWeber, ConvertKit, MailChimp, or MailerLite account. Learn more about direct Integration here.
If you are on a First-Time Author plan, you will collect email addresses on your own website using a form provided by your mailing list service. Then you will email readers your BookFunnel download link in your welcome email.
Yes, if you are on a Mid-List plan or above and use a Giveaway page, we will require an email address before a reader can download the book. Regular download pages do not collect reader email addresses.
There are many ways to use our service, depending on the plan you sign up for and how and where you are sharing your free book online with readers. Learn how to use BookFunnel with any mailing list service here.
You can use a regular download page to distribute review copies. Simply create a download page and email it to your street team. If you want to ensure that only your street team gets your ARC, BookFunnel Certified Mail will allow you to send a unique link to each member of your review team and track exactly which readers download the book.
Or, you can use a Restricted Giveaway page, which will check your mailing list before allowing a reviewer to download your book. Learn more about Certified Mail and Restricted pages here.
Yes. It is important that you let your readers know early and often that it is a sample/novella/short story. If a reader does not realize it is a teaser or very short story until after they start reading it, they can feel cheated. We recommend a banner on the cover image as well as adding “5 First Chapters” or “Short Story” to the top of your download page.
Book Files & Formatting
To upload your book, you will need your book cover image jpg (1000×640 minimum) and your EPUB file. You can optionally upload your own MOBI and PDF.
Yes, and you can optionally upload the book cover jpg (1000×640 minimum) if you would like it to be displayed on the download page. If you do not provide a book cover image, we will display a generic PDF image.
If you are coming from a Word Doc, we recommend a service called Draft2Digital.com. They are a book distributor, but they also happen to have a top-notch Word Doc converter, and they allow you to use their converter even if you don’t distribute through them.
That said, they also happen to be a great company capable of getting you into stores you probably can’t reach on your own, so you should consider distributing your book through them. Once you send your Word Doc through their converter, you can download the resulting EPUB and MOBI files and then upload them to BookFunnel.
(We are not affiliated with Draft2Digital in any way, they just provide an awesome service.)
If you are not starting with a Word Doc, you can use Calibre to convert your book to the proper format. (Please note that a PDF is not a good source document for converting. The resulting EPUB and MOBI will likely have formatting problems)
You should be fine if you are only distributing a sample of your book.
If you read your agreement with KDP Select, you may find that it prohibits you from distributing any digital version of your full book. Some authors have been told that review copies are allowed, but others authors have been told “No.” You’ll need to read your agreement and decide for yourself how you want to proceed.
Common Questions
Yes, in most cases. Learn how you can change your plan here.
If you reach your limit, we will keep delivering your book and nothing will change on the reader side. If you do exceed your limit, you may be charged overages at the end of the month. Learn more about overages here.
Generally speaking, no. BookFunnel download pages are not searchable and should not be indexed by search engines (like Google or Bing). The only way a reader can find your book on our service is if you (or someone else) share the download link with them. The only exception would be if someone posted your link in a public forum, like on a blog, Pinterest, or Twitter, it is possible it could be indexed. If that were to happen, you could expire your download page link and replace it with a new one. The process is quick and painless.
The BookFunnel app is our handy little Android app that allows readers to download your book to their Android device or Kindle Fire wirelessly. It is never required of course, but it makes it super snappy to download a book and sling it to the Books library on your Kindle Fire, or to your Kindle or Nook app on Android. Our app makes the download process faster and simpler, and has no ads, no tracking, and no pop-ups.
Check out the BookFunnel App here.
We don’t have an iOS app because it is unnecessary when downloading ebook files on iPhones and iPads. Unlike Android, iOS devices will let you download and open .mobi and .epub files easily.