This help article describes every setting and entry box in the Post a New Group Promo form. Please read How To Post, Edit, and Manage a Group Promo to learn how to manage a group promo from start to finish.
To post a new promo:
- Click Promotions on your BookFunnel dashboard.
- Click Action and select Post a New Promo.
Promo Details
Fill out the details of your promo.
- Promotion Name This is helpful in identifying your promotion. Example: 12 Days of Cozy Mysteries in July
- Promotion Type Choose either newsletter builder or sales promo. Is your promo going to find new mailing list subscribers or sell books? BookFunnel will automatically restrict the links to the correct type when an author submits a book to your promo. A promotion can only accept sales landing pages or download pages, never both. Once your promo is live, you cannot change the promo type.
- Newsletter Builder A “newsletter builder” is a promo where every author offers a free book (or sample). Most authors in the promo will require a reader to subscribe to their newsletter in exchange for downloading the free book.
- Book Sales Promo A “sales promo” is where every author submits a sales landing page that sends buyers to buy the book, either directly from the author’s online store or at the bookstore of their choice.. Readers are not joining a mailing list or providing their email address. If you opt to restrict a sales promo to one specific store, BookFunnel will only show the store link you specified on each sales landing page. Example: A Kindle Sales Promo will only link to the Kindle store
- Mark as Private: Use this checkbox if you do not want to post your promo to the public promos board. You can share the recruitment link with authors, so they can join the promo.
- Promotion Link This is the promo’s URL on BookFunnel. Create a new link in the field, or choose and existing link from the Use Existing dropdown. You are able to continue using an existing link for future promos, as long as there isn’t an overlap with another promo with the same active dates.
- Discussion Link If you are discussing your promo on Facebook or some other public platform, you can link to it here. If the discussion is taking place in a private group or forum, only authors in that group will be able to see your post. Join our Facebook Promos Group.
- Genres Authors are notified when new promos are posted in their genres. Select up to 3 genres or sub-genres so that we can notify the correct authors when your promotion goes live.
- Contact Name and Email We strive to protect your privacy. We will not share your account name or account email with any other author or service. Please provide a contact name and contact email address that you are comfortable sharing with other authors.
- Recruiting Start/End Dates You can schedule your promo to begin and end its recruitment period at a future date. Your promo will automatically close submissions after the deadline has passed. New authors cannot see it after submissions have been closed.
- Promotion Start/End Dates The dates your promotion will run. Your promo will become active at 12:00:01 AM UTC on the start date selected, and end at 11:59:59 PM PST on the end date selected. You can edit these dates up until the promotion has ended if necessary.
Participant Requirements
- Require a minimum mailing list This will prominently be displayed in your promo requirements.
- Space in this promo is limited You can set a limit and your promo will automatically stop accepting submissions when you have received X number of books.
- Authors may have to pay money to join this promo This requirement can be used if you will be running Facebook ads or boosting posts and would like to request (or require) every author to contribute towards the cost. Some organizers have also used it when their promo has a high list size requirement, but they are willing to accept an author with a small list if they will pitch in for ads or boosted posts. Requiring authors to pay a fee to join your promo violates the spirit of group promos, but does not currently violate the rules.
Book Requirements
- No erotica If selected, authors will be asked to check a box to confirm that their book is not erotica before they can submit their book to your promo.
- No sexually suggestive (NSFW) book covers The exact definition of “sexually suggestive” is subjective, so please be clear in your promo description (especially if you are running a romance promo). If you absolutely need guidelines, consider this kind of content to be sexually suggestive: explicit or implied nudity which can include bare chests, explicit or implied sex, or provocative body positioning.
- Full books only (no samples or chapters)
- Only allow X books per pen name BookFunnel will automatically prevent an author from submitting more than that this number of books
Moderation Options
Learn more about implementing a “promo waiting room” and blocking certain submissions.
- Block authors flagged by BookFunnel This setting will prevent authors from joining your promo if (1) they have been flagged for promo abuse or (2) they have completed more than 20 promos and received (on average) fewer than 5 tracking link clicks per promo.
- Block authors who have been in X promos with fewer than X average clicks If the above block setting is not adequate, you can customize your block requirements. Learn more about blocking promo submissions.
- Moderate authors who have been in X promos with fewer than X average clicks Authors can submit books to your promo where they are placed in a “waiting room”. You can easily review submissions and accept or reject books on your promo details. Learn more about moderating promo submissions.
Final Details
- Additional Requirements Form URL If you have created a google form and want participants to submit additional information to you in order to join your promo, link to it here. Participants will be required to tick a box when submitting their book to your promo, promising that they have filled out your “additional requirements” form. This link is only for data collection related to the promo and should not require or request a participant subscribe to any mailing list, nor should an author’s private data be used for email marketing.
- Promo Description Describe the promotion so that authors can determine if they are a good fit. Is this an unlimited promo, or does it only have space for six books? Do all participants need to share with their newsletter or social media X times? Is this for KDP Select Samples only?
- Click Save Promo to publish your promo right away, or you can click Save and Close if you would like to save the promo as a draft. You will receive an email confirmation with details and a direct link to your promotion.
Learn how to manage your new group promo.