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Has anyone here ever used BookBub? I created an account there, but when I started looking into their services, I discovered they charge a great deal for promos. Granted, they have a huge distribution list and they claim really good results, but I'm not sure I can plop down as much as they want, at least not yet.

I've used BookBub. Twice for my Historical Romance novel, both times I selected just the UK and the prices were very reasonable $30 and $70. But this was way back, possibly 2014.

Then I used it for a brand new genre category they'd just introduced and I was lucky to hear about it via Goodreads. I paid just over $200 for US and UK and the response was terrific. Well worth the money. I definitely got my money back and KU reads leapt up.

However, since then I have not been accepted and I notice that they lean towards trad published books now, and also those that sell in more than just Amazon outlets. As Canada doesn't seem to have Kindle Countdown Deals, I can't even get into that territory with any chance of a good roi.

The prices now seem to be horrendous and I suppose that is because authors are willing to pay - or their publishers are. It's the rules of supply and demand. Their newsletter can only contain so many books but the very high demand to be featured keeps the prices very high. Lucky BookBub.

As for their ads - I've tried lots of times but as I see no bump in sales or KU reads, I'm thinking I'm a mug to keep trying.

But if they accepted me for one of their features, I'd be tempted to cut down on food for a few years to make up the cost.

Thanks Anna and Alex. I have to check again, but at least some of the prices I saw were in excess of $1000. Of course, I'm a U.S. author with wide distribution (since I go through Ingram) and I think I may have checked one price based on international promotion. Still, that just seems like a terrible lot to take a chance on. If I can get some traction with cheaper promos first, I might step up to them eventually, though.

Thanks again, Alex.

Good information! I've often wondered...