Category Archives: BookBub

May 11, 2026 · 2:55 pm

Author Websites by BookBub

A complete makeover of my author website has been on my To-Do list for years. I’m well aware that this site (which you have somehow found, gentle reader, if you’re reading this post — thank you!) looks quite dated. Its dimensions are geared toward the smaller desktop screens of yesteryear, and it is NOT optimized for phones and tablets. And the content: Oh my! “What a tangled web we weave!” This site has become a catch-all scrapbook of my bookish enterprises. I have added pages and interlinked them until the whole thing borders on labyrinthian.

I am held back, however, from attempting to change the theme of this WordPress site because I dread the possibility of catastrophically scrambling the whole messy thing. When I read advice about “staging sites” and code snippets, my blood runs cold.

Simply starting over with a new site is probably easier than attempting to update this existing monster. I have made a small start in that direction by accepting BookBub’s offer of a free “Author Pages” website. I won’t pay $10 a month for their “pro” version, but so far their free plan is giving me everything I need:

  • Author Bio
  • Books — descriptions and buy links
  • Social Media links
  • Blog
  • Updates (an example is shown here)
  • Reviews (what they call Praise)
  • Contact page
  • Other Writing — a page for linking to my essays, articles, short stories, etc.

The content that is only available with a Pro plan is nothing that I would consider essential:

  • Events (those could be listed in the Updates section)
  • FAQs (nice to have as a separate page, but the info could be included on the Contact page in its optional “Personal message” section)
  • Media Coverage (could go under Reviews, or in the Blog or the Updates)
  • Press Kit (“Other Writing,” maybe, or worked into the Author Bio)
  • Custom Pages (yikes! Being able to add any number of pages to a website is what led to my current monster in the first place. Having a finite set of pages is more appealing to me.)

I don’t even mind the default address: deborahjlightfoot.author-pages.com. The “author-pages.com” extension is appropriate, and it looks a heck of a lot better than the “ag-sites.net” which is the default for websites hosted by the Authors Guild.

For now, therefore, I plan to slowly expand my free Author Pages site, courtesy of BookBub. Considering how much money I’ve spent with them over the years, running BookBub ads that always have a negative ROI, I figure they owe me a free basic website. Their strategy, I imagine, will turn out to be bait-and-switch: after enough authors have invested enough time and effort in developing their free sites, BookBub will probably discontinue the free plan and try to force everyone to pay $10 a month for the Pro version.

Sorry if that sounds cynical, but there is a vast industry dedicated to separating writers from their money. “Free” generally comes with massive strings attached.

If you have set up a website through BookBub — either Free or Pro — I would love to hear your thoughts. And if you have advice on how to update this aged, bloated website (the site you’re looking at right now) without breaking the thing, please get in touch! I need the help and some hand-holding through the perilous process.

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January 6, 2026 · 12:29 pm

Book Promo Sites: My 2025 Results

Here’s my annual analysis of my marketing efforts. This is pretty much all that I do in the way of marketing: I run (or try to run) a promo every month in a different email/newsletter.

The bar graphs are screenshots from my Amazon KDP reports. Each blue bar shows the total number of my books that were ordered that month. Since I have a six-book series, the full-series promo at Written Word Media tends to bring in the most orders. A full-series promo is pricey at $170, but cost-effective for promoting six books at one time.

2025 was a case study in what happens to my sales when I DON’T run a promo. I was so shocked and discombobulated by events in Spring 2025, following the inauguration of cheetolini, I forgot all about scheduling promos. As a result, my March-April-May sales were flat-flat-flat.

To perk things up, I scheduled a short stack in June, running a promo at Robin Reads on June 18, followed by the Fussy Librarian on June 20. July got skipped, but my Full Series Promo at Written Word Media on August 31 continued to produce results into September.

To finish the year on a rising note, I scheduled another double-promo in November: BookRaid and Robin Reads. Then wrapped things up in December with the always-reliable Book Barbarian, a site that specializes in fantasy and science fiction.

Overall, my ebook and print sales were down in 2025. My best results came from audiobook sales. My Featured Audiobook Deal at Chirp was a wild success, by my standards. I don’t know if Chirp (BookBub) was impressed by the final tally of the month-long sale, but it was definitely a boost to my spirits and my income, seeing hundreds of audiobooks sell, and gaining several nice new reviews.

In 2026, I hope to return to a regular monthly promo, adding EReader News Today back into the mix. I missed ENT entirely in ’25, but I’ve submitted Book 1 of my Waterspell fantasy series for a January spot there, in hopes of grabbing a place before their month’s newsletters fill up.

Most of these promos cost $45 to $65. Doable on a budget, even mine.

To compare these results with what I’ve experienced in earlier years, check out these posts:

I hate marketing and I’m really bad at it. Running paid promos in newsletters is the easiest and most effective approach I have found. What promo sites do you recommend? What have your experiences been with pay-per-click ads at Amazon, BookBub, and Facebook? I have tried those, but I’ve found them to be way overpriced and ineffective for my books.

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November 14, 2025 · 12:01 pm

Early Black Friday Sale: 5-Star Fantasy Audiobooks

Just in time for your Holiday 2025 shopping and gifting! These are the lowest prices ever on the audiobook editions of Waterspell Books 1-4 (boxed set) and the linked sequel, The Karenina Chronicles: A Waterspell Novel.

Limited-Time Offer! Lowest price ever on Waterspell: Books 1-4
Limited-Time Offer! Lowest price ever on The Karenina Chronicles: A Waterspell Novel

Limited-time offer, available only at Chirp, where there’s no subscription fee. You buy only the audiobooks you want, when you want, and at the best prices anywhere. Click the images above, or go to:

These highly rated audiobooks return to their regular prices on December 13, 2025.
Don’t miss this chance to save big!

Reviews

Highly rated for: Captivating Story • Wonderful Character Development • Magical Voice • Detailed Imagination • Unique Twist

• “A riveting series. Well written, excellent world-building with an engaging plot in each book and well-developed characters. I was gripped right from the start with twists I didn’t see and unpredictability.” —Aria, NetGalley

• “Complicated characters, plot twists, romance, adventure, and magic — all written in a voice that immerses you in a fantasy world both foreign and familiar. Get the box set because you won’t want to leave this world.” —Beck Digs It, Amazon

• “Listening to this book has been great. The story has twists and turns, it flows well and is neither too fast or too slow. The narrator is very real conveying anger as well as softness and intrigue. This is the type of audiobook you can listen to for hours and not get tired of.” —Sue, Audible

• “This story has such wonderful character, scene, and story development. I loved going along for the journey with the characters. I’ve read the books and am thoroughly enjoying the audiobook. The magical voice of the narrator makes the already great story even better, a whole new experience! Great read, highly recommend!” —Amanda, Audible

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December 19, 2024 · 5:03 pm

Oppose Piracy & Get Free Books Legally

“Online piracy is a major factor contributing to the decline of authors’ income. Each year, the publishing industry loses hundreds of millions of dollars in lost sales to piracy—and with each lost sale, authors lose royalty income. There is a clear correlation between the decline in income from writing and the exponential growth of online pirate channels dedicated to distributing and selling illegal ebook copies.” —The Authors Guild 

You CAN Get Free Books — Legally and Honestly

Authors often give away books to reach new readers and build their audiences. For example, the first book in my Waterspell fantasy series, The Warlock, is free at a whole host of retailers. Anyone can get it from their preferred store absolutely free: see the list of retailers at books2read.com.

Rather than downloading bootlegged ebooks from pirate sites, please sign up for one or more of the following legitimate book-lovers’ newsletters/emails. Subscribe for free, and enjoy a never-ending supply of free books:

Happy reading!

If you find a book you particularly like at any of these sites, please consider purchasing an additional book from that author. Writers can’t keep writing if we have no income. Please support us with your book purchases. Thank you.

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October 18, 2021 · 3:06 pm

Five Months Out: Adjusting the Promotion Plan

Four weeks have flown by in a swirl of promotional activities. Now it’s time to take stock and decide what’s working, and what needs adjusting.

Discounting. Making Waterspell Book 1: The Warlock free in all ebook formats has definitely raised the book’s profile. At one point, it ranked about #1,200 in the Kindle store, and around #46 in Fantasy Adventure Fiction. Alas, I did not screen-shoot those lofty numbers, so now I can’t prove what I saw. As of today, however, the book is still ranking respectably at Amazon (as pictured). Its sales rank at Barnes & Noble also improved quite a bit. There’s no doubt: making it free has made Book 1 more visible.

Amazon rankings 10-18-2021

Reviews. Free ebooks have NOT yielded new reviews, however. I’m kinda gobsmacked over the difficulty of getting readers to post reviews. Even giving away paperback copies to potential reviewers has garnered only one new review in a whole month. It’s a reality check, for sure, regarding the vast numbers of books that are available to readers, and the vast numbers of authors who are clamoring for the attention of those readers.

StoryOrigins Portal fantasy promo graphicExploring additional avenues to get reviews, I’ve signed up at StoryOrigin. There, I posted a sample as a Reader Magnet, and my offer of a free review copy has been accepted by two readers so far. Also, I’ll be participating in a group promo for Portal Fantasy books, Dec. 1–31.

Just today, I entered Waterspell Book 1 in a monthly book giveaway sponsored by Reader Views. Am waiting to hear when the giveaway will be scheduled. It’ll be in time, I hope, to help with next year’s planned Book 4 publicity.

Bookstagram. This platform has been encouraging. I’m connecting with other authors, and with reviewers and book bloggers. Two readers have accepted my offer of a free review copy in exchange for honest reviews. Those reviews have not yet been posted, leaving me to wonder whether they will be. Fingers crossed.

BookBub ads. Mixed results here. I’ve tested various graphics. All of these (below) have attracted some clicks, but none has performed spectacularly. For my next month of advertising, I’m switching to Freebooksy.

Blog Tours. Going on blog tours was the best way I got reviews when the Waterspell trilogy was first published. I’m thinking it may be time to investigate what’s available these days. On Bookstagram, I follow TBR and Beyond Tours. Not sure they’re a perfect fit, but I’ll look into them further. I’ve bookmarked several other possibilities at The Book Designer.

Those of you who occasionally read my blog posts (thank you! I love you!) have probably figured out, by now, that I use this space for thinking out loud. It’s my planning area. Without my posts on “discoverability,” I’d never be able to keep track of plans made, plans executed, or plans adjusted. All of this marketing work is squeezed into the hours when I’m not actively writing—or formatting.

On top of everything else, I’m repaginating the paperback editions to skinny-up the print books a tad (in light of current printing and shipping costs) and to update the copyright and About the Author pages. Scattered about my house are PDFs of Books 1, 2, and 4, with Book 3 yet to be repaginated. The Book 4 manuscript is out with my final beta reader, I’m busily promoting Book 1, and I’m trying to be a regular Bookstagrammer, while not wholly neglecting Goodreads and Facebook. The days are just packed! And now I’ve added StoryOrigin to my online efforts. I can’t keep this up forever. About a month after Book 4 is published, I’m going to collapse and sleep for three days.

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August 21, 2021 · 12:45 pm

My BookBub Ad Test

Here are the results of my advertising test at BookBub: “Belong” (ad 1) and “Courage” (ad 2) got almost exactly the same number of clicks, but hardly any clicks at all from Amazon shoppers. The vast majority of readers who showed interest by clicking either ad were Barnes & Noble customers (“Belong”) or, surprisingly to me, Apple Books and Kobo readers (“Courage”).

  • Waterspell by Deborah J Lightfoot
    BookBub “Belong” ad
  • Waterspell by Deborah J Lightfoot
    BookBub “Courage” ad

This supports my belief that writers who give Amazon exclusive rights to sell their books are condemning their works to compete with the almost infinite number of “products” sold by Amazon, while ignoring the truly dedicated readers who shop at Barnes & Noble and elsewhere, and who prefer non-Kindle tablets and e-readers.

When I launch a serious ad campaign for Waterspell Book 4 and the accompanying audiobooks, I now know where to direct my efforts.

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August 11, 2021 · 8:35 am

TMI: Marketing Info Overload

Too Much InformationMy eyes are glazing and my brain hurts. It began with a BookBub Partners email directing me to a guest blog by author Nick Sullivan, his topic being one close to my heart: Launching Book 4 in a Series. Like Nick, I have a fourth book coming out in about six months. But unlike Nick, it would never occur to me to set up a pre-order for a book being released months from now. That’s yet another marketing wrinkle I must consider.

As is “calling KDP.” What? It’s possible to telephone Kindle Direct Publishing? Nick says he “Called KDP and added eight more categories to both the paperback and the Kindle editions. (When you set up your book in KDP, you provide two categories, but you can contact Amazon and get up to 10.)” Veddy interesting. I had no idea that speaking with an actual human would be possible. I must investigate.

Reading more of Nick’s advice, I came to the unfamiliar term AMS. Nick writes that AMS had been “getting away from him.” Well, by golly, it’s sure been getting away from me, since I had never heard the term before today. Googling clued me in: it stands for Amazon Marketing Services. Oh, okay: ads. Yep, Amazon ads have been on my to-do list.

So I let Google detour me from Nick’s Book 4 launch strategy into the YouTube weeds of “How to Do Amazon Book Ads.” The process seems similar to BookBub’s DIY ad platform. Except Amazon makes provision for “negative targeting keywords,” where you enter search terms that you don’t want your book to be associated with. For instance, if your book isn’t free, you can enter “free” and “free ebook” as negative keywords, to keep freebie shoppers from clicking on your title and then getting mad when they see that it costs a whopping $2.99.  Good to know.

But back to Nick’s advice. He names several non-BookBub promo sites: Robin Reads, Freebooksy, Book Adrenaline, BookDoggy, ENT, and eReaderIQ. I see more Googling in my future, as I have no clue what any of those are or what they do or how much they cost.

Nick’s post eventually led me to this related article: “Marketing a New Book Release that’s Part of a Long Series.” In that linked article, author Julianne MacLean offers succinct advice that seems a little easier to follow for someone (like me) who possesses only rudimentary marketing knowledge. Julianne breaks her promo plan into seven steps:

1. Pre-order
2. Cover reveal
3. Social media
4. Book trailer
5. Discounting
6. Advertising
7. Blog tour

I’ve got Waterspell Book 4’s new cover in hand, I’ve made some book trailers, I’m as active as time allows on social media, and my testing-the-waters ads via BookBub have yielded promising results, especially for rebels like me who prefer Barnes & Noble and Nook. When Waterspell Books 1 and 2 were newly released, I did blog tours, and it seems that such tours are still “a thing,” though blogging itself isn’t the hottest communications medium out there.

Which leaves pre-orders and discounting for me to investigate.

My to-do list grows ever longer. It’s encouraging, though, that other writers have worked out doable marketing plans that I can hope to emulate. But not right now. At this hour of the day, I (like Fernando Pessoa) need truth and aspirin.

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August 3, 2021 · 9:11 am

Burrowing Into BookBub

The Plan calls for investigating the usefulness of BookBub, a book discovery service that features free and discounted ebooks. Quickly I learned that it’s great for readers. In Week 1 of getting their daily emails featuring ebook bargains, I bought six new books or series (pictured, Refraction through Book of Dragons). None of these cost me more than $3. Such a deal!

Nook library

 

Waterspell by Deborah J Lightfoot

BookBub ad 1

I’ve also tentatively begun advertising on BookBub. My first ad served up 1,600 impressions but garnered only eight clicks. Being inexperienced with this ad platform, I paid for impressions rather than clicks. So far, I can’t see the logic in spending money on “impressions,” which are nothing more than opened emails. There’s no guarantee that people will even scroll all the way to the end of the email, where the ads appear. As I see it, “impressions” mean little or nothing. It’s clicks that should matter.

Waterspell by Deborah J Lightfoot

BookBub ad 2

For Ad No. 2, I changed the tagline and bid on clicks, not impressions. This ad has been running for three days now, serving up fewer impressions but not burning through the test budget like my first ad did.

Waterspell by Deborah J Lightfoot

BookBub ad 3

I’ll give Ad No. 2 a week, then change the text again, to test a question rather than a statement. My Facebook focus group likes Ad No. 3 the best of all the examples I offered for their scrutiny.

All things considered, I believe there’s more reason to invest time and money in reaching the “power readers” at BookBub, rather than work at growing an audience for my Facebook author page. Facebook users are a distractible bunch, their interests running the gamut. BookBub (every time I start to type that, it comes out Boobbub!) is laser-focused on people who buy books.

And clearly, those readers don’t want to spend much money. I can’t blame them. I myself scarfed up the dollar bargains as quickly as they came my way.

Therefore, after testing Ads 1, 2, and 3, my next step will be to drop the price of Waterspell Book 1 to 99 cents (or free, if Amazon will let me) and see what the response is.

If at first you don’t succeed …

 

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