FreeBooksy Series Promo Stack... Is It Worth It? Part. 1

I run an experiment to determine the best way to move books

Oct 14, 2024

As authors, we’re always looking for new ways to get our books into the hands of readers, especially when we’ve got a series to promote

So, I decided to run an experiment to see what would give me the best bang for my buck: a FreeBooksy promo or a series of BookBub ads.

In this first part of the experiment, I purchased a FreeBooksy Series Promo Stack for $340.

The book I’m giving away is my Mini Book Model, which had 74 reviews at the time I started. The idea behind this promo stack is simple: give away the first book in the series for free to drive downloads, reviews, and eventual sales of the rest of the series.

So lets start with the basics.

What is FreeBooksy?

Freebooksy is a platform designed to get your book in front of readers… thousands of them.

As an author, if you have a book that’s permafree or you’re running a KDP Select free book promotion, Freebooksy helps you drive those downloads. It works by promoting your free eBook across Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and Apple Books. Readers sign up for daily emails where they get curated lists of free books in their favorite genres, making it easy for them to find and download new titles.

For authors, Freebooksy is the perfect way to build your audience, rack up reviews, or launch a new series.

It’s like getting a fast-pass to thousands of hungry readers without having to pay for ads that may not convert. And if you become a Premium Member, you can save 10% on future promos and get early access to their inventory, giving you an even bigger edge in getting your book out there.

I’m a member of their premium tier, but I don’t think I’m spending enough to break even, but my hope is this year to run more promos and make it worthwhile.

What Was Included in the FreeBooksy Promo Stack?

Here’s what I got with the FreeBooksy Nonfiction 5-Day Promo Stack for $340:

The goal of this promo was to push the first book in my series, Mini Book Model, into the spotlight by making it free and driving downloads for the rest of my series. Here's what was included:

FreeBooksy Series Promo: They featured Mini Book Model as a free download to their massive audience of nonfiction readers. It’s a great way to get eyes on my book and boost downloads fast.
Reader Reach Facebook Ads - General Nonfiction (5 Days): For five days, they ran Facebook ads targeting nonfiction readers, keeping my book in front of potential new readers throughout the entire promo.
The Fussy Librarian Promo: A highly targeted feature to their nonfiction audience, giving my series more exposure to dedicated readers who trust this book discovery platform.
Hello Books - General Non-Fiction Free eBook: Another promo feature, this time on Hello Books, giving me access to their audience of readers looking specifically for free nonfiction eBooks.

By stacking these promos over five days, I was hoping to see my book climb in rankings, increase downloads, and drive more attention to my other books in the series. The sustained visibility across these different platforms was aimed at making sure the promo didn’t just fizzle out after one day.

Results of of the FreeBooksy Promo Stack

All 5 days had Facebook ads running (which I have no data available of how many clicks etc. so we are in the dark some about that)

FreeBooksy claims to get my free book in front of thousands of voracious readers, so let’s see how it went.

Day 1: FreeBooksy Promo = 625 Downloads + 16 Series Sales
Day 2: No Promos (I’m assuming heavy Facebook ads) = 260 Downloads + 6 Series Sales
Day 3: Hello Books Promo = 187 Downloads + 0 Series Sales
Day 4: Fussy Librarian = 413 Downloads + 1 Series Sale
Day 5: No Promo (I’m assuming heavy Facebook ads) = 109 Downloads + 7 Series Sales
TOTAL DOWNLOADS = 1,592 (According to KDP)
TOTAL SERIES BOOK SALES = 30
TOTAL ROYALTIES DURING PROMO = $70.94
TOTAL COST = $270

My Initial Thoughts About FreeBooksy Promo Stack for NonFiction Books

I’ve used FreeBooksy a TON in the past.

It’s one of the most powerful promo sites I’ve ever used. It works really well with my devotional series and pretty good with my kid books.

Now about this exact experiement here are my initial thoughts on the FreeBooksy promo stack,

Super Convenient
I was in a hurry and wanted to make a big splash in a hurry. Took me under 5 minutes and I got thousands of people my book. Can’t beat that if you are limited on time.
Too Expensive
This is the close to the same cost I paid for my Featured Bookbub promotion that got me 12,000 downloads in two days (to be fair it was a different book)
Easy to Qualify For
That being said it’s so easy to qualify for this promotion anyone can do it that has the cash! While Bookbub Featured Deals are super exclusive (75+ reviews normally and you still have a 10% or less chance of being selected)
Stick with the Individual Promos (Forget the BIG Promo Stack)
I’d happily do the FreeBooksy Promo $75 + the Fussy Librarian Promo for $60 and keep the other $200 for other promo sites. (not Hello Books for non fiction about writing apparently) Freebooksy has a triple threat one day promo with them, Fussy Librarian, and Hello Books for $165 and I may try that in the future, but the Facebook ads didn’t seem to get the bang for the buck for my genre at least.
Little Control
Ideally your sales progressively get higher each day, but with this promo stack it was downward in sloping. If you can maintain an upward slope for 5 days the popular theory is Amazon algo will help bump you further in the rankings.
This promo stack failed to deliver on that. See the sales below to see how it is backwards of what you hope for.
If I was manually building it I woudl start just with Facebook Ads for two days. Add in Hello Books day 3, Fussy Librarian, and end with Freebooksy to hope to achieve the upwards slope. My guess is they all share a similar audience so progressively it will get harder to get downloads as you go through the promo sites.
These Sites Work
Lets not overlook that I spent 5 minutes and $300 and got 1500+ people my book. If my normal review rate plays out in 30 days or less I’ll have 15 new reviews putting it at about 90 reviews… which is nothing to sneeze at.

OK, for part 2 I’ll spend my money wisely on Bookbub ads in a very hands on approach to see if I can get more juice for the squeeze.

Hope you’ll stick around to see Part 2 in the near future.

If you aren’t already registered for the first ever Mini Book event in history… we are weeks away!

I’ve already announced two of our speakers (in addition to myself) and I’m making a huge announcement tomorrow about a guest appearance!