I will be the first to admit I’m not the most outgoing person ever. I have trouble sometimes interacting with others, not inside my small circle, and I take time to decompress after gatherings. I’m a typical introvert, and I don’t push myself to get involved with things that don’t interest me. That might have sounded conceited when writing it, but honestly, it’s a people thing. Who gets involved in things that don’t interest them unless they want something from someone?
That is how I feel about every business coach telling authors to find other authors and befriend them. I have friends, and there is room for more, but I will not make friends just get them to promote me. People with ulterior motives are shifty, and it just feels fake. Even if they seem like a good fit to befriend, what kind of friendship can be honest if it’s based on an agenda? What I needed to find was networking for introverts. So I’m testing out a few programs that seem to cater to my introvertedness (Is that a word? Screw it. I’m making it one.)
The first one is Booksprout. Booksprout offers the ability to gain ARC (advanced reader copies) reviews. They have a free version that I’ve been testing. Basically, you upload your book with a blurb and set a timeline for the ARC reading and the date you’d like to have the reviews by. You can decide which platform you want the reviews put on, whether it be Amazon, Bookbub, or many popular bookselling outlets. You can also advertise promos. I know little about it because I’ve only used the ARC read for my already published books.
From what I’ve seen thus far, the pros and cons are:
Pros
Free account
Up to 20 readers per ARC read with a free account.
3 pen names
Automatic reviewer reminders
Access to their reviewer community
Block all known pirates (to prevent unauthorized sharing of your book)
Cons
Paid plan for over 20 readers per arc
No featured community arcs unless paid
No private arcs unless paid
The paid plan identifies and blocks new pirates
The only difference between the $10 plan and $20 per plan is the amount of ARC readers
They used to have a promo feature that was removed as of 2020.
The following program I looked at was Bookfunnel. Book funnel can be a one-stop-shop for a new author that doesn’t want to go the trouble of creating an author site or setting up email funnels. You can build mailing lists with reader magnets, run ARC reads, find new readers through author swaps and group promos, they will provide direct sales along with customer service, and they offer print codes for giving away ebooks. Sounds great, right?
Bookfunnel has three tiers of pricing. They offer annual and monthly plans for their 2nd and 3rd tier, but the 1st tier is only annual.
For simplicity’s sake, I’m going to go with the annual rates.
First-time author- $20 per year
1 pen name
500 downloads a month
Unlimited books stored
Custom landing pages
Direct sales delivery
Group promos
Mid-list Author – $100
2 pen names
5000 downloads per month
Unlimited books stored
Custom landing pages
Direct sales delivery
Group promos
Collect reader email addresses
Add email integration for $50/year
Secure ARC delivery
Book gifting
Watermarked files
Short Audio MP3 delivery (for audiobooks)
Printable download code
Bestseller- $250
3 pen names
Unlimited downloads per month
Unlimited books stored
Custom landing pages
Direct sales delivery
Group promos
Collect reader email addresses
Add email integration for $50/year
Secure ARC delivery
Book gifting
Watermarked files
Short Audio MP3 delivery (for audiobooks)
Printable download code
Priority support
As you can see, there is a vast difference between the plans. That is why I wanted to make sure I understood exactly how they worked. For the moment, I’m on the Mid-list monthly plan as I test this out. Mainly because I want to collect email addresses. Their email integration does not work with Sendinblue, but I can download it to a CVS file and add newsletter members that way. I’ve used this program the least as I was testing another program and can only ask my newsletter members to look at so many promos a month. I wouldn’t want to overwhelm them and push them away. The testing period for this program is coming up in April.
The third program I’m testing is StoryOrigin. At first glance, StoryOrigin and Bookfunnel are similar. They offer ARC copies, Beta Copies, send out your reader magnets, offer promotion codes, direct downloads for lead magnets, newsletter swaps (called author swaps for Bookfunnel), group promos, and landing pages. In addition, they offer campaign note keeping and word count tracking.
StoryOrigin is again a one-stop-shop. For the author that doesn’t want to worry about an author site. They have three plans: Basic, Standard, and Guided Setup.
Basic Plan – Free (just make an account)
Unlimited file delivery
Tech support for readers
Universal retail links
Facebook tracking pixel
Amazon Affiliate tags
Integrate email service providers
Track word count
Standard Plan – $10/month or $100/year
Unlimited file delivery
Tech support for readers
Universal retail links
Facebook tracking pixel
Amazon Affiliate tags
Integrate email service providers
Track word count
Group promos
Newsletter swaps
Collect read email addresses
Gather beta feedback
Vet Review history and Completion (meaning you can check which readers have completed reviews previously)
Automate reviewer followup
Distribute and promote audiobook promo codes
The Guided Setup Plan fees vary, and there is no list, but I feel it’s the Standard Plan with extra instruction for someone who isn’t tech-savvy.
I’ve been testing this program for a little over a month now. I’m taking part in a group promo until March 3 and was asked by another author to do a newsletter swap. Personally, I love this. As I’m a newish author and totally new to these programs, it shocked me that someone looked at my work and asked me to swap with them.
Wrap-up : I hope Bookfunnel will be as remarkable when I try it, as they seem to have similar functions. Overall, so far, I would say that if you are a new author and want to get that first book or lead magnet out there, these programs are a way to get your footing. I would only use the free version of Booksprout as their paid options offer much fewer functions than the other two for about the same monthly price.
Bookfunnel and StoryOrigin offer many of the same functions, and each offers something the other doesn’t. I’ll be comparing StoryOrigin’s Standard Plan and Bookfunnel’s Mid-list Author, as they are comparable in price.
What both plans provide:
Group Promos
Author/newsletter swaps
Tech support for readers
Book gifting
Promo codes
Short audio delivery
Collect reader email addresses
Custom landing pages
Email integration
Secure ARC delivery
Major differences between the two plans:
- StoryOrigin offers unlimited downloads VS. Bookfunnel offers 5000
- StoryOrigin offers integrated email at no extra cost VS Bookfunnel $50/year
- StoryOrigins offers Beta and ARC reads VS Bookfunnel offers only ARC (as far as I know)
- StoryOrigins offers amazon affiliate tags, word count tracking, Vet review history, and the gathering of beta feedback.
- Bookfunnel offers direct sales delivery. VS StoryOrigin offers universal sales links (usually amazon or other distributors).
It would be interesting to see how direct sales work in Bookfunnel. Since neither program works with my chosen email provider, the email integration isn’t an issue. I don’t need StoryOrigins word count tracking as Scrivener does that for me. I’ve never required over 5000 downloads a month, so right now, that is a non-issue as well. I’m interested in trying the Beta read functions on StoryOrigin and testing out the group promos and author swaps in Bookfunnel.
For now, I can say that each program has its merits. I would use Booksprout free for some ARC or test out new ideas. Bookfunnel and StoryOrigin are similar but have some differences. It will take a few more months of testing, but at the moment, they are both viable alternatives for each other. I’ll make another update once I’ve used both more.
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