Instafreebie Ebooks and Book Funnel for Indie Authors

As I get closer to re-releasing Ula: Born of Shadows, I've been searching for ways to get a preview out to readers. There are a lot of options and I can thank most of my recent indie author education to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Marketing Podcast (check them out here). I love the three authors who host the podcast. They're extremely down to earth and make the possibility of working as an author feel much more doable. They also don't don't spend the first twenty minutes of the show talking about their work, which I've found in other podcasts and it kind of drives me crazy. So getting back to topic, I'll just offer a brief overview of Instafreebie and Book Funnel. I'm a new user to both and don't have a lot of data yet to offer, but hopefully, I can provide updates over time.

Instafreebie: This site is dedicated to getting free books (or book previews) into the hands of readers. You can sign up for a free option on their website or paid options, which range from $20-$50 per month. You need an epub file of your manuscript, which you upload to their site, along with cover art. Then you set-up a Giveaway, which prompts the site to provide you with a link to your book. Readers can click the link and go straight to your ebook. The paid options are pretty important if you're a new author trying to build a mailing list because you can't collect subscriber information with their free option. They state that the more you share your book - by providing your link to your mailing list, on social media etc. - the more they will advertise your book to readers. I published the first eighteen chapters of Ula: Born of Shadows Book 1 on Instafreebie three days ago. I have not shared my link on any social media yet - this is my first post about it - and have two readers that have claimed the book. I'm not sure how they found it, but obviously Instafreebie has some space where books show up for readers to claim them. Find out more about Instafreebie here.

You can view my Instafreebie link for Ula here.

Book Funnel: Like Instafreebie, Book Funnel is a platform designed to give books to readers. You can post partial or complete ebooks. While Instafreebie seems more geared toward readers, Book Funnel appears to target writers. Their site gives authors the ability to upload their books and provide their readers with the option of downloading your book in epub or mobi format. They don't advertise your book. The link that you receive from Book Funnel can be private or public. They advertise their site as an ideal way to give specific people advanced reader copies or to share exclusive content with your mailing list. The cost of Book Funnel is $20 to $250 per year. For a new author, the $20 option seems perfectly fine. Although this options does not include collecting email addresses, you can integrate Mail Chimp or other subscriber platforms with the service. Find out more about Book Funnel Here.

I'm not publishing my Book Funnel link on social media; however, I will include it in my next newsletter so that you can get a feel for how the different platforms look.

Have you used Instafreebie or Book Funnel as an Indie Author? What has your experience been?

“I don’t care if a reader hates one of my stories, just as 
long as he finishes the book.”
—Roald Dahl, WD