Promo Codes – What are they and how do I use them?

*This has been recently updated to rules I was unaware of from BOOKNET.... Changes have been highlighted.

PROMO CODES – What are they and how do I use them?

Hello Writers,

Some of you have been asking about PROMO CODES. These are codes given to commercial authors to promote their books. These codes can be given at random to readers to read the book for free on Booknet.

First, let’s go over how they work:

To manage paid book promo codes, visit this book's page.

At the bottom of the Options section, there is access to the promo code management section.

From the very beginning of the bookscription or sale, five promo codes are available to the author.

The author sees the status of the promo code (activated or not used) and the expiration date of the promo code.

Subsequent generation is available every 15 days. The number of promo codes that can be generated is calculated by the formula: the number of sales for the last 15 days divided by 10. But the number of available promo codes cannot be more than 5. If there were 30 sales in the previous 15 days, you can generate 3 promo codes. If there were 50, or 60, or 70 or more sales, you can create 5 promo codes.

The promo code is valid for 30 days from the date of generation.

The reader who used the promo code has the same access to the book as the one who paid for it.

Creating promo codes may not be available:

• Due to selected terms of sale of the book (non-exclusive)
• Due to violation of Booknet rules. In this case, the author sees the message: "Generation of new promo codes is not available due to violations of the rules."

In order to use the reader's promo code, the reader needs to click on the buy button on the book's page, select the simple purchase option, and on the next page, find the option to purchase using the promo code.

WHAT ARE PROMO CODES GOOD FOR?

The Main and ONLY purpose of the promo codes is to promote a book. It is prohibited to ask for readers to follow you on Social Media or Booknet profiles. It is even prohibited in the Spanish version of Booknet to ask for follows in promo code raffles. Only in official Booknet Español raffles will they can ask for following the main Booknet page.

Promotional codes are a great way to draw attention to the story you are selling. Many authors chose to use these codes as part of a raffle or giveaway. 

They are also a good way to reward a loyal reader who has been reading your book or books, commenting, and so forth but unable to read your story because it went up for sale and they can not afford the book.

How would I go about creating a raffle or giveaway?

Now keep in mind you are giving the codes away for free or raffling them off for free. In no way should you have people compete or have a contest to win codes. The reason -  (Legalities you don’t wish to get into) So, make sure your promotional materials are clear that this is a FREE GIVEAWAY or FREE RAFFLE.

Use FACEBOOK or TWITTER to communicate about your Promo Code Giveaway.

NOT INSTAGRAM. 

Reasons why:

• You want the reader to be able to share your links to your books. INSTAGRAM does not allow links to be attached to an image or to share posts.
• By using Facebook or Twitter you are giving readers direct access to your story. No need to search for the book on the site by the author or the name. 
• Instagram may seem to yield better results visually, but it just doesn't work for giving readers a direct access to the book. In one click on Facebook or Twitter, readers are redirected to the book's page and can start reading right now. Be sure to link to the book's main page and not a chapter. As BOOKNET has seen better results this way and more refusals when a person is directed to a chapter. 

Using Instagram is fine for drawing up hype for your raffle or giveaway, but not for the direct campaign. 

BOOKNET blogs are not to be used for running a raffle or giveaway.

The main goal of PROMO CODES is to PROMOTE your story. So it really about getting the link to your book out on social media that's most important. The Code is just to draw the reader in and make the connection. To ask people to leave their names in the comments on a blog is not effective because what you really wish to do is draw in NEW readers for your stories. The more NEW readers you draw to the site the more your book's popularity will grow. So Giveaways and raffles should be made on Social Media ONLY. 

STEPS TO CREATING A GIVEAWAY OR RAFFLE:

Draw up some hype. Use your blog feature and social media presence to draw attention to the giveaway a few days before the giveaway or raffle even starts. This gets your followers excited to participate.

Have a count down. The day you are going to make your post about the rules to this raffle or giveaway, have a countdown to the release. Again, this is to build anticipation.

Use your social media platforms to really build up the hype.

Release the information about your Giveaway. Be very clear about the rules, start date, end date, when you plan to announce the winners, and how they will be contacted.

Message your winners. Once the raffle is complete, you can pick the winners at random by an online generator or just put the names in a hat. Contact those that won by whatever means you specified. Expect complications, some may say they never received the code. Others may say the code isn’t working.

What do to if a reader says a promo code given doesn’t work or was never received?

• Have them check their spam folder. Because the code is coming from you and not someone in their normal contacts their email program may have booted the message to SPAM.
• If you’ve given them the code through messenger or Instagram or some other source be certain if they mention they can’t get the code to work that you suggest they copy and paste the code as you have given it to them. Many times, the issue is that the code is typed incorrectly. Be sure to copy and paste the code you give to them as well.
• If there are still issues, have them contact customer support and they should be able to walk them through the process to get their book.

So that’s the basics on what PROMO CODES are and how best to use them. I hope this helps.

Until next time,

Ruechari