BookSweeps

BookSweeps is a specialist email-list-building platform for authors, built around multi-author sweepstakes giveaways. Founded in 2015 by book marketing veteran Ryan Zee, the platform runs themed group promotions where 30–40 authors band together per giveaway, with a Kindle or eReader as the headline prize. Readers browse the participating books, select which authors they want to hear from, and opt into those mailing lists specifically. After the 10–14 day promotion closes, BookSweeps delivers each author a spreadsheet of new subscribers. Authors do not manage prizes, winners, or delivery — BookSweeps handles all of that.

How It Works

BookSweeps promotes each giveaway to its 100,000+ reader email list and via Facebook ad campaigns targeting the relevant genre audience. The self-selection mechanic — readers choose only the authors they want to hear from — is a meaningful quality filter that distinguishes BookSweeps from blanket-opt-in giveaways. Five days before each promotion launches, authors receive promotional graphics and social media assets to share with their own audiences, amplifying reach.

Pricing Tiers

• Standard group promotion: $50 per entry (drops to $25–$35 with loyalty discounts after 1–2 completed promos)
• Viral Builder: ~$250 — a higher-volume product targeting thousands of subscribers rather than hundreds
• Premium Membership: $50/year — unlocks Everlasting List Builders and free Premium Follower Promotions
• Everlasting List Builders (ELB): $100/month per genre (Premium members only) — a monthly 30-day promotion targeting 1,000+ genre-specific subscribers, with real-time subscriber data delivered via Airtable
• Freebie Directory and Sweepstakes Directory: Free for all registered authors — passive discovery listings for reader magnets and any giveaway type
• Premium Follower Promotion (PFP): Free for Premium members — grows Amazon Author Page and BookBub followers (not email subscribers); optional featured-slot upgrade starts at $25 (appears in confirmation emails sent to all new subscribers; capped at 6 authors per promotion)

A 30-day money-back guarantee applies to paid promotions.

Typical Results

• Standard promo: 400–1,200 new subscribers per promotion
• ELB program: targets 1,000 subscribers per month per genre
• Cost per subscriber: approximately $0.03–$0.17 (versus $1–$2 for paid social ads)
• Welcome email open rates: commonly 38–70% from BookSweeps-sourced subscribers
• Unsubscribe rate on first email: typically 3–5%

Results depend heavily on the author's onboarding email sequence. New subscribers entered a prize giveaway — a strong welcome series is essential to convert contest entrants into engaged readers and buyers.

Genres Supported

Fiction: Romance (Inspirational, Paranormal, Steamy, Historical, Contemporary, Romantic Suspense), Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Female Sleuth, Thriller, Urban Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Science Fiction, Space Opera, Women's Fiction, and more niche sub-genres.

Nonfiction: Spirituality and other categories are available, including niche topics like bird books. Genre availability varies — not all sub-genres have active promotions at all times.

Who It's Best For

• Fiction authors (especially Romance, Mystery, Fantasy) with a mailing list provider already set up
• Authors with an existing or ready-to-create reader magnet (free short story, prequel, bonus content)
• Authors willing to build a welcome email sequence to convert giveaway entrants into readers
• Anyone wanting measurable, trackable list growth at a lower cost than paid social ads
• Traditionally published authors are also eligible

Who It's NOT For

• Authors with no email marketing infrastructure — you need a list provider (e.g., Mailchimp, ConvertKit) to receive and import the subscriber CSV
• Authors expecting an immediate sales uplift or Amazon rank boost — BookSweeps grows lists, not sales rank
• Authors in very obscure genres where no active promotions are scheduled
• Authors without a free reader magnet to offer participants

Competitor Landscape

• StoryOrigin — broader feature set (group promos + newsletter swaps + ARC delivery); has a free tier; more community-driven but no eReader prize element
• BookFunnel — better ebook delivery infrastructure; group promos are secondary; no sweepstakes model
• Prolific Works — similar freebie-giveaway model; older platform; skews more toward reader-facing discovery
• BookSprout — different use case (ARC and review gathering, not subscriber acquisition)

BookSweeps is uniquely positioned as the specialist in prize-based sweepstakes — the eReader headline prize drives higher reader entry volumes than free-ebook-only giveaways, though it also means some subscribers are motivated primarily by prize-winning rather than genre interest.

Notable Endorsements

Bestselling Romance author Cecelia Mecca: "BookSweeps is the best in the business. The open and buy-through rates are higher than almost any other promotional tool I've used. BookSweeps readers stick around, and they buy books."

SkipJack Publishing reported two authors gained an average of 1,800 signups each for $60 per author — approximately $0.03 per subscriber — with a 70.9% open rate and 48.3% click rate on the welcome email.