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Bookfunnel – Share Your Work

Bookfunnel is a website that lets you create landing pages with download links for various uses.

You can use it to distribute free promotional stories, ARCs, and even a free copy of your work. They make it easy for both you and your readers. No more lost emails or other weirdness.

For example, use it to easily (and attractively):

  • Distribute advanced reader copies (ARCs) to people you specify.
  • Give out a free copy of your work in exchange for signing up for your newsletter.
  • Setting up sales link pages that you can share with limited or broad audiences so people purchase your book. (A great alternative to making your own web pages for each book.)
  • Providing an e-copy to reviewers.
  • Viewing tracking data for the page, so you can see exactly how many people have downloaded the work.

You can view an example page for one of my freebie short stories. This one requires an email sign-up, but you can also set it up so it doesn’t require anything.

It does many other things as well, including:

  • Connecting you with other genre-specific writers for promotional events, giveaways, and newsletter swaps.
  • Posting a sample of your audiobook so you can easily share it with your readers in your newsletter or elsewhere. Great for pre-launch promotion teasers.
  • Have your ARC readers sign up, and Bookfunnel will send them your ARC with a unique link that only works for them. They will then track whether the ARC was downloaded or not for you.

Bookfunnel is extremely affordable relative to the great service it provides. At the time of this writing, the most basic account is only $20/year, which is less than $2/month. To get all the features I mention above, it’s $100/year (less than $9/month).

Visit Bookfunnel.com

Let me know in the comments if you’d like me to do a walk-through video of Bookfunnel for you.

Reviewers List

Tips on Reviewers

Reviews can boost your sales if they’re good. If they’re bad, they can hurt your sales. Requesting a review is a risk worth taking.

  • Don’t be shy about cold-contacting them.
  • Look to see if they’ve posted review guidelines on their website (many have), and if so, follow them to the letter.
  • Familiarize yourself with their reviews so you know whether they’re in sync with your style.
  • Maintain a list of which ones you’ve contacted. Wily Writers has created an Excel spreadsheet for you to download, customize, and use: Wily Writers Reviews Tracker
  • Over time, you’ll build a list of trusted reviewers who enjoy your work and recognize your name. You might consider sending hard copies to these reviewers.
  • If sending to a reviewer who requires a hard copy (some places do), don’t expect any more from them. They may or may not actually do a review, and it may or may not be positive.
  • It’s okay to send advance-reading copies (ARCs) of your book to reviewers even if your book is out—unless you made extensive revisions to the final version.
  • Do share the review via your social media once it’s live. Share and share again later. This helps both you and the reviewer.
  • Let Wily Writers know if you got a good review, and we’ll post about it in our public newsletter.

Etiquette

  • Be on your most professional behavior with all reviewers.
  • Remember that reviewers receive a TON of requests, so don’t be surly with them if they don’t review your book. Never let them see you sweat.
  • Make it clear up-front that you’re offering an ebook version of your book if you’re not willing to send a hard copy. To make it easier on them, include a link to the download in your email to them. An excellent site for setting up a free download of your ebook is Bookfunnel.com.
  • Never argue with a reviewer who has given your book a negative review, especially not in public. Bad juju.
  • Never publicly berate a reviewer who has given your book a negative review. Burning bridges burns you more than them.

Book Club Recommends

Every month, the Wily Writers Book Club reads a new dark fiction selection then discusses it in a Zoom meeting that we’ll record and post on the Wily Youtube channel.

We’ll schedule these in advance and all are welcome to attend. Check here for dates and times.

October’s Selection:

Buy It Today
The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig

A family returns to their hometown – and to the dark past that haunts them still – in this masterpiece of literary horror by the New York Times best-selling author of Wanderers.

“The dread, the scope, the pacing, the turns – I haven’t felt all this so intensely since The Shining.” (Stephen Graham Jones, New York Times best-selling author of The Only Good Indians)

Long ago, Nathan lived in a house in the country with his abusive father – and has never told his family what happened there.

Long ago, Maddie was a little girl making dolls in her bedroom when she saw something she shouldn’t have – and is trying to remember that lost trauma by making haunting sculptures.

Long ago, something sinister, something hungry, walked in the tunnels and the mountains and the coal mines of their hometown in rural Pennsylvania.

Now, Nate and Maddie Graves are married, and they have moved back to their hometown with their son, Oliver.

And now what happened long ago is happening again…and it is happening to Oliver. He meets a strange boy who becomes his best friend, a boy with secrets of his own and a taste for dark magic.

This dark magic puts them at the heart of a battle of good versus evil and a fight for the soul of the family – and perhaps for all of the world. But the Graves family has a secret weapon in this battle: their love for one another.


Chuck Wendig is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Star Wars: Aftermath, as well as the Miriam Black thrillers, the Atlanta Burns books, Zer0es/Invasive, Wanderers, and the upcoming Book of Accidents (July 2021). He’s also worked in a variety of other formats, including comics, games, film, and television. A finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer and the co-writer of the Emmy-nominated digital narrative Collapsus, he is also known for his books about writing. He lives in Pennsyltucky with his family. His agent is Stacia Decker, with Dunow, Carlson and Lerner.

Terribleminds is his blog where he rambles on about writing, parenthood, food, pop culture, and other such shenanigans. It is NSFW and NSFL.


Members are welcome to be part of the panel. You don’t have to be on camera, but if you are, then you will also be mentioned (with links) in the show notes! It’s an excellent (and perpetual) promotional beat for you and your works.

Come, participate, lurk, chat, and let’s discuss Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic.

Previous Discussions

July 2021 – Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s MEXICAN GOTHIC

Grab the Discussion Guide too!

June 2021 – Stephen Graham Jones’ THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS

Grab the Discussion Guide too!

Wily Writers Readings

Wily Writers authors read from their work.

Lisa MortonJennifer BrozekLoren Rhoads


Lisa Morton (author, screenwriter, and Halloween expert) offers up her short story titled “Poppies” from the forthcoming podcast “Spine Tinglers”. Two friends venture out to view California’s magnificent springtime poppy fields and learn that something malevolent lurks just beneath the vibrant orange blossoms.


Jennifer Brozek reads ShadowBytes…a mosaic story told through five pieces of connected flash fiction. In addition to being a Wily Writer, Jennifer is an award-winning author, editor, and media tie-in writer.


Loren Rhoads reads a selection from her collection UNSAFE WORDS. In addition to being a Wily Writer, Loren is a cemetery expert and the author or editor of 14 books.

How a Writing Planner Saved Me Last Year

from Wily Writer Loren Rhoads

I am a planner junkie. For years, I kept searching for a system that would help me organize all the information I need, track all my submissions, make space for my to-do lists, and keep my calendar. I would hear one of my writer friends rave about a system they were excited to try or see an ad that promised to get me organized and snatch it up. I ended up with a cupboard full of half-used planners.

Image, Loren Rhoads

Loren Rhoads

I am also an inveterate list-maker. Often, when I sit down with my notebook for a day’s writing, I begin with a to-do list to clear my head. I had to-dos in my in-box, my notebook, my diary, on scraps of paper on my desk, in my unanswered emails. I had folders full of notes from conferences, tear sheets from writer’s magazines, articles I’d printed out from the internet. The weight of everything I thought I should do made me freeze.

Last year, when all my anchors were suddenly gone—no more writing in the cafe after dropping my kid off at school, no more writing in the car before I picked her up in the afternoon—I really struggled to focus and get anything done. What saved me was my planner stash. I took the planners apart and pulled out all my favorite charts: what were my goals for the year? What writing projects had I started and drifted away from? What markets did I want to pitch articles to? When were my favorite magazines open for story submissions?

Armed with that information, I made a master to-do list. Everything went on it, no matter how big or small. Which social media did I enjoy using and what was my theory behind my presence there? What were my goals for my newsletter and how could I better connect with my readers there? Since I couldn’t attend the conventions I’d looked forward to, how else could I get my books into the hands of readers?

Once I finally had EVERYTHING noted down, I could see that it was clearly too much for one person to accomplish RIGHT NOW. I used my planner sheets to pull out the little things that I could finish easily. Once I crossed those off my list, I got a jolt of pride that carried me forward to tackle bigger projects.

I made writing dates with friends over Zoom. A writer I knew set up a Tuesday morning chat for her writer friends. I joined Shut Up & Write sessions. I organized Happy Hours and went to writer’s group meetings online. Slowly, my weeks took on some structure. I needed a calendar to keep track of when everything was happening.

I’d published a novel in February (then saw all the conventions I’d planned to attend get postponed or canceled), so with my planner’s help, I managed to put together a blog tour and list of reviewers. After I attended the Bram Stoker Awards online, I was inspired to assemble a collection of my short stories, using what I’d learned from the first blog tour to promote it. Cross that goal off my list!

Inspired by my planner, I also did some major reorganization projects in my office, emptying all my file drawers and consolidating my research. I (finally!) assembled a binder of all the contracts I’d signed over my writing career. I made another binder of unfinished stories, so I could see the work ahead of me.

Having projects waiting for my attention made it much easier to deal with the discovery that the nonfiction book I’d been researching didn’t match the book the publisher wanted, one I was unable to write because of a previous contractual obligation. In another time, I would have been spun by the rejection. I would have been lost for months. Instead, because I’d been doing all this work on goals, I quickly shifted gears and began work on what became the third book I published last year. It’s no exaggeration to say that my cobbled-together planner was a lifesaver.

The upshot of this is: there are many planners for writers out there. Some focus on logging your daily word count. Others track the business aspects of being a writer: your income and expenses. Still others concentrate on calculating your available writing time and how to make best use of it. Some combine inspiration with goal-setting. Finding the right planner for yourself may take a couple of tries, but if you find a planner that supports the kind of writer you are and the work you want to do, it can change your life. It is definitely worth the effort.

Check out the Spooky Writer’s Planner that Loren designed with the help of artist EMZ Rich, available through the Wily Writers Gift Shop.

Monday Happy Hour (6pm PT, weekly)

Wilies, let’s get together for an hour or so on Monday evenings to kick our week off right!

Every Monday, 6PM Pacific

Add the event to your calendar now!