What Freebooksy actually is
Freebooksy is a promotion service run by Written Word Media, which also operates Bargain Booksy, Red Feather Romance and Book Barbarian. You buy a feature for a specific date and a specific genre list; on that date your book appears in an email to readers who opted into that genre, and on the site alongside the day's other free titles.
The important structural facts: it is a purchase, not an application — there is no editorial rejection to survive, though popular genres and dates sell out; the book must be free in the stores on the day; and the lists are segmented by genre, so a cosy mystery goes to cosy mystery readers rather than a general fiction blast.
How a feature works, step by step
- Choose the genre list. Be honest rather than aspirational. A book placed on a list because it sounds bigger will underperform against a smaller, correctly matched one.
- Choose the date. Popular genres book out weeks ahead; three to six weeks of lead time is normal.
- Make the book free by that date. KDP Select authors use Free Book Promotion days; wide authors go permafree by setting the book free elsewhere and letting Amazon price-match, which can take days and occasionally needs prompting.
- Confirm on the morning. Check every marketplace you care about actually shows $0.00.
- Stack, do not isolate. Book one or two smaller sites on the same or the following day so the traffic lands as one spike.
Who it works for — and who it does not
| Your situation | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Free book one of a finished series | Strong fit | Every downloader is one click from books two through six. This is the case Freebooksy exists for. |
| Free book one, two more books out | Good fit | Read-through is thinner but real, and you are building a list that is worth something when book four lands. |
| Standalone novel | Weak fit | Nothing to read through to. You are buying downloads, a small review bump and some list signups. |
| Mid-series book | Poor fit | Readers who start at book three mostly do not go back, and you have given away the wrong entry point. |
| Debut with very few reviews | Wait | Downloads convert to reads far less often without social proof. Build reviews first, then promote. |
| Non-fiction with a strong back end | Depends | Can work if the free book leads to a paid course, service or list. Judge it on that, not on book sales. |
What to expect
Anyone quoting you a download figure is describing their book, their genre and their date, not yours. What is consistent across features is the shape: a sharp spike on the day, a smaller tail for a day or two, free rank climbing then decaying over roughly a week, and — if the series behind it works — a slower rise in paid units and page reads on the later books that peaks several days after the free run ends, because readers have to finish book one first.
How to judge it honestly
- Record a baseline. Paid units and KENP page reads per title for the 30 days before. Without this, no judgement is possible.
- Track the whole series, not the promoted book. The promoted book is free; it cannot earn.
- Use a 14-day window after the feature. Read-through is slow.
- Split by marketplace. Freebooksy's lists skew US; a UK-heavy author should expect a different shape.
- Compare the spend against series royalties earned in that window, and remember that a reader acquired now may buy the next three releases. A promo that breaks even immediately is usually a good promo.
- Count list signups. If your free book has a back-matter link to a reader magnet or your newsletter, the subscribers are part of the return.
The KDP reports guide covers which report each of those numbers comes from, and why the Sales Dashboard and Prior Months' Royalties will not agree while you are looking.
The mistakes that waste the money
- The price has not propagated. Book still paid in a marketplace on the day. The single most common failure.
- No back matter. No link to book two, no newsletter signup, no series reading order. The reader finishes and leaves.
- Running it alone. One promo, one small bump, no rank movement. Stack it.
- Wrong genre list chosen for ambition rather than accuracy.
- Never measuring, then rebooking next year on instinct.
Book the promo yourself. Let the plan sequence and measure it.
Perfect Year HQ does not sell placements. It schedules your promos across the twelve months around your real writing pace, runs your swap weeks through Swap Admin, checks every delivery link before a promo goes out, and syncs your actual KDP units, page reads and royalties every hour in the Money tab — so the fortnight after a Freebooksy feature reads as promo ROI instead of a guess.
See the Perfect Year →Questions authors ask
Is Freebooksy worth it for indie authors?
It is worth it when the free book is the first in a series that readers can immediately continue, and the series has enough books to earn back the promotion through read-through. It is usually not worth it for a standalone, for a mid-series book, or for a debut with very few reviews, because in those cases the downloads have nowhere to lead and the spend buys visibility you cannot convert.
How many downloads does a Freebooksy feature get?
It varies widely by genre list, date and the book itself, and any specific number quoted in an article should be treated as anecdote rather than a forecast. More usefully, the download count is the wrong measure. Two features with identical downloads can differ completely in value depending on how many of those readers went on to buy the next book, which is the figure to track.
What is the difference between Freebooksy and Bargain Booksy?
Both are run by Written Word Media and work the same way, but Freebooksy features books that are free on the day and Bargain Booksy features books that are discounted but still paid. Choose Freebooksy when the goal is to pull new readers into the top of a series, and Bargain Booksy when you want royalty on the promoted title itself.
Is Freebooksy better than BookBub?
No. A BookBub Featured Deal reaches a larger, more heavily curated audience and remains the strongest paid placement available. Freebooksy's advantage is that you can book it - it is a purchase rather than an application - which makes it the practical anchor for most authors most of the time, particularly stacked with other sites on the same date.
Do I need to be in KDP Select to run a Freebooksy promotion?
No. The book simply has to be free in the relevant stores on the day of the feature. Authors in KDP Select typically use their Free Book Promotion days; wide authors typically make the book permafree by price-matching. Either way, confirm the price has actually propagated in every marketplace on the morning of the feature.