July 31, 2019

You indie authors sure are a crafty bunch. More of you are now selling direct (and using BookFunnel for delivery, naturally) than we ever thought possible. Some of you are even eschewing bookstores entirely and going it all alone, selling everything from your own stores (and keeping all the profits). Which is amazing!

Also, we finally got to use the word eschewing in a blog post! 10 points for Gryffindor!

Some of you direct-selling authors are so on top of things that you’re even selling your own preorders through your online store. But, wait a minute, you say. BookFunnel sales delivery doesn’t support preorders. This is true, but some of you crafty indies found workable, albeit clunky, ways to work around that little obstacle.

We got albeit, too! 10 more points for Gryffindor!

Preorder Sales Delivery Actions

Clunky processes are never good for readers (or our support team), so today, we’re announcing preorder delivery actions! You do the selling, we do the collecting, and then (on release day) we do the delivering.

When a reader buys an ebook preorder from your online bookstore, BookFunnel records the sale but holds the book delivery. We’ll keep collecting those sales up until release day. Then, in one big burst (and with your all-clear), we send everyone their ebooks.

Oopsie-Free Preorder Delivery

Have you heard the tales of ebook preorders gone wrong? We have. Placeholder files being published on release day, even though the updated file was submitted on time. Yikes.

BookFunnel allows assetless (teehee) preorders right from the start. You can create a preorder delivery action on BookFunnel without any book files at all, and then upload the final manuscript when you (and it) are ready. We even added an extra locking mechanism just to be sure we have the right book. Once you provide the book, we’ll take care of the rest on release day.

Automagical Ebook Preorder to Ebook Direct Sales

But what if you’re so busy sipping mojitos poolside (ahh, the self-employed life!) that you accidentally leave your preorder in your online store past its release day? BookFunnel magic handles that for you too.

After a preorder has been sent to your buyers, it becomes a normal delivery action on BookFunnel. So, anyone that buys your “preorder” after release day will get it immediately, no waiting on you. You’ll still need to update the ebook listing in your online store eventually, but, until then, sip on! And don’t forget your sunblock.

How to Setup An Ebook Preorder

Want to pre-sale your next ebook? We’ll walk you through it in our author knowledge base article.

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