October 30, 2020
October is a big month around BookFunnel HQ. Not only is our our founder‘s birthday month, it’s also BookFunnel’s birthday!
We opened our doors to the public just a little over five years ago on October 23rd, 2015. So, happy birthday, BookFunnel! You’ve come a long way, baby!
We hope you’ll grant us a little self-indulgence on this occasion (we made a cake and everything!). We’d like to talk a bit about where we started and how far we’ve come.
We stepped into the indie publishing world in the early days when things were already rolling, but we’ve been here, growing up right alongside it.
In the Beginning
We had one goal when we started BookFunnel: help readers get their books where they wanted to read them. Whatever kind of reading device they had in hand, and there are (literally) thousands of them, that’s where we wanted them to read it. The end.
No email signups, unique links, or ARC campaigns. We just had a simple landing page that helped readers download books.
We didn’t even have a website, y’all. Just a signup page you could only find if we gave you the link to it. We were masters of marketing, even way back then.
Through the Years
Once in the hands of authors and readers, BookFunnel grew rapidly (and improved… right?!) as feature requests rolled in. Authors wanted to send a unique download link to each member of their review team, which sounded like a great idea to us, so Certified Mail was born.
Then came email signup pages. Then integration with mailing list services. Then book gifting, then book bundles, group promotions, direct sales delivery and (most recently) audio delivery. And, soon, audiobooks (follow the blog below to be notified as soon as we release audiobook support!).
Along with a million little things in between. We’re still adding new features and improvements every single day.
Everything Changes
And, all of that came about because Damon (that’s our founder, in case you didn’t know) was an indie author first. Everything we’ve built has been because it’s what indie publishing needed to grow. We love building cool new things for authors.
Indie publishing is no longer the also-ran. Indies are now the dominant force in publishing, and we continue to dominate wherever we go. New authors join the revolution every day. And, as the industry continues to grow and mature, we’re right there with you, growing as you do.
Five years in, we’re just getting started. Thanks for sticking around.
*BookFunnel’s birthday cake was lovingly baked, decorated, and devoured by the three BookFunnel munchkins.
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