Join a group promo

A group promo is several authors putting their books on one page and each sending that page to their own mailing list on a date they choose. Every author's readers meet every other author's book, so a list of a few hundred people gets in front of thousands. This article is the participant's side: finding a promo, applying, and what to do once you are in. To run your own, see hosting a group promo.

What a group promo is

Every promo has a public page with a banner, the organiser's heading, a LIMITED TIME badge counting down to the end date, and a cover for every approved book. A reader who clicks a cover lands on that book's landing page. Before the start date and after the end date the covers are greyed out and the page says why. The page is in English whatever the reader's language.

Lead magnet or sales

Each promo is one of two types, and the organiser's choice decides what you can bring. A Lead Magnet promo takes only books you have marked as a lead magnet, and only landing pages of the Email Collection or Direct Download type, because the point is growing everyone's list. A Sales promo takes only books that are not lead magnets, and only Universal Link pages, so every cover leads to a shop. The book picker in the application form already hides anything that does not fit, and the note above it tells you which rule is in force. You cannot change the type for your own book.

Find a promo

Browse Group Promos is the first tab of the Group Promos page and lists every public promo still taking applications. The Sign Up By column shows the last day to apply, with the days left underneath; a promo whose deadline has passed drops off the list the next day, so "Closes today" is the last state you will see. Participants shows how many books are in and, when the organiser capped it, how many fit. View opens the promo's own page with its description, timeline, requirements and the Join Promo button.

The filters above the table apply when you press Search, not as you type, and they stay applied across visits; an orange bar counts the active ones and clears them. Email Alerts, in the page header, saves your current Browse filters under a name and emails you whenever a new promo matches them.

Apply

Join Promo opens the application form. It needs four things: a book, a landing page for that book of the type the promo allows, an active mailing list belonging to the book's pen name, and the share date on which you will send the promo page to that list. The calendar only appears once you have picked the list, because it shows that list's availability. Below that you can add a note to the organiser, and you must tick that your book meets the promo's requirements; promos that ban explicit content or suggestive covers ask you to confirm each of those too.

Some promos require a minimum list size, and the form refuses a list below it. If you already have a book in the promo under the same pen name, the form pre-fills that book's date and list: books by one author share one share date and one tracking link, and changing the date moves every book of that author in the promo. Most promos let you add up to two books per pen name; the organiser sets the exact number. Submit Application sends it.

After you apply

Many promos approve qualifying applications on the spot, and the confirmation says "Book Added" when yours was. Otherwise it stays pending until the organiser decides, and you get an email either way. Approval also schedules a reminder three days before your share date, and it adds a pending entry to your outgoing calendar; if you had a solo swap booked on that date, the swap is declined for you.

Change or leave an application

Edit, next to a book in Active Promos, opens the application. The book itself is locked; to swap it for another, withdraw and apply again. The landing page, the mailing list, the share date and the reactivate option can change. While the application is pending, Save Changes applies them at once. Once it is approved, changing the date, list or page applies at once on a promo that auto-approves, and otherwise becomes a request with a reason that the organiser reviews; only one request can be open at a time, and the form is locked until it is answered.

Withdraw Application, on a pending one, or Leave Promo, on an approved one, removes your book and its calendar entries. Neither can be undone, and leaving after the promo has started leaves the organiser a gap, so tell them first.

Common questions

Why is my book missing from the picker?

Four reasons cover nearly every case: the book has no uploaded files or is set to external access only, it is a lead magnet in a sales promo or the reverse, its categories do not match the promo's, or it is already in the promo. The empty state under the picker names the one that applies.

Why did a promo disappear from Browse?

Its sign-up deadline passed. Promos leave the Browse list the day after their last application day, even while the promotion itself is still to come.

My second book got a date by itself

It shares a pen name with a book already in the promo. Books by the same author always share one share date and one tracking link, so the form copied them.

Does a promo affect my book swaps?

Only on the share date. Joining declines any solo swap you had on that day, because a solo send and a promo send cannot share a newsletter. Feature and Mention swaps are unaffected.