A landing page is a public page for one of your books at an address under booksparker.com/book/, with the cover, the description, your bio and one button. What the button does is the page type: collect an email and deliver the book, hand the book over at once, deliver it only to people already on your list, or send readers to the shops. Landing pages are what swaps and group promos link to, so most authors need at least one.
Landing pages: give readers your book
The four landing page types and what each needs, creating a page in three steps, where signups go, sending ARCs to your review team, what the reader gets on their device, and how to manage, disable and export from your pages.
Last updated October 12, 20269 min read
Email Collection
Requires uploaded book filesCollect reader email addresses before they can receive your book. Perfect for building your mailing list while distributing free content to new readers.
PreviewDirect Download
Requires uploaded book filesReaders can download your book instantly without entering their email address. This is the simplest way to distribute content, though you won’t be able to track who downloads.
PreviewSubscribers-Only
Requires uploaded book filesSend advance reader copies (ARCs) to your review team, or bonus content to your subscribers. Readers enter their email address and we check it’s on the list you pick before they can download. Nobody else can get the book, and you can see who did.
PreviewUniversal Book Link
Requires external links to platformsCreate a landing page with links to external platforms where readers can get your book (Amazon, Apple Books, Kobo, etc.). Perfect when you don’t host the files yourself.
PreviewEmail Collection asks for an email address, then delivers the book; it is the page for a lead magnet. Direct Download hands the book over with no email at all. Subscribers-Only asks for an email and checks it against one of your connected mailing lists before delivering: the page for advance reader copies (ARCs) and for bonus content your existing readers get. Universal Book Link has no files: it shows buttons for Amazon, Apple Books, Kobo and any other shop you add, in the order you set.
Every type needs a cover. The three types that deliver files need the book to have all four formats, Standard EPUB, Kindle EPUB, PDF and MOBI, which BookSparker generates when you upload a manuscript with the distribution option on; a book set to external access only can have a Universal Book Link page and nothing else. Lead Magnet group promos accept Email Collection and Direct Download pages; Sales promos accept Universal Book Link pages.
What you need first
A book with a cover, and for the file types its formats, as described in adding a book. The free plan holds one landing page; paid plans have no limit. Create Landing Page checks that before the wizard opens.
Create a page
The wizard has three steps: Choose Type, Select Book, Configure. On Choose Type, Preview on each card opens Example pages: a sample book on a page of that type, at Desktop or Mobile width, beside a short guide to what the type is best for and what it needs. Switch between the four types at the top to compare them; the button at the bottom picks the one shown. The book list marks each book with what it has and greys out any that cannot serve the chosen type, with a link to add the missing cover or files. The final button stays gray until the page has a title, a Subscribers-Only page has a list to verify against, and a Universal Book Link page has at least one purchase link; its tooltip lists whatever is missing. The page goes live the moment it is created and opens in a new tab so you can see it.
Where signups go
Where do signups go?
Send to your mailing listNew subscribers are saved to BookSparker and sent to your connected email provider too.
Newsletter (1,284 subscribers)Cosy Mystery Weekly (96 subscribers)New subscribers will be added to this list. Showing the mailing lists connected to Ellen Marsh.
Collect with BookSparkerSignups are saved to your BookSparker account. No email provider needed. View the count and export subscribers as a CSV any time from the page settings.
An Email Collection page offers two destinations. Collect with BookSparker keeps every signup on your account, with a count and a CSV export on the page's settings, and needs no email provider. Send to your mailing list does the same and also adds each signup to the list you pick from your connected provider, once the reader has confirmed. The picker shows every list connected to the book's author name, whether or not it is set up for swaps, so a missing list usually belongs to another author name. When the author name has a connected list, a new page starts on Send to your mailing list with the largest one picked; choose Collect with BookSparker instead if you'd rather keep signups on BookSparker only. If your provider ever rejects a signup, the reader still gets the book, and the failure is recorded against the integration.
Email Signup Requirement is Required by default; set it to Optional and the popup adds No thanks, just the book, which skips the form and opens the book anyway. Two boxes ask for the reader's first and last name. Reader sign-in, on by default, shows "Have a BookSparker account? Sign in" under the button: readers signed in to BookSparker don't have to type their email, but join your list just like a form signup (with their account's first name if you ask for one) and get the book straight away. Turn it off to have every reader fill in the form. A Subscribers-Only page has no destination choice: it needs one list to verify against, and a reader whose address is not on it is turned away with a message to subscribe first.
Send ARCs to your review team
An advance reader copy (ARC) goes to readers who have agreed to review your book, before or at launch. Keep your ARC team as a list or group at your email provider (many authors start one per book), then create a Subscribers-Only page that checks against it. In the Subscriber Verification section, set the Expiration Date to a few days after launch, so the copy stops going out once the reviews are in. Send your team the page's link. Each reader enters the address they signed up with: if it is on the list, they get the book on their device; if not, they are turned away. Nobody needs a BookSparker account. The book's files only open after a passed check, so a forwarded link gets nobody else the book. On the page's edit screen, Verified Readers counts the readers who passed the check, and Export CSV lists each one with whether and when they downloaded. To grow the team, add a List signup button such as Join my ARC team to your author website, pointed at the same list.
Configure the rest
Page Title is the heading readers see and defaults to the book title; Tagline is an optional line beneath it. Button Text defaults to Get My Free Book, Download Now or Get My Review Copy by type, and Universal Book Link pages have no button of their own. Internal Name is only for your list and gets a number appended if you reuse one. Popup Content lets you replace the signup popup's heading and message. An Expiration Date takes the page offline after that day; it sits under Advanced Options, or in the Subscriber Verification section on a Subscribers-Only page. Under Advanced Options, Show author biography adds your bio, and Book Preview lets readers open the first ten percent before signing up; it is on by default except on Subscribers-Only pages. Choose Your Theme picks one of five color schemes.
The theme is a starting point, in the Configure step and on the edit page alike. Colors and fonts below the themes changes the Button color, Accent color, Background color, Text color and Card color (the panel behind your bio), picks a Headings font and a Text font from thirteen typefaces, and sets the Button shape to Square, Rounded or Pill; Reset returns to the theme. Choosing a theme clears custom colors and fonts, so pick it first. Preview page, beside the theme heading, opens a Live preview of the page as readers will see it, unsaved changes included, at Desktop or Mobile width; its button opens the page's popup, but nothing is sent from there.
What the reader gets
Get Your Book
Choose your preferred reading method
Kindle
Kobo
NOOK
Apple Books
Google Play BooksOther Reader
Read in Browser Now
Direct Download
Standard EPUBKindle EPUBPDFMOBI
On an Email Collection page the reader receives an email from books@notify.booksparker.com, in the book's language, with a download link that stays valid for 14 days. That email is also how they confirm their address: they count as a signup, and join your list, the first time they download the book, send it to a device or read it online from there. Just opening the link doesn't count, because email security scanners open links on their own. AWeber lists get readers at signup, since AWeber sends its own confirmation email. Direct Download pages open the delivery window at once, and Subscribers-Only pages as soon as the check passes. The files of a Subscribers-Only page, or an Email Collection page whose signup is Required, only open for a reader who came through the page: from their emailed link, after a passed check, or signed in to BookSparker on an Email Collection page that offers reader sign-in. Either way the reader picks their device: Kindle, Kobo and Apple Books can have the book emailed straight to the device, NOOK and Google Play Books get the right file to load themselves, Other Reader covers everything else, and Read in Browser Now opens the book on the spot. Direct Download lists every format the book has. Each book also has a monthly download allowance, and the window says so when it is used up.
Manage your pages
Active
The Winter Road
The Winter Road by Ellen Marsh
Email Signup
1,284
Views
412
Downloads
32.1%
Conversion
EditLink
The Landing Pages list shows a card per page with its views, downloads or clicks, and the conversion between them. Link copies the address, opens it or makes a QR code. Edit opens the settings, where Disable takes the page offline without losing it and Delete removes it with its statistics. A page that a group promo is recruiting or running with, or that a pending or accepted swap points to, cannot be disabled or deleted until that ends; the card marks it with an info icon listing where it is in use. Email Subscribers on the edit page counts the signups the page collected and exports them as a CSV, with whether and when each reader downloaded. On a Subscribers-Only page the same panel is called Verified Readers and lists the readers who passed the check.
Common questions
My page says it has expired
The Expiration Date in Advanced Options has passed. Clear or move the date and save. When you use a page in a group promo, the application form offers to reactivate it automatically if it expires while the promo runs.
Why is my list missing from the picker?
The picker shows every list connected to the book's author name. Check the author name on the book, and check the integration on the Mailing Lists page is connected to that author name. A list you created at your provider only just now appears after you press Refresh on the integration.
Can readers get the book without giving an email?
Yes, on a Direct Download page, or on an Email Collection page with the signup set to Optional.
Which language is the page in?
The book's language, as set on the book, whatever language the reader's browser uses. The delivery email follows the same rule.