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Email Lists, BookBub, and Socials: What’s Working in 2025?

Email Lists, BookBub, and Socials: What’s Working in 2025?

by Deleted user -
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As someone who’s been self-publishing a book in the UK since 2022, I’ve tested just about every tool out there—and here’s what’s genuinely working right now in 2025.

Email Lists – Still the MVP

If you're not building your email list, you're leaving your long-term audience behind. It’s not the fastest-growing channel, but it's the most reliable. I use BookFunnel to offer a free novella in my genre (romantic suspense), and readers join my list to get it.
Open rates? 45–50%.
Conversion? Better than socials, and readers are more loyal.
Use it to announce new books, ask for reviews, or run a pre-order campaign. Worth every minute.

BookBub – Great, But Competitive

BookBub Featured Deals are still gold—but super competitive. I’ve only landed one in two years, but it gave me a massive bump (around 2,000+ downloads in 3 days).
Even without the feature, BookBub Ads work if you know your author comps and test small budgets. I spent about £40 to earn back £120 during a promo week.
Also: their UK audience is growing—good for niche genres here.

Social Media – Depends on Your Genre

Socials can be great, but it's easy to burn out. Here's how I break it down:

  • Instagram: Strong for aesthetic-heavy genres (YA, romance). Reels help visibility.

  • TikTok (BookTok): Still powerful, but viral hits are rare. I had one post hit 30k views, and it led to 300+ sales. Not consistent, but amazing when it works.

  • Facebook Groups: GOLD for mature audiences (thrillers, historical fiction, nonfiction). Not flashy, but consistent engagement and click-throughs.

  • Threads & LinkedIn: Good for nonfiction/self-help authors. Not much traction for fiction yet.

What’s the Winning Combo?

In my experience, a healthy mix of all three is best:

  1. Use socials for visibility and reader engagement.

  2. Funnel traffic to a freebie landing page to build your email list.

  3. Schedule promos (BookBub, Freebooksy, etc.) for strategic boosts.

Self publishing a book in the UK today is less about chasing trends and more about building steady reader trust. You don’t need a massive audience, you need a loyal one.