Daniel Castro

Daniel had been writing thrillers for four years. He'd built a dedicated following—maybe 5,000 fans who consistently bought his books. They loved his work. His release days were usually good for 3,000-4,000 sales, which translated to a respectable €10-15K per release.

But he felt frustrated. He knew bestselling thriller authors were selling 20,000-50,000 copies per release. What were they doing differently?

The answer, he eventually realized, was reviews. Bestselling books had thousands of reviews, which triggered Amazon's algorithm. They appeared in "Customers Also Bought" recommendations. They got featured in category lists. The algorithm worked for them, creating a virtuous cycle: more visibility meant more sales, which meant more reviews, which meant more visibility.

Daniel's books had maybe 200-300 reviews per book. Bestsellers had 2,000-5,000. That was the gap.

He'd heard about ARC campaigns—giving free copies to influential readers in exchange for reviews. It seemed like it could work, but coordinating it seemed like a nightmare. How would he manage thousands of emails? Track who had downloaded? Remind people to post reviews? Dealing with Goodreads was notoriously difficult. Amazon had different processes. He'd need a team to handle it.

Then he learned about Publisheds' ARC Manager.

He decided to run an ARC campaign for his next thriller. Here's what happened:

He created a campaign with 500 free copies to give away. Publisheds integrated with Goodreads and Amazon, so reviewers could request the book through those platforms or through his author website. Downloads were tracked automatically. When someone downloaded a copy, Publisheds sent them a reminder email at strategic intervals: "Got it? Take your time reading." Then, after two weeks: "Loved it? Please post a review." Then, one week before release: "Launch day is almost here! Your review will help other readers."

Publisheds handled all this automation. Daniel just set the campaign parameters and let it run.

The results were staggering. He got 10,000 downloads in the first month. Not all 500 readers he'd invited—thousands of people heard about the campaign and requested copies. Goodreads and Amazon's algorithms were pushing it to relevant readers.

More importantly, by launch day, he had 2,500 reviews already posted. The book arrived on Amazon's shelves already glowing with reader praise.

Amazon's algorithm noticed. The book jumped into the #5 position in its category on day one. It stayed in the top 10 for three weeks.

Launch month sales: 20,000 copies. Revenue: €60,000.

That was four times his previous launch month.

Daniel has since run an ARC campaign for each new release. They've become his secret weapon for breaking into bestseller lists.