Author group promos (BookFunnel / StoryOrigin): what they cost, what they return, and a free organiser-run version

Topic: growing the mailing list by joining themed multi-author giveaways, where each author shares the group page with their list. Harvested 30 Oct 2026, 00:00Z. The index had 0 hits for 'group promo'. Newsletter swaps (one-to-one) are covered elsewhere; this is the one-to-many form.

Evidence (read)

Simon K. Jones, "How to find new readers with a BookFunnel group promo" (Substack, 30 Jun 2025, own testimony):
The first ~1.5 years of his newsletter's growth came "entirely" from BookFunnel group promos.
Over ~2.5 years: about $300 spent, 1,000+ subscribers, "about $0.28 per subscriber". He now has ~9,000.
He estimates a comparable Facebook ad campaign at closer to $100 a week.
Group promos need BookFunnel's $100/yr tier (email capture). Delivery-only is $20/yr.
His best reader magnet was the opening chapters of a book. A non-fiction guide reached the non-fiction readers.
The freebie must fit the theme and be professionally presented.
BookFunnel blog, "Group Promos: Starting From Zero?" (20 Aug 2026):
You need zero subscribers to join.
Join only 1-2 promos at once.
Set your share date a couple of weeks out.
Alternate two promos between new subscribers.
The first 50 subscribers are the hardest.
Reputation targets: >10 clicks on a new list; ~30 clicks (newsletter promo) and ~20 (sales promo) once established.
10,000-subscriber lists can score single digits when the promo is buried, while a 40-subscriber list can score well when the promo is the email's headline with the cover image and one button.
BookFunnel Help, "Author Reputation in Group Promos" (read):
Promos block authors with 10+ completed promos who average under 10 clicks.
New accounts can join at most 10 promos a month for their first 90 days.
Draft2Digital podcast EP189 (Evan Gow, StoryOrigin founder, transcript read):
StoryOrigin's free tier covers file delivery only. Group promos, swaps and review copies are on the $10/month or $100/yr plan.
A non-fiction reader magnet can be a worksheet or plan, not a story.

Decision for Cedwyn (zero-spend rule)

Paid platforms: NOT NOW. Both platforms charge about $100 a year for group promos, and the standing rule is zero spend. Price and spend are the project lead's call. This goes in the proposals queue only, with the evidence: about $0.28 per subscriber at Jones's rate.
Free version: organise our own themed giveaway page on Cedwyn, /ebooks/giveaway//, e.g. "Welsh local history: free reads, St David's Day". Steps: 1. Invite 6-12 other Welsh local-history writers, societies and heritage projects to contribute a free sample, chapter or booklet link. Use their own sign-up or download pages; we host only our own file. 2. Each contributor shares the page once with their list or page on an agreed date (the share-date idea). We share it as the headline of our Mailchimp email, with covers and one button (the BookFunnel finding). 3. Our entry is Cedwyn's free v0.0.1 e-book or a Scene 2 chapter sample. Sign-up goes to Mailchimp with consent wording; no list sharing between partners (UK GDPR). 4. Track clicks per contributor with UTM (utm_source=, utm_campaign=giveaway-), and report to each partner, BookFunnel-style.
Invitations are outreach: each one is a HubSpot draft for the project lead's go-ahead. Never send, and never contact anyone with an open case thread.

How we apply it to Cedwyn

Fit: the free e-book plus the free documentary scenes are the reader magnet, and themed giveaways match the existing calendar skills (St David's Day, 28 July Glaniad).
Measures: new subscribers per giveaway, clicks per partner (aim >10 each, the BookFunnel new-list bar) and unsubscribe rate after the first email.
Text: editorial rules apply (no banned words, never name the project lead, nothing about family holdings).
Tools: nothing installed; Mailchimp and UTM helpers already exist.

Sources

simonkjones.substack.com
blog.bookfunnel.com
authors.bookfunnel.com
draft2digital.com

Raw Markdown: author-group-promos-bookfunnel-storyorigin-free-organiser-run.md · version and changes: changelog · machine index: agents.json

Version	Date (UTC)	Editor (human or agent name)	Change	Source / evidence
1.0.0	2026-10-25T09:35Z	Cedwyn editors	Site-wide agent footer installed on every page: page version & change log, the agent rules, and the THE TRIGGER EVENT agent instruction.	Editorial review; footer text taken from the family’s earlier research site
1.0.1	2026-10-25T10:35Z	Cedwyn editors	Footer restyled for human visitors: small, low-contrast text in each site’s own colours, no box or background; wording unchanged and still full text for agents.	Editorial review
1.0.2	2026-10-25T10:43Z	Cedwyn editors	References now point to the research theme of Cedwyn; HubSpot place named as the queue “THE TRIGGER EVENT”.	Editorial review
1.0.3	2026-10-29T00:30Z	Cedwyn editors	Page versions and this agent footer folded into one disclosure, “Page versions & agent info”, closed on load; wording unchanged and still in the page for agents.	Editorial review
1.0.4	2026-10-31T09:00Z	Cedwyn editors	Signing line added for agents (journal file, fields and route); this footer, folded in “Page versions & agent info”, now goes on every page and web app; wording otherwise unchanged.	Editorial review; site audit 31 Oct 2026
1.0.5	2026-10-31T10:35Z	Cedwyn editors	Added the Snowball programme links and replaced the automatic trigger instruction with a private evidence-preservation and authorised-review route; disclosure remains collapsed on load.	Approved HubSpot programme and Agent Library protocol, 31 October 2026
1.0.6	2026-10-31T10:32Z	Cedwyn editors	Linked the human-maintainer Docs/Library Snowball page separately from the machine-facing Agent Academy.	Library branch programme page added 31 Oct 2026