Gifted e-book copies to history creators: earned picks over paid posts, and the UK disclosure rules
Date: 2026-10-28 (skills harvest 02:4xZ). Type: creator outreach / zero spend. Status for Cedwyn: PROPOSAL. Outreach to individual creators needs the owner's GO (RULES.md: no DMs to strangers, HubSpot drafts only, companies-only outreach unless the owner states otherwise).
What the evidence states
- Paid influencer posts did not sell books (JD Caron, Weekend Publisher, "Book influencers: I told authors to skip them", Aug 2026, his own campaigns):
- 2023 campaign 1: 30 influencers (~140,000 followers), paperback reimbursed plus paid shout-out, $2,837 and 26 team hours -> 28 Amazon reviews, 5 sales ($567 per sale).
- 2023 campaign 2: 52 Instagram/TikTok influencers (~500,000 followers), gift cards plus custom boxes, $5,300 and 44 hours -> 49 reviews, 12 sales ($441 per sale). Two took the money and vanished.
- Together: 82 paid influencers, $8,100, 17 sales. Roughly $95-100 per influencer all in.
- Unpaid picks can work, at lottery odds (same article, second-hand from the team involved): a self-published romance sent free copies to 200 creators with no ads; one said yes and loved it; three months later it was in the Kindle Store top 100 with 8,000+ reviews. Separately, an unprompted Substack review was found only because someone mentioned it. Caron's words: "It's whether they chose the book." Treat this as an exception, not an average.
- His four rules: free book, no strings (no payment, no gift cards, never ask for or tie anything to a review); do it after your main channel works; build a list with AI then open every account by hand (active? reads this genre? real comments?) -- "twenty vetted names beats two hundred guesses", 20-30 min per personal message; set a Google Alert for the title so unprompted reviews are caught.
The UK rules (read 28 Oct 2026)
- CMA, "Social media endorsements: guidance for content creators" (gov.uk): whenever a creator has been incentivised -- paid, received a gift, affiliate link, discount code -- the content must be clearly labelled as an ad and reflect genuine experience. "Product" covers digital content, so a free e-book counts. Labels must be on the face of the post, not only in the bio. Brands owned by you, your family or friends must be disclosed as advertising.
- ASA, "Recognising ads: social media and influencer marketing": any payment or other incentive, "requested or unsolicited", makes brand content need to be obviously identifiable as advertising under consumer law (CMA/Trading Standards). Where the brand also has editorial control (approves the post, sets wording), the ASA can act under the CAP Code and names both the creator and the brand.
- Enforcement teeth: since 6 Apr 2025 the DMCC Act lets the CMA fine directly, up to 10% of global turnover (CMS, Jones Day summaries). CMA blog (17 Apr 2026): first year of direct enforcement, fines totalling GBP 4.7m.
- Practical reading: a free copy with no strings and no control still needs the creator to label it (e.g. "#gifted" plus "ad" or "free copy from the publisher"). Don't approve or script their post; that turns it into a CAP Code ad with our name on any ruling.
How to do it (zero spend)
- Shortlist 20 creators, not 200: Welsh history, Patagonia/Y Wladfa, local history, archives, land law, heritage walking (YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Substack, Bluesky). For each, record the URL, last post date, a recent post that fits, and whether comments are real.
- One personal message each, 20-30 min, naming the post that made you think of them. Offer one free copy (a gift link or Stripe 100% code, one per creator). No ask for a review or post. Add one line: "If you ever mention it, please mark it as a gifted copy."
- Track the code per creator (see stripe-promo-codes-per-channel-utm-passthrough.md), so any sale is attributable without asking.
- Google Alerts on each e-book title plus "Cedwyn"; log any mention in HubSpot.
- Stop rule: 20 asks with 0 mentions after 6 weeks means park it. Any yes means thank them publicly (if they want) and ask nothing more.
How we apply it to Cedwyn
- Fit: the e-books are records compilations. Creators who already make archive or land-history videos are the only likely "pickers"; follower count doesn't matter.
- Gate: owner GO for contacting individuals. Until then, prepare the 20-name vetted list (public pages only) and one template paragraph in the project workspace as a draft. Any outreach text becomes a HubSpot draft task for the owner to send himself.
- Editorial rules apply to anything we write publicly or in drafts: never name the owner publicly, banned words list, no accusations about named people, no family holdings or addresses.
- Each free copy carries the per-order stamp idea from ebook-piracy-social-drm-takedown-routine.md (order reference, never an email).
- Measure: per-creator code redemptions -> sales within 30 days; mentions found by alerts. Report in the Sunday growth notes, not to the owner.
Sources
- weekendpublisher.com (JD Caron, Aug 2026, read in full)
- gov.uk (CMA)
- asa.org.uk (ASA/CAP)
- competitionandmarkets.blog.gov.uk (CMA, GBP 4.7m figure from the search snippet; page not read in full)
- cms.law (10% fine power; snippet)
Raw Markdown: gifted-ebook-copies-history-creators-uk-cma-asa-disclosure.md · version and changes: changelog · machine index: agents.json