Improved
If a book hasn't been released yet, move it to the "Pending Publishing" tab automatically
Readers have been requesting this feature for a while, and we've finally implemented it! This should help readers manage their due books and not have to check back constantly to see if a book has been released.
Changes we've made for authors:
Changes we've made for authors:
- Added a "Print ASIN/ISBN" field.
- Added a warning when the review due date is before the release date. You can still select a date before the release date, but we'll let you know that readers might not be able to review on time.
Changes we've made for readers:
- If the book is due before the release date, it will move automatically to the "Pending Publishing" tab until release day.
- If there is a Print ASIN/ISBN provided by the author, the book will be moved back to the "Due" tab and we'll send readers to the print version of the book to review.
- After the release date, we'll send all readers to the eBook ASIN/ISBN only.
Improved
Ability to review both the ebook and audiobook versions of a book
Hey everyone!
After being quite heavily requested from both authors and readers, we have officially updated the site so that readers can claim both the ebook and audiobook versions of a book. It will only be possible to claim a specific version (ebook or audiobook) once. But this will give you the option to review both the ebook and audiobook versions!
Hope you like this change and let us know at [email protected] if you run into any issues.
After being quite heavily requested from both authors and readers, we have officially updated the site so that readers can claim both the ebook and audiobook versions of a book. It will only be possible to claim a specific version (ebook or audiobook) once. But this will give you the option to review both the ebook and audiobook versions!
Hope you like this change and let us know at [email protected] if you run into any issues.
Fixed
October 25th update
Author Side
- Added the option to filter by teams on reader profiles that aren't team members.
- Fixed the display of emails that were marked as "sent" too early.
Reader Side
- Updated the way books are categorized under "Active", "Due", "Pending", etc.
- Updated team pages to display books properly when the reader has an active book for that team.
New
Audiobook support for Authors Direct and Kobo
Hey everyone!
Since we first introduced the ability to get audiobook reviews in Booksprout 2.0 we've received a lot of requests from authors asking us to support more than just Audible. Today we're happy to announce that we've just pushed an update to the Booksprout platform that will allow you to provide us with download codes from Authors Direct and Kobo to be distributed to reviewers.
When creating a review campaign for an audiobook, you'll be asked if it's exclusive to Audible or not. If it is exclusive, things will behave pretty much like they did before with a few minor differences like the ability to ask for audiobook reviews on Goodreads and Bookbub!
For those of you with books that are not exclusive to Audible, you'll now have the option to add codes for both Authors Direct and/or Kobo. You'll also be able to choose from 6 different stores for reviewers to leave their audiobook review on! Note that if you add codes for both Authors Direct and Kobo, reviewers will be able to choose which platform they want to claim a code for.
Fixed
September 27th update
Author Side
- Fixed the book description editor to display the formatting properly on the review campaign page.
- Fixed the book description editor to allow the HTML to be edited manually.
- Updated the reader profiles to display the number of not due books under "Active" instead of due and not due books combined.
Reader Side
- Fixed an issue with some imported books not being marked completed and blocking future claims.
- Added missing review count on "About Author" section on review campaigns.
Improved
Fixed
July 27th update
Author Side
- Opened up the ability to create a review campaign for Top Reviewers only.
- Updated the layout of the Manage Team page.
- Fixed an issue with some readers still being able to claim books even when they had outstanding reviews for a team.
Reader Side
- Republished the Booksprout reviewer app.
- Opened up books in the "Exclusive" tab.
- Converted version 2 EPUBs to version 3 so that Send to Kindle is more consistent.
- Changed the way that Send to Kindle works. We're now sending our emails from your primary email address.
- Added the ability to use the Send to Kindle functionality for files up to 50MB large.
Improved
Fixed
June 15th update
Author Side
- Fixed tax error when trying to upgrade in various locations.
- Fixed an issue with some elements duplicating during the creation process.
- Changed the layout of the billing tab when a payment has failed with the option to retry the payment.
Reader Side
- Lower the limit to 15 weekly claims for the Reviewer rank.
- Added an overdue day indicator to the "Due" tab.
- For endless review campaigns, display the same review date in the reader dashboard as well as the review copy page.
- Fixed an issue with re-applying to the Top Reviewer program.
General Update
- Added the ability to delete notifications.
Improved
Fixed
June 2nd update
Author Side
- Fixed an issue that sometimes happened when clicking the "Request Support" button in messages.
- Fixed the count of the review reminder emails to better reflect which emails have been sent.
- If there is an error generating the preview, prevent it from loading endlessly and instead show an error message.
Reader Side
- Reduced weekly download limit to 20 for the Reviewer rank.
- Fixed an issue when trying to leave the review link for Audible.
- Fixed some due dates showing Dec. 31st, 1969.
- Fixed some review reminders sending 3 days early instead of 2.
- Updated the layout of the store boxes when leaving your review.
- Updated the process to follow a team when the user is not logged in.
- Updated the Amazon URL on a book page to send to the .com store instead of the .ca store.
General Update
- Added the ability to log in using secondary email addresses.
- Fixed email notifications for Booksprout messages.
Improved
Improved Feature - New Calendar
We have a great new improved feature to announce today! On top of being simpler to use, the new calendar also allows you to select a different end date and review date.
That means that you can decide:
That means that you can decide:
- When the book will stop being available on Booksprout.
- When the reviews are due.
Those dates are now going to be separate, giving you the ability to close your review campaign early while still giving time for your readers to leave their reviews.
If you run into any issues with the calendar, please send us an email at [email protected]. And if you have any questions about how the new calendar works, please let us know! 💚
Improved
Fixed
May 23rd update
Author Side
- Changed how Reviewer Reminders are displayed in a Review Campaign dashboard.
- Fixed an error when trying to upgrade by clicking an upgrade button on review campaigns.
- Fixed an issue when trying to grant review exemptions.
Reader Side
- Fixed an issue with some books with 0 required/optional links not showing in the reader dashboard.
- Fixed the length and rating on book pages to display correctly.
Fixed
May 16th update
Author Side
- Fixed an issue when unblocking blocked members.
- Fixed the ability for authors to move the review date in the future for all participants.
- Fixed an issue with some books being able to be claimed even past the end date.
- Fixed an issue with the Publisher plan being activated even without a subscription.
Reader Side
- Reduced the weekly download limit for "Reviewer" rank to 25 books.
- Fixed an issue with some books not moving to "Pending Publishing".
- Fixed an issue with blank pages when trying to leave a review on Booksprout on audiobooks.
Improved
Fixed
May 5th update
Author Side
- Added more social options on pen names.
- Added an option to filter by pen name on the "Reviews" tab.
- Fixed issues when granting a review exemption.
- Fixed an issue with auto-rotating images.
- Removed the checkmark on books when there isn't a file uploaded.
Reader Side
- Changed the rank of "Valued Reviewer" to simply "Reviewer".
- Fixed a timezone issue on the "Due" tab.
Fixed
April 28th update
Author Side
- Fixed an issue with the menu not updating after blocking a user.
- Fixed an issue with the "Sites" tab in a review campaign not giving an error if it was empty.
- Fixed an issue with some MOBI files not generating properly.
- Fixed an issue with "Ready to Publish" emails sending even when all links were provided.
- Fixed a timezone issue with review reminders.
- Updated books so that book files are optional.
Reader Side
- Removed the option to message the author if the campaign has ended and the reader has not claimed a copy.
- Fixed an issue with "Past Due" emails being sent before the book was due.
- Fixed the invalid timezone error when leaving a review on a Kindle Fire
General Update
- Fixed the compatibility with Adblock Plus on Chrome.
Fixed
April 20th update
Author Side
- Updated the "Last review campaign on" information to be more accurate.
- Updated how teams are loaded to make them faster.
- Updated when a review campaign shows on the "Find Review Copies" based on privacy settings set by the author.
Reader Side
- Reactivated Send to Kindle (our new email address is now [email protected])
- Fixed an issue with rejected reviews not moving to the right tab.
- Added an error when trying to review a book on an account that doesn't have a claim for that book.
- Removed the extra period at the end of the review when copying from Booksprout.
- Updated the popup to select a display name to be on claim instead of on review.
- Fixed an issue with big files not downloading properly.
General Update
- Fixed an issue with login on Safari.
- Added partial star ratings.
- Fixed an issue where line breaks were removed from messages.
- Fixed the layout of the message section to only show a preview of the last message.
Fixed
April 11th update
Author Side
- Removed the popup that required a display name for authors when responding to a message.
- Updated the wording when selecting how many copies to distribute to better reflect the author's plan.
- Fixed an issue with teams when a description wasn't provided.
- Fixed how audiobook codes are counted.
- Fixed how audiobook available copies are counted.
- Fixed an issue so that authors can view a private review campaign limited to their teams.
Reader Side
- Updated how "on-time review rate" is displayed. Instead of showing a number, it's now a rating.
- Fixed an issue with some books not displaying on the "Find Review Copies" page if they were part of a series.
- Fixed an issue with not being able to unfollow a team when a reader was blocked from it (and still get emails about it).
- Fixed an issue where clicking on "Listen" on an audiobook took the reader to read the book.
Fixed
April 7th update
Author Side
- Fixed an issue where it was possible to select a due date for over a year in the future.
- Fixed an issue where some team members would get re-invited to a team.
- Allowed authors to select who they want to notify about private review copies.
- Added pagination to the notifications tab so it loads faster.
- Updated the Safari version of the website for better compatibility.
Reader Side
- When books are sorted by due dates, they are now also grouped by due dates.
- Fixed how overdue days are counted.
- Fixed an issue with a book being in the "Delay" pile blocking from downloading a new book.
- Updated the on-time review rate to calculate from the Booksprout review only and not the completed review.
- Updated the placeholder of the search bar on "Find Review Copies" to reflect that you can also search by genre.
- Updated the filter count of mobile to reflect the number of books available.
- Added pagination to the notifications tab so it loads faster.
Fixed
April 5th update
Author Side
- Fixed some email notifications not sending.
- Fixed an issue with some readers still being able to claim books even when they had overdue reviews.
- Updating the requirements of a review campaign will no longer update the claim requirements for a reader. Readers will always be required to complete what they originally agreed to.
- Fixed an issue with the country select field on billing.
- Fixed an issue with blocking readers from the "participants" tab.
- Fixed file upload for virtual assistants.
- Added the right image when sharing a review campaign via social media.
Reader Side
- Opened up stores even if the author hasn't provided the book link.
- Fixed an issue where overdue days weren't being counted.
- Fixed overdue review emails being sent on withdrawn review copies.
- Fixed an issue with some emails being sent twice in a row.
- Fixed an issue with certain emails not sending when there was a new message.
- Disabled the email dropdown when sending a book via email (and only 1 email address was available)
- Fixed an issue where having an "Exempted" store wasn't enough to mark a review as complete.
- Fixed an issue where some review copies weren't showing for certain readers even though the reader was able to claim them.
- Removed filetype if it's not available when trying to send the book file via email.
Fixed
March 30th update
Author Side
- Added the ability to delete a finished review campaign.
- Added a file limit of 7.1MB to be able to send via email, otherwise, it caused an error.
- Removed the stores that are already filled out from the review exemption popup.
- Fixed an issue that now allows an unblocked member to return to their previous status.
Reader Side
- Added the option to search by pen name on "My Review Copies" tab.
- Fixed the back "Find another book to review" link to remember filters that were selected.
- Fixed an issue with some readers appearing to be team members when they weren't.
- Fixed an issue with notifications being sent for books readers couldn't claim.
- Moved claims to the appropriate column if there are 0 optional stores.
- Removed the option to download a certain filetype if that filetype is not provided by the author.
Fixed
March 23rd update
Author Side
- Fixed an issue where some draft review campaigns wouldn't actually schedule.
- Fixed an issue with book covers not uploading for VAs.
- Added the ability for authors to change the review team on an active review campaign.
Reader Side
- Fixed how overdue days are being calculated.
- Fixed "Due" emails so they don't send when the book is under "Pending Publishing".
- Fixed some review copies missing from the "My Review Copies" tab.
- Fixed the ability to view and update completed Booksprout reviews when the book is under the "Completed" tab.
- Fixed the "My Review Copies" filters on mobile.
- Fixed "Due" books on finished review campaigns showing a "Buy" button instead of a "Download Again" button.
- Fixed email content for new review copies available from a "Publisher" type of account.
Fixed
March 22nd update
Author Side
- Fixed the issue with books not uploading/updating properly.
- Stopped sending "Time to Publish" emails if all the links have been provided.
- Ability to send messages to participants (as well as reviewers).
Reader Side
- Fixed an issue with books not showing unless all optional stores were checked.
- Fixed an issue with review copies not being available when a reader was blocked.
- Changed when review due emails are sent (now based on the reader due date instead of the review campaign end date).
Fixed
March 21st update
We had an issue with emails not sending over the weekend, but that has been resolved and the emails are sending properly now.
Fixes on the Reader Side:
Fixes on the Reader Side:
- Fixed the issue with books being duplicated under "Pending Publishing"
- Brought back the numbers on the "My Review Copies" tabs.
- Star rating is now accessible.
Fixed
March 17th update
We're working hard on fixing the bugs that have shown up on the website. We thank you for your patience as we work through them.
Author Side
Author Side
- Removed the auto-generating of PDF (it's now optional)
- Fixed emails not sending (or not sending at the right time)
- Fixed claims showing up double
- Added a 404 page when a blocked reader finds your review campaign
Reader Side
- Fixed not being able to claim new review copies because of overdue team reviews.
- Fixed the ACX URL when trying to claim an audiobook code.
- Fixed reviews not getting marked as "Completed" when all the requirements were completed.
- Fixed books not showing unless all optional stores were selected
- Changed the default order from oldest to newest on the "Active", "Due", "Pending Publishing" and "Delayed/Rejected" tabs.
Fixed
March 10th update
Author Side
Since our developers are in the UK and they mostly work while the rest of us sleep, we've got a whole bunch of fixes already implemented today. Here's a quick summary.
Since our developers are in the UK and they mostly work while the rest of us sleep, we've got a whole bunch of fixes already implemented today. Here's a quick summary.
- Fixed all known billing issues, so if you've been having issues in this area please try again and let us know how it goes!
- We've sent all the emails that were missed in the first 2-3 days after the re-launch. So your readers will have been notified about their reviews being due, or new review campaigns that you created.
- We've had to temporarily disable send to kindle functionality (I think Amazon may have blacklisted our [email protected] email address. We're still waiting back from them to see how we can resolve this.)
- Team members should now be fully functional again, so if you're still experiencing any issues surrounding this please let me know!
- Various other bug fixes that aren't noteworthy
- A number of stability improvements and fixes for errors we've seen in the logs
At this point, we believe that we've fixed all of the problems that have broken critical parts of the new system and will start working on issues of secondary importance (stuff that's annoying, but not breaking anything). If you see something that is breaking your ability to use the site, please let me know because we may not be aware of it!
Reader Side
Today's reviewer update!
Reader Side
Today's reviewer update!
- We've resolved the issue with review copies being not available, even though they were in the previous system
- Fixed a few login issues
- Fixed certain types of emails that weren't being sent. The developers didn't quite have time today to send the ones that failed to send in the last two days, but that will be done first thing tomorrow (UK time
- Further stability improvements
Other known problems we're looking into:
- Send to Kindle doesn't work. I have a feeling Amazon blocked our [email protected] address, so we're trying to reach someone there who knows what might have happened. Once we know more we'll be able to resolve this.
- Continuing to improve site stability as load increases.
- A few other smaller issues that aren't quite as critical So far I'm quite happy with the progress we've made since launch. By the end of the week I'm thinking that we'll have things running as they should be!
Booksprout 2.0 is live!
Author Side
- Review Campaigns for Audiobooks
- Ability to send messages via Booksprout
- Ability to block readers right away
- Added Review Teams
- Added Notifications in the dashboard
- Ability to view all the Reviews in one place
- Added reader profiles
- Ability to run endless review campaigns
- Ability to run review campaigns on previous books
- Ability to have scheduled and draft review campaigns
Reader Side
- Ability to select stores you can review on
- Added the review rank
- Replace categories with tags
- Ability to follow an author at any time
- Ability to mark a review as "delayed" or "rejected" for Amazon
- Books that don't have links are moved to "Pending Publishing"
