How bookshops can better engage with readers online, promote pre-orders and boost sales by providing a great online book sampling experience.

1. Bookshop Reading Samples
for use in email, social media and book pages
How bookshops can better engage with
readers online, promote pre-orders and
boost sales by providing a great online
book sampling experience.

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Part I
Sample link open read buy shop
Tempt Readers with Free Samples

3. Samples for illustrated Books
3
Part I
❶ Link
❹ Shop
❷ View
❸ Buy

4. Boost pre-orders and sales by customising the buy button in your online
samples, previews and excerpts for easy ordering on any device, including
mobile, tablet, PC, and smartwatch even when samples are re-shared.
Embed sample links (a) in email newsletters, (b) social media posts, (c) on
web pages, reviews, and blogs, or (d) as QR codes on bookmarks, postcards,
handouts, and in bookshop windows.
Engage readers with online reading samples for illustrated and narrative
books. Customers can read these with one click on any device. Samples in
turn stimulate interest in pre-orders, online sales and in-store purchases.
Drive Pre-orders & Sales
with online excerpts, samples and previews
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Note: All samples, excerpts and previews can be personalised to have a
bookshop - specific pre-order/buy button. These are YOUR customers!
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Introduction

5. Part I Level up with Amazon
Part III Boost Sales with Book Samples and Excerpts
Part II Drive Pre-orders with Book Samples
Part IV Improve Online Webpages
Part V Reading in the Cloud
Reading Samples for Bookshops
Table of Contents
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6. Part I
Level up with Amazon
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7. How Amazon Uses Online Samples
Amazon’s “Look inside” feature is used for every
book and is accessed by readers shopping for
ebooks and print books.
Online samples are an essential tool for boosting
book sales across all formats and channels! They
are not just for sampling and promoting ebooks.
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Part I

8. Improved Reader Engagement
by lowering the barrier for readers to engage
Getting Readers Interested
Previews offer a way of engaging readers and
helping them decide what to buy.
Virtual Browsing
Clicking on a button or scanning a QR code that
offers a free sample allows for online browsing
when you reach out to customers by email, social
media, blog or other online means . They can even
be used (as QR codes) in shop windows, at book
festivals, and other physical locations.
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Part I

9. Benefits of Reading Samples
for boosting pre-orders and book sales
o The Guardian Bookshop is generating up to 30% click-through and 20%
conversion to purchase by using Jellybooks sample links in its newsletters.
o Samples have been used with great success by the Booker Prize
foundation. The 2021 Booker Prize Magazine, featured samples of all the
longlisted and shortlisted titles, engaging over 10,000 readers.
o Retailers and publishers, including Blackwell’s, The Guardian Bookshop,
Pan Macmillan, Cambridge University Press, and others are employing
reading samples with great success in marketing campaigns.
o Research by Nielsen, The Reading Agency, and others has consistently
shown that samples and previews are a key driver of purchase intent.
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Introduction

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Part II
Drive Pre-orders with Book Samples

11. Pre-Orders – The Guardian Bookshop
Part II
The Guardian Bookshop sent an email newsletter
four weeks prior to the publication of ‘To Paradise’
with a prominent call to action to read a sample
and receive a 15% discount when pre-ordering.
It was one of their highest engagement newsletters
of the year. 11

12. Pre-Orders
• For major releases publishers are focusing more and more of their
campaign activity on awareness prior to publication date and
driving pre-orders.
• Reach out to customers with online reading samples in newsletters
and social media to highlight upcoming releases - in particular
those titles with special indie and signed editions available.
• Online previews are a great way of allowing readers to take a
sneak peek so they can pre-order with confidence.
• Grab a larger share of the pre-order action!
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Part II
Note: Only selected reading samples are available prior to publication date
(pub date). There is a special column in the Jellybooks bookshop portal
featuring upcoming releases.

13. Sample Links
Online reading samples or previews are simple links (URLs) that can be
embedded in text, styled as buttons or linked to a cover image in
email, social media posts, blogs and web pages.
The call to action at end the of the online reading sample/preview can
be custom-styled to be specific to your bookshop.
➢ Long URL https://www.jellybooks.com/cloud_reader/excerpts/the-
sanatorium_9781473577275-ex/beylb
➢ Short URL https://jbks.co/The-Sanatorium
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Part II
Note: The call to action button at the end of previews & samples is styled by
bookshops via the Jellybooks bookshop portal (just ask us for an
invite if you are not yet registered).

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Part III
Boosting Sales with Samples

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Bookshop E-mail newsletter
One click access to ebook samples from
within the email newsletter sent to
Blackwell’s customers.
Part III

16. Reading Samples on Social Media
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Part III
Social media provides additional channels for sharing reading samples
and getting readers hooked on bookshop recommended books and
encouraging them to pre-order, buy online or pop into the bookshop.

17. QR Codes in Bookshop
engaging readers offline and online
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“Scan & Read”
• For use with outdoor advertising
(bus stops, train stations) where
people have time to browse.
• Ideal for use with bookmarks
posters, brochures, flyers,
postcards and more.
• Ideal for contextual marketing
use in bookshops, museums,
exhibits and other physical
spaces.
• We make them for you!
Part III

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Part IV
Improve Your Webpages

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Read excerpt
sample
Peek inside ↓
❷ Sample button
❸ Sample button
❶ Clickable Cover
Click here to read an online excerpt (first few chapters)
❹ Excerpt link at
end of description
Enrich your Webpages
Part IV

20. Bookshop Webpage Example
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Part IV
Jellybooks powers “Book preview” by
Blackwell’s supplying samples, excerpts
and previews for over 100,000 ISBNs.

21. Improve Reader Engagement
Book Discovery
Enhance your curated selections and handpicked
recommendations with book samples by
encouraging browsing online.
Book Purchase
Readers browsing a website or shop are undecided
about what book(s) to buy. Samples help them make
up their mind on what books to buy.
Read Now or Later
Samples can be read on the spot or saved for later.
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Part IV

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Part V
Reading in the Cloud

23. Mobile-friendly!
Re-flowable Samples
Over 68% of users globally access websites
via their mobile phone. It is now essential to
offer book samples that support a fully
optimised online experience across devices.
Cloud-hosted Previews
To work effectively online samples have to be
easy to read and available on any device
with a minimum of effort. Cloud-hosted ePUB
previews offer the best user experience for
book readers on any device!
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Part V

24. Better Reader Experience
variable font size day/night mode Variable typeface
The Jellybooks Cloud Reader offers all the benefits of a cloud-hosted ePUB solution,
including the many user experience and accessibility benefits of ePUB, which DAISY
has rated the most accessible file format for readers. 24
Part V

25. Better Previews for illustrated books
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Part V

26. Easy Sharing
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Why Readers Share
They are passionate about the book.
Sharing a samples is less effort than
writing a review.
Samples give somebody else
something “free” -- which is why they
also work well along with reviews.
The buy button at the end of the
sample still links back to your shop.
Part V

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1. It’s all about giving readers attractive content to
stimulate pre-order and sales.
2. Previews and samples create an enticing online
browsing experience and help reassure readers
when they can’t visit a shop in person.
3. Readers are fickle, so the fast loading speed and
one-click access of the Jellybooks Cloud Reader are
critically important.
4. Use the same sample links across webpages, email
newsletter and social media.
5. Supports both narrative and illustrated books,
including coffee table books, children’s books,
graphic novels and comics.
Summary of Benefits
online samples can boost your sales and pre-orders
Conclusions

28. Acknowledgments
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The Jellybooks DISCOVERY platform for booksellers was developed
by Jellybooks in partnership with Blackwell’s Books, and with
assistance from Batchline and the Bookseller Association.
The development of the service has been supported, in part,
financially by Arts Council England and Innovate UK and continues
to be supported by financial contributions from publishers.
Thanks

29. Free Online Reading Samples
to boost reader engagement and sales!