A mailing list is an important marketing tool because it helps you build a following. It doesn't have to be fancy, long, frequent oranything majorly time consuming but if you're serious about turning your hobby into something more, then you absolutely must have it. Why?
- You own it. Like your website, your list is yours. Facebookcould delete your page tomorrow, Twitter could kick you off their site, Amazoncould change their algorithms or terms and conditions and effectively renderyou invisible. Your email list is your back-up plan; a direct line ofcommunication with your readers that you control.
- It's an affordable yet effective way to communicatewith your readers without having to invest heavily in promotion. All you do issend an email and your readers get it. Everyone has an email address even thosewho hate social media.
- It's an excellent way to keep in touch with yourreaders in between books and make sure that they don't forget you. Theconversation is personal, direct and private which encourages feedback fromyour readers.
- There's a reason why people say that the money is in thelist. The larger your email list, the better sales you'll have when you releaseyour books. The better sales you have, the better you'll rank on retail sites.The better your rank, the more people (who aren't on your list) who'll see yourbook and buy it. The more new people who buy it, the more potential subscribersyou'll have. As you can see it's a happy circle.
To start your own mailing list:
STEP 1: DO YOUR RESEARCH
Before you start a mailing list, you need to know what other authors are doing and how they're growing their lists. Subscribe to the mailing lists of the superstars in your niche and evaluate;
- what they offer readers in exchange for signing up.
- the design and content of the sign-up forms andconfirmation emails.
- the subject lines of emails. Which ones were youmost tempted to click on? Why? What was the wording?
- the design and copy of the newsletter. How does it look? Whatdoes it say? What was the tone i.e. was it conversational or salesy? Did theemail require you to do something? What was it and were you tempted to do it?
STEP 2: BUILD YOUR WEBSITE
If you skipped the previous chapter (Build a Website), go back and handle that step. Your sign-up formwill be hosted on your website. If you don't have a site, a blog will work too. However, please plan to have an official website.
STEP 3: GET A PROFESSIONAL EMAIL ADDRESS
If you're lazy or money-conscious like me, you could just go with a gmail or yahoo address that has your author name. However, the pros say that you should get a more professional website that is directly related to your site for instance linda(at)lindaverji.com. Most domain registrars offer you one or more email addresses that are attached to your URL for an additional cost of $3-$5 per month. I think Zoho.com offers email addresses for free, but I haven't really looked into it.
STEP 4: CREATE A COMPELLING OPT-IN GIFT
This is one of those steps that I know I should do but haven't. Either way, don't follow my bad example. Offer your readers an incentive to sign up for your mailing list. Most writers will just offer a free book i.e. sign up for my list and get this free book. Your book is what most readers want, and it is a perfect way for them to judge whether they want to readmore from you.
STEP 5: MAKE YOUR OPT-IN GIFT APPEALING
If the gift isn't packaged well no one will beinterested in taking a look. If you're offering a book, get a cover made for it.Consider backing up the cover with a poster that you can paste in the front orback matter of all your books to encourage readers to check it out. The poster can also be used/pinned on yoursocial media to encourage fans there to sign up for your list.
Below is an example of a poster for an opt-in gift
STEP 6: STORE YOUR OPT-IN GIFT
If you're offering a book, then you'll need tostore it somewhere where readers can collect it after they sign up for yourmailing list. The most popular sites to store books in right now are StoryOrigin, BookFunnel and Prolific Works but you can do some research and see what options are there for you.
The reason most writers choose to store the gift in sites other than theirs is because these sites provide step-by-step guidance to the subscriber onhow to download the book. Some will also require that the reader actually sign up to your mailing list before getting the book which means even if the hidden link to your book is posted for everyone to see, they can't just take the book without first signing up for your list.
STEP 7: DECIDE ON OTHER BONUSES APART FROM JUST THE OPT-IN GIFT
Once someone is already on your list, you still need to keep them in there. Of course just news about your new releases is welcome, but consider giving some free benefits too just to thank them for staying on your list. These benefits include:
- Time limited discounts on new releases. If you sellyour books at $3.99, then let your email subscribers get it for $2.99 in thefirst 12-36 hours of release.
- Giveaways. Hold raffles to give 5-20 books to your mailing listsubscribers whenever you start a new series.
- Bonus chapters of written books of free stories
- Opportunities to be part of your Advance Reader Team and thus can get your book for free before anyone else.
There are so many benefits you could offer that I haven't mentioned here. Just get creative or do some research. Sign up to your favorite author's list and see what they are offering to their loyal readers.
STEP 8: SIGN UP WITH AN EMAIL MARKETING SERVICE (EMS)
There are are numerous EMSs out there, but not all of themare equal. A good EMS is one that;
- Is reputable and well-known. You don't want to be theguinea-pig for the service. If you can't find numerous reviews of the serviceon places like and no other published writers seem tohave heard of them, skip them. Life is too short to be a test-subject.
- Allows you to send bulk emails to everyone who'ssubscribed. Any EMS that limits the number of subscribers you can send an emailto is not for you. Say they have a cap off of 10,000 subscribers - what if youwake up tomorrow and have 10,005 subscribers? Does that mean that you can'ttalk to those five? What if they are your most faithful fans who'll read anyemail you send and buy any book you write?
- Is affordable. Compare the prices of all recommended EMSs. Thebest ones will be scalable i.e. the amount you pay per month depends on thenumber of subscribers on your list.
- Allows easy set up of forms. If just setting up theforms requires a Masters Degree in Computer Science, you can bet that sendingemails is a headache in waiting.
- Lets subscribers unsubscribe easily by alwaysincluding a visible link in your emails. You don't want to keep anyone prisoneron your list. If they want to leave, it should be easy because the harder it isthe more likely they are to mark you as spam. If many people report you as aspammer, you'll end up getting penalized and may not be able to send any moreemails.
- Allows you to manage and download/export your list. There'sno such thing as loyalty in this business. If you can find an EMS that ischeaper but offers services that are just as good as the one you'reconsidering, you don't want moving to be a hassle. So find a service that won'thold you hostage.
- Lets you segment your lists. List segmentation is animportant component of successfully launching your book.
- Has nice email templates that will make you lookprofessional.
- Allows you to track your open rates. Open rates tell youwhich emails are being opened the most, and which subscribers interact morewith your emails. This information is crucial for drafting the content ofemails and for segmenting subscribers.
The most popular EMSs out there include Mailerlite.com, Aweber.com, Mailchimp.com, MadMimi.com, and ConvertKit.com. There are many more but you'll need to do theresearch for yourself. Note that Mailerlite.com and Mailchimp.com are the mostcommonly used by authors, Mailerlite more so because it is cheap and still hasautomation.
STEP 9: DESIGN SIGN-UP FORMS
After signing up with your EMS of choice, you'll need to create and design different forms. At the very least you'll need to create sign-up form, the confirmation form and the unsubscribe form. This is an opportunity to strengthen your brand. Ensure that each of these forms matches your website i.e. similar header (if you have a header on your website), same background color, same font etc.
While creating the sign-up form, whether you have an opt-in gift or not, remember to mention the extra advantages subscribers will have over non-subscribers if they sign up. Such benefits include first to know about new releases, exclusive content, discounts, free giveaways etc. This information will appear right before the section requiring a subscriber to fill in their name and email address.
At the bottom of the copy, you'll likely have boxes where your subscribers can enter their details. Ask for as little information as possible. The first name and the email address is usually more than enough.
Depending on which EMS you go with, you might have to configure several forms apart from the opt-in form. They could include a 'CONFIRM EMAIL' form (where the reader confirms that they know they are signing up for your form) or a 'WELCOME' form (where you welcome the reader into your list. This form will also have the link to your opt-in gift). When designing these other forms make sure that their design is consistent with the main sign-up form.
STEP 10: SET UP A DEDICATED SIGN-UP PAGE ON YOUR WEBSITE OR BLOG
The link to the sign up form will need a home. That home will be a landing page set up on your website and dedicated to only getting sign-ups i.e. no distractions from other things on your site. You can label the page as 'newsletter', 'free book' or 'reading group' depending on what you've got.
If you've got an opt-in gift all you need is an image of the book/story's cover, it's description then a button labeled 'Get Your Free Book' that leading directly to the sign up form. The landing page of an author with an opt-in gift could look something like this;
OR
If you have no opt-in gift, all you need is just a paragraph asking people to sign up for your list and a button that directs them directly to the sign-yup form. If you've gone pro, you might be able to get your designer to embed the dorm directly to your website. An embedded form would look something like this:
STEP 11: ADD SIGN-UP LINK/BUTTON TO THE REST OF YOUR WEBSITE
Most readers land on a few select pages on your website; your Home page, your About Me page and your Book page. Make sure that at the very least these three pages are optimized to get subscribers. For instance; on your 'About Me' page you should inform people that the easiest way to keep in touch with you is to 'join your reading list' then link that statement to your Sign-Up landing page. In the FAQs include a question asking where readers can get free books from you, then include a link sending them to your Sign-Up landing page. At the bottom of every book sub-page include a 'Join [Your Name]'s Reading Group'.
At the very bottom of each page have a button that visitors can click to go directly to your sign up page. The button should match the general color and design scheme of your website but make it just a little bit more stand out. For instance if your website's colors are blue, green and white but blue is the most used color for links and such, make the button a vivid green so that it's highly visible to your readers.
STEP 12: ADD SIGN-UP LINK/BUTTON TO ALL YOUR BOOKS
Your books are the perfect place to put in opt-in links because people who read them are people who are genuinely interested in your writing and may be actively looking for more from you. They are what is colloquially known as 'organic' subscribers and will ensure that you build a quality mailing list.
Noteveryone who buys your books will go to your website automatically. For thatreason, ensure that you have a link to the mailing list opt-in page at thefront and back of all your books. A simple statement and a button will do. Something like: 'For a free book, updated on new releases, discounts and offers, join my reading list' along with a button that links directly to the sign-up form will work okay.
STEP 13: PUT YOUR SIGN-UP LINK EVERYWHERE
Put a link to the Sign Up landing page everywhere. When I say everywhere, I mean everywhere. Put it on all your social media profiles -Facebook , Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Amazon Author page etc. Every time you post on your blog include a link to your Sign-Up landing page. When you guest post, instead of linking to your website's home have the words 'Read one of [Your Name]'s books for Free' and link it to your Sign-Up landing page. Work towards directing more and more traffic towards your mailing list.
STEP 14: DRIVE PEOPLE TO YOUR SIGN-UP FORM
Just the act of putting the opt-in link in your books, social media pages, blog and website will help drive traffic to your mailing list. But you can try more active ways of driving traffic like making status updates about your free gift and your new reading group. Just once a week is enough. You don't want people to think that you're a spammer. When people ask about your next release, direct them to your mailing list.
The best and easiest way to get more subscribers is towrite. The more books you write, the more confident people will be that you canprovide quality content consistently and make it easier for them to sign up foryour list.
One of the most common ways authors use to drive people into their list is by creating a Reader Magnet Series (RMS). I haven't done this yet but everyone says that it works like magic. Basically, a Reader Magnet Series consists of more than 2 books that are interrelated either because they follow the same characters or are in the same world. Book 1 in the series will be free everywhere (i.e. on iBooks, Amazon, Nook etc) but it will contain a link at the back telling people that if they liked this book, they can get Book 2 for free too by signing up for your Reading Group/Newsletter etc.
Book2 will be sold at full price everywhere but offered for free on your website aslong as someone signs up to your list. Other books in the series (3,4 etc) willbe set at normal price and thus be your earners. To increase the effectiveness of a Reader Magnet Series, many writers advertise book one as free on ad-sites like Bookbub.com. Once readers pick up Book 1 for free, their interest in a free Book 2 is what will draw them into your list.
Mailing lists grow over time, not at once. Resist the impulse to try dodgy stuff like buying someone else's list to drive people to your list. The quality of your subscribers far outweighs the number of subscribers. Populate your list with people who actually want to read your book and will be genuinely engaged with your email - not people who are just there to fill up your list. Considering that most EMS providers will charge you by the number of people on your list, it's not the wisest move to have freeloaders on your list anyway.
STEP 15: ORGANIZE A JOINT PROMO
If you're looking for a quick way to get known and more subscribers in your list, consider joining arms with authors in the same genre as you. Despite you writing in the same genre, not all your readers are the same. If you create a collection and give it out for free, it will be beneficial for all participating authors. Even if those readers don't sign up for your list after reading your book, they might end up buying other books by you which is also okay.
STEP 16: CREATE GREAT CONTENT FOR YOUR EMAILS
The emails you send to your subscribers are meant to offer some kind ofvalue. You want to be seen as a valuable resource to the people who subscribeto your mailing list – not a spammer
Some writers use their lists just for introducing new releases, giveaways and bonuses... which is great too and the main reason why you're readers signed up anyway. Other writers are ambitious. They use their list to update their readers on their writing progress, books they're reading, other interesting authors, changes in their life etc. That's okay too. However, just remember that most reader really just came for your books. Only provide those updates if you have no new releases but want to remind your readers that you still exist.
Subscribe to several authors' lists and see what they're saying to their readers.
STEP 17: INCREASE YOUR OPEN RATES
If you are a trusted provider of useful information people will open and read your emails. But to make sure that even more people open them;
- use compelling subject lines. People click on emails because thesubject line made them curious. 'Buy, Buy, Buy' won't do that. But if you wrote'What would you do if the world ended today?', it would make the readerinterested in knowing what you're talking about. However, note that some wordmay get you tagged as a spammer i.e. 'selly' words like Free, Discount, 100%free, 50% off, Deal, Offer, No gimmick, Fantastic deal, Urgent, Limited time,One time only etc.
- give great content. If your subscribers trust thateverything from you is awesome and unique content (not just shameless selfpromotion) then they'll be eager to open emails from you.
- send on peak days. Studies show that sending emails on weekendsleads to higher open rates, while sending emails on Tuesdays and Wednesdaysleads to higher unsubscribe rates.
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Comments? Questions? Ask below and I'll answer as best as I can.