Just about every author needs a mailing list of some sort, if for no other reason than to keep in contact with his readers. You’ve got to tell someone when your next new book is coming out, right? That’s where a mailing list comes in handy. You tell them—they tell others. In fact, if you call your list a Reader’s Club, it will sound more elite, and your subscribers will mention it a bit more eagerly. They’ll brag about being connected to an author.
You can start your list any time you’re ready…whether your book has been through final editing or not. The sooner you start your list, the larger it can grow before you use it to announce your book release. Just keep it active, so your subscribers remember who you are and why they signed up.
List Services
You can automate most of the work involved in keeping a list by using an emailing service such as Mail Chimp (free up to 2000) or Mailer Lite (free up to 1000), and it’s a good thing if your list exceeds the free limit, because then you’ve hit the big time! After the free level, both of those services have varying prices, all based on how many subscribers you have. If you’re willing to start off with a paid service, Constant Contact is available for only $20/month with up to 500 subscribers.
Using automated services makes it easy to collect subscribers. The service does all the hard work…all you have to do is include a Sign Up link with any marketing you do. Make certain to include the link on the landing page of your website as well as on your About the Author pages (on the web as well as in printed books), your business cards and bookmarks, and any fliers you have set up at your book signings. Readers expect to see sign up requests, so cover at least these basic locations. The more you spread it around, the better. (On printed adverts, don’t forget a QR code that they can scan to be taken right to the Sign Up page.)
You’ll get a few subscribers just by having the link, but if you want more, you’ll have to give them something in exchange for their email address. You could use an unpublished short that ties into your next novel or a worksheet for your non-fiction book. Make it easy, but don’t blast them with the request…keep it subtle.
Using Your List
The fans who join your Reader’s Club will tend to be your Target Readers, so treat them well. Send out a contact email no more than a few times a year…you want to keep them involved, not annoyed. Let them know about upcoming release dates and special deals. Use your connection with them to offer private deals, such as a boxed set of your first few books or a temporary low price on new releases. You can also keep them interested if you share short stories that will never be released to the public in general…an exclusive only to members of your Reader’s Club. That will make them feel special. Reward them with goodies.
Just before your next book launch, send out a reminder with the first few chapters and invite them to pre-order your book. That will help with rankings as most sites include all pre-orders as part of the first day’s sales—the spike in sales will rocket you to the top of the lists, and you’ll be visible to a lot more readers.
Most of the emailing services will let you resend just to those who opened your first note. Those are the folks most active on your list. Offer them a discount coupon for being so involved…and resend to those who didn’t open your first message with a teaser of what they missed out on. They signed up but for some reason didn’t act on it. Offer them some other kind of special deal…but only if they act now!