Newly published authors often ask how to get readers on their mailing list for email newsletters. This process should start before you get a publisher. Once your book is sold, you’ll have an incredible amount of marketing to do. It’ll be helpful if you have already started collecting names.
The approach is two-fold: online and in person.
I send my quarterly email newsletter to nearly 5000 readers, booksellers, and librarians. How did I gain these numbers? In the past month alone, I’ve added 36 names of people I’ve met in person. Each one personally signed up for my mailing list. These came from three separate speaking engagements. Once you begin making public appearances, bring along a sign-up sheet to each event. I print out mine from Excel. One column is for the person’s full name. The other column is for their email address.
In the early days, I collected street addresses as well, but since the cost of postage has escalated, I no longer send postcards. Now all my mailings are online. However, if you plan to send out snail mail, you’ll need those home addresses. Or if you want to send a targeted email to fans announcing a signing or speaking engagement in their area, you’ll need their city and state.
So how else do you collect names, especially if you are unpublished? When you attend conferences, be sure to exchange business cards with everyone you meet.
Ask if people would like to be added to your email newsletter list. In the old days, I didn’t have to get permission. Anyone I met at a conference got added to my list, but promo materials got sent by snail mail back then. Nowadays people are spam conscious, so you have to be careful.
Sit with strangers at sponsored lunches or dinners and meet the people at your table. Hang out at the bar and give a friendly greeting to anyone wearing a conference name tag. Introduce yourself to strangers while waiting in lines to go into a meal or to an event. Your mailing list will build this way and over time you may gain lifelong fans.
After your book is published, you’ll start to receive fan mail. Ask if you may add the reader to your mailing list or direct them to your online opt-in form.
I categorize my lists so they separate into Booksellers, Contests, Fans, Librarians, Reviewers, and more. For example, I might want to send a notice only to my readers when a new book comes out. Several months before, I might want to notify booksellers, librarians, and reviewers about an upcoming release. Friends and Family are on my lists too, although I rarely bother them with announcements.
Holding a contest is a great way to collect names for your lists. Rafflecopter is the easiest method. Go to http://www.rafflecopter.com/ and sign up for a free account. The program automatically does everything for you. You can add bonus entries and have people Like your Facebook author page or tweet your contest.
You can join with other authors to offer a bigger prize and share the mailing list. For an example, visit Booklover’s Bench at http://bookloversbench.com, where I’ve joined with seven other writers. We offer monthly contests and cross promote each other in our personal newsletters, offering giveaways from our colleagues and sharing the entrants’ information.
Another great site to hold a contest and get a mailing list of over 1000 entrants is Fresh Fiction at http://www.freshfiction.com/ . It costs $129 but if you do this once every few years, it adds substantially to your newsletter list. (How to get people to Open your newsletter email would be another topic to address here—any takers, fellow authors?)
When you accumulate too many names to send out individual emails, consider using a mass email newsletter program such as AWeber (http://www.aweber.com/), Vertical Response, (http://www.verticalresponse.com), Constant Contact (http://www.constantcontact.com), Mail Chimp (http://mailchimp.com/) or Your Mailing List Provider (http://www.ymlp.com/). I use Vertical Response and upload lists from my Excel program. I pay per email but you can pay a monthly fee if you’d rather do so, depending on your needs.
Put sign-up widgets on your website, blog, and Facebook Author Page. Periodically request your fans on Facebook and Twitter to sign up for your mailing list. In case one of these social networking sites goes defunct, you don’t want to lose your friends. Back up your email lists on your computer, your external drive, etc. They’re a valuable commodity, and you don’t want to lose them.
What other methods have you found helpful for adding names to your email campaign lists?
Now please go to my Website at http://nancyjcohen.com and sign up for my newsletter in the Sidebar.
I’ve found that offering a giveaway of some sort and making sure to mention it in the subject line of the newsletter increases your chances of a higher Open rate. I think the industry standard is around 20%, and I have an open rate of at least twice that. I used to put “update from Terry Odell” as the subject line, but with more and more subscribers who have joined from contests, etc., they might not remember who I am. So now my subject line says “Updates and Giveaway from Terry Odell” which I think helps.
Terry
Terry’s Place
Terry (and Nancy), how often to do you send a newsletter, and what kind of giveaways have you offered? Are thinking about offering?
I send my newsletters on a quarterly basis. I always run a contest at the same time, giving away a free ebook or signed print books and sometimes a trinket. I’ll also offer subscribers a bonus prize.
Last time, I put Nancy J. Cohen’s Book News, Contest & Recipe in the subject line.
I send mine quarterly as well. I can’t see being able to provide worthwhile content more often than that.
Thanks, Terry, that is good to know!
I’ve never considered doing a newsletter but I realize many writers do. Very impressive, Nancy.
It’s a way to build your fanbase and keep with touch with your contacts. You can let readers know about new releases, upcoming appearances, and offer fun stuff like contests and recipes.
If anyone wants a forwarded copy of my last newsletter as an example and/or for your name to be added to my list, send me an email to nancy(at)nancyjcohen(dot)com.
Thanks Nancy. When I find good advice whether it is for writing or marketing I print it and put it in a folder. Saving this one is a no-brainer. Thank you very much.
I hope the post will be helpful, Brian. Thanks you for visiting!
Wow, Nancy, I’m awed by your organization.
When I first started collecting e-mails I didn’t ask permission and got a very snarky note from someone who did not want my e-newsletter. I’ve since mended my ways.
Yes, we have to be more careful than when I started out mailing postcards in the old days. No one wants spam in their e-mailbox. Even so, the option is always there to unsubscribe.
Nancy, You seem to always share important, helpful information – like this. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!
You are very welcome.
Thanks for all the great information. I had a full page of notes by the time I was done with your article. I appreciate you taking the time to share with us.
I appreciate the feedback! Glad you found the article to be useful.
Excellent advice Nancy. I used to keep a decent quarterly newsletter going but, typically having a too full plate, it has slipped off the peripheral edge over the past couple years. I’ve got the button on my website and keep telling myself I’ll get it back together but haven’t even been able to keep up with an irregular blog post lately. Once of these days, hopefully soon, I’ll get it running again…I’m thinking perhaps two Thursdays from now, actually…yes…I think so…Thursday August 1st.
Wow, thanks for motivating me on that Nancy, you’re awesome!
Tankyabedimachee!
Basil Sands
http://www.basilsands.com
Yes, a summer newsletter is in order. I have to do mine in August, too, and gear up for another contest. It’s easier to let the doldrums take over, isn’t it?
Do you think it’s bad form to simply ask folks on Facebook, or any online forum I’m active on, whether they would like to sign up for my newsletter and provide a link to do so? I think it can be done in a nice manner…
My debut is coming out March 2104, so I’m thinking about all of this.
Thanks! Lisa
You can certainly direct your FB friends to your newsletter opt in form or mention the link on forums. I remind people that FB may not always be around, so if they want to stay in touch, my newsletter is the best way.
Thanks for sharing Nancy. As always, good tips! Newsletter emails are like gold.
Yes, and speaking of gold, I mine the other author newsletters that I get for their ideas.
One other thing I neglected to mention. One thing I try to include in every newsletter is something “exclusive” to subscribers. Sometimes it’s a contest, sometimes it’s a first look at a new cover, or the first peek at an excerpt from the WIP. But I want my subscribers to feel “special” and this seems to be a good way to do it.
If anyone wants to sign up for my next (fall) newsletter, there’s a link on my blog and my website. 🙂
Terry
Terry’s Place
Wonderful article! Also you might get permission to share your list with another author. There’s also a yahoo group called Bookworm Bags on which they share addresses and promo material.
I wouldn’t share my lists as it’s taken me 10 years to acquire these names and many of them are based on personal contacts. It’s inherent in my asking people to sign up that it’s for my newsletter only. When I want to share names, I’ll do so through Booklover’s Bench or my own contests that state people will be added to all of our email lists if other authors are contributing prizes.
Nancy,
That’s a great tip to encourage friends on other social media platforms to sign up for your newsletter. It takes time to build up all the connections on those platforms and you don’t want to lose anyone.
You’ve done an amazing job of consolidating a lot of information here. Folks starting out would be wise to print this out or bookmark it for reference. Marketing can be overwhelming, but it’s important not to lose ground. Staying in touch with your readership is a great way to stay on their personal radar.
Great post!
Yes, staying in touch is important even at times when you feel there’s little to say. You can state what you’re working on, offer a contest or bonus research material. There’s always something.
A strong mailing list is important to get your book out there. You need receptive people who are waiting for it to start making actual sales. Direct mail marketing and email marketing can be a perfect combination for success.
Very true, Maureen. Now we need a lesson on how to get readers to open our emails. Terry had a good suggestion above. Anyone else?
Excellent information. This is something I need to get off the ground and it is good to have the how-to steps here. Thanks for sharing.
My pleasure, Andrea.
I just sent out my first newsletter in June and this is very helpful in helping me build my mailing list. I collect cards at conferences already, but the other ideas are great. Thanks, Nancy.
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