Question: What happens if a tree falls in a forest?
Answer: Nothing. No one cares.
Your success as an author cannot exist in isolation.
Like a tree in a forest.
Like everything else in life, you need others to achieve your success.
Just like a singer needs listeners and an actor needs an audience, a book and its author need readers.
The more the merrier.
Now, where do we get you readers from?
And once we do get them, how do we make them stay?
Because these very readers are the ones who are the ready audience for your next book đ
And this is why every successful author has an EMAIL LIST.
An email list is like your âblack book of contactsâ – readers who love you, want to hear from you, it is your list of cash…
Every author needs an email list, especially self-published authors.
Because there is no publishing house marketing your book under their umbrella for you.
You are on your own.
An email list is marketingâs holy grail.
But Why Emails Though?
You might think –
âI can just post on my Twitter about my book launch, why do I need to send emails in this time & age? It’s not the 2000s anymoreâŚâ
When you get a personalized email – one that is addressed to you, it makes an intimate connection with the sender than any social media post.
There are 3.8 billion active email accounts in the world, thatâs more than any social media platform has users.
If you want to maximize your reach, EMAILS are your best bet!
Emails are not going anywhere.
(Yes, I still use the one I made in 2005!)
Social media platforms come and go.
Remember Orkut?
Lol.
Heavily algorithm driven, depending on social media – like your account on Instagram – is like breathing on a ventilator.
One day you have a million followers. #
But the next day one unfortunate tweet or post, and all your followers are gone.
If you displease a mob, your account gets suspended.
Ventilator gone, game over.
Think of social media like a speed boat, you cannot sightsee on it.. for that, you need a cruise, the classic old email!
How Can You Start Building Your Email List
#1 Mailing List Provider
- Find a mailing list provider according to your needs. You cannot just mail people from your personal account, you need a management service.
- Pick a way of signing up. This is where your readers will first enter their email address and agree to receive messages from you. So, make it exciting.
- Set up a series of emails for subscribers starting with the welcome email. The moment someone signs up, they automatically get a welcome email from you.
- Set up a broadcast list and mail for periodic notifications about offers, new launches and events to keep the readers engaged.
Also, donât forget to test your mail by signing up first before it goes online! Haha…
#2 Do Giveaways
Everybody likes free stuff.
Come on, donât be shy⌠đ
Giveaways are an amazing way to attract more readers towards your upcoming book.
If George R.R. Martin had done a giveaway, it would have been the Lord of the Rings books⌠to remind readers how much they love fantasy fiction and then present them with the launch of his own books.
#3 Keep Your Readers Engaged
Do you read all the promotional emails that you get?
No, not at all, and especially if they start with –
What if it starts with your name?
What if it directly talks to you?
Personalization is the best way to engage your audience.
Make them feel special, make them feel heardâŚ
Never let even a month go without any emails.
Always keep your readers in the loopâŚ
But I get it, it’s not always that you have a book launch or an event to broadcast.
In that case, talk to your readers.
Tell them what books you like and even the ones you donât like…
sharing opinions is the best way to start a dialogue…
and we all love a conversation.
(even the introverts wonât mind an email chat)
#4 Do a Friend Referral Program
Ask you subscribers to share their joy of your content with their friends and family. Referral programs add social proof to your newsletter, and itâs more personalized.
Itâs the gift that keeps on giving (or ratherâthe subscriber that keeps on subscribing). One option for achieving this is to offer an exclusive event, which subscribers can only access if they refer at least one person to subscribe using a unique referral link via email.
Now, let’s come to the most important way, the centre point of all this – a WEBSITE.
You Are Not (Just) An Author, You Are A Brand
No matter what kind of writer you areâ a non-fiction book writer, a freelance writer, or even a brand-new writer without a clueâget yourself a website.
When you hear a new name and want to know more about it, what do you do?
Gooooooooooooogle it!
And where does google take you?
The website.
Your website is a one-stop shop for your readers⌠whether they want to know more about you, or your books.. This is where they will come.
It’s a mirror to showcase who you are, build your identity
Afterall, thatâs what readers want to see.
Once you like a book, you naturally want to know more about the person behind the book. They want to know how you think, about your experiences and basically everything.
Thatâs what you give them.
Build your website like an interactive space for your audience, where they feel they have reached out to you personally.
A website can
- increases your online presence
- give potential readers a place to know you and your work
- showcase your best work through blogs
- build your image and brand
And thatâs the place where you essentially build your million-dollar email list.
Websites Are Double-Edged Swords For Emailing Lists
You can use websites to promote your work and get people to subscribe to your mailing list.
And once people subscribe to your mailing list and start following you, the website is where they land to find all about you.
Simply link your website to all the mails!
But, building a website is not so easy⌠choosing the right format, page structure and many things to worry aboutâŚ
We are here to solve this!
At White Magic Studios, we help authors like you get big with their books, brand and promotion.
First 3 authors will get a complimentary website till XYZ date for an order above ÂŁ1,000 with White Magic Studios.
So, get started on that emailing list.