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Ana muses on building an email list of readers.
My next author marketing step is to develop a connection with people who have
read and enjoyed Stormy Hawkins. I plan to start an email list.
This is a scary proposition, and a recent post by Tim Grahl, called 5 Myths About Email Marketing for Authors, addressed my fears directly.
1.
I will not annoy people by inviting them to
subscribe to my newsletter. They sign up freely and can unsubscribe easily.
2.
I will find interesting and entertaining things
to say. I’m a writer. I can imagine--and will refine-- newsletter
content that will appeal to readers of my romances.
3.
Direct mail will be an effective way
to let readers know when book 2 is ready.
4.
It will not be overwhelming to send two
newsletters a month. One, an author update. The other, some new content.
5.
The technology for maintaining subscriber lists and sending newsletters is out there.
As with anything new, it will take time to become comfortable with this process. But it seems like a good plan.
Must admit I've never tried this, mainly because the readers I know buy my books anyway, and I have no idea how to 'find' any others!
ReplyDeleteTwo newsletters a month seems like a big commitment. Personally I'd say one every 2 months would be better, both for you and for your subscribers.
Good luck!
Every two months seems like a good idea.
DeleteMy biggest 'problem' is finding readers rather than other writers to connect with. Not that writers can't be readers of course, but it seems they are more interested in getting people to buy THEIR books rather than in reading mine.
ReplyDeleteI've never done a newsletter either. One more thing to tackle seems overwhelming to me at the moment, but maybe someday!
Good luck! If you come up with a fail proof plan, I'd love to hear about it! LOL
I will let you know what works out, Debra. I won't get started until next month due to demands of my day job.
ReplyDeleteI've been doing a newsletter now that my new books are out. I use MailChimp to format and send it to my readers. I have a button on my website where people can sign up (freely) and I participate in giveaways where there is a newsletter sign up to participate. I've been told to do the newsletters 4x a year, plus a week before and a week after a new release. And I choose a random recipient of my newsletter each time to win a small prize, announcing the winner in the next newsletter (so readers are encouraged to open and read it). Seems to be working for me. Good luck!
ReplyDelete