Marketing For Authors - Grow Your Email List

If you are a writer who wants to sell more books, this is my #1 marketing tip for authors...grow your email list!

All of us struggle with some aspect of marketing and mostly I hear that authors want to stay behind their computers, tip-tap typing away and not having to worry about marketing their books. If you are that type of writer, this post is for you! Many of the email marketing tips that I am going to give you are "set it and forget it" strategies that you can simply make a part of your business and stop having to keep reinventing the wheel.

#1 Tip - Have a free offer or lead magnet

There are still few people out there on the internet who are willing to sign up with their email address for a "newsletter", but most of us are not all that interested in getting another newsletter. Instead we are playing the "What's In It For Me Channel" in our heads and we want something of value in exchange for our email address.

For nonfiction authors this is super easy, you can give a free report away that has the same content or theme as your book.

For fiction authors, this is actually even easier! Remember that your readers are voracious and curious about the characters and worlds you have developed. For example, if you wrote Hunger Games you could give your readers an "official" map of Panem. Anything that makes them feel like they are getting to go behind the scenes is great!

Note: Any of the email providers will allow you to send out a digital file when someone signs up for your list. If you are brand new I recommend Mailchimp.com and if you are serious about doing marketing on the internet I recommend ConvertKit.

#2 Tip - Send a weekly or biweekly broadcast email

So now you have started growing your list and anxiety will set in. How often do you have to come up with something to send these people?

If you are truly a schmoe, you could send them something only when you are launching a book. That really warms the cockles of their hearts to know that the only time you want to talk to them is when you are asking them to support you.

On the other hand, almost no one wants to hear from you on a daily basis. So we are somewhere between every couple of years and every day. I would say definitely at least every other week if not every week. This is enough to keep them interested and they won't forget you!

#3 Tip - Have an autoresponder or "drip" series after they sign up

Yay! You got someone to sign up for your list...whoo whoo. Now what? If you are trying to build relationships, it probably is a good idea to email them a series of autoresponders or a drip campaign for the next few weeks, every few days. This will help to cement your new relationship.

Just make sure that it is relevant to the initial offer that they signed up for!

#4 Tip - Ask them to sign up on your social media accounts!

It is really easy to make a banner that is clickable on Facebook and Google Plus that provides your free offer. On Twitter and Instagram you can include your free offer in your website link and on LinkedIn, you can include your offer in your description.

Remember, your number one goal is to get people into your database so every time they come to your social, they should be able to sign up!

#5 Tip - Have more than one free offer!

As you are in business longer and have more assets to share, it is really good to offer more than one Free lead magnet. Think about Saturday morning in those huge discount store. As you walk around you get offered a variety of different items to sample and you probably pick and choose amongst your favorites.

Not everyone will like the same kind of free offer so it is worth offering a variety in order to get the most signups possible!

Well that is a good start on email marketing for authors. You will be surprised how easy it is to grow your list when you really start making it a priority.

Get The Guide

Well this is all very well and good, but how do you functionally scope out and email marketing campaign and then track your progress through development? With a handy dandy form of course!