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Building Your Newsletter Subscriber List
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Roxanne
(new)
Feb 23, 2020 11:17AM
I found a service that might help indies increase subscribers to their newsletters. It's called Voracious Readers Only. In exchange for giving interested readers a free book, they agree to join your email list. It's $20 per month for each book you offer. I started their program on Jan. 19th, and to date I have 159 subscribers from the two books I submitted (your mileage may vary). Only 2 have unsubscribed. One subscriber emailed me and said he liked one of my books so much he immediately bought the sequel, and was seriously looking forward to the rest in the series (I wasn't planning on a series, but I guess I am now).
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Good results, Roxanne! I used them to start my email list. I don't know if they still have a free option where you can get up to 20 readers/emails. Readers are supposed to do reviews but few do. The paid option is $20 per month per book. It's a good deal.
That's great, Roxanne! I received nearly 50 readers to add to my list through their free option recently and I was thrilled. I hesitate to sign up for their 'monthly' cost even though its reasonable. I wonder if it's worth giving away so many books? I've made several sales using other venues and while I know that any exposure is great...just not sure I want to keep giving the books away.
I came to the same conclusion, Gail. I didn't want to keep giving my books away, especially since most of them didn't do reviews like they'd agreed to.
Gail wrote: "That's great, Roxanne! I received nearly 50 readers to add to my list through their free option recently and I was thrilled. I hesitate to sign up for their 'monthly' cost even though its reasonabl..."Yes, it bugs me sometimes that I'm giving away so many books, but I'm just starting out building my email list, and this seemed like a good place to start. At this point, I don't believe I'll put another title on their list. It's a matter of seeing how my current run ultimately pans out--how many subscribers I continue to get in a month. It's slowed considerably since I first put my books up, but even so, right now it's at least 2 per day.
Is it worth it to give away so many books? Maybe. I've been writing for years but never made any serious attempt at marketing. With my subscriber list, my aim is to develop a relationship with them, to show them there's a real live human being on the other end of our computer connections. My newsletters aren't just announcements about new books, or "what I'm doing." I want to get them involved in my writing process, like "does this work?" Ask questions, get their opinions. Start a conversation. My gamble is that if I build relationships, they're more likely than not to buy my next book.
As for reviews, no, not everyone has done it. So far, I've gotten about 20-25 new ones across the various sales platforms and GR. I'd be lying if I said it isn't a disappointment, but I can't make them leave reviews. I've decided if I can keep them on my list, I'll be content with the trade-off, especially if they choose to buy the next one, and the next. And maybe they'll tell like-minded friends, and they'll tell friends, and the circle grows.
I'm now at 172 subscribers, up from my 2/23 post. Only 3 have dropped out.
Roxanne wrote: "Gail wrote: "That's great, Roxanne! I received nearly 50 readers to add to my list through their free option recently and I was thrilled. I hesitate to sign up for their 'monthly' cost even though ..."I agree with you that building a relationship is the best way in the long run. Which platform do you use for your mailing list?
I use the free version of Mailchimp. I can write my newsletters using it, and a couple of other things I haven't yet explored. The free version allows up to 1,000 subscribers so if--no, when--I reach that limit--I'll either stay with Mailchimp and pay their fee or migrate to another platform. But I think there's plenty of time before I'll have to consider that.
Someone asked me if I had a newsletter recently...I don't. I wasn't sure how to start one, so thanks for the Mailchimp tip. I'm an Excel spreadsheet freak, so I keep the list there, then 'Group' email them with new releases/sales, etc.
I just checked mailchimp and the free one now has 2000 allowed
A. wrote: "I just checked mailchimp and the free one now has 2000 allowed"W00t! Marvelous!
There are multiple email list servers out there. Mail chimp is one, but check the price for when it goes over 2000. I know they changed the rules recently and a lot of people left because once you get out of the free zone, it's expensive and the support isn't all that good. It's also hard to use if you have more than one list or need to tag certain users. There is Mailerlite. If you don't have a list this is a good starter place. I believe they have 1200 for free. It's decent but doesn't have a ton of options but their support is better than mail chimp.
Convert Kit has a smaller free zone but it's easy to use, good support and is geared to authors with the way they have things set up. It also has tons of things to use for newsletters, email sign up and so forth. You can have multiple lists, tag different members on the list and you can set up a great sales funnel with it.
Everything else is quite expensive but there are a lot more out there depending on your pocketbook. I will say that I went with Convert Kit after trying Mail Chimp. I got so frustrated with the difficulty in using it. Mailerlite didn't have what I wanted. I'm willing to pay more to not be frustrated, get my lists the way I want and be able to send to various people on the list with tags.
Gail wrote: "Someone asked me if I had a newsletter recently...I don't. I wasn't sure how to start one, so thanks for the Mailchimp tip. I'm an Excel spreadsheet freak, so I keep the list there, then 'Group' em..."It's actually not legal to send newsletters to large groups of people. You can get into trouble for that. It violates the Can-Spam Act of 2003. They need to be given the option of unsubscribing, etc.
It is illegal if the person didn't sign up for the newsletter. Your email provider (ie mailchimp) will put all the legalities at the bottom of the newsletter for you including the unsubscribe. The person MUST sign up for the list. Do not email anyone with newsletters, sales stuff, etc without their permission. That is true in the US, UK, Can, and every other country. That is the reason you develop and email list where people sign up and agree to receive your newsletters. You can do a two step method that verifies that they want to be on your list. It does give you permission to send them the emails.
Hey I don't have an email list yet nor a newsletter. Can a blog be used as a replacement to a newsletter?
Lyvita wrote: "Hey I don't have an email list yet nor a newsletter. Can a blog be used as a replacement to a newsletter?"I suppose you could, but its effectiveness would depend on whether you have followers and how many. I post what I'm doing, etc. on my blog, but I only have 13 followers. For me, a newsletter is far more effective.
If you don't have a list, there are list builder sites like Prolific works, Authors XP, Booksweeps. All you need is a novella to give away. This would be your reader magnet too. You can then use those people for your newsletter. Blogs get you noticed and you may get a few sales from them, but they aren't the best venue for selling. All the top marketers will tell you that the email list is your most valuable asset after you and your books. It is yours and when all the algorithms change, it doesn't affect your list. You will find that you will get more sales from your list than from anywhere else. It is cost effective, you get to know your fans and you they are willing to help you with beta reading and reviews. The email list isn't outdated as some people say.
Oh, another then, In all your books put in a link to your website to get that free book for signing up to your email list. You can have them download it from your site or you can use BookFunnel which is great for ARCS, giveaways and promotion.
Just an FYI, I had a mailchimp list and didn't want to spam people, only sent it out when I had a new book, well I didn't use it often enough and they killed my list and I can't sign up again with the current email. I don't get it, but just passing on my expererience.So I have to start from scratch.
Rule of thumb, send out something once a month just to keep in touch with your fans. Unless it looked like you were no longer using your account, MailChimp shouldn't have closed your account. So, go to MailerLite or one of the other ones that have free service and just send an update or a info letter about you, your characters, etc once a month. Also, keep a back up of your list for that just in case scenerio you had.
