skip to Main Content

Email Marketing for Self-Published Authors

Email Marketing For Self-Published Authors

Email marketing is one of the best tools in a self-published author’s marketing arsenal. An engaged mailing list has the power to boost your sales and grow your following to find new fans.

Engagement and content value are the biggest issues you will face when it comes to email marketing to launch your self-published book. Click To Tweet

I’ve spent a decade using email marketing for my book launches and teaching other self-published authors how to build and nurture a mailing list. Here is some of the advice I’ve picked up along the way.

Build a list of followers

First on the docket is creating a mailing list–if you don’t already have one–and adding people who are interested, engaged, and in your orbit.

Check out this article for advice on attracting your target audience and building a mailing list.

An Internet proverb goes: The money is in your list. There are many items that you can sell to your list over a period of time once mutual trust and rapport have been established.

What can you sell to your e-mail list? Here are some examples to get you excited, but they are only limited by your own creativity and imagination. The key thing is to start off by selling something affordable and gradually work your way to bigger ticket items. Following are tips to remember:

  • A $0.99 book that used to be priced at $3.97 on Amazon ($0.99 is an affordable quantum to most people).
  • An audiobook version of your book at $.99 cents (there could be some who prefer the audio version rather than an e-book).
  • The paperback or hardcover version of your book (there are some who prefer physical books rather than e-books).
  • A $17 or $19 “hacks, blueprint, cheat sheet, templates, checklists, and workbook” that you’ve specially created to accompany the book is not found anywhere else. The price of this product will go up to $49 in forty-eight hours (this scarcity principle will ensure that this product is in limited supply and will force your readers to take action quickly).
  • A $39 or $199 online course allows the reader to learn at their convenience. (Short YouTube videos offer the best engagement option).
  • A series of three face-to-face consultations or mentoring sessions over webcam or Skype for $297 for forty minutes per session.
  • A book bundle or a boxed set of your series of books. Or gather the books of seven to ten of your peers in a similar niche and sell to your list with a limited-time offer (the offer starts at an introductory price of $4.99 and goes up to $9.99 in forty-eight hours and $15.99 in seven days).
  • A year-long mentorship at $999 where you personally guide and tutor your apprentice.

What to do with your list

Once you have an e-mail list, you owe the people on it a duty to update them consistently with beneficial or entertaining information. It is not about selling them your products at the beginning. Rather, it is to position yourself as a friend, a mentor, and an acquaintance who delivers delightful content.

Before you embark on a selling spree to your e-mail list, please have the patience to engage and give value to them. The selling will eventually come once the relationship between you and the subscribers is robust. Therefore, be generous in your content during the initial e-mails. Don’t jump the gun and sell too fast to your list.

There are a few working styles for e-mails, and I’ve used this e-mail sequence as my working repertoire. Researchers have discovered that it takes at least seven rounds of e-mails or correspondence before someone finds you credible. In my opinion, seven is too little for an impact. I will usually load about twenty to thirty prewritten e-mails in my autoresponder. Remember, building a relationship takes time, and we cannot afford to rush it.

I make sure to differentiate myself from the rest of my competition with good content and also to make sure that my mailing list subscribers remember me right from the start.

Email #1 (sent immediately when a user signs up): Welcome Email

Attach the free gift or report and a reminder that the next e-mail will be sent tomorrow.

Email #2 (to be sent one day after Email #1): Useful content

This is sent one day after the first e-mail so that the reader will remember you. Start off with a story to connect with your audience. The idea is to ensure the audience can empathize with your plight, feel the emotions, and identify with their own problems. End with some practical solutions.

Email #3 (to be sent two days after Email #2): Useful content

Give valuable information to your subscribers. Make them feel that you are sincere and generous in wanting to help them. It can be video training, a blog post, a checklist or a template, an e-book, or anything that you feel is beneficial for the subscriber.

Email #4 (to be sent three days after Email #3): Content and Engagement

Same as Email #3, but encourage readers to give their comments and opinion by directly e-mailing you.

Email #5 (to be sent three days after Email #4): Engagement

Same as Email #3, but gives a list of common problems on this topic and your intention to give solutions to them in upcoming e-mails over the coming weeks. Encourage your readers to give you their input by sharing their problem. Do an online poll or survey to keep them engaged.

Email #6 (to be sent three days after Email #5): Social Proof, Testimonials, and Credibility

Show social proof, credibility, and testimonials of your product or service. Do not go into selling it yet; leave it hanging, and this e-mail will serve as a teaser campaign and build up to your next few e-mails.

Email #7 to #10 (Email #7 to be sent four days after Email #6): [Content] and [Content + Engagement] for as long as you desire

When the time comes to promote your own product or if you’ve found an extremely good offer for any other product that will benefit your subscribers, send a series of e-mails to promote them. Remember the scarcity principle—when promoting an offer, have a deadline to give some urgency.

Choose your subject line wisely

Start with a headline that accomplishes both engagement and content value. Choosing the right headline can try the patience of a saint.

It’s not easy. Here are some suggestions to make the choice easier:

Keep it short.

E-mail subject lines often get cut off in the middle when viewed on a mobile device or tablet; what’s the point if your readers can’t read it? Limit yourself to seven words or so (fifty characters). Your readers will skim through their mail list, and a simple line will catch their eye far better than a long sentence.

Offer useful information.

A headline like “Buy My Book!” will appear too aggressive. Instead, send a chapter title or your book’s subtitle. It’s more interesting, engaging, and likely to get you noticed.

Make an announcement.

If you have something new to share with your readers, make that announcement in the headline. For instance, if your book is coming out on the twentieth of this month, and your book is about leadership, say something like, “The new book “Lessons Learned From 20 Top Leaders” comes to life on the 20th. Don’t miss out!” Engage your readers. Get personal with them, which goes a long way in selling your books and building a loyal fan base.

Pique your readers’ curiosity by asking a question.

Make your reader curious, and they will open your mail and follow your ideas.

Returning to the nonfiction example, you could try:

  • “Ready to take your leadership to the next level?”
  • “What’s the secret to inspiring your team?”
  • “Can great leadership make you a better person?”
  • “Are you making these leadership mistakes?”
  • “What does your team think of you?”
Add a number or a deadline.

If you say something like “Get your copy at $0.99, buy today!” your readers are more likely to respond to you. Sometimes, adding a deadline or telling them about a discount is the best way to get them to respond. The former adds a sense of urgency that will push their subconscious into at least checking out the offer. The now-or-never instinct kicks in—it will boost your sales.

Try these on for size:

  • “95% of leaders have never heard of this new method”
  • “Save your team hundreds of hours of work with this leadership trick”
  • “Over 1,000 leaders are already putting this advice to use”
  • “Join a community of 20,000 successful leaders”
Give your readers an instruction.

Some people respond better to commands than teasers or discounts, so tell them what they should be doing. For example, add a line that says, “Get your copy today!” or “Read this to boost your leadership skills!” in an imperative yet engaging tone that will get them moving.

List it out.

Lists are like countdowns—everyone wants to know what happens at the end! If your headlines are something like “5 leadership mistakes you’re making and how to fix them”, your readers are likelier to open your mail.

Other examples might be:

  • “10 habits of successful leaders”
  • “Top resources for new leaders”
  • “3 reasons why leadership is a skill, not a talent”
Make a joke.

Subject lines for e-mails are generally professional and clinical; being funny can go a long way in attracting the right kind of attention. “What have you got to lose? (besides 99 cents)” will get a lot more opens than “Book sale, only $0.99”.

Here are some more examples of jokes you might add to a headline:

  • “Leadership tips to make your dad proud”
  • “Show me your network and I’ll show you mine”
  • “Baby got leadership skills”
  • “Never Take the Last Cookie (and other team-building strategies)”

Above all, ensure your e-mail headline tells the story of you and your writing. It sounds extremely vague and out there, I know, but it’s something that you have to customize to suit your specific needs! Take feedback from your readers—they’re the ones you want to impress, after all! Engage them and keep them in the loop; they will never miss a subscription from you.

Exercise: Give your best shot and craft the best e-mail titles on the following:

  1. Revealing an insider secret to your mailing list.
  2. Debunking personal development products.
  3. Top mistakes online marketers make.

My suggested answers:

  1. This is so good, I may regret telling you
  2. Why those $1997 guru products are a waste
  3. The top 10 mistakes new Internet marketers make

More Email Marketing Ideas for Your Book Launch

  • Create a great landing page with an opt-in form to grow your mailing list. Create something small but exciting that you can give your readers in exchange for their e-mail addresses. I usually suggest a prequel that is less than 100 pages. This is original content, something much better than sending over a chapter or two from your book, which you will, eventually, hope they will buy.
  • While e-mail marketing is essential to your e-book, it’s important not to spam your readers. Use the tips in Rules of Engagement for E-mail Marketing for the best results.
  • Learn what your readers want and write valuable e-mail content that keeps them excited and intrigued while also being authentic. Build a relationship with your readers, and they will continue to follow you.
  • A good start for a mailing list is two thousand, but the maximum size of your mailing list should be as big as possible. Never stop telling people about your books and what you have to offer them. Continue to grow your mailing list every day.
  • You can get the reader’s e-mail addresses online and offline for your list. You can network in person with others in your niche by attending events. You can use pay-per-click advertising services and social media to reach new readers online.
  • Your e-mail subjects must grab readers and get them to open the message. A dull or boring subject line may cause the e-mail to go straight to the trash or spam folder!
  • Get to know your e-mail subscribers before you start selling to them. Then start small and grow from there organically over time. Don’t push too many sales on them all at once or risk losing subscribers.

A Bonus for You

Take advantage of this headline analyzer at https://www.aminstitute.com/headline/ recommended by my wonderful friend and marketing expert, Mark Schafer. Check out his site at https://businessesgrow.com/.

Back To Top