Let's Sell Some Books!

Email addresses are like gold for every fiction and nonfiction writer.

With a healthy email list, you can build a community of loyal fans, try out new ideas, and, best of all, sell books.

[Shameless rabbit trail: At Illumify, we can show you how you can generate $10 to $12 for every book you sell. Seriously. Click here to learn more.]

Some studies indicate that the average cost of obtaining one email address is $30.

“Ohhh, but it’s so much work,” I can hear you saying.

What if I told you it’s probably not as much work as you think?

Welcome to the Power Writers Report, our weekly update, packed full of powerful writing tips, productivity tools, platform-building strategies, author best practices, resources, and free stuff. 

If you find this useful, forward it to a friend.

Click here to subscribe to the weekly Power Writers Report.

Click here to schedule an author strategy session with me.

Email Marketing is Sooo Superior to Online Marketing

Last December, I compared email marketing with online marketing. While online marketing is okay, with email marketing you control the messaging, the timing, and no one can touch your list of recipients (as long as you aren’t spamming people).

Facebook, on the other hand, cancels or suspends people’s accounts all the time. Amazon changes their algorithms faster than Quick Draw McGraw.

Even Instagram, the social media platform authors love, changes the rules all the time.

Online marketing is okay as a secondary approach, but nothing can substitute for an email list of fans who know you and see you as credible.

Ready for some helpful ideas? Here we go!

Here's the First Six

1. Create an email sign-up on your blog. You do have a blog, don’t you? Ideally, you want to set it up on your author website, so it draws viewers to you.

As they say, “Content is king.” If you give people helpful and/or entertaining content, they’ll gladly give you their email address so they can read your posts, hot off the press.

I probably subscribe to a dozen blogs at the moment and I welcome their emails.

As people read your posts, Google will begin making your blog more findable on the web. In turn, people you don’t even know will find you and sign up for your emails.

2. Offer a freebie on your website. Who doesn’t like free stuff?

Offer an pdf excerpt from your book in exchange for their email address. Insiders call it a “lead magnet.”

On the Illumify website, we offer a free download for “Six Time-Saving Tips to Finish Your Manuscript.” It generates a steady stream of email addresses every month.

3. Create an exit-intent pop-up on your website. This is similar to #1. As viewers exit your author website, a pop-up box appears, offering something free in exchange for their email address.

I know these are a little irritating, but they work! 

4. Offer an excerpt of your book in your email signature. In my last post, we looked at different fears that authors face. One of the biggest fears is shamelessly promoting their book.

Here's an idea to minimize the pain: Set up an account with Bookfunnel. For only $100 a year (only $8.33 a month!), you can offer a free sample from your book that helps you capture email addresses.

Trust me, the sample that readers will see looks very good.

Next, below your email signature add a line that says something like, "Read a chapter of my book, The Most Interesting Book in the World." 

Make that line a hyperlink to your Bookfunnel download page.

5. Host an online training event. We do this periodically and it works every time.

Offer a free training that involves the subject matter of your book. It needs to be interesting and helpful. Don't cover all the content of your book or your attendees won't want to purchase it. If you're a fiction author, develop a training involving a theme of your book.

This works easiest if you have an account with Zoom. You can create an online sign-up that captures email addresses.

Now promote the heck out of your training--and encourage people to forward the event to their friends.

6. Offer a free download on your social media pages and bios. On your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. social media accounts, offer a free download of the freebie we've been talking about. Again, Bookfunnel is perfect for this.

Make sure you use the word “free” or “freebie” in your description. That’s what we call a "power word."

Next week, I'll give you the rest of the list.

At Illumify, we do everything in our power to position your book to sell. If you live locally, I do my best to attend your book launch to show you our unflinching support.

Want to know more about how how we help promote our authors' books? We can also build an author website and blog that attracts those email addresses you want.

Click here to schedule an appointment. Together, let's explore the possibilities of your book.

Let’s bring your book to life!