Implementing the Fab Four:

One of the most effective ways for authors to build their e-mail lists is through book giveaways. You need to do these giveaways via a landing page that you have created, that funnels signup e-mails to your subscriber list. You can give away anywhere from 1 to 10 copies, or more. One of the many advantages of this is that anyone signing up has a direct interest in winning and reading your book, so they are naturally selecting themselves to be responsive to your marketing.
Also, it’s important to have a newsletter / blog notification sign up on your website. 

The platform I recommend for building landing pages is MailerLite. The reasons are: they have a drag and drop builder that creates very professional, visually attractive layouts that are superior to any other e-mail management system out there. They are also very careful about spam and only sign you up if you prove you are not a spammer, so a much higher percentage of your e-mails will arrive at their destination, versus other services whose IP addresses may have been blacklisted. They also have incredibly responsive customer service, even for the free accounts. MailerLite is free up to 1,000 subscribers and then their monthly fees are very affordable.

Now that you have those hard earned e-mail addresses, it’s important to keep your readers engaged. The number one rule for this is: regularity of communications on a fixed schedule. Whether these communications be in the form of a newsletter, social media and/or blog posts or other Customer Relationship Management  (CRM) methods, your readers and fans needs to be able to rely on and expect the delivery of their favorite content. Make sure to communicate to your audience what your schedule will be. For newsletters / successful blogs, make sure you are comfortable with your decided upon schedule and that you know you can deliver on it for the duration, i.e. weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. It is a good idea to do at least one newsletter or blog post per month. For social media, post at least once a day on each channel.

Content is king, but so is authenticity. Don’t use “clickbait” in your content headers, but rather subject lines that accurately reflect what’s inside. Write about what you know and if you’re sharing about your life, keep it real. Videos are very popular and also great for any platform. Sign up for a YouTube channel so that you can upload videos then embed them into your e-mails / newsletters / blogs. Get someone to record you at book readings / events, get behind the scenes footage. Talk to the attendees, get their feedback and response to your book. This will help people see its value.

You can hold regular seasonal contests, such as “Spring Splash,” or “4th of July Extravaganza,” where to enter they need to send you their favorite paragraph of your book. This will select those who haven’t read it from those who have and will also encourage them to purchase it. You can do this to coincide with when your book is on sale or even free. Sign up for an account with Zazzle (or any other Print on Demand service) and create some merchandise as the prize. (Tip: never use merchandise for a straight giveaway to collect e-mail addresses, as this might attract people who just want the prize then will unsubscribe).

The content that you provide your audience can be as varied as you like – make a list of what you have to offer, what you enjoy and then decide how and when you will deliver it. 

Audiobooks are very popular. However, they can be expensive to produce, so if you don’t have one, do an excerpt reading yourself, to use in your campaign. This needs to be placed at the end of every blog post / newsletter / e-mail, and on the first page of your website, “Click to listen to an excerpt of my book…” Then right next to that, a Call to Action (CTA) “Buy Now” button.

Make sure to send out notifcations when your book is on sale and include the latest Amazon / other reviews in your CRM content, then a “Buy Now” Call to Action button. 

Create some slogans / catch phrases that sum up your book and include those in your newsletters / blogs, also make eye catching graphics for social media. Extract quotes and sprinkle those throughout your social media and CRM content. 

Have some high quality 3D book covers made. This helps fans see your book as an actual product to purchase, instead of just a digital file. For giveaways, take some nice flat lay photographs of actual hard copies of the book. For flat lays, broad, diffuse light is best, for example in the shade, on a cloudy day or early in the morning. Avoid direct, too bright light as that creates sharp angles. 

These images can also be used in your media kit. A media kit is essental if you are aiming for wider publicity that involves being interviewed on TV, talk shows, radio, podcasts, guest blogging and print and online media. Have a professional create your media kit, as this can go a long way to creating the narrative, image and professionalism you want to portray, as well as reflecting the high quality and value of your book. 

If you do get interviewed, coincide the publication of your interview with one of your own giveaways and create a MailerLite landing page specifically for this, as the high traffic wil exponentially build your e-mail list. Make sure that your giveaway is mentioned in the article and that they include the link to your landing page. 

To educate your readers about the importance of book reviews, make a list of the ways reviews help authors, both Amazon and other reviews, then communicate that to them in a blog post / e-mail / newsletter, as well as throughout your social media. In addition to the text, create some graphics that include your book cover as well. In addition to this, make sure to sprinkle gentle reminders throughout all your content on an ongoing basis.  

In the back matter of your book, use a non guilt-inducing, gentle request for a review, right after THE END. Always make this reader-centric, so first thank them for reading your book. The request for a review must be on the same page as THE END, otherwise other sponsored content will focus their attention elsewhere. If there is more back matter, the reader must be told: “Turn the page for a note from the author,” or, “Turn the page for more.” These are finalized in formatting, so if you use a commercial formatter they must be told where to place these Calls to Action.

Example:

THE END

Thank you for taking the time to read… (book name). If you enjoyed it, please consider telling your friends or posting a short review. Word of mouth is an author’s best friend and much appreciated. – Cordially… (your name).

A good way to get reviews is also to run a free promotion through Amazon, Goodreads or Freebooksy. For Amazon, the easiest way to run a free promotion is to enroll your book in KDP Select. KDP Select is Amazon’s exclusive program that allows you to run up to 5 free promotion days in exchange for publishing your book exclusively on Amazon for 90 days. An additional benefit of KDP Select is that your book will be included in their Kindle Unlimited (KU) Program and you will get paid out on the number of pages read of your book by KU readers. If your book is already published, you can choose to enroll in KDP Select at any time. If you choose to enroll in KDP Select you will have to remove your book from sale at any other retailers where you have it published.

Note: these giveaways through Amazon, Goodreads & Freebooksy can be a great way to get reviews, but not necessarily sales. For sales, focus on holding your own giveaways, building your e-mail list, relationship & marketing with your subscriber base of loyal fans.