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How is your writer's mailing list: Editor's Notes #209 April 30, 2016 |
| Hello, --not the attitude of the prospect. --W. Clement Stone In this issue: 1. How is your writer's mailing list? 2. Tickled my funnybone 3. Interesting Web site 4. Writing prompt 1. How is your writer's mailing list? The writer's mailing list I'm talking about is the one that announces your next book when it's ready. (There are other lists we can talk about another time.) Besides giving you a burst of sales when your book comes out, this list lets a publisher know that you have a market. Imagine the impact when you say, I have 500 or 2000 people on the list waiting to buy this book. You can begin your list as soon as you are committed to getting your book on shelves (or online if it's an ebook). Just be sure of your commitment. If you don't produce a book, people will not trust you the next time you ask for a sign- up. BIG RULE NUMBER ONE: You can put someone on the list only if they have given you permission and you must remove anyone who asks to be removed. Otherwise, you are a spammer. You can outright ask your friends and family if they want to be on the list, but don't depend on them just to improve your numbers. What you need is a place people can sign up, giving you their first name and email address. If you ask for more, fewer people will sign up, and you don't really need any other information. Most people put the sign-up form on a Web site or blog. Once you have the form (See the Interesting Web site below for more on how get a form), post a link to it everywhere online (Facebook, Twitter, your own Web site or blog, etc.). Include a brief teaser giving people a reason to hand over their information. The automated form then does the tedious work of updating the list and sending the emails when you are ready, leaving you to keep reintroducing the link so others can sign up. It's fine to repost a teaser every month or so to scoop up new followers or to jog the memory of others. If you have said that this form will be used only to inform subscribers when the book is about to come out, be sure to stick with that. It's OK to send a message saying, "My book has been accepted by a publisher and should come out in XXX months," followed by "My book is at the printer, and should be on shelves on XXX." Finally, you send, "My book is now available. Ask for it at your favourite bookstore or buy it online." =========== 2.Tickled my funnybone Thank you to Albert Hall for this one: Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it. --Moses Hadas =========== 3. Interesting Web site My own Web site package contains email sign-up forms and handles sending mass mailings like this newsletter. Friends have told me they like http://mailchimp.com/. The MailChimp Web site asks you to sign up before telling you what it can do for you. Here's a link that tells you what MailChimp does: https://www.quora.com/What-does-MailChimp-do =========== 4. Writing prompt Whether you have a book on the go or not, write a brief (1-2 sentences) teaser to convince people to give your their email address for your writer's mailing list. =========== Join Writer's Helper Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/WritersHelperEditor Follow me on Twitter @AudreytheEditor Link on LinkedIn https://ca.linkedin.com/in/audreyowen (Email me first so I know how you know me.) =========== If you know a writer who would appreciate receiving Editor's Notes, forward this issue. If someone has passed this on to you, you can get your own free subscription by signing up at https://www.writershelper.com/newsletter.html |
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