# Your own personal BookBub: Why you should work on your mailing list



## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

I've preached before about the benefits of a mailing list.

http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,193352.0.html

Of course, it's not just me saying it. Much more successful authors have been making the case for so long that it has sort of become a truism; Lesson 1 in Indie Publishing 101. Thou Must Get a Mailing List.

I was slow to get to putting my own list together, but it was my main focus in 2014. I started the year with, I think, 500 or so names on my list. I'll end it with around 8,000. I've posted some of my tactics for growth before but they are all self-evident: good CTAs in the back of your books, offer something in exchange for an email address, judicious use of contests, etc. I've recently redesigned my website to make it MUCH easier to sign up. Check that here:

www.markjdawson.com

This is not rocket science. It just needs patience.

Each of my launches this year has been better than the last. I have been able to rely upon the list to get my books into the top #2,000 for half the year. Once you hit that kind of rank, Amazon takes over and starts to do your marketing for you. That's always my goal on a launch.

I put out my latest John Milton thriller yesterday. I expected it to do well, but not quite as well as it has. I went to bed last night with the book around the #1,900 mark. That was fine as far as I was concerned. Very good. But when I woke up, it was #249. I was stunned, but delighted. There has been no marketing other than $40 thrown in Mark Zuckerberg's way to broadcast more widely to my Facebook Fan Page and that email to my list.

My last few BookBub runs have launched the relevant books into the top #30. I'm not at that level yet, but it's not difficult to see how that might be possible for the next book, or the one after that. And, while I love BookBub, they still turn me down about half the time. There is no-one to satisfy with your own list. It's something to be deployed whenever is feel is right. Feels a bit like being able to do this:






So, allow me to proselytize one more time. If you are sitting on the fence about starting a list, *get off the fence and start it at once!* Seriously, there is no better way to boost your prospects and it's not difficult to do. I run mine on MailChimp, but Aweber and others offer a very similar service. None of them need much technical nous (which is fortunate, because I have very little). And the benefits are immediate, and they get more powerful with every name you add.


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

Hi Mark
I just wanted to say that I think there is a lot more info in this post than I am taking in right now, (not had coffee yet) so I have bookmarked it for reference and thank you.

But I had to reply and say that your cover for "Gaslight" is really amazing, very sexy too. A cover like that will catapult you a long way! (Also pretty wowed by the other two in the same style - The Black Mile and The Imposter.  In fact I loved the style of your whole website (except the bar across the top which was a little hard to make out). Who designed your "stack of books" home page image, if you don't mind me asking?


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

Evenstar said:


> But I had to reply and say that your cover for "Gaslight" is really amazing, very sexy too. A cover like that will catapult you a long way! (Also pretty wowed by the other two in the same style - The Black Mile and The Imposter. In fact I loved the style of your whole website (except the bar across the top which was a little hard to make out). Who designed your "stack of books" home page image, if you don't mind me asking?


That was designed by the guy who works on my covers. That's the other thing I learned this year - know your limitations (I couldn't begin to do my covers) and, when you find someone good, hold onto them for dear life.


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

Mark Dawson said:


> That was designed by the guy who works on my covers. That's the other thing I learned this year - know your limitations (I couldn't begin to do my covers) and, when you find someone good, hold onto them for dear life.


Darn, I'm guessing his name is a secret then? I had a look inside your books and couldn't see any credit. Bah humbug


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## Lydniz (May 2, 2013)

I second this advice. My latest went up three days ago. I'm a total minnow compared to Mark, with a mailing list of a mere 750, but I went straight in at about number 600+ in the paid store, into the top ten of my categories, and straight to the top of Hot New Releases of one of those categories. (Of course, now all my fans have bought the book I've plummeted straight out again, but hey, you can't have everything, right? )


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## Guest (Dec 13, 2014)

I already have a mailing list, but just put the following message up on FB. With the changing rules on FB next year this is sound advice from the OP.

TAKE A MINUTE TO REGISTER - PLEASE!
Whilst we all love Facebook (we do, don't we?) its not the most reliable means of me keeping in touch with you because without 'boosting' a post there is no way I can reach you reliably to tell you what's going on.
That's why I'm going to be making it a special mission to get everyone onto my mailing list in 2015. I won't spam you. I will only mail you with news on my books, not fake news, but real news.
Just enter your given name and email address at the bottom of the homepage and you will be done. Any time you want off the list the 'unsubscribe' button will be at the bottom of every email. 
THANK YOU
just visit http://tobiasroote.com/ or click the link below.


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## Michael McClung (Feb 12, 2014)

Hi Mark,

I finally started including a link to my mailing list this year. Slow growth so far, but I'm not complaining at all. I finally see the value in connecting directly to readers who want to hear from me.

My question would be what an average email to your subscriber list would/should look like. Any tips?

Cheers!


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## hayley (Oct 21, 2014)

Great post, last night I was thinking about how to gather more people on my email list. And I looked over yours, I love the give away concept - linking it with a word within the book. I have a short story series and I'm going to test a few concepts out.


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

Evenstar said:


> Darn, I'm guessing his name is a secret then? I had a look inside your books and couldn't see any credit. Bah humbug


No, he's not a secret. PM me if you want an intro.


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

Michael McClung said:


> My question would be what an average email to your subscriber list would/should look like. Any tips?


If you want to see what I do, the easy thing would be to sign up - I'm mailing out tomorrow about a BookBun deal on one of my Milton box sets.

But, for general purpose advice, I would say this: be conversational, and treat them like friends. I love the SPP guys, but the autoresponder series they fire at their subscribers don't make me want to do anything other than hit delete. That might be a cultural thing - English reserve, etc - but they are too long, too sales-y and too transparent. I always try to keep in mind that these people are sustaining my career, and if I tick them off they can just as easily pony up another dollar and buy the new Lee Child. You'll see me thanking them a lot of the time, and that's always sincere.


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## Christa Wick (Nov 1, 2012)

Mark Dawson said:


> If you want to see what I do, the easy thing would be to sign up ...


No affront intended, but I signed up after reading your OP earlier for exactly that reason.  I'm signed up to several high-selling authors in my genre to see what they do and not as a reader.


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

Christa Wick said:


> No affront intended, but I signed up after reading your OP earlier for exactly that reason.  I'm signed up to several high-selling authors in my genre to see what they do and not as a reader.


Well, there you are... No affront received! I hope you find it useful.


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## Rich Amooi (Feb 14, 2014)

Thanks for sharing this. I have an email list and it is growing.    A few questions if you would be so kind...


1) Do those 8000 people on your newsletter list also get your blog updates emailed to them or is that a separate signup? 
2) How often do you email the list per month?
3) How far out do you plan your emails ahead of time? For example, do you already know when (and how many) emails you are going to send in the month of January?


Thanks again.   


Rich


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## Michael McClung (Feb 12, 2014)

Thanks, Mark! I'm off to sign up right now


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## hardnutt (Nov 19, 2010)

Just taken a look at your website, Mark. It's very dramatic and I like the way the books appear when you click the 'Book' Link. I also like the stack of books on your home Page.

But there were a couple of things I didn't like. Yes, I know a black background is dramatic, but with the white text, it's hard to read and hard on the eyes (my old site used to have a black background, but I changed it after reading many comments from people around the web who didn't like it at all). 

And I wondered why you only have links to Amazon US and UK. Why not CA and AU and some European sites? And why not Kobo, etc, as well. I have a Kindle, but I think I'd feel a bit 'huh!' if I had another ereader.

Just a couple of observations. But overall, I thought your site was great. Well-presented and well-organised.


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

1) Do those 8000 people on your newsletter list also get your blog updates emailed to them or is that a separate signup? 

I don't mail them with blog posts. They get news on deals and new books only. 

2) How often do you email the list per month?

Once, but sometimes I won't at all. I don't email for the sake of it. 

3) How far out do you plan your emails ahead of time? For example, do you already know when (and how many) emails you are going to send in the month of January?

It'll depend on my production and release schedule. I'll have one or two novellas in January, so once or twice.


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## tamiveldura (Dec 8, 2014)

/delurks for the first time

I wanted to throw my 2 cents in regarding email lists. The easiest way I've found to get people interested in signing up, is to offer something for free. A book, a coupon, an exclusive story- the bigger your gift, the more likely they are to sign up. And you can always increase your gift later as you produce more work.

2nd, it's very important to be offering useful things to your subscribers once they're on your list. I conduct industry interviews and they are only provided to my newsletter subs, no one else. I don't always advertise that, so it can be a nice surprise to people who sign up. 

Also, when announcing a new release to the newsletter group, I always provide additional fiction for free. Side stories, secondary characters, backstory, art, as many things as I can reasonably put together before the release date. They all go into the newsletter. Even if the sub doesn't want to buy the book, they might be convinced with the peaks into the world they get. Or, at the very least, I haven't sent them a useless spam email.

If I can manage it, I set up a countdown of emails giving away several things in advance of the release date. For instance, I have an adventure pirate book coming out on the 19th. I have a newsletter set up to go out on the 19th with an interview. But on the 17th a much shorter newsletter is going out with a piece of art subs can download and a backstory they're not expecting.  And the 15th another short email is going out with a second backstory. So 14 (free), 17 (free x2), 19 (free + buy my book). People who are really into your work will get excited over the course of the week. People who are on the fence get a lot of different exposure. People who aren't interested are at least getting some perks so they don't get annoyed with the emails and unsub.


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## sela (Nov 2, 2014)

Bookbub is indispensable for finding new readers for your backlist. A mailing list is indispensable for getting those new readers to buy your new releases on release day or release week so that you move up in the ranks. One can't really replace the other. If you can get a Bookbub, it's great. In this new reality, a mailing list is absolutely necessary. An author should try to do both.


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## reneepawlish (Nov 14, 2011)

Mark, thank you for all your advice.  I am one who took your tips and just started implementing them.  I've had over 600 subscribers just since Nov 29th.  Now I'm sure that some just got the free book and will drop off, but I suspect many will be hooked.  I am planning on giving away a short story as a Christmas gift to them, and in January when I release the next in my series, I am going to offer the new novel at a discount to my list on a limited time basis and see what happens.  I'll bet it gets a nice push on sales.  My goal is to have 2015 be the big year


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

Sela said:


> Bookbub is indispensable for finding new readers for your backlist. A mailing list is indispensable for getting those new readers to buy your new releases on release day or release week so that you move up in the ranks. One can't really replace the other. If you can get a Bookbub, it's great. In this new reality, a mailing list is absolutely necessary. An author should try to do both.


They are absolutely not mutually exclusive, and you set it out very well. One complements the other very well.


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

reneepawlish said:


> Mark, thank you for all your advice. I am one who took your tips and just started implementing them. I've had over 600 subscribers just since Nov 29th. Now I'm sure that some just got the free book and will drop off, but I suspect many will be hooked. I am planning on giving away a short story as a Christmas gift to them, and in January when I release the next in my series, I am going to offer the new novel at a discount to my list on a limited time basis and see what happens. I'll bet it gets a nice push on sales. My goal is to have 2015 be the big year


Wow. That's brilliant, Renee. 600?! In that short time? Fabulous.


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## Wayne Stinnett (Feb 5, 2014)

Without a doubt, a mailing list is probably the single best marketing tool available to us and it costs nothing. Well, unless you go with MailChimp's paid service, but the free one works just fine.

Fallen Mangrove went live on 9/29 at 9pm Eastern time (6pm Pacific). Six hours later, it ended the day with over 80 sales, but no borrows. Virtually every one of those sales came from my mailing list. I sent a pre-release notice the day before, telling them that it'd be released some time the next day, would be priced at only $.99 for 24 hours and the subscribers would be the only ones to know for that 24 hours. I had the release message set to go and the minute it went live, I sent it. The next day, another 100 sales and 14 borrows. It's debut rank was in the 17Ks, but the next hour it was at #2400. By the end of the first full day, it broke the top 1000. That was ten weeks ago and it's only fallen out of the top 3000 a week ago.


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## katrina46 (May 23, 2014)

Lydniz said:


> I second this advice. My latest went up three days ago. I'm a total minnow compared to Mark, with a mailing list of a mere 750, but I went straight in at about number 600+ in the paid store, into the top ten of my categories, and straight to the top of Hot New Releases of one of those categories. (Of course, now all my fans have bought the book I've plummeted straight out again, but hey, you can't have everything, right? )


Actually, you were the one who advised me on how to start mailchimp, so I'm working on building my list now. Right now I have a whole 12 subscribers. I have a long way to go, but thanks for leading me in the right direction. As for not taking much technical expertise, it doesn't, but I did find mailchimp somewhat confusing in the beginning.


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## Wayne Stinnett (Feb 5, 2014)

Dwallock said:


> I have about 8,000 contacts on my list, but I haven't ever sent email because paid email service (mail chimp) is $75 per month. :/ Anyone got recommendation for this problem? Is there away to get a cheaper service then mailchimp or to declutter my list before sending? I am scared that 20% will not go through since they are emails that were originally registered as blog subscribers to blog. Do I just have to sent 1 for $75 and then declutter after the test happens?


You could break your list down into smaller ones. Sort them by member rating and move all the five stars to a "Five Star" list. These are the ones that engage. What's the sense in emailing hundreds of subscribers that don't open, much less click? Weed them out.


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## katrina46 (May 23, 2014)

Mark Dawson said:


> If you want to see what I do, the easy thing would be to sign up - I'm mailing out tomorrow about a BookBun deal on one of my Milton box sets.
> 
> But, for general purpose advice, I would say this: be conversational, and treat them like friends. I love the SPP guys, but the autoresponder series they fire at their subscribers don't make me want to do anything other than hit delete. That might be a cultural thing - English reserve, etc - but they are too long, too sales-y and too transparent. I always try to keep in mind that these people are sustaining my career, and if I tick them off they can just as easily pony up another dollar and buy the new Lee Child. You'll see me thanking them a lot of the time, and that's always sincere.


I guess I'm doing it wrong. I figured they signed up to be notified of my new releases, so I link the cover to my sales page and simply right a short message asking them to check it out. Short and sweet. I guess I should work on it.


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## A.E. Williams (Jul 13, 2014)

What Wayne said.

I subscribed to Mark's list.  

I visited the site, took one look, and how could I not?

That BIG Subscribe button idea I am unabashedly going to 'acquire'.  

Mailchimp works great with Wordpress sites, btw....


A.E. Williams

Edited to clarify for Dwallock --- if you make several 'smaller' lists, I don't think you are going to get gigged unless you exceed the 2,000 email size.

I use the 'Chimp, and don't pay for it. Yet. I hope one day I have a large enough fan base to justify its cost...


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

ゴジラ said:


> Very helpful post! I'm a big fan of mailing lists. Every author should have one as the foundation of their career. Thank you for sharing and well done on the launch!


*hugs*

Hi S!


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## unkownwriter (Jun 22, 2011)

Thanks for posting this, Mark. Helpful info!

I need to finesse my mailing lists, and look into having free things to give the people who sign up. And I need to get the word out more about the lists to begin with, I guess. I'm moving away from sending people to my blog and getting them to a publishing site, which also needs tweaking. Always lots of work in this job.


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## Lydniz (May 2, 2013)

ゴジラ said:
 

> Very helpful post! I'm a big fan of mailing lists. Every author should have one as the foundation of their career. Thank you for sharing and well done on the launch!


You are the original mailing list guru and I bow before you.


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

For those who are wary of exceeding the "free" limit on MailChimp (or Aweber, or whichever platform you choose), I'd suggest reframing it so that it isn't a problem, but a sign of progress. If you are at the stage where you need to pay, you know that you are doing very well. And, if you manage and deploy that list properly, your next book launch will pay for the privilege of using them for the next few months.

@ゴジラ - many thanks. Your posts were very helpful to a newbie, 18 months ago. It's nice to be able to give back.


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## Raquel Lyon (Mar 3, 2012)

You all make it sound so simple. I must be doing something wrong. I've had links to my list in all my books, plus everywhere else I can think of, for over a year. The result? Not one single sign up!


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## MyraScott (Jul 18, 2014)

Great info!  Thanks for sharing it.


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

Raquel Lyon said:


> You all make it sound so simple. I must be doing something wrong. I've had links to my list in all my books, plus everywhere else I can think of, for over a year. The result? Not one single sign up!


I don't think you are doing it wrong, but I do think you could do it better. I bought one of your books and had a quick look. I know you didn't ask for my opinion, so feel free to discard it, but this is what I would change:

1. Give something away. You have lots of books; I would offer one or maybe two as a free download. I give away four books, but just adding one to my offer revolutionised my signup rate. Just offering news of when you have a new book available is easy to ignore. And I haven't found offering a book for free has cannibalised sales on that book AT ALL. 
2. Make more of the CTA in the back of the book. Explain how good the free book is, how many reviews it has, what it retails for, etc.
3. Add a short CTA at the front of the book so that it can be seen on the Look Inside.
4. I'd make it a little more obvious on your website. It's almost below the fold - make it the first thing people see. This is how I do it: www.markjdawson.com
5. If you have a promo, make it an aim to sell books AND get signups. My last BookBub run netted me 600 new signups, just through making it very obvious that they could get the Starter Library by giving me their email address.

Keep pressing on with it. You have lots of ammunition (books) to use, and it will be well worth it in the long run. Good luck.


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## reneepawlish (Nov 14, 2011)

Wow. That's brilliant, Renee. 600?! In that short time? Fabulous.

Yeah, Mark, it's surprised me as well.  Not all are clicking and getting the book (if I'm understanding mailchimp stats correctly lol), but it's still great to see.

And I would agree wholeheartedly about giving away a book, and that it doesn't negatively affect sales.  It hasn't for me at all.  I think I'm going to look at adding another book and/or a short story to make it really enticing for readers to sign up.  I will also post what happens with my next release and how this email list affects those initial sales


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## Raquel Lyon (Mar 3, 2012)

Thanks for taking the time to reply, Mark. You've given me a few things to think about. I always presumed that authors who gave away a book when someone signed up gave away a totally different book to the ones they had on sale.


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

Raquel Lyon said:


> Thanks for taking the time to reply, Mark. You've given me a few things to think about. I always presumed that authors who gave away a book when someone signed up gave away a totally different book to the ones they had on sale.


There's nothing to stop you doing that. I've toyed with the idea of writing a short for the list, but, at the end of the day, if I write for a week and I can get paid for it too... pretty easy decision for me, especially when it had no effect on sales.


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

What formats do you offer the book in?


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

Evenstar said:


> What formats do you offer the book in?


New signups get an automated response the day after signing up, with ePub, Mobi and PDF. That's the beauty of it - it's totally automated. When I started, I had to send them all out manually, and it took ages. One of the benefits of paying for a MailChimp account is the automation that they offer. It saved me, literally, hours - time that could be better spent writing (or posting here...)


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## Andrew Christie (Jul 13, 2014)

Apologies if this is a stupid question but...

I have been putting off setting up a mailchimp list because they require a postal address - the only one I have is my home address (I don't want to use that) and at the moment I'm reluctant to fork out for a post office box.

Has this been an issue for anyone else?


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## Rachel Aukes (Oct 13, 2013)

By offering incentives to sign up, have you noticed any drop in click-through rates? I haven't offered any incentive yet because I was afraid that would happen.


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## Rachel Aukes (Oct 13, 2013)

Andrew Christie said:


> I have been putting off setting up a mailchimp list because they require a postal address - the only one I have is my home address (I don't want to use that) and at the moment I'm reluctant to fork out for a post office box.


It's a very good question. I was lucky in that I own a business and used that address instead. My Plan B was to use a virtual PO Box, which would cost money.


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## Gone 9/21/18 (Dec 11, 2008)

rachelaukes said:


> By offering incentives to sign up, have you noticed any drop in click-through rates? I haven't offered any incentive yet because I was afraid that would happen.


My mailing list was right about 500 when I released my last book. It was for sale as a pre-order for two weeks at a lower than post-pub price. I had 538 pre-orders. Since that's only one instance, maybe there's no correlation, but I suspect there is.

I send new subscribers a link to download a not-yet-published novella for free and tell them they'll get free early access to anything else I put out shorter than a novel.


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## Rachel Aukes (Oct 13, 2013)

ellenoc said:


> My mailing list was right about 500 when I released my last book. It was for sale as a pre-order for two weeks at a lower than post-pub price. I had 538 pre-orders. Since that's only one instance, maybe there's no correlation, but I suspect there is.
> 
> I send new subscribers a link to download a not-yet-published novella for free and tell them they'll get free early access to anything else I put out shorter than a novel.


Thanks for the info! I've been waffling whether to offer an incentive or not. It sounds like it's worked great for you.


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## Wayne Stinnett (Feb 5, 2014)

Andrew Christie said:


> Apologies if this is a stupid question but...
> 
> I have been putting off setting up a mailchimp list because they require a postal address - the only one I have is my home address (I don't want to use that) and at the moment I'm reluctant to fork out for a post office box.
> 
> Has this been an issue for anyone else?


A post office box is cheap if you pay for it annually. Mine was $60 for a year. Since I decided early on to treat this like other businesses I've owned, the need for one was essential. You don't want your home address out there.


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## Lydniz (May 2, 2013)

Wayne Stinnett said:


> A post office box is cheap if you pay for it annually.


Not in the UK, it ain't. I don't know about other countries, but here it's precisely £209.81 per year for collect only, or £260.84 for delivery. Don't ask me where they got the .81 and the .84 from.


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## nico (Jan 17, 2013)

Mark, you can use automation without paying at Mailchimp. I set this up and copied your "starter library" idea and have seen our best month ever for mailing list sign ups. And the month isn't even half over! (Of course our big free run has had a lot to do with that as well—my concern is that the new signups are freebie-seekers.)


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## Jake Kerr (Aug 6, 2014)

I went a different route with the signup, but I think it is just as overt as Mark's. When you go to www.jakekerr.com, after about three seconds a popup hits you and invites you to join my mailing list. It has a giveaway as the call to action.

I've been wondering if this was too obnoxious, but I've been leaning toward not.


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## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

Jake, I've tried both. At first, I thought the popup led to more signups, but now I'm actually getting more signups without it. That, and the popup has some very vocal haters. I have to admit I find it really annoying, too, and it can be a reason for me not to visit a website.

Just make the signup link in your books live so that people can sign up straight after they've finished reading.


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

nico said:


> Mark, you can use automation without paying at Mailchimp. I set this up and copied your "starter library" idea and have seen our best month ever for mailing list sign ups. And the month isn't even half over! (Of course our big free run has had a lot to do with that as well--my concern is that the new signups are freebie-seekers.)


MailChimp automation is a paid feature - I just double checked in case they switched it up on me. We might be at crossed purposes as to our definitions, perhaps.

Delighted that it is working for you. Offering content in exchange for signups is powerful, and, in my experience, attracts engaged readers who will be prepared to pay for new content. I haven't seen a downside yet.


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## nico (Jan 17, 2013)

Mark Dawson said:


> MailChimp automation is a paid feature - I just double checked in case they switched it up on me. We might be at crossed purposes as to our definitions, perhaps.


Thanks again for all the great info and ideas for promoting via mailing lists. You've been a real inspiration for us!

As for MailChimp "automation", i guess what i'm talking about are called "workflows", which allow you to send out emails to your list based on triggers you define. For example, i have one that send a followup email to new subscribers a day after they subscribe with links to download my "free starter library". I use these with the free account, but from their pricing page it looks like they are supposed to be paid. Not sure how that works.


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## Jake Kerr (Aug 6, 2014)

So I'm in the middle of a short test of the "personal BookBub." On Saturday night I dropped the price of Tommy Black and the Staff of Light from $3.99 to 99 cents. I then did the following:

Post to Twitter (1050 followers)
Post to Facebook pages (240 likes)
Post to personal Facebook (477 friends)
Post to college Facebook group I'm a part of (1500 members)

Previous 7 days: 1 print sale, no digital sales, no borrows
Saturday night: 3 sales
Sunday: 16 sales
Monday: 4 sales (so far)

Starting on Sunday, the book has ranked 14K to 24K or so in rank while being consistently in the kids sword & sorcery top 75 category ranking.

That's no BookBub but it doesn't suck, I think.


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## J.B. (Aug 15, 2014)

Heard about this thread from a friend, when I asked for help on giving away books to new subscribers. Thanks for posting Mark.


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## Alithedreamer (Sep 5, 2014)

Mark, this all sounds very great but to say I'm struggling with the mailing list thing is putting it mildly. I published my novel three weeks ago and have almost no money to market it so I did a simple site using Wordpress. I have almost 800 Facebook fans so I tried to get these people to sign up to my site using a contest. It didn't work at all. I know it's still early days but I'm starting to feel like a complete failure. I really don't know where to start.


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## sela (Nov 2, 2014)

Alithedreamer said:


> Mark, this all sounds very great but to say I'm struggling with the mailing list thing is putting it mildly. I published my novel three weeks ago and have almost no money to market it so I did a simple site using Wordpress. I have almost 800 Facebook fans so I tried to get these people to sign up to my site using a contest. It didn't work at all. I know it's still early days but I'm starting to feel like a complete failure. I really don't know where to start.


If this is your first book, it will take time for you to build up a mailing list so don't beat yourself up over this. I would suggest you write a short story that is a prequel or sequel to your book. Make it <10K and use it as a giveaway for all people who sign up to your mailing list. I just did this and have had amazing results. 269 new signups since the 11th of December. Each person who's signs up gets the story.

Good luck and keep plugging away.


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## Alithedreamer (Sep 5, 2014)

Sela said:


> If this is your first book, it will take time for you to build up a mailing list so don't beat yourself up over this. I would suggest you write a short story that is a prequel or sequel to your book. Make it <10K and use it as a giveaway for all people who sign up to your mailing list. I just did this and have had amazing results. 269 new signups since the 11th of December. Each person who's signs up gets the story.
> 
> Good luck and keep plugging away.


Thank you Sela, I will definitely give this a go


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## AlbertB (Nov 11, 2014)

nico said:


> Mark, you can use automation without paying at Mailchimp. I set this up and copied your "starter library" idea and have seen our best month ever for mailing list sign ups. And the month isn't even half over! (Of course our big free run has had a lot to do with that as well--my concern is that the new signups are freebie-seekers.)


I can say, for the majority of the author mailing lists I've subscribed to, I've found their work worth making more purchases. I have nearly everything Mark has written both because he writes well and makes it worth my while in follow up e-mails with specials and advance notifications, pre-releases, as well as some fun discounts and freebies! The mailing lists that I delete are the ones who don't follow up on their initial enticements for signing up, i.e. freebies, discounts, advance notice of new releases.


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## J.B. (Aug 15, 2014)

Wayne Stinnett said:


> You could break your list down into smaller ones. Sort them by member rating and move all the five stars to a "Five Star" list. These are the ones that engage. What's the sense in emailing hundreds of subscribers that don't open, much less click? Weed them out.


How is member rating calculated?


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

JullesBurn said:


> Heard about this thread from a friend, when I asked for help on giving away books to new subscribers. Thanks for posting Mark.


My pleasure.



Alithedreamer said:


> Mark, this all sounds very great but to say I'm struggling with the mailing list thing is putting it mildly. I published my novel three weeks ago and have almost no money to market it so I did a simple site using Wordpress. I have almost 800 Facebook fans so I tried to get these people to sign up to my site using a contest. It didn't work at all. I know it's still early days but I'm starting to feel like a complete failure. I really don't know where to start.


Baby steps - DON'T GIVE UP.

Contests have their place, but they shouldn't form the main strut of your list strategy. As has been advised, I'd write a short story - make it 15k, and make it GOOD (pro edit, pro cover, etc) - and then offer that to anyone who signs up. Start with your FB list. Drop $50 on a boosted post and tell them that they'll get the story, for free, if they simply sign up at the link you provide. And then put it everywhere - the start AND end of your books, on your author page, your FB page, as a pinned tweet.

I *know* this works. It was reinforced for me this month when MailChimp sent some fun end of year stats. I had 500 subscribers at the start of the year. I'll have nearly 10,000 by the end, and, apart from writing stuff that I know people want to read and will sign up to a list for so that they don't miss new releases and promos, the key tactic has been to give away content. I offer four books now - two novels, two novellas - and you can see how I do it (on my website at least) here: www.markjdawson.com

And good luck!


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

AlbertB said:


> I can say, for the majority of the author mailing lists I've subscribed to, I've found their work worth making more purchases. I have nearly everything Mark has written both because he writes well and makes it worth my while in follow up e-mails with specials and advance notifications, pre-releases, as well as some fun discounts and freebies! The mailing lists that I delete are the ones who don't follow up on their initial enticements for signing up, i.e. freebies, discounts, advance notice of new releases.


Thanks, Albert. That's very kind of you. How you manage your list once you have it is an art in itself. I'm not perfect on that, and I could do better, but it's something that can be worked upon.


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## Christine Kersey (Feb 13, 2011)

Mark - thanks for sharing your marketing strategies. I've decided to give away two of my books to people who sign up for my newsletter and see if I can grow my list. I've set it up in Mailchimp by using the workflow tool. Evidently they won't send attachments, so I uploaded the files to their server and people will have to download the books. Is that how you do it?


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

Christine Kersey said:


> Mark - thanks for sharing your marketing strategies. I've decided to give away two of my books to people who sign up for my newsletter and see if I can grow my list. I've set it up in Mailchimp by using the workflow tool. Evidently they won't send attachments, so I uploaded the files to their server and people will have to download the books. Is that how you do it?


Precisely. You'll get questions from readers on how to side load, so put details in your workflow email. I have found Ammy's Send To Kindle software to be very helpful.


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## ErnestDempsey (May 28, 2014)

Thank you for this reminder, Mark. I know this is crucial but have struggled to figure out what I should giveaway. For a long time I was trying to give away a few novellas but that didn't drive a lot of opt ins. I notice you are giving away two novels AND two novellas. 

Guess I have to ramp up the give. 

One of the things I did with my current list (about 700) is ask them and my Facebook followers what they would like to have more of. Most of them said they want to learn about more of the hidden mysteries in the world. I took that info and created a guide to the top 16 hidden mysteries on the planet. So far, the current list loves it but I'm thinking combining it with some other gifts would be better, like the novels and novellas. 

Also, I was wondering what platform your website is built on. If it's wordpress, which theme do you use? It looks outstanding. Sorry if this was mentioned earlier. 

Thanks for your help. 

True story, found you on Amazon today and bought several of your books. Then I come in here to see what's going on and I see your thread. No coincidences. 

Thanks again.

Ernest


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## Alondo (Aug 30, 2011)

Mark Dawson said:


> My pleasure.
> 
> Baby steps - DON'T GIVE UP.
> 
> ...


I have tried and tried and failed with mailchimp. I cannot send even a basic message. I have about 80 subscribers signed up but can't communicate with them. Mailchimp's staff offered a succession of solutions, none of which work. Is there any mail service which does work?


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## Alondo (Aug 30, 2011)

ゴジラ said:


> Oodles and oodles. Mailchimp is favored by indies for its friendliness and convenience, but you could look at any of a number of alternatives like Constant Contact, Aweber, or Tinyletter (owned by Mailchimp IIRC but simpler).


Thanks for the suggestions! Every time I try a Mailchimp campaign it comes up, "Please check your entries and try again". No matter what you change, it comes up with the same message.


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## Brevoort (Jan 27, 2014)

jakedfw said:


> When you go to www.jakekerr.com, after about three seconds a popup hits you and invites you to join my mailing list.


I mentioned this in a different thread but no one else seems to have noticed. In trawling websites such as yours to see best practices in action I am struck by how just about every one that has a pop-up for a sign-up, or a sign-up widget for a mailing list, is getting knee capped by various web filters.

Neither your pop up, nor the sign in form, shows up when I have Adblock Plus or Ghostery running. The same thing for many other author sites.

Given how popular ad-blockers and tracker stoppers are I can't help but think that a lot of people might not be seeing the signup offers at all.


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## Jake Kerr (Aug 6, 2014)

Thanks Brevoort. I'm okay with the popup not showing, frankly, but the signup box on the upper right (next to my social links) should show up even with adblock, I would hope.

I also have them both designed to not show up if the person is cookied as having signed up for the mailing list, so if you're a member you wouldn't see them, I hope. 

I'm finally keeping track of web stats, so I'll be able to assess conversions much better. I've had low site traffic for some time, I'm sure, and I had 4 email sign ups via the popup. So I'm actually thinking it's not so bad. But we'll see!


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

ErnestDempsey said:


> Also, I was wondering what platform your website is built on. If it's wordpress, which theme do you use? It looks outstanding. Sorry if this was mentioned earlier.


It's built in Joomla. Glad you like it.



ErnestDempsey said:


> True story, found you on Amazon today and bought several of your books. Then I come in here to see what's going on and I see your thread. No coincidences.


And thanks for the buys - I hope you enjoy them.


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## thewitt (Dec 5, 2014)

Mark, what template did you use?


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

thewitt said:


> Mark, what template did you use?


I didn't. I had very talented friend design it for me - I know my limits, and building anything beyond a simple WP site would be beyond them.


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## ErnestDempsey (May 28, 2014)

Mark Dawson said:


> Precisely. You'll get questions from readers on how to side load, so put details in your workflow email. I have found Ammy's Send To Kindle software to be very helpful.


You can also use a third party client like LeadPages. I use them to deliver my freebies and collect emails. It's not a free resource, like $37 a month. But it helps me create awesome landing pages for opt ins, and they deliver your lead magnets for free.

Just one more way to do it.


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## Mark E. Cooper (May 29, 2011)

Mark Dawson said:


> New signups get an automated response the day after signing up, with ePub, Mobi and PDF. That's the beauty of it - it's totally automated. When I started, I had to send them all out manually, and it took ages. One of the benefits of paying for a MailChimp account is the automation that they offer. It saved me, literally, hours - time that could be better spent writing (or posting here...)


I do this, but don't bother with the pdf. I use the mailchimp pop up on my wordpress website, links in front and back of all books to a sign up page on my website as well. The Facebook page has the mailchimp sign up also.


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## Gwen Hayes (Apr 24, 2011)

jakedfw said:


> Thanks Brevoort. I'm okay with the popup not showing, frankly, but the signup box on the upper right (next to my social links) should show up even with adblock, I would hope.
> 
> I also have them both designed to not show up if the person is cookied as having signed up for the mailing list, so if you're a member you wouldn't see them, I hope.
> 
> I'm finally keeping track of web stats, so I'll be able to assess conversions much better. I've had low site traffic for some time, I'm sure, and I had 4 email sign ups via the popup. So I'm actually thinking it's not so bad. But we'll see!


I just clicked on your website link and was able to see the pop up and the sidebar signup even with Adblock on Chrome. So, I think you're ok.


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## Kirkee (Apr 2, 2014)

Terrific post, Mark. Now, if I can only get off my duff and create a mailing list.
Don't know if this justifies not having one, but I do not put out books as fast as some folks
on here.

Slightly off topic: am currently working on a 3 book private eye series & would love to contact your
cover artist about designing the covers, etc. 

Your posts inspire, as always. Thanks.


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

Kirkee said:


> Terrific post, Mark. Now, if I can only get off my duff and create a mailing list.
> Don't know if this justifies not having one, but I do not put out books as fast as some folks
> on here.
> 
> ...


Glad it was helpful. As to pace... it means nothing. If you don't have a mailing list, you're working with your best weapon locked in the armoury. Every day you don't have one, you are losing potential lifetime readers. My main regret since I started all this was that I didn't do it earlier, right when I started.

And I'll happily send the details your way - drop me a PM and I'll do the necessary.


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## stuff1 (Jan 1, 2015)

I don't have a list at all, something I have been putting off if I am honest, plus it seems they charge you more per people you get on the list so can get very expensive.

I am wondering though, surely by getting people hooked to join your list by offering something free, you get a list full of people who just want free stuff and won't actually buy your books?


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

stuff1 said:


> I don't have a list at all, something I have been putting off if I am honest, plus it seems they charge you more per people you get on the list so can get very expensive.


That is the definition of a first world problem! If you have enough people on your list to be charged (MailChimp give you 2,000 subscribers), you should be sellign enough books that that is not a consideration.



stuff1 said:


> I am wondering though, surely by getting people hooked to join your list by offering something free, you get a list full of people who just want free stuff and won't actually buy your books?


I haven't seen that problem at all. My unsub rates are very low, open and click rates are high. I guess it is feasible, but if you are careful with where you advertise your offer, you can minimise the risk. For example, don't put an ad on a site that is connected with free offers. You probably don't want to run a contest, either (although there are ways to minimise the obvious problems from that, too).


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## Christine Kersey (Feb 13, 2011)

You also have to make it worthwhile for people to stay on your mailing list. For example, only the people on my list will be notified of the 24 hour discount on new releases.


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## RBC (Feb 24, 2013)

This post should go to Hall of Fame!


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