# How I’ve Launched My Last Four Books Into The Top #1,500 (With No Ads)



## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

A couple of people have asked me to lay out my launch strategy. I started writing and it got quite long, so apologies for that. It was quite a useful exercise for me to set it out, and I hope you can get something from it, too.

First things first: I would never claim to be an expert on any of this. What follows is culled from the generous advice of other writers (many on this board), podcasters (often from other lines of business - check out Pat Flynn's Smart Passive Income, for example) and is the result of a boatload of experimentation and continuing refinement. This isn't offered as a panacea, or a one size fits all solution. All I will say is that each of my launches this year has been more successful than the last. Much of this can be traced to the growth in my mailing list, the presence of my books in reasonable positions in the genre charts, and, of course, a good dose of dumb luck. But you can manufacture luck, at least to a small extent, and that's what I have been trying to do. The following is shared in the hope that it might be of some small use to you. If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them, either by PM or below.

I've been concentrating on developing my strategy over the course of the year. I have tweaked and adapted the release each of my new books until I've got it down to a fairly fine art. My latest release, on Monday morning, was the next instalment in my well received John Milton series: The Sword of God. The three books that preceded Sword (from the spin-off Beatrix Rose trilogy) all launched to just outside the top #1,000, but Sword has busted all the way in to #500, shifting 500 copies at $2.99 in a day and a half.

In order to replicate my strategy, you'll need a reasonable mailing list. Not huge, but big enough. Mine is a touch over 2,000 members, so not enormous by any stretch of the imagination. Engagement is much more important than size. Raising engagement is a matter of common sense as much as anything else, but this is how I do it.

*STAGE ONE: Build a launch team
*
I sub-divide my mailing list by offering places on my Advance Review team. When someone signs up to one of my lists (I have a separate list for each book so that I can run targeted advertising depending on which book you were reading when you signed up), the third auto responder that they get is an invitation to join the team. The text makes it clear that having a committed and loyal bunch of readers is an indie's best advantage over the ad budgets of the New York publishers. I also give them first call on the good stuff that sometimes comes with publishing; for example, I've managed to badger up to 100 promo codes from ACX for my audio books and I'll offer those to the Advance Readers first. That's a $20 item, so worth having.

Seems that people like helping the little guy because I'll usually add another member to the list every day or so, and you can be sure those people are fans. At the moment, I have around 200 members. And I love all of them.

*STAGE TWO: Get your team involved*

It's my experience that people are more likely to respond positively to something if they are invested in it. This is what Stage Two is intended to achieve.

When the book is finished and proofed, I upload the MOBI, ePUB and PDF to MailChimp and then email the link to the team. I usually allow a couple of weeks for readers to read it and I make it very clear that I want them to enjoy it, first and foremost, and that I don't expect anything from them - they are not committing to me by downloading it.

What I usually find is that a good number of people will get back to me with their comments. Some people pick up typos that have slipped by the proof-reader, others - some with very relevant experience - pick me up for factual errors. The team includes special ops soldiers, law enforcement officials (FBI and local police), intelligence experts and, best of all, a submariner. Other readers make plot suggestions. The ending of the Sword of God was rewritten after a long conversation with a particularly erudite reader with a much better idea. Another corrected me on how to decouple the trailer from the tractor of an eighteen wheeler travelling at speed. All good stuff.

I always - always - reply to every email that I receive (indeed, I reply to every email from my readers; that's basic 101 for converting fans to superfans).

I look at those changes, amend as necessary, and add in an Acknowledgements page in which every member of the team is name-checked and thanked.

I get it proofread again.

Then I upload it.
*
STAGE THREE: Launch!*

Defcon 1. Abandon sleep, apologise to the family, leave several bowls of food for the dog. This is the intense bit.

1. Soft launch, two days before the main launch. When the book goes live, I tell the team and ask them to leave their reviews. (Remember to use an affiliate link as soon as you can get one - it's free money&#8230 Reviewing is the main thing I ask of the Advance Readers and I've found that they are very good in following through. For example, for the launch of The Sword of God, I had 46 reviews in place within 48 hours. And they were all very good reviews (mostly 5s), which isn't surprising given, I suspect, that the readers often feel personally involved in the project by this stage.

One very pleasant side effect of this is that you can land a place on the Top Rated page for your genre. All three of the Rose books have been on the list for the last 5-6 weeks, with In Cold Blood and Blood & Roses sitting pretty at #2 and #3. It's not clear to me what the formula is for hitting this page. It isn't just the average, and it isn't just volume of reviews, but something involving both. Whatever - it is a sticky list that doesn't update often and, since the thumbnails of the top three books appear to the right of the best sellers, it's nice real estate to get into.

2. I explain to the team why it would be helpful for them to buy the book when it goes out: the addition of the Verified Tag to the review and the early boost to the rank that every sale entails. I make it very clear that I don't expect them to buy. But many do. I will send a signed copy of the paperback when it is ready if they do leave a verified review. That can be quite expensive - sending a 150,000 word book to America is about £10, plus the cost of the book - but it's an investment that I think is worth it, and good manners in any event. The early sales - I cleared 100 for this launch - are a great way to start a slow acceleration to the bigger downloads that follow, something I suspect is looked on favourably by the algos.

3. Next, I inform my main list(s) that the book is available. Since all the Advance Readers are also on these lists, this email acts as a reminder and more reviews will be filed.

4. Next, I send out notifications to my other channels (Facebook, Twitter, etc). I've been spending a little money to build my Facebook page in the last couple of weeks and have a modest 1,000 fans on it now. Engagement is very high at the moment (way above the above), and many of my fans have bought the book after this notification.

5. Finally, I'll analyse the main mailing list blast and segment it depending on who didn't open the mail and, of those who did, who didn't click. Depending on how the launch went, I will let them know how things are going and maybe snippet a few of the best reviews. You could consider making the offer time limited now - "$2.99 for today and tomorrow only," etc.

6. And then, it's over to Amazon. My last three launches (not including Sword) seem to indicate that if you tickle the algo enough, the 'Zon will start to market for you between 3 and 5 days after launch. Also Boughts have been populated by this time (the Alsos for Sword went up with 24 hours) so I can only assume that this is targeted email marketing. Whatever it is, this is the aim of the entire process: get a place on the Hot New Releases page for your genre and get Amazon to do the work.

So there it is. I don't think this is revolutionary stuff. It is simply a systemised process that draws readers closer to the writer, invests them in the work, and encourages them to help with the marketing. I consider myself immensely fortunate to have such generous and knowledgeable readers. The success I've had this year wouldn't have been possible without them.

I'd be very interested in your thoughts on all of this. It can certainly be improved. But, for now, I'll check out. I hope you have found it helpful.


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## Guest (Aug 27, 2014)

Very interesting info. 

Thanks for putting this all down in understandable terms. 

Is there anything else you have this street team do other than what you mentioned? For instance, liking FB page, etc. Or mentioning the book on social media?


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## m.a. petterson (Sep 11, 2013)

Great stuff, Mark. Thanks for sharing.


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

ideeli028 said:


> Is there anything else you have this street team do other than what you mentioned? For instance, liking FB page, etc. Or mentioning the book on social media?


No, not really. A few are on my FB page, but I'm only really in the development stage over there right now. I suspect I will want to keep the Advance Team for reviews, only. I'm not someone who is great at asking for things, so I don't want ask for too much and feel like I'm taking advantage.


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## Donna White Glaser (Jan 12, 2011)

Really interesting stuff! Thank you. I hadn't thought of sending a targeted email following the first to those who hadn't opened or clicked through. At the very least, they'll unsubscribe and prune the list to more interested readers.


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## TellestAuthor (Apr 2, 2012)

Mark Dawson said:


> No, not really. A few are on my FB page, but I'm only really in the development stage over there right now. I suspect I will want to keep the Advance Team for reviews, only. I'm not someone who is great at asking for things, so I don't want ask for too much and feel like I'm taking advantage.


How do you go about building, separating and maintaining the street team? Is it as easy as plopping a newsletter link on your website, or do you actively go searching for members on other websites out there.


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## N. Gemini Sasson (Jul 5, 2010)

Thanks for all the info., Mark.

So no pre-orders? You just put the book up when everything is in place?


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

TellestAuthor said:


> How do you go about building, separating and maintaining the street team?


It's all automated. New sign ups to my mailing lists are sent an invitation to join. If they say yes, they are added to a separate mailing list and we take it from there.


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

N. Gemini Sasson said:


> So no pre-orders? You just put the book up when everything is in place?


Pre-orders came in a little too late for this launch. I will look at them, but I am concerned that they will reduce the effect of the spike on Day 1. Unless someone knows differently, I believe Amazon treats pre-order sales as sales on the day that the order is placed; in other words, they don't count on the first days of launch, when you want as many sales as you can get.


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## rachelmedhurst (Jun 25, 2014)

Thank you so much for this Mark. It really is a great how to list and I will be using it!

I've just started a similar thing with the street team. I have about 15 people so far.


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

rachelmedhurst said:


> Thank you so much for this Mark. It really is a great how to list and I will be using it!
> 
> I've just started a similar thing with the street team. I have about 15 people so far.


My pleasure - I'm glad it was helpful. 15 is great - that many reviews on launch would be fantastic.


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## AnyaWrites (May 16, 2014)

Thanks for sharing your successful strategy. It sounds like your hard work has paid off! I'm bookmarking this one.


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## 鬼 (Sep 30, 2012)

A solid list with a few things I hadn't thought of, nor seen elsewhere, so thank you!

One thing that jumped out at me since I browse sites a lot. How is it that you have the Milton box set on Nook (and potentially elsewhere) when the books contained in the box set are currently enrolled in Kindle Select? I thought in order to be exclusive they couldn't be offered for sale anywhere else? Amazon hasn't given you any flack for that?


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

No, but that's an oversight on my part and I need to take it down. Thanks for the nudge!


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## NoCat (Aug 5, 2010)

Thanks for this info and for being so open and helpful. I hope it doesn't bite you in the arse like it has so many peeps on this board.


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## D-C (Jan 13, 2014)

Absolutely fascinating.  Thank you.


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## UltraRob (Dec 5, 2011)

Great ideas here and well presented.  Thanks for sharing this. I especially love the street team idea.

Rob


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## Jim Johnson (Jan 4, 2011)

Great stuff, Mark, thank you for sharing it. Can you share how you got started? Did you have this strategy in place in some form when you published your first book, or has it been an ongoing work in progress?


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## wtvr (Jun 18, 2014)

Thank you so much! Bookmarked.

How did you get your mailing list so strong? Backmatter links or more?


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

Jim Johnson said:


> Great stuff, Mark, thank you for sharing it. Can you share how you got started? Did you have this strategy in place in some form when you published your first book, or has it been an ongoing work in progress?


I was a hot mess when I got started. I literally had no idea. Not a clue. Published the first book and left it to do nothing. Missed the last knockings of Free being a thing, and it was only when I gave away 50k during a Freebooksy fueled promo that I realised the Kindle had serious potential.

I've taken it seriously since then, but it's always a work in progress. I always tinker. The new things I'm toying with right now are Facebook ads and Google PPC ads. I'll write something similar when I have something to report (if people are interested in reading my waffle).


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

LisaGloria said:


> Thank you so much! Bookmarked.
> 
> How did you get your mailing list so strong? Backmatter links or more?


I don't think it's particularly deep, but the fans on my list are engaged (open rates and clickthroughs are both above the average) and enthusiastic.

I build it like this:

1. Back matter links offering a free Starter Library (two best-sellers, three novellas), plus audiobooks and comps. Hat tip to the SPP guys for that idea. Previously, I've given out a copy of The Black Mile on its own, but I figure I can afford to be more generous now.
2. I am experimenting with front matter links, too - a note that appears on the Look Inside saying that the Starter Library is available by way of the link in the back.
3. I make the offer on my author page, too. 
4. Facebook - drive fans to the list.
5. My site at http://markjdawson.com/ is getting a redesign so that I can switch on a squeeze page where the main purpose will be to get people to sign up, again offering the Starter Library. I'm also going to be making the sign up form much more obvious) it's buried all the way down the bottom of the page right now, which is worse than useless).


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## AJStewart (May 10, 2014)

Really interesting stuff Mark, thanks. I just started _In Cold Blood_ last night, and I've got baggy eyes this morning. It's great stuff.
Appreciate you sharing this.


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## nico (Jan 17, 2013)

I just wanted to add my thanks, Mark. I'm on your mailing list and have your books somewhere in my reading queue. I'll get to them, i promise! 

One question, if you don't mind, do you participate in any reader communities? How have you found your audience aside from using direct marketing on Amazon and in your books? (I guess that's two questions)


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## Midnight Whimsy (Jun 25, 2013)

Awesome stuff, thanks Mark!

M.W


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## BrentKnowles (Mar 8, 2011)

Thanks, Mark! Some great suggestions here. All the best!


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

AJStewart said:


> Really interesting stuff Mark, thanks. I just started _In Cold Blood_ last night, and I've got baggy eyes this morning. It's great stuff.
> Appreciate you sharing this.


And you are very kind for saying that.



nico said:


> One question, if you don't mind, do you participate in any reader communities? How have you found your audience aside from using direct marketing on Amazon and in your books? (I guess that's two questions)


I don't, but that's only through my ignorance. Do you mean Facebook? Goodreads? (If the latter, I'm on it but I suspect it takes too much time and effort to get anywhere for it to be worthwhile, at least for me.)

As for audience, it's accrued over time. I've tried to write a good book, then write another, then write another one after that. I think, over time, you build up a critical mass. Also, and I think this is often underplayed, each book (or set) that you have is another page for a reader to find you, another potential Also Bought, another Google search result. Eventually, potential readers notice and start to pay attention.


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## Genie Wise (Feb 6, 2012)

This is amazing advice!  Thanks so much for sharing.

I looked at your Amazon.com reviews for THE SWORD OF GOD - terrific response there!  However, I'm a bit curious, because in my reading I've come across websites that say according to the FTC and Amazon's TOS, reviewers who receive free books to review must disclose that.  But I didn't see any disclosures in the reviews.

Do you mention the need to disclose to your reviewers, and they just forgot?  Or you're not worried about disclosures?  I'm a n00b, and I just want to make sure I do things correctly when the time comes to put your strategy to work!


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## Deke (May 18, 2013)

Great tips. Thanks. 

So are you basically writing short stories or novels? Is there a difference in your strategy between shorter and longer works?


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

Genie Wise said:


> Do you mention the need to disclose to your reviewers, and they just forgot? Or you're not worried about disclosures? I'm a n00b, and I just want to make sure I do things correctly when the time comes to put your strategy to work!


Yes, that's a very good point. I do make that clear (also, make sure you request an honest review - including bad ones, if that is what readers think) but it is something that should be emphasised.


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

Deke said:


> So are you basically writing short stories or novels? Is there a difference in your strategy between shorter and longer works?


Novels - ranging between 55k and 110k, I think.I have two permafrees that are used as free tasters, but I don't do too much with those other than tweak the keywords now and again and maybe do a little promo with places like Freebooksy.


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## CesarAnthony (Jul 10, 2014)

Sorry, I'm a little confused.
What is this team thing you're talking about?


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## Lucian (Jun 8, 2014)

This is very generous of you. Thanks.

Also, how long did it take you to write the three series? And are they finished and you're starting a fourth or are you continuing with one or more?


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

Lucian said:


> This is very generous of you. Thanks.
> 
> Also, how long did it take you to write the three series? And are they finished and you're starting a fourth or are you continuing with one or more?


Hi Lucian. The first series (the Noir books) took longer because there was a lot of research to do: language, especially. The Cleaner, the first Milton book, was written in June last year. The first Rose book was written in April this year, and the series concluded last month.

I will be continuing with Milton and there will be a spin-off from the Beatrix Rose series that I hope, if readers enjoy it, will become a proper series in its own right.

I'd like to get back to the Noir books but the market prefers the contemporary stuff, and I have to make this pay the bills from next year.


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## Scout (Jun 2, 2014)

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the reference to The Smart Passive Income Podcast. I just subscribed on iTunes. I listen to it on my way to the supermarket  Cheers.


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

Scout said:


> Hi Mark,
> 
> Thanks for the reference to The Smart Passive Income Podcast. I just subscribed on iTunes. I listen to it on my way to the supermarket  Cheers.


My pleasure. You should try Tim Ferris, too. And, although it is a bit bombastic, Entrepreneur on Fire is worth a listen.


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## coolpixel (Sep 17, 2012)

Hi Mark, very informative.

a couple of queries - 

your autoresponder to join the advance team - that must lead to several sign ups. do you limit the number of such signups or anyone who signs up, gets to become a member of the advance team?

do you also promote signups on Twitter and FB?

thirdly, what if an author is starting with a smaller mailing list size and rate of signup is very low. how would you suggest going about creating an advance team from a limited mailing list size?

btw, i will be interested in your FB ad strategy, in fact i'm interested in any marketing/promotion idea you have.


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## Livia (Feb 6, 2014)

Mark Dawson said:


> The new things I'm toying with right now are Facebook ads and Google PPC ads. I'll write something similar when I have something to report (if people are interested in reading my waffle).


I would love to hear more about how you're approaching this. Pretty please? 

Thanks for all the amazing info!

For someone launching their first book, would you suggest setting up to create a street team right away, or waiting until you have a mailing list of substance? I have like, 20 right now on mine, and all but one I know personally. (Got super excited with that first stranger, though! Haha!)


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## Jeff Shelby (Oct 2, 2011)

Thanks for sharing, Mark - this is all great info. As you stated - nothing revolutionary - but it's terrific to see it in practice and what it's been able to do for you.


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## Alan Petersen (May 20, 2011)

Hi Mark,

I started reading "In Cold Blood" last night, good stuff. I really like your strategy of the free novella on the front end of the series. A good way to give people a taste of your writing.

Your launch team info is awesome. I tried building my own a few months ago, but it didn't go anywhere, but I just put a sign up form on my blog. I speculated that street/launch teams might not be as effective in the thriller genre as it is in other genres (romance for example), so I abandoned that effort. 

I'm delighted to see how well you've implemented this strategy as an author of thrillers! It didn't occur to me to segment my current mailing list and recruit folks from there versus a cold pitch on my website or Facebook. I'm excited to try building my launch team again following your strategy, so thank you very much for sharing! And congrats on your success!


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## Diane Patterson (Jun 17, 2012)

This information is amazing and wonderful, Mark! Thank you so much for sharing it with us! 

I have always wondered how people put their street teams together...


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## jdcore (Jul 2, 2013)

Bookmarked.

Sent from my LG-L38C using Tapatalk 2


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

Very nice post, Mark. Good luck to you.


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## rrodenparker (Jan 18, 2013)

Very nice post!  Bookmarked so I don't forget about it when I launch my next book.


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## CelinaGrace (Nov 20, 2013)

Mark, this is brilliant and you've inspired me to start my own 'super-fans' list  Thank you muchly.


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## dmburnett (Feb 4, 2011)

Great advice! Thanks for posting!


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

coolpixel said:


> your autoresponder to join the advance team - that must lead to several sign ups. do you limit the number of such signups or anyone who signs up, gets to become a member of the advance team?


I did think I might limit it to a couple of hundred, but I'm not sure whether there needs to be a top end now.



coolpixel said:


> do you also promote signups on Twitter and FB?


Facebook, yes. I'm quiet on Twitter.



coolpixel said:


> thirdly, what if an author is starting with a smaller mailing list size and rate of signup is very low. how would you suggest going about creating an advance team from a limited mailing list size?


Make that offer right from the start. I was slow to figure this out and have only recently been pushing it - last six months. Other than that, just concentrate on building your email list and the rest will come.



coolpixel said:


> btw, i will be interested in your FB ad strategy, in fact i'm interested in any marketing/promotion idea you have.


I'll try and put something together when I've sat down and considered the results with the agency that I'm using. Early takeaway is that every £100 of boosted posting should convert to around 500 Likes. Whether those Likes are engaged or not is another question; they are at the moment but that will ebb and flow.

But that's for another post.


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

Livia said:


> I would love to hear more about how you're approaching this. Pretty please?
> 
> Thanks for all the amazing info!


Sure - it's still early for me with FB, but I'll report if and when I get something useful and actionable.



Livia said:


> For someone launching their first book, would you suggest setting up to create a street team right away, or waiting until you have a mailing list of substance? I have like, 20 right now on mine, and all but one I know personally. (Got super excited with that first stranger, though! Haha!)


I would try and convert fans to Advance Readers right away. Offer them an ARC in return for an honest review. Don't worry about cannibalising sales. I did, for a while, until I figured out it was much better to get the reviews that opened up the better ad sites. The sales come from those ads, and in bigger numbers.


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

Alan Petersen said:


> I started reading "In Cold Blood" last night, good stuff. I really like your strategy of the free novella on the front end of the series. A good way to give people a taste of your writing.


Thanks, Alan. I hope you enjoy the book. And the permafree novella isn't something I can take credit for, but it is very effective. Just remember to tweak the categories and the keywords every so often so that it stays fresh.



Alan Petersen said:


> Your launch team info is awesome. I tried building my own a few months ago, but it didn't go anywhere, but I just put a sign up form on my blog. I speculated that street/launch teams might not be as effective in the thriller genre as it is in other genres (romance for example), so I abandoned that effort.
> 
> I'm delighted to see how well you've implemented this strategy as an author of thrillers! It didn't occur to me to segment my current mailing list and recruit folks from there versus a cold pitch on my website or Facebook. I'm excited to try building my launch team again following your strategy, so thank you very much for sharing! And congrats on your success!


Readers are readers, I think. I doubt that romance readers are any more likely to be into this than thriller readers. It might be that romance writers are particularly good at connecting with their readers. There's a hell of a lot to learn from those (guys and) gals.

Good luck with your own team.


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## E. Christopher Clark (May 1, 2014)

Mark,

I wanted to thank you for this post, which I heard about through your interview with Stephen Campbell on The Author Biz podcast. I also wanted to say that I read a bit of the first Milton book via the 'Zon's Look Inside feature last night, and that your prose is probably the most polished of the indie published stuff I've read so far. It's very, very good stuff. I've subscribed to your newsletter and as soon as I get finances sorted for the week, I'm looking to pick up some of your books.

--Chris

*EDIT*: I guess I was too bleary-eyed last night to realize that the first book is free. No need to wait for finances to clear up, I guess. I've just downloaded it to my Kindle app.


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## Cheryl Douglas (Dec 7, 2011)

Congratulations on figuring this out, Mark.  This is important stuff, and several years in I'm still trying to figure it out. It's posts like this that get me a little closer. Thanks for sharing.


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## Dolphin (Aug 22, 2013)

Thanks for necroing this, Chris. I wasn't here to catch it the first time around.

Great thread as usual, Mark, and thanks very much for doing it!


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## Philip Gibson (Nov 18, 2013)

Excellent post Mark!  Thanks a lot for that. I'm doing something very similar with my current launch, but on a fraction of the scale you are doing it. That's because my email list is only a fraction of the size of yours. However, I'd be happy to get the same fraction of sales you have in the first few weeks of the book's launch.

I wonder what your launch sales would look like if you had enrolled in pre-orders and set up a lot of ads to run when the book launched. I'd think they be huge on top of your existing huge.

Regarding the reviewers on your list and disclosure: if I understand what you are doing correctly, they receive a free paperback of the book after reviewing, so would they not be expected to write something like: "I expect to receive a free paperback book in return for an honest review."

I guess that would look a bit odd though.


Philip


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## Eskimo (Dec 31, 2013)

Thanks Mark. Can I ask how large is your mailing list?


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

Clarkwoods said:


> I also wanted to say that I read a bit of the first Milton book via the 'Zon's Look Inside feature last night, and that your prose is probably the most polished of the indie published stuff I've read so far. It's very, very good stuff. I've subscribed to your newsletter and as soon as I get finances sorted for the week, I'm looking to pick up some of your books.


Hi Chris - that's really very kind of you to say so, much appreciated. I hope you enjoy Milton. He's been good to me.


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

Philip Gibson said:


> I wonder what your launch sales would look like if you had enrolled in pre-orders and set up a lot of ads to run when the book launched. I'd think they be huge on top of your existing huge.
> 
> Regarding the reviewers on your list and disclosure: if I understand what you are doing correctly, they receive a free paperback of the book after reviewing, so would they not be expected to write something like: "I expect to receive a free paperback book in return for an honest review."


Hi Philip (love your books, btw). With regard to your points, I am not a fan of preorders because of the effect they have on launch ranks. I can see a point to them for the purposes of soft launches - i.e. getting the reviews on the page in time for the real thing - but no more than that right now. And on reviewers and reviews, they get MOBIs, PDFs or ePubs in advance of publication and then they have previously received print copies.


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

David Chill said:


> Thanks Mark. Can I ask how large is your mailing list?


When I wrote the post, around 2,500. I've grown it a lot since then, though. I added 600 yesterday off the back of a BookBub freebie on The Cleaner, and another 4,500 through a contest; I posted about the latter previously and it got crickets, but if anyone's interested I'll knock up some thoughts now that it has come to an end.


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## Diane Patterson (Jun 17, 2012)

Mark Dawson said:


> When I wrote the post, around 2,500. I've grown it a lot since then, though. I added 600 yesterday off the back of a BookBub freebie on The Cleaner, and another 4,500 through a contest; I posted about the latter previously and it got crickets, but if anyone's interested I'll knock up some thoughts now that it has come to an end.


I would be really interested in how the contest members work for you. Several authors have said they have found those mailing list members are not that valuable, because all they're interested in what they get out of the contest. Do you mark the members who joined as a result of the contest differently (to see if future mailings have a different open rate)?


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## Dolphin (Aug 22, 2013)

Mark, about how many emails do you usually get back from the ARCs you send out to your launch team? How many emails are you getting on a regular basis? Thinking over your strategy, I'm wondering how much time it takes to manage that kind of engagement. Definitely seems like a lot of folks to be pals with.

Thanks again for sharing with all of us!


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

It is a lot of work - I'll probably get a few dozen emails, but it's not a chore. I consider those readers to be friends now and when they get in touch it is with great suggestions or error pickups. And, on top of all that, they will leave reviews on the day of launch. They are a critical part of my success this year and the effort of maintaining it all is well worth the effort.


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## Dolphin (Aug 22, 2013)

Thanks, Mark! Appreciate the info.

Nice job on your website, by the way. Really top shelf stuff for an indy author, and another area where your production values set a great example for the rest of us.


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## Joe Ducie (May 15, 2012)

I'll echo the awesomeness of the website! Can I ask if you did it yourself, Mark? Was there any great difficulty involved?


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

Thanks both. I have no technical ability at all - seriously - and the website would be beyond me. I'm lucky enough to be friends with a talented designer and he did it for me. I'm happy to invest a bit on that, covers, etc - I what my stuff to be indistinguishable from trad pubbed competitors.


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## Dolphin (Aug 22, 2013)

Mark Dawson said:


> Thanks both. I have no technical ability at all - seriously - and the website would be beyond me. I'm lucky enough to be friends with a talented designer and he did it for me. I'm happy to invest a bit on that, covers, etc - I what my stuff to be indistinguishable from trad pubbed competitors.


Oh, I think you did a pretty poor job of that. I can think of tradpub bestsellers offhand who rely on Blogspot for their internets needs, so I daresay you've gone above and beyond on the website front.


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## SnarkyMommy (Aug 14, 2014)

I assume if you send copies via email to readers and they leave reviews, that they are unverified purchases. Do you think that matters? I'm switching genres this fall and moving to serial romance. I will be building an audience basically from scratch (with a small group of readers carrying over that I have told of the project) and hope to use this technique to build a new list and interest for the series.


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## Lisa Grace (Jul 3, 2011)

I have to bump this thread as so many new authors here want to learn how to launch books and your way really gets back to the basics of cultivating your mailing list by getting your readers involved. Thanks for posting, and I recommend authors who are planning to launch their next book bookmark this thread for future reference.


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

Thanks, Lisa. I've been working on refining this and have it down to a - fairly - fine art now. It certainly works, and I would recommend it.

I've also added a new wrinkle to my repertoire - new signups to my email lists get an autoresponder after a month offering them a place on the rather grandiosely named "Mark Dawson Audiobook Club". I've had a problem converting the ACX promo codes into reviews, despite giving away several hundred, so I am trying a different tack. By making it plain that this is a limited opportunity, offering a high value item (i.e. over $20), and requiring a review to stay on the team for the next book (my ebook advance readers aren't expected to do anything, although most, of course, do), I have achieved much better results. The same principles apply - every email gets a personal answer, etc - but it does seem to be performing better. I'll report back after a couple of months with some numbers.


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## Christine_C (Jun 29, 2014)

LisaGraceBooks said:


> I have to bump this thread as so many new authors here want to learn how to launch books and your way really gets back to the basics of cultivating your mailing list by getting your readers involved. Thanks for posting, and I recommend authors who are planning to launch their next book bookmark this thread for future reference.


This is super helpful! If authors are launching a first book and don't yet have much of a mailing list, is the strategy more geared toward getting the book out and then developing a mailing list for subsequent books?


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## nico (Jan 17, 2013)

Mark, thanks for sharing all this. Do you have tips for building a mailing list for those of us with only 100 or so subscribers, aka noobs?


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## Christine_C (Jun 29, 2014)

nico said:


> Mark, thanks for sharing all this. Do you have tips for building a mailing list for those of us with only 100 or so subscribers, aka noobs?


I think I have 3 subscribers.


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

nico said:


> Mark, thanks for sharing all this. Do you have tips for building a mailing list for those of us with only 100 or so subscribers, aka noobs?


Nothing revolutionary. Just make sure your basics are in place: CTA at the front and back (join my list), etc. I'm going to experiment with Facebook and Google ads soon. You could think about running a raffle, but those subscribers might not be as high quality as those who like your books.

One thing I highly recommend is to offer a book to all those who join. Having a permafree and then giving away a book after that if the reader joined increased my rate by a big margin. I actually give away four books now, but if you have a smaller catalogue then look at writing a short novella. That worked for me in the early days.


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## coolpixel (Sep 17, 2012)

Mark Dawson said:


> Nothing revolutionary. Just make sure your basics are in place: CTA at the front and back (join my list), etc. I'm going to experiment with Facebook and Google ads soon. You could think about running a raffle, but those subscribers might not be as high quality as those who like your books.
> 
> One thing I highly recommend is to offer a book to all those who join. Having a permafree and then giving away a book after that if the reader joined increased my rate by a big margin. I actually give away four books now, but if you have a smaller catalogue then look at writing a short novella. That worked for me in the early days.


will be interested in your FB and Google ad experiments. i've learnt a lot from you on use of mailing list and street teams and i think that's going to benefit my 3rd release.


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## AbbyBabble (Mar 16, 2013)

I'm in pre-production, silently gathering information, so ... thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

I have newbie questions.


Mark Dawson said:


> I sub-divide my mailing list by offering places on my Advance Review team. When someone signs up to one of my lists (I have a separate list for each book so that I can run targeted advertising depending on which book you were reading when you signed up), the third auto responder that they get is an invitation to join the team.


 If you have 10 books published, do you send out one monthly newsletter that goes to 10 different lists of readers? How do you know which reader signed up after reading which book? Can MailChimp automagically detect if a reader signed up via a link in the ebook? Is there an 11th list of readers who signed up via your website, and a 12th list of readers who signed up through your Facebook page, etc? How do you make use of this data?



Mark Dawson said:


> I've managed to badger up to 100 promo codes from ACX for my audio books


 How did you swing this? I've heard that Audible only gives authors 25 promo codes per book.



Mark Dawson said:


> I always -- always -- reply to every email that I receive (indeed, I reply to every email from my readers; that's basic 101 for converting fans to superfans).


 Do you reply within a day, or is it okay to wait a week or a two? I have a terrible tendency to procrastinate on emails when I want to send a thoughtful response; I'm working on this problem.



Mark Dawson said:


> When the book goes live, I tell the team and ask them to leave their reviews. (Remember to use an affiliate link as soon as you can get one -- it's free money...)


 How does one use an affiliate link?



Mark Dawson said:


> I explain to the team why it would be helpful for them to buy the book when it goes out: the addition of the Verified Tag to the review and the early boost to the rank that every sale entails.


 What boosts your rank more: ebook sales, reviews, or verified sale reviews?

I'd rather not ask my top readers to do more than one favor--read and review my book, *and* buy it? That seems like asking a lot (although it's nice to offer an autographed print copy in return for these favors). If it adds a major boost to visibility, I'd be able to explain why I'm begging an additional favor.



Mark Dawson said:


> Finally, I'll analyse the main mailing list blast and segment it depending on who didn't open the mail and, of those who did, who didn't click.


 How do you make use of this data?

Thanks for your in-depth guide, Mark.


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

AbbyBabble said:


> If you have 10 books published, do you send out one monthly newsletter that goes to 10 different lists of readers? How do you know which reader signed up after reading which book? Can MailChimp automagically detect if a reader signed up via a link in the ebook? Is there an 11th list of readers who signed up via your website, and a 12th list of readers who signed up through your Facebook page, etc? How do you make use of this data?


I send out the same newsletter to each list, but not monthly; only when I have something that I think they will like to hear. I know which book they come from because each MailChimp URL is different: so, there is a list for The Sword of God and a link for that list. MailChimp can't do that, to my knowledge, but if you use different links you can work it out yourself. And, yes, there are lists for those sources, too. And I'd be writing for another hour to go nto how the data is useful, but it's all pretty self-evident (i.e. market book 2 to those who read book 1, and book 1 to those who read book 2, etc).



AbbyBabble said:


> How did you swing this? I've heard that Audible only gives authors 25 promo codes per book.


If you can demonstrate a sound promo plan, they'll give you more.



AbbyBabble said:


> Do you reply within a day, or is it okay to wait a week or a two? I have a terrible tendency to procrastinate on emails when I want to send a thoughtful response; I'm working on this problem.


You'll need to get over that! If you get 20-30 a day, you'll need to work faster. I don't write screeds - just polite, non-canned responses, as the original message dictates.



AbbyBabble said:


> How does one use an affiliate link?


You'd be better served checking Google for that (I'm no expert). Put shortly, if you use an affiliate link, you'll get a % of the sales from those who go to Amazon via your link - including the book, but anything else that is bought during the life of the cookie. Including, say, a $3000 TV. Nice extra income if you are able to generate traffic - I can add $500 during a launch or a promo.



AbbyBabble said:


> What boosts your rank more: ebook sales, reviews, or verified sale reviews?


You'll get varied answers depending upon who you ask, because no-one really knows how the algo works (and I have spoken to people at Amazon about it; THEY don't know, either). But I think most people would agree that sales are the main component, with other factors including those you mention, velocity, sustainability, price, etc.



AbbyBabble said:


> I'd rather not ask my top readers to do more than one favor--read and review my book, *and* buy it? That seems like asking a lot (although it's nice to offer an autographed print copy in return for these favors). If it adds a major boost to visibility, I'd be able to explain why I'm begging an additional favor.


Don't see it as begging. That's a negative mindset. If you phrase it properly, you might find that readers love to be involved in this way. I don't require anything of my advance team - I just want them to have a good free read, on me - but if they want to chip in with my promo efforts, I let them know how they could best help me and how grateful I will be. People are generally good, in my experience. And these guys (1) asked to be on my list and (2) asked to be advance readers. They have double opted in. They want to help.

I hope that helps. You've set me to thinking - maybe there's a little book in here somewhere...

And good luck!


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## AbbyBabble (Mar 16, 2013)

Thanks, Mark. I have a growing file full of notes, and added a lot to it from this thread.



Mark Dawson said:


> Don't see it as begging. That's a negative mindset. If you phrase it properly, you might find that readers love to be involved in this way.


 All this year, I've been shifting my mindset from 'trad' to 'indie.' I still have a ways to go on the cynicism to optimism front. Thanks for pointing this out.



Mark Dawson said:


> You've set me to thinking - maybe there's a little book in here somewhere...


 I'd be interested in it! There are a lot in the category of "How to sell books as an indie author," but new titles that focus on specific current (2015+) techniques, written by indie authors who've recently (post-2012) grown their audience to a point where they can write full-time ... I would think those would stand out.


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## Guest (Nov 15, 2014)

This was very helpful. My problem is that I don't have a team--as of yet. I'll bookmark this for use at a later time.


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

FYI

Pre-orders do not allow reviews to be posted in advance of launch, so there is not even that reason to consider using pre-orders.


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## CelinaGrace (Nov 20, 2013)

I'd just like to thank Mark, again, for posting this. After reading his OP, I instigated my own Advance Reader team and yesterday put it all into play for the first time for the fifth book in my detective series.

I've already had a good 20 emails from my readers, expressing their delight at getting a free copy of the new book and promising reviews when it's published (I combined it with a pre-order - we'll see how that pans out but in 24 hours, I've already sold 45 copies). Several readers have already got back to me with typos and one with a gardening mistake I'd made! So that was extremely valuable. Each one will be individually thanked in the acknowledgements when the book goes live.

I don't have a huge mailing list; in fact, my Advance Readers make up a third of my list, but the communication with them is invaluable, not to mention the lovely warm feeling of having a reader contact you to tell you how fantastic your new book is 

So, thank you Mark!


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## Elizabeth Ann West (Jul 11, 2011)

Cherise Kelley said:


> FYI
> 
> Pre-orders do not allow reviews to be posted in advance of launch, so there is not even that reason to consider using pre-orders.


You can if you set up a print book and link them before the book is out. Some set up a dummy print book, put the file up, get it approved, then take it right down so it's unpublished and "unavailable" on the Amazon.com site, but still accepting reviews. Print and ebook link up and the reviews show. If they don't link up, call Amazon Central (well they call you) and they will link them manually.


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## Censored (Oct 31, 2014)

Elizabeth Ann West said:


> You can if you set up a print book and link them before the book is out. Some set up a dummy print book, put the file up, get it approved, then take it right down so it's unpublished and "unavailable" on the Amazon.com site, but still accepting reviews. Print and ebook link up and the reviews show. If they don't link up, call Amazon Central (well they call you) and they will link them manually.


Hm, did not think of that. Thanks!


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## Stewart Matthews (Nov 21, 2014)

This is an awesome guide Mark, but I have one question. You said:



> 5. Finally, I'll analyse the main mailing list blast and segment it depending on who didn't open the mail and, of those who did, who didn't click. Depending on how the launch went, I will let them know how things are going and maybe snippet a few of the best reviews. You could consider making the offer time limited now -- "$2.99 for today and tomorrow only," etc.


Are you saying you tell the people who *didn't* click the link how the book is going, and offer them a discount? Or do you do that for people who did click through?


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## reneepawlish (Nov 14, 2011)

I also want to thank Mark, I'm implementing some of his strategies and I'm excited to see what happens with my BB promo next week.
Celina, question for you - you said this:

I've already had a good 20 emails from my readers, expressing their delight at getting a free copy of the new book and promising reviews when it's published (I combined it with a pre-order - we'll see how that pans out but in 24 hours, I've already sold 45 copies)

How did you combine the two?  I don't follow


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## CelinaGrace (Nov 20, 2013)

Oh, I just meant that as I emailed the ARC to my readers team, I also put it up for pre-order (and emailed my main list to tell them). I know Mark doesm't do pre-orders but I thought I'd give them a go on this launch.


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

Celina - you are very welcome, and well done. Good results, and they'll get better.



M Stephen Stewart said:


> This is an awesome guide Mark, but I have one question. You said:
> 
> Are you saying you tell the people who *didn't* click the link how the book is going, and offer them a discount? Or do you do that for people who did click through?


The former. But I'm not offering them a discount, I am telling them that the launch price won't stay at that level for much longer. A good way to increase conversion is to introduce a little scarcity into the mix. This has worked for me quite successfully.


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## reneepawlish (Nov 14, 2011)

Thank you Celina!


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## CelinaGrace (Nov 20, 2013)

You're welcome


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## melbatron (Dec 8, 2013)

I'll just chime in here with other people who are saying what a great idea this is -- everyone on my e-mail list so far is someone I've met personally and who I chatted with and who I'm pretty sure would respond favorably to a request to be on an advance team. (I need to figure out how to get people to click through the e-mail link at the back of the book. More research.) Marketing and launching has been making me sweat these last few months -- I suck at the internet. Asking people to pre-read and review a book for me is something I can totally handle. Thank you for the information!


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## Wayne Stinnett (Feb 5, 2014)

Mark Dawson said:


> Celina - you are very welcome, and well done. Good results, and they'll get better.
> 
> The former. But I'm not offering them a discount, I am telling them that the launch price won't stay at that level for much longer. A good way to increase conversion is to introduce a little scarcity into the mix. This has worked for me quite successfully.


I told my list that the $.99 price would be good for 24 hours, but I ended up letting it go 28. Ranked at #463 now, just 28 hours after launch. But, it's been in the mid 400s since 14 hours after launch.


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## Sever Bronny (May 13, 2013)

Just wanted to chime in and thank you, Mark. A generous post, very grateful to you for taking the time to write it


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## FictionbyAngela (Nov 8, 2014)

Mark Dawson said:


> Whatever it is, this is the aim of the entire process: get a place on the Hot New Releases page for your genre and get Amazon to do the work.


Thanks for you insights.

I did most of this for my launch. I started with 16 reviews, 4.8 stars, and launched top 40 on Hot New Releases for Dystopian and for Post-Apocalyptic. My rank got somewhere near 14,000 (would have been a lot higher I'm sure, but I had a pre-order up for 30 days. Not a great idea for a first time author).

Anyway, the point is that I'm not sure that it mattered much. It's been just about 30 days since release, and I'm not seeing a whole lot of movement. I'm going to do my first countdown deal in a couple days, hopefully that'll help. I keep reminding myself that nothing is immediate, and even the best books took some time to get traction.

I know that being on best seller and hot new release lists help, but they're far from a sure thing, and I'm a little disenchanted by them.


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## Wayne Stinnett (Feb 5, 2014)

FictionbyAngela said:


> I know that being on best seller and hot new release lists help, but they're far from a sure thing, and I'm a little disenchanted by them.


A really good mailing list, with energized and eager readers, needn't be 15K strong. It's more important that they be focused and ready. I launched Fallen King yesterday at 4:42 pm. It was in the top 20 on several genre pages when it debuted in the ranking six hours later and was #1 in Hot New Releases on a couple of genre pages within 12 hours. My mailing list is barely over 700 readers. But half of them bought the book before midnight and in just 29 hours it's sold over 400 copies. That's the result of a motivated fan base. There, I finally used the word. Up until this very minute they were my readers. But, moving that many books that fast takes fanatics.


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

FictionbyAngela said:


> Anyway, the point is that I'm not sure that it mattered much. It's been just about 30 days since release, and I'm not seeing a whole lot of movement. I'm going to do my first countdown deal in a couple days, hopefully that'll help. I keep reminding myself that nothing is immediate, and even the best books took some time to get traction.
> 
> I know that being on best seller and hot new release lists help, but they're far from a sure thing, and I'm a little disenchanted by them.


No, nothing is immediate. It took my twelve months to get into a position where I could launch sucessfully. Sounds like a long time, but it isn't really. Write more books, build your list and it'll come. Stick at it.


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

Wayne Stinnett said:


> A really good mailing list, with energized and eager readers, needn't be 15K strong. It's more important that they be focused and ready. I launched Fallen King yesterday at 4:42 pm. It was in the top 20 on several genre pages when it debuted in the ranking six hours later and was #1 in Hot New Releases on a couple of genre pages within 12 hours. My mailing list is barely over 700 readers. But half of them bought the book before midnight and in just 29 hours it's sold over 400 copies. That's the result of a motivated fan base. There, I finally used the word. Up until this very minute they were my readers. But, moving that many books that fast takes fanatics.


I agree with all of that. One thing to add, though, is that a big list allows you to do a little more and be creative. My list is really a series of lists. Each new book or promotion has its own list so that I know where subscribers have come from. For example, if they have read one of my Rose books, that's useful information for me - I can now set a series of autoresponders to email them information about my Milton books, and vice versa.

Having the lists broken down also allows me to stagger the announcement of a new launch. The first 3,000 readers can hear about it on Monday, the second 3,000 on Tuesday, and so on.

Also - remember to look at your open and click rates, say, a week after launch. I will always send a follow-up email to each. It can be surprising how many emails just don't get opened by people who would be interested but didn't get around to it. Others open then forget to click and buy.

There's also the old ad world maxim that a "normal" person (i.e. not a fan - and yes, you can definitely say that you have fans now, Wayne!) needs to see your advertisement seven times before they will buy. I won't get into the Facebook ninjutsu whereby you can build a custom ad audience from your mailing list and then create a campaign so that list members are getting reminders in their newsfeeds, too... I'm working on that at the moment, and will write a more detailed post when I launch my new book, White Devil, next month.


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## Steve Shelley (Jan 10, 2015)

Impressive stuff Mark, thanks for sharing.

A question if I may - how long does it take you to complete a new novel?

You've got a great core of material to work with.


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

Steve Shelley said:


> Impressive stuff Mark, thanks for sharing.
> 
> A question if I may - how long does it take you to complete a new novel?
> 
> You've got a great core of material to work with.


My pleasure. Given a following wind, around six weeks. I published six last year, with two novellas, and I had a FT job. I'm just writing this year and so should be able to beat that (although derailed by sickly children, household chores, admin, and all the usual distractions...)


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## Wayne Stinnett (Feb 5, 2014)

Mark Dawson said:


> My pleasure. Given a following wind, around six weeks. I published six last year, with two novellas, and I had a FT job. I'm just writing this year and so should be able to beat that (although derailed by sickly children, household chores, admin, and all the usual distractions...)


And people say I work too hard....

You're a machine, Mark! And far ahead of the curve from me on anything technical. Some of what you're doing, I'll be hiring someone to do, it's just too much to learn. I'm sometimes envious of folks younger than me in that respect, growing up in the computer age. Oh, we had computers when I was a kid, too. Well, NASA did. I remember listening to radio, before we had a TV. Even then, we didn't even have a TV remote. I was my dad's TV remote. "Switch the channel, boy. Parr doesn't have anyone good on tonight." Not as bad as it sounds, we only got two channels. Computers when I was a kid were literally a million times slower than today's machines. A bit bigger, too. The computer below isn't on the desk. It's behind the desk. And along the far wall.


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

Wayne Stinnett said:


> You're a machine, Mark! And far ahead of the curve from me on anything technical. Some of what you're doing, I'll be hiring someone to do, it's just too much to learn. I'm sometimes envious of folks younger than me in that respect, growing up in the computer age. Oh, we had computers when I was a kid, too. Well, NASA did. I remember listening to radio, before we had a TV. Even then, we didn't even have a TV remote. I was my dad's TV remote. "Switch the channel, boy. Parr doesn't have anyone good on tonight." Not as bad as it sounds, we only got two channels. Computers when I was a kid were literally a million times slower than today's machines. A bit bigger, too. The computer below isn't on the desk. It's behind the desk. And along the far wall.


I'm not that far ahead of the curve - it's mostly experimenting, seeing what works, and doubling down on that.

And, to put your picture in perspective, you probably have that level of computing power in your pocket today. If Moore's Law holds true (transistors on a circuit doubles every two years), think where we'll be in another forty years...


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## Jnassise (Mar 22, 2010)

I'm right there with you, Wayne, except I wasn't just the remote, I was also the dang rabbit ears!  "That's it - right there!  Now don't move!"    (Certain channels needed someone to hold the rabbit ears in just the right position...)

-Joe


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## Wayne Stinnett (Feb 5, 2014)

Jnassise said:


> I'm right there with you, Wayne, except I wasn't just the remote, I was also the dang rabbit ears! "That's it - right there! Now don't move!" (Certain channels needed someone to hold the rabbit ears in just the right position...)
> 
> -Joe


Two words, Joe. Aluminum foil.


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## J. M. Parker (Feb 15, 2015)

Great read, thanks Mark. 

I think I definitely underestimated the power of preliminary readers and quick reviews the you get as a result. It will be something I try and do a much better job of when I launch for a second time. I am also excited to cheek out some of those podcasts. 

Thanks again.


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## EllisaBarr (Apr 22, 2014)

Hi Mark - I signed up for your mailing list tonight.  Thank you for sharing this information!  I noticed some of your books are in KU and some aren't.  I imagine you have some books published wide, and some exclusive to Amazon?  Do you get complaints from readers that find you on other platforms, but then have to get later books in the series on Amazon?  

Also, I'm not clear on whether you can give away free books as mailing incentives if they are also enrolled in KU.  

Do you have opinions you'd want to share about KU vs. publishing to multiple platforms?  

Thanks again!


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## CliftonHill (May 21, 2015)

Thanks for all the info, Mr. Dawson, heard you on RSP, great listen.

It sounds like you have multiple lists in Mailchimp, but each list ends up with subscribers as separate from other lists. I love the targeted concept of it, but I'm wondering how you manage to avoid sending a duplicate campaign to a subscriber that might be on multiple lists

Or are you using a single list that has been segmented and creating custom signup pages with a widget for signup so you can target people specifically w/ specific graphics/copy for the next book to encourage them to signup?

Thanks for your time.


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

CliftonHill said:


> Thanks for all the info, Mr. Dawson, heard you on RSP, great listen.
> 
> It sounds like you have multiple lists in Mailchimp, but each list ends up with subscribers as separate from other lists. I love the targeted concept of it, but I'm wondering how you manage to avoid sending a duplicate campaign to a subscriber that might be on multiple lists
> 
> ...


Don't worry too much about dupes - it doesn't happen often, and is remedied with a simple unsub from the subscriber involved. No biggie.


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## edwardgtalbot (Apr 28, 2010)

CliftonHill said:


> Thanks for all the info, Mr. Dawson, heard you on RSP, great listen.
> 
> It sounds like you have multiple lists in Mailchimp, but each list ends up with subscribers as separate from other lists. I love the targeted concept of it, but I'm wondering how you manage to avoid sending a duplicate campaign to a subscriber that might be on multiple lists
> 
> Or are you using a single list that has been segmented and creating custom signup pages with a widget for signup so you can target people specifically w/ specific graphics/copy for the next book to encourage them to signup?


Although I am almost literally just beginning the mailing list process, after reading what Mark has had to say (and several others) and looking at Mailchimp, I have gone with the single list. Don't get confused by segments - those you set up AFTER people are on your list, so you can't have someone go into a segment within a list based on which of your books they came from unless you do something else first. What I've done is create a "group" for the list - mailchimp allows you to create groups. Then you create options for the group. So I created options for "home page", "New World Orders","2012", etc where the latter two are names of my books. Mailchimp terminology for groups is actually kind of confusing, but if you poke around you can figure it out.

Then the important part is that you create a signup form for each option in your group. Each form can be identical (or not if you want different language for different signup forms) except that behind the scenes you are putting the mailchimp ID of the group option you want subscribers who go through this form to be associated with in mailchimp. This is where you have to have some understanding of the "Html" code in the web page. I happen to be a web developer when I'm not writing about conspiracies to take over the world. Mailchimp will give you the html to paste into your site for the signup form, but it will give you a visible dropdown box with all your group options in there. You have to change that dropdown box (an html "select" tag) into a hidden element (an html input element of type hidden) with a value equal to the mailchimp id of the group option for that page. If this all sounds like total gibberish, you probably have to either go with the multiple lists or get a web person involved - it's very basic HTML for a web person but Greek if you've never seen it.

In any case, pros of this approach are:
1.No duplicate signups or possible duplicate emails
2.You can view all your list in one place and have any combination of groups or other filters to create your segments for a campaign
3.For me, I like having all my stats in one place, on my web site stats tool itself. I don't have to create bit.ly or other shortened links. And it means that the short link I put in my back matter (and I need to add it to front matter as per Mark's suggestion on this thread) and on my book description can be "user-friendly", like "egtalbot.com/nwo/signup" is in the back matter of my book New World Orders.

There are cons:
1.You have to set up a signup page for each book. they may be duplicates of each other except for that hidden group code, but it's still something you have to maintain. I have done it so it's easy to maintain but it's more work than just setting up shortened links.
2.Some authors like having each book's signups in a different list. And you might even WANT a reader who read more than one book and liked them enough to sign up for your list twice to appear on both lists. This topic alone could have some pros and cons
3.If you have different lists, you can more easily have different confirmation/follow-up pages and emails. It's not impossible with the group approach, using autoresponders, but it's more difficult. I suspect when I start wanting that is when I'll start splitting into different lists instead of my current approach.


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## geronl (May 7, 2015)

Is there a free mailing list system?


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## edwardgtalbot (Apr 28, 2010)

Mail Chimp is free up to 2000 subscribers. Then you have to start payin. The paid version has some features the free version doesn't, such as the autoresponders Mark mentioned.


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## benifighter (May 29, 2015)

Thanks this is so useful topic for me .


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## stevenbhow (May 25, 2015)

Thanks for sharing all this great info. I'm just starting out and this is very helpful.


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## CliftonHill (May 21, 2015)

Thanks Mark for the reply and to Edward, for the further analysis.

I'll have to look into my own options some more. I'm trying to figure out the "perfect" method, but of course, there isn't any such thing. I cringe at the time to make separate signup pages on my website, but it seems like that is probably the best course of action (for me, at least).


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