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Three Simple Hacks to Help Build Your Author Mailing List

Why authors should always be building a mailing list

It’s great to diversify and sell your books through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and other distribution channels, but the rules for those platforms are constantly changing.

By itself, Amazon is not a sales strategy. If you publish a book and just post it on Amazon, will it sell? Most likely not.  You, as an author, want to make sure that you have access to your readers. One way to make sure you have that direct line is by building out your mailing list.

Here are three simple ways to get people to sign up for your author mailing list.

Use an optin layover

  1. Sign up people through your author blog via a layover. I’ve seen a lot of people put their email optins on the sidebar of their blog. Most often times the right bar and left rail get hidden and ignored. What you might want to consider is using a popup or layover that entices people to join your list. Leadpages and Sumo List Builder both have some pretty awesome layover options.

Offer a compelling gift

2. Create a compelling opt-in gift for your readers. In order to get people to sign up for your list, you need to give them a reason to want them to hear from you. The simplest way to do this is to offer a gift for subscribing. The free gift can be anything from a free chapter, to a free guide, or ebook the visitor gets for joining your list.
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Ask readers to sign up for your mailing list

3. Have an author’s letter at the end of your book or ebook that lets people know about your newsletter.  One of the easiest ways to get exisiting readers onto your list is by asking them at the end of your book in a simple Thank You page. This page thanks them for reading your book and lets them know other ways they can connect.

Sample Author’s Letter
Thank you for joining me in telling the story of [description of your characters or your book]. I hope they touched your soul the same way they touched mine.
If you loved the book and have a minute to spare, I would really appreciate a short review on the page or site where you bought the book. Your help in spreading the word is greatly appreciated. Reviews from readers like you make a huge difference to helping new readers find stories similar to [name of title/name of characters].
*Link to my Amazon page:
*Link to my Barnes & Noble page:
*Link to my  iBooks page:
*Link to my Kobo page:
Thank you!
[Your Name]
p.s. If you’d like to know when my next book comes out and want to receive occasional updates from, then you can sign up for my newsletter here -> [link to newsletter]

Implementing these simple tips or hacks will make it easier for you to connect with your fans. So when you write the next book, or are doing a giveaway, you already have a built in readership.

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