One of my former clients is an author who was told by his publisher that he would always be a mid-level writer destined to struggle with mediocre book sales.
Another author whom I coached was shocked by the lack of response she received from friends and influencers who had agreed to participate in her book launch.
In addition, I worked with an author who dreamed of landing a six-figure contract with a major publisher. But, he couldn’t get anyone interested in his book proposals.
Sluggish sales…
People forgetting or refusing to help with your book launch…
Apathetic indifference from literary agents and publishers…
Have you encountered these types of frustrating problems?
It doesn’t matter if you’re traditionally-published or self-published. It doesn’t matter if you write fiction or nonfiction. Almost every author will experience one, two, or all three of the difficult circumstances that I described above.
However, I’m happy to say that all three of my clients rose above those challenges, surpassed expectations, and achieved the success they thought was out of reach.
How did they do it?
Instead of trusting a publisher, influencers, or friends to help boost their book sales, I taught my clients to rely less on the assistance of others and do something completely different…
Build a big email list as fast as possible.
When authors depend on other people to promote their books or get published, it usually becomes a lesson in futility and a blow to their self-esteem. You can avoid these problems if you focus on building your own audience to a large size.
At minimum, you need at least 25,000 subscribers.
50,000 subscribers is even better.
Over 100,000 subscribers easily puts you in the driver’s seat to success.
If you have a small email list, such as less than 5,000 subscribers, you will constantly struggle to grow book sales. But, if you have a large email list, such as 100,000 subscribers, you enjoy a position of strength and no longer have to grovel or beg influencers and publishers to work with you. Instead, they will beg to you work with them!
I’ve seen this career-changing dynamic happen to several of my clients when they build a large following by email (notice that I didn’t say social media). This begs the obvious question…
How do you build a large email list?
The foundation starts with an “Irresistible Incentive.” Offer people something for free that entices them to give you their email address. When done correctly, people will gladly trade their email address to receive your incentive. It’s not manipulation, because both parties view the transaction as a fair exchange.
An irresistible incentive can be a single item or a bundle of items. You can provide the incentive as a written e-book, or you can use video or audio as the format.
The more generous your offer, the more irresistible the appeal. For instance, I give away 3 free e-books to authors who join my email list.
Simplify delivery of your irresistible incentive by providing the content as a digital PDF file or links to an unlisted video on YouTube or Vimeo. There are numerous options you can consider, such as:
Nonfiction Ideas:
+ Short nonfiction e-book packed with your best advice
+ 7-day or 30-day challenge using excerpts from your book
+ Free video course with brief teaching tutorials
Fiction Ideas:
+ Free novella or short story (prequel, side story, etc.)
+ Sample chapters from a novel
+ Compilation of excerpts from several novels
To identify ideas for irresistible incentives, use these questions as a starting point:
+ What expertise do you have that people are willing to pay for?
+ What are your most popular products or topics?
+ What have you written or posted online that drew the most attention?
How do you promote your irresistible incentive to attract email signups?
+ Buy Facebook ads and promote your incentive to a targeted audience
+ Make your incentives the first thing that people see on your author website
+ Mention the incentives on your social media pages at least twice a month
How do you know if your incentive is irresistible?
+ You receive at least 500 new subscribers per month
+ Interest in the same incentive remains steady for over 6 months
+ Signups increase when you mention your offer on social media or a podcast
An email list doesn’t build itself. It takes months and years of focused activity to reach and surpass 25,000 subscribers. But, if you add 1,000 new subscribers per month, then you can easily exceed 10,000 signups in less than a year.
Why put it off any longer? You can automate the entire process so that there is plenty of time for writing and other activities.
Investing the time and money to build a large email list is the smartest and most beneficial decision that you can make to become a successful author.
What if you had an email list with over 25,000 subscribers?
Imagine how many publishers and influencers you would attract. Imagine how many more books you would sell. I trust you find that dream “irresistible.”
Struggling to build your email list?
Not sure how to use email to sell more books?
Learn proven secrets that work for any fiction and nonfiction author in my online course, Sell Books on a Shoestring Budget. I explain everything in detail and show specific examples that anyone can follow. You will learn how to:
+ Create irresistible incentives
+ Capture email signups on your website
+ Send persuasive sales emails
+ Send effective email newsletters
Purchase before enrollment closes on Thursday, August 24th.
