Earlier, I wrote about the importance of building an audience before publishing a book. Today, I’d like to discuss a different question:
How do you build that audience faster?
Most authors understand that an email list is valuable. Yet, many spend years blogging, posting on social media, attending conferences, and speaking at events—only to end up with a few hundred subscribers.
There’s nothing wrong with those activities. The problem is that they don’t scale very well.
Imagine two authors.
Author #1 builds an email list through organic efforts alone. She posts regularly on social media, appears on podcasts, and attends industry events. After two years, she has accumulated 4,000 subscribers.
Author #2 does many of the same things, but she also uses targeted advertising to place a free resource in front of prospective readers every day. Instead of waiting for readers to discover her, she actively introduces herself to them. After two years, she has 25,000 email subscribers.
Which author has the better chance of selling more books?
A Real-World Example
When I coach authors who are stuck with small email lists, I frequently encourage them to consider using paid advertising, such as Facebook or Instagram, to accelerate subscriber growth.
One nonfiction author added over 1,000 new subscribers per month by offering free e-books related to her area of expertise. Each new subscriber cost less than a $1.50 per person.
A fiction author gave away sample chapters from his novel to attract readers interested in his genre and routinely added over 500 new subscribers per month.
These results dramatically outpaced what the authors had previously achieved through social media posts, speaking engagements, and word-of-mouth alone.
Neither campaign was free. Both required an investment. But, attracting new email subscribers for less than $2.00 each is an amazingly low acquisition cost. Most Fortune 500 companies would die to get new leads at such a low price.
That’s the power of having a system that introduces your work to prospective readers every single day.
Audience Building is an Investment in Speed
At this point, some authors might ask, “Why spend money? Can’t I just grow my list organically for free?”
Of course. Many authors do. The real question is whether you’re satisfied with the speed.
Organic growth is similar to saving money one dollar at a time. There’s nothing wrong with it. But if your goal is to launch a book to thousands of interested readers, relying exclusively on organic growth can be frustratingly slow.
That’s why I encourage authors to explore paid audience-building strategies.
Rather than hoping readers find them, they intentionally place their message in front of people who are already interested in their topic, genre, or expertise.
Done properly, this approach can dramatically accelerate audience growth.
Where Do You Stand?
If your book were released tomorrow, how many people could you personally reach through your email list?
50…500…5,000?
Your answer doesn’t determine whether your book will succeed.
But, it does reveal how much momentum you’re likely to have on launch day.
If you’re currently under 1,000 subscribers and wondering whether paid audience-building might make sense for your situation, fill out my Author Application. Include your book topic, current subscriber count, and interest level in growing your list.
If I think there’s a potential fit, I’ll connect you with my trusted specialist who has successfully managed Facebook and Instagram ads for over a dozen of my author clients.
She is my “secret weapon” who helps authors dramatically grow their email audience before, and even after, a book’s publication.
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