Creating a mailing list

[Kitty]

I often notice author websites invite you to sign up for a newsletter or to a mailing list and I’ve seen it suggested as an advisable thing to do and to set up well in advance of having a book to promote.

So has anyone here done this? What are the benefits and what tools do you use? I’ve come across Mailchimp. Perhaps there are others?

TIA

 

[Carol Rose]

I have a newsletter through Mailchimp that I send out twice a month. There's a learning curve at first, but once I figured it out, it's easy with their templates. They have articles on so many things you can do to increase your open and click rates, as well as other marketing things you can do through them. There's stuff on there I haven't even looked at yet. Once you reach 2000 subscribers it's a pay as you go deal, but it's worth it. The reports tell me who opens the newsletters the most, how many click-throughs I get on which links, how many people unsubscribe each time and why, how many people opened the newsletter (meaning they didn't delete it without clicking open the email), and where they are located.

I've played with many things in mine, from putting in recipes to a song from my current writing playlist. The recipes had a larger open rate than the songs. I also feature two authors in each of mine. Currently I'm working through the published authors in my RWA chapter. Because I'm in several boxed sets that release beginning in January, I feature those pre-order links, plus the boxed sets we're all doing cross-promotion with. I also list the signings I have coming up to encourage people to buy tickets.

Even if you aren't published, you can put anything you want in them. Tie it somehow to your writing so potential readers stay interested and look forward to your book's release.

Hope this helps.

 

[Amber]

All the research I've read, seen, and done indicates that having an email list increases the likelihood of sales more than a website, more than a social media presence, and more than almost anything else beside write a good book. The statistic you want to look for is the 'click through rate'. The authors I've looked at often don't have a website at all. Or, they have a URL which opens to an invitation for the visitor to join their newsletter. Sometimes they offer something free in exchange for joining their newsletter.

People often use mailchimp or connstant contact. I believe mailchimp is less expensive. At least, until you get a significant number of subscribers. These other tools are more expensive.

Leadpages
Aweber

 

[Robinne Weiss]

I use MailerLite, instead of Mailchimp. Honestly can't remember why I chose it over Mailchimp, but it's easy to use and does what I need it to. It interfaces well with Instafreebie, where I give away the odd sample--people who download a sample also agree to sign up to the newsletter, and their info is automatically added to my subscriber list. It's not so good interfacing with Wordpress (or, rather, you have to pay for it, which I haven't done yet, as my website doesn't tend to get a lot of traffic--I add those subscribers by hand).