OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn
Your email list is the only way to consistently let fans know about your work.
If you own this list, you can always earn money from your creative work.
Email is a critical part of how I connect with my audience, as well as how I make income, because once you have a list of people who have opted in to hear about your work, then you can tell them when you have books and products available.
This is how I was able to launch How to Market a Book and Business for Authors straight onto the Bestseller lists on Amazon next to some pretty big hitters.
The method for building an email list for non-fiction is well-established, and involves giving something of value for free in exchange for an email. Since you are usually providing targeted information with non-fiction work, it's easy enough to think of a useful giveaway in exchange for an email address.
My Author 2.0 Blueprint is now 92 pages of information on writing, publishing, book marketing and creative entrepreneurship, representing everything I know, for free. Lots of people sign up for it every day because it is obviously useful!
But growing your fiction email list is more challenging!
The principles are the same of course, and I have been been growing my J.F.Penn email list slowly over the last 18 months by offering a free short story and newsletter.
The results have not been that brilliant, to be honest!
But then Nick Stephenson, author of Supercharge your Kindle Sales, approached me with an opportunity.
He has a background in marketing and wanted to help supercharge my fiction email subscriber list by making a few changes on my site and in my books. His site, Your First 10,000 Readers, has a free video course that goes through these steps.
We all have myopia when it comes to our own work, and sometimes it just takes an outside opinion to improve things.
I'm always open to feedback and improvement, so I jumped at the chance to work with Nick. Here's what he suggested, and the results.
(1) Add a list signup in the FRONT of the books, as well as the back. Plus, use an enticing image instead of text.
I've had a list signup call-to-action in the back of my books for several years now, with the assumption that only those people who want to hear more from me will want to sign up, and those people would have finished the book.
Nick suggested I add something more enticing at the front as well as the back, particularly in my permafree book, Stone of Fire, An ARKANE Thriller Book 1. A free book is more enticing than a ‘newsletter' or a ‘free short story.' It's got to be value add.
He also suggested using an image and not just a text call-to-action. You can see the one I'm now using above right. It's definitely more enticing than a line of text with the same information. It links through to my Free Book page.
(2) Use a website squeeze page + email signup page with no distractions
Again, I have had an email subscribe box on the front page and sidebar of JFPenn.com since I began the site, but it wasn't prominent and it wasn't that enticing.
Nick's research showed that a squeeze page where people needed to click a button BEFORE they entered their email had a better conversion rate than just an email sign up box.
So we created this page so people could see what they'd be getting and a bit about me.
The only thing people can do on that page is to click the button in the middle or click away. If they click the button, then they get to enter their email, confirm the subsequent email (for anti-spam compliance) and then they get directed to a download page for the book in multiple formats.
(3) Use free content readers actually want
I used to have a free short story and newsletter as enticement for signing up to my fiction list. Nick pointed out that “no one wants a short story”! Of course, I think the stories are great and some people DO want to read short stories, but not as many people as would like an actual book.
So I decided to use Day of the Vikings as an enticing giveaway. It's a rollicking novella with lots of good reviews so it has real value. If people want this and like it, they will like my other books.
It's pretty representative of my writing style in general, plus it combines the characters from my two series: Morgan Sierra from the ARKANE series and Blake Daniel from the London Psychic series, so leads people into both of my worlds.
(4) Use permafree promotions to get traffic into your funnel
Once the signup page and the call to action is set up within the specific book you are using as a Reader Magnet, then you want to get more traffic to that book. One way is to use a permafree book at the beginning of the series. I have had Stone of Fire (previously Pentecost) as permafree on all stores for several 
years now, with over 100,000 downloads. I am clearly kicking myself that I didn't have all this set up earlier!
Some would say that the benefits of permafree have gone with the introduction of Kindle Unlimited and a flood of free books. But I'm still getting a few hundred to a thousand a month with Pentecost which is a good trickle as some of those go on to sign up and then may read the other books in the series – without relying on any other marketing strategy.
Ideally, you want to try to get a BookBub, Kindle Nation Daily or other promotion in order to start the flow of signups. But regardless, your daily downloads of the permafree book should start them trickling in anyway.
(5) Set up better initial email communication with auto-responders
I use auto-responders on this site if you sign up for the Blueprint. These are automatic emails that are sent at specific times after signup with no additional effort from me. It's more difficult for fiction as the aim is entertainment as opposed to education.
Nick suggested just being more open about who I am and why I write, as well as talking about what readers can expect from me. I have included an email about the types of books I like which hopefully gives the recipient and I something in common.
I know it took me several years of blogging here to become really open in my communication – so I am just early days on the fiction side. So if this kind of thing freaks you out, I totally understand!
Results
When I implemented these changes in Nov 2014, I had 603 people on my fiction list. This had taken about 18 months to get to – not a fantastic result, but hey, I'm in this for the long term and it wasn't really worrying me.
So has it worked?
As I write this in mid Jan 2015, I have 2255 subscribers on my fiction list, a (very) significant increase in a short amount of time. I have some advertising booked on my permafree book coming up soon, so I will expect to see some more increases then too.
But basically, the changes are likely to work for the long term as they provide more value add for readers and are more obvious.
Why have I “failed” at this before?
I've been thinking hard about this. Why was I successful in growing a non-fiction list and not a fiction one? The mechanism is much the same. For me, it has come down to:
Lack of confidence.
Feeling that I didn't really want to advertise my fiction that much, just in case people didn't like it or me. I've talked about fear of judgement before and it still bites me on every release.
It's taken me a long time to become more confident in my fiction writing, and I have generally kept that on the back burner whilst writing more books. But with the publication of Desecration, I began to feel I was ready to share more about my fiction. I'm damn proud of that book – of all my books, yes, but that one in particular because I stopped self-censoring.
This switch in email marketing is just the latest in a series of changes as I move into the next phase of being a more successful fiction author.
There's something else that will stop you: Not enough product.
If you only have one book, you won't want to make it permafree, even if that could get you a list of readers for the next book. If you only have two books, it will still be hard. Three … you'll be almost ready.
So yes, as usual with fiction, writing more books will help you with everything – with your craft, with building an audience and with your confidence.
Success image: Flickr Creative Commons by Bernard Goldbach
Unfortunately I still only have the one book. I’ve read a lot on book marketing and using a freebie book is up there for strategies. Which is why my goal for this year is to finish the second book.
It’s definitely a strategy for when you have a couple of books, Aimee – but you’ll be there by next year 🙂
Whoa. This is awesome. The idea to put the enticing image in the book is a great idea! And I really need to implement this squeeze page too. I have Nick’s READER MAGNETS on my kindle so I’ll have to read it pronto. Thanks! I’m going to share this post now with some of my FB author groups 🙂
Thanks for sharing SJ 🙂 I think more people might implement if they see an example!
Probably the best post I’ve read in the past year on email strategy for fiction writers.
I go back and forth on the squeeze page or at least on one part of it, and that’s that the only non-opt-in option is to leave the site entirely. Why not give them an option to continue to the site (even if it’s in small print)?
I guess it depends partly on if you always use the squeeze page URL in your outreach. If you only use it as the destination when you’ve already made the offer, it won’t matter much since they clicked on the first button/link to get the offer.
But if its the first link that potential readers still early in the process see, i.e as the destination page from your social media posts, guest posts, etc, as many email marketing gurus suggest, I think you’d offend as many or more potential readers than you’d attract. It goes against the “offer free content” grain.
Still, there seems to be no doubt that it works. Kinda like pop-ups. Hate ’em but use them.
I’m only using it in the back of my books and also on the Free Books link – the blog posts go to the main JFPenn.com site. So not a biggie. I also hate popups but I’m still considering putting one on here for the Author 2.0 Blueprint – or at least implementing the same squeeze page effect.
I like this mixed-use approach!
That’s an incredibly helpful article, thank you. In particular, thank you for explaining the point of a squeeze page with minimal distractions. I’ve seen them mentioned before, but thought that there was no point when I’ve already got a widget in my sidebar.
I have a question, though. Since you’re using Day of the Vikings for the giveaway, have you used the same mailing list sign-up CTA in Day of the Vikings? Or have you left it out, or used something else?
This is definitely a hole in my process right now 🙂
I need something different for that book, for sure – and maybe even for different series at some point – this is step one 🙂
I’m intending to use a book that I have on sale, as you have, so I thought I’d do the same with that book as you’d done with Day of the Vikings 😉
It does occur to me that it might be possible to set up a second offer, so in your case you could use something like One Day in Budapest as a giveaway in Day of the Vikings.
No more free stuff!!!! I need to make some money 🙂
Wowwie! Talk about graduate level education–and super generous behind-the-curtain content! Thanks for this Joanna. Super helpful and got the wheels turning for sure for my own products…
-Jeremy
Thanks Jeremy – I hope you can use the idea for your stuff!
Thanks so much for sharing how Nick’s process worked for you, Joanna! Those are some amazing results and I am very happy for you that you’ve grown your list that much in such a short time period. Kudos to Nick for his ideas and you for implementing.
I am especially touched to read that historically you’ve had less confidence about your fiction writing – I feel the same but thought I was alone. Thanks for being open about that! You continue to be an inspiration for me. 😉
You’re never alone, Alexandra! One of the things I have learned through blogging is how much we all go through the same creative journey. The self doubt and lack of confidence is pervasive! I’m still not uber-confident but I am getting better with every book – at least I’m not self-censoring anymore!
Such an excellent, detailed post – definitely one of the best I’ve seen on this topic. Thank you.
It IS so much harder in the beginning, before you have enough content to offer something of value for “free” (by way of an actual novel or novella). It also takes time to build that confidence up and ask permission. That said, you’re so right in that it’s never too early to start trying. There are always learnings, even in the failures and missed opportunities.
I think we learn the most from our failures 🙂 I have enough of them!
Thanks, Joanna, for the detailed, practical tips. Most of them I can’t use yet, since I only have one book out, but I plan to be up to three by the end of the year. I’ve definitely bookmarked this post!
Awesome, Joanna. I know all this stuff, but do I do it? No… One of these days, I’m going to get serious about hiring a VA to start implementing some of the smart marketing things, because if it waits for me to stop writing and focus on it, it could be 2030 before anything happens. 😛
I’d say you’re doing pretty well, Lindsay 🙂
Thanks, Joanna! Information about how to market non-fiction is ubiquitous, but information on marketing fiction is harder to come by (and much more hit-and-miss in results). I really appreciate your case study in exactly what I need.
Now I just have to get on the ball and do it. Sometimes tackling all these things I don’t know how to do is somewhere between daunting and overwhelming, which leads to procrastination. I’ll set a goal: By the end of February 2015 I’ll have this in place.
Thanks again!
Follow-up questions:
1. When someone signs up for your mailing list, Joanna and Nick, what happens next? Do you have something that auto-sends your book? Or do you set aside time each day to send out those books?
2. Do you send it in .pdf, .mobi, .epub?
3. In his book “Reader Magnets,” Nick talks about having two books available free. You have Pentecost on permafree, and Day of the Vikings as the free book people get on signing up for your mailing list. Is Day of the Vikings available free via the mailing list – but I’m looking at Amazon and it’s NOT free on Amazon. So that’s part of the added value, right, it’s something that people would otherwise have to pay for? I think on reading Nick’s book I misunderstood that he was suggesting to have two books available free, which was a little more than I wanted to do, but this has helped clarify.
I think I need maybe one more book out before I set this in place – I have books in several genres, something of a hodgepodge yet (I write what interests me, which is a lot of things). I think setting the first in my first series as permafree will be the first step, then once I have the next book in my new series out, set the first in that series as the free-with-sign-up book. (Just thinking out loud here!)
Thanks again for the insight!
I’m soooo late to the party here, folks – mea culpa!
Pam – all of these questions are answered in the free video training: http://yourfirst10kreaders.com
Yes, book #1 free, book #2 full price – but free for those who sign up to your mailing list. It doesn’t HAVE to be a second book you’re offering as an incentive, it can be something else relevant to your series.
And, mind blown! Nick, I need to watch that video pronto!
Thank you, Nick! I will watch the video! I appreciate your sharing it!
Hi Pam,
After the reader signs up in Aweber, they are sent a confirmation and then redirected to a download page. It has the file in mobi, PDF and ePub so they download it themselves. There are also directions on how to get the files on their devices. You could sign up to see the process and then unsubscribe straight away if you like 🙂
In terms of free, Pentecost is the book with the advert and then Vikings is only free if you subscribe, hence the value as you say. It does take some organization 🙂
I started Nick’s strategy (and got some advice from another author doing similar things) back in November, and I combined it with a Bookbub ad. I got over 400 subscribers in a couple of days. December was great, and I’ve got over 500 subscribers just the other day because of another BB ad. To say I’m thrilled is an understatement. Now, not all engage (I sent out an email about a new book release) and about 40% opened, but it’s still much higher than average.
The one thing I didn’t do was make people click to get to the sign-up page – I’ll have to rethink that. But still pleased. Thanks for sharing your results.
Hey Renee – 40% is not bad, though I’d be aiming for closer to 50%. The easiest way to improve open rates is to tweak your subject lines and make them more enticing.
And yes, having a button people click instead of just an email box can make a big difference 🙂
I just rechecked mailchimp – 49.4% open rate – I stand corrected 🙂
Thanks for the reply, Nick.
Nicely done! 😀
I’ve been going through Nick Stephenson’s latest class. I’d say his stuff is great. Well worth the meager cost of his ‘Supercharge Your Sales’ book. While I’m still time-strapped to finish fleshing out my website the way he recommends (got to un-clutter it and make it more functional), the few tips I’ve incorporated have given visible improvements.
With the changes in Facebook and Amazon now cutting our throats with KU and leaving us to hang, authors need to watch out for their own self-interest and nurture their readers directly, without the middle-men.
Exactly Anna – the email list is really the only way we have to actively contact readers.
Great post, Joanna – what useful advice – and so true about the gut instinct of not wanting to appear to pushy to readers in marketing our own work. I think we all need an outsourced marketing manager!
Of course it still leaves us children’s authors with the same old problem that our readers don’t hold the purse strings, nor are they suitable for email ‘sign-up’!! (I guess an option would be to encourage kids to ask their parents to sign up for them, but adding links inside books aimed at children will always be a thorny area…)
I will ponder this but interested to hear what any children’s authors who drop by may be dong already (as opposed to YA.)
Karen
Hey Karen – putting the signup link& image in the front of the book (and mentioning it in the product description) should hopefully help attract parents’ attention – assuming they’re checking out the book before downloading it!
Nick
I think you still need to focus on targeting parents and grandparents online – why not have a list signup page targeted at those groups specifically? It could be a separate landing page?
Great article, Joanna.
How great?
Got me to sign up for your mailing list.
aha! you noticed my sneaky sideways promotion 🙂
Great post! There’s so much on promoting non-fiction books, but so little for fiction – and the comment about the reason being it’s so hit-and-miss for fiction is probably right-on. I have four books out and a fifth one coming this year, but they are all so different. I do have some back-story chapters I cut out of my book coming out this year – I was thinking I could use that as the freebie. It’s not ideal, but at least I’d have something to use until I get enough books in the latest genre to give one away (it’s historical fiction, by the way, which I plan to stick with). I’m definitely bookmarking this post and coming back. I’m also sharing to my Facebook page. Super fiction-marketing ideas, here!
Thanks Jodie! It’s definitely more difficult because fiction is such a subjective experience for readers – none of us like all of the same stuff. Happy writing 2015!
I have learned so much from you it’s ridiculous. Thanks for sharing your process and bringing us up with you.
Thanks Kelsye – I’m thrilled you’ve learned so much 🙂 I love to share the journey!
Super article, Joanna. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. Question for you and/or Nick: How do you direct people to the squeeze page? It’s not your home page, I assume… which would mean people are still coming to your website through other portals, correct? What do you do to get them to the squeeze page?
Also… do you still have a sign-up box on your home page?
Hi Libby, the main path to the sign up page is through the permafree book – and on JFPenn.com, you can see I have a link to the sign up page on the Home page and also on the menu bar.
Ahh Joanna.. you hit the proverbial nail on the head with this post! I added my website on the back of my book… but never added a picture like you did – or made it look quite as enticing as yours. So I’ll need to redo that.
Honestly, I think it’s been my fear of putting work out – novels – there that is a little bit different from my happy encouraging other website. I talk a lot about finding your voice on that blog and it seems so different than my fiction website. Anyway – this is my goal in the few months to get that sorted. BTW thanks also for the tips on the squeeze pages. That’s a great idea 🙂
Lorna
I understand the fear, Lorna – I’m not sure that ever goes away.
Thank you so much Joanna, you’re always so generous and helpful, really hepful. And thanks to Nick for joining, I’m already in his list, too.
Fear of judgment is still a huge issue to me. I use a pename mostly because I’m terrified of fail and be found by people who know me and don’t believe in me. I’m sure I could do more for my writing career, like being more open, showing my passion and take more cretive risks, but the truth is that I’m terrified of “public humiliation” . It’s sucks right? I feel like a fraud right now!.
I think most of us feel this way Margot – I am terrified most days 🙂 But knowing we all feel it, makes it easier to bear. The only other way to handle it is to stop publishing – which I am not willing to do.