Hello Creatives, I’m Joanna Penn, bestselling author of 25+ fiction and non-fiction books, podcaster and award-winning creative entrepreneur.
I currently write under three different author names, including one really new pseudonym that I demonstrate in these tutorials.
I’ve built a multi-six-figure business off the back of my author websites, so I know how important your site and email list are. Whether you’re just starting out with your first book, or you want to improve your existing author platform, this tutorial should help you along the way.
There are three videos and accompanying cheatsheets in this series:
- Tutorial 1: How to build your own author website within 30 minutes
- Tutorial 2: How to set up your website using the Author Pro theme
- Tutorial 3: How to set up your email list signup
I’ll take it step by step and you can follow along, so even if you’re not confident with technology, you should find everything you need.
In this third and final tutorial, I’ll show you how to set up your email list and signup form on your website so you can start to build a list of readers, develop a relationship with them over time, and sell more books! Watch below or here on YouTube.
Sign up below to get your accompanying PDF cheatsheet
Why do you need an email list anyway? [01:17 mins in video]
You might have noticed, there are a LOT of books in the world. If people don’t know your book is out there, or even that you exist, how can they find and buy your book?
Book marketing is sharing what you love with people who want to hear about it, and those who sign up for your email list have specifically said that they are interested in hearing from you.
So starting an email list is part of gathering those people together so you can email them all at the same time, while still adhering to the privacy and anti-spam laws.
It will also help you develop a relationship with your readers over time by sharing snippets of your writer’s journey and excerpts from your books, special offers, and anything else you want to share – along with your book launch links!
It’s also about securing your future as a creator. Publishers change, technology changes, but if you have an email list of people who want to buy from you, then you will always be able to sell your books.
Of course, when you start out, the list building will be slow and disappointing at first.
We all start with nothing.
A list of zero.
But it will grow over time and the most important thing is to get started now, because what if your book does take off? You won’t know who your readers are unless you start to collect them.
You can start building an email list before you have a book, or if your book is available already and you have an established site, you can start now. It's like that old saying about ‘when's the best time to plant a tree?' It's years ago, or it's today. Every day you wait is another day that goes by when you're not collecting interested people's email!
Once you start building a list, treat those people with respect. Don’t spam them, don’t buy lists, don’t sell your list, only send them what you said you’d send them. Remember, they are people, not just email addresses!
Why I recommend ConvertKit for your email provider [07:09 mins on video]
I’ve used a number of email services over the years and there are lots of options out there. Mailchimp, Aweber, ActiveCampaign, to name just a few.
But the email list provider I now use and recommend is ConvertKit. It’s designed for small online businesses and is great for when you’re just starting out, but it’s also scalable, so some of the biggest online entrepreneurs use it too. I’m using it for my new pen-name, Penny Appleton, as well as JFPenn, and I’m also using it for my big list at TheCreativePenn.com. It suits all levels, so it will definitely suit you, wherever you are on the journey.
www.TheCreativePenn.com/convert
ConvertKit is easy to use with Forms, Subscribers, and Sequences, as well as extended functionality like Tagging and Automations which means you can start with a simple setup and then develop over time as your author business grows.
For example, you might start out with one book and one sign-up form and just collect email, but later on, you want to know how many people clicked on a specific series link or book name, and you can add that functionality later.
[Please note: I am an affiliate of ConvertKit, which means I receive a small percentage of the sale but at no extra cost to you. I only recommend sites I happily use myself. I hope you find the video tutorial useful enough that you will consider using my links so I can continue to provide free information. Thank you!]
Setup an account on ConvertKit [09:33 mins on video]
Go to www.TheCreativePenn.com/convert and then click Get a Free Trial. This will enable you to test out the service for 14 days and use it for up to 1000 subscribers at the basic level of payment. You can then cancel or go forward with the service.
Remember also that you are not locked in forever. You can always move later, as I have done several times over the last 10 years online as new providers have emerged with better functionality or pricing. Right now, I believe ConvertKit is the best option, which is why I have moved over to it myself.
Choose your login credentials and Password.
Fill in your Billing Details, although of course, these won’t be used until after your Free Trial.
Click Create Your Account.
You will receive a confirmation email and also welcome emails with more details, links to help videos, and more. You can also always access help via Chat in the bottom right hand corner.
You can then start setting up your account. If you are moving from an existing system, as I have done, there are details for Importing your Subscribers. It was a simple enough task when I did it and you can always ask ConvertKit for help.
You will need to set up an address.
Anti-spam laws mean this needs to be a physical address. I used my home address for years and never had any issue, but then I moved to using my accountant’s address, and now use a PO Box set up for this purpose. ConvertKit has some other options as well if you’re worried about this.
You also need to add in your Website address and the Reply To email address. Because these settings are crucial for the setup, I have 3 accounts with ConvertKit, one for each of my author names – Joanna Penn, JFPenn, and Penny Appleton.
You can get email accounts that relate to your website through your hosting service, but I now use GSuite, which is Google’s business service that includes email. This means that even if my site goes down, my email is not impacted.
Once you’ve set up those basics, you can then design a form to put on your website.
Set up a signup Form for your website [12:35 mins on video]
Most authors just need a basic signup form, so we’re going to set up the design I use on PennyAppleton first:
This sits on a Widget on the Home page as well as on its own Sign Up page, but it’s the same form from ConvertKit.
You can also include a link within your books, as per the example right, which is a screenshot from Vellum, which I use for formatting 
ebooks and some print.
Go into ConvertKit and click Forms. Then Create Form.
You’ll be given two options: Create a Landing Page which you can use if you don’t have a website yet, or Create a Form, which is the option we will choose for now.
Click Form.
You will then be given options around various form styles. You can choose simple options with just an email or you can include images, which is great if you’re giving away a book for a lead magnet.
Click to choose your design.
A template form will appear and you can customize it by typing over the words and changing the text and colors as you like.
Remember to click SAVE in the top right as you go 🙂
Click Settings.
Customize your messages so readers start to get to know you.
Use Sequence settings to subscribe people to a series of messages, which I’ll demonstrate later.
You can change the visual styles if you like, or even use Custom code, but you can leave it all with the basic settings and it will work – which is awesome!
To put it on your website, just click Embed. You can use the ConvertKit WordPress plugin, or you can just copy and paste the code.
Now we’re going to add the form into the Front Page widget.
Go to your website and on the Dashboard, click Appearance -> Widgets.
[Note: I demonstrated Widgets in detail in tutorial 2: How to set up the Author Pro Theme on your website]
Click and drag the Custom HTML into the Front Page 1 widget (or wherever you want to put it). Then paste the ConvertKit code into the widget. Click Save.
Then go to the front page of your website, click refresh on the browser, and your form should be there as per the example at the top of page 4 above.
You can add that same code to a Page, or in the Footer, wherever you like.
Make sure you test your signup to ensure everything is working – and you’re good to go!
Using the Landing Page option on ConvertKit [24:03 mins on video]
This is useful if you don’t have a website, or if you’re using a short-term author name or doing a multi-author boxset, or something where you’re not building a long-term author presence. You can also use it for a book launch, or a Lead Magnet or anything else you fancy creating.
Click Forms -> Create Form. Then choose Landing page. You’ll be presented with a number of different options.
Choose your template and then customize in the same way as before by clicking and rewriting, adding images and more.
Use a Reader Magnet and integrate with a Sequence and a BookFunnel giveaway [25:27 mins on video]
Click Forms -> Create Form. Then choose Form and pick the template with the book image. Set it up with your free giveaway and signup details.
I also mention that I’m using Thrive plugin ( www.TheCreativePenn.com/thrive ) to design my sign up pages, ribbon and pop-ups, but you certainly don’t need that. It’s for those who want more design options and don’t want to buy some of the more expensive tools.
Once you have set up the Form, you can set up a Sequence, which is a series of automated emails that go out once someone has signed up.
I show you my emails for JFPenn, and if you want to see them in action, you can sign up at www.JFPenn.com/free
In the first automated email of the sequence, I give people the link to the free ebook.
I host my free books on BookFunnel.com, as it enables the reader to get the ebook onto whichever device they want to read on. Also, they deal with any customer service issues which is fantastic.
They also enable watermarked ebooks as well as list building within the site itself. Definitely a useful tool for authors.
The email creation in ConvertKit is really easy. It’s just like writing in MS Word or any other writing program. You can add links and formatting and images – whatever you like.
You can set up multiple emails in a Sequence and if you want to take it further, you can Tag people who click on various links.
How to Broadcast to your email list for a book launch or monthly newsletter [29:48 mins on video]
Broadcast emails go out to everyone you select e.g. your whole list when your book is published, or your Street Team for Advanced Reader Copies. You can Filter by various different options in order to segment your list.
Then you can set up the email with an easy-to-use page and then send a test to yourself. Always worth doing to check if everything works!
Then you can send the Broadcast immediately or Schedule it for a later date/time.
CONGRATULATIONS! You now have your own email list setup on your website!
This is exciting as you can now start to build a list of readers who are interested in your books, develop a relationship with them over time, and become a more empowered author able to sell books whenever you like.
Just a reminder, there are three videos and accompanying cheatsheets in this series. Just click on the link for the tutorial you need below:
- Tutorial 1: How to build your own author website within 30 minutes
- Tutorial 2: How to set up your website using the Author Pro theme
- Tutorial 3: How to set up your email list signup
Next step: Supercharge your email list signups with this free webinar
I did a free webinar with Nick Stephenson on the Three-Step Process to Automate your Author Marketing and Find your First 10,000 Readers.
Click here to watch the webinar.
Nick is a master at building an email list and a great copywriter, so it’s well worth learning from the free webinar and start growing your own email list.
