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Mailing Goal Update

A new year means new goals. Last year, one of my authorship goals was to build my mailing list to 10,000. A lofty goal, considering my mailing list was only 3014.

So what was my plan and why build my list?

First, a little history on my mailing list. When began my writing career, I knew very little about author marketing. I have another business which I have mentioned in previous posts. However, I didn’t realize some of the marketing tools I use there could be used in my author business. I have a decent mailing list with my lingerie business, but like any mailing list, it requires nurturing which I failed to provide for both entities.

There are several authors who do well with a list that size. Frankly, if everyone on my list bought every book I released on release day, I would be excited and pocket quite a bit of money on that day only. No matter how much I may like my stories, every reader on my list won’t feel the same and that’s okay. Let’s say, every subscriber did buy everyone one of my books, what happens in between releases? What if I only release one ebook a year at $4.99 (before printing fees), that would yield approximately $15,000. Not bad by any means, but that’s all I would earn based on a mailing list with no growth. We’re only talking about my mailing list not any additional sales. This example also doesn’t include my backlist, because those subs would already have every one of my books.

Relying solely on my list seems a great idea, but in order for this to be sustainable or for me to have a steady income, I’d have to release four to six books a year. For me, that isn’t doable, because it’s more detailed than it sounds. Trust me, I speak from experience. Remember my lofty release a month project in 2016?

Back to my reason for building my mailing list. When I started my writing career, I wasn’t focused on a mailing list. I thought you wrote a book, put it up for sale and it would magically sell, but that’s fantasy. In order to sell books people need to know about your book. With my first release, I had a handful of organic sales. The rest were family and friends. It was a crawl building my list. Once I did, I saw some movement with that book, but even more with the next release. The list was slowly growing but I needed to make a move. Then I discovered Mark Dawson’s free course on how to build a list. I followed the plan and it worked. My list got up to 3000 plus. I was rocking. Some of my new subs preordered my new releases making release day better. I still didn’t have every sub buy every book, but I was making strides.

I don’t know when it happened, but somewhere along the way, the list started to shrink. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I tried pretty much everything…paid list building, facebook group promos, newsletter swaps, signing events and ads. All were nice, but didn’t produce the results I desired.

The other reason I wanted to increase my mailing list was author swaps. I had tried some swaps, but because my list was so small, I wasn’t able to swap with authors with larger lists. In order to sell books, the book and author need access to readers. I am not knocking authors with small lists, because that’s where I am. However, there are authors with grand lists…20,000…40,000…60,000+ subs. I already hear you saying, a list that large is expensive and you’re right. However, a list that large more than likely will supporting itself.

Here are the facts about my journey. My mailing list has 4084 subscribers. However, for some reason not all of then want to receive the newsletter. At the beginning of this challenge, I had 3014 subscribers who wanted to receive the newsletter. However, I believe some of those not receiving email, neglected to click the “receive email” box.

Here are the numbers.
Goal to get to 10000…………………6986
Mailing list at start of 2023………..3014
Lost Subscribers……………………….-432
New Subscribers……………………….7451
New mailing list total……………….10033

When this challenge was completed, I had reached my goal plus 33. Side note, I haven’t done a thorough review of the new subs, so there might be some duplicates. Like most lists, some will probably leave and that’s okay, it only makes room for people who want to be on the list. Also, remember with each email sent, some subs might leave. In my case, I lost 432 plus the 1070 who opted not to receive emails.

So how did I grow my list? I joined a lot of Book Funnel promotions. These are free and easy to join. I’m still not fully versed in how the BF system works, but I’m learning. I also joined an assortment of paid list builders, a few facebook group list builders and a couple of book signings. Since the Book Funnel promos are built on free books, that meant I gave away 7451 books. Not too bad. I also did bi-weekly newsletter swaps. The mistake I made here was not tracking the results of the swaps. I also failed to track the organic growth not associated with any of my promo efforts.

I am a fan of the Book Funnel promotions and have decided to make the Book Funnel promotions part of my ongoing marketing campaign. If you’re looking for a free way to build your mailing list, I highly recommend the Book Funnel promotions. Now that I reached my goal, I’m eager to see how this effects my author career.

See you next month.

CONFERENCE PREP Part Three

Happy Fall. We’re almost with my series Conference Prep.

I have done quite a few pop ups and sales events in addition to book signings and I’ve learned a few things about Event Design.

I come from an event planning and boutique owner background. I realize I am at a slight advantage because design is part of my day-to-day. But what I’m suggesting anyone can do. 

When I do an event, if possible I get as much information in advance as possible about my space. Currently, I’m an unknown author. By that I mean, at present there aren’t a lot of readers actively seeking me out at events. Some day soon that will change, but my event design mindset won’t. 

Here’s how I prepare my table or space for book signings. It’s very important I stay on brand. In my other business, fuchsia, black and white are my brand colors. I carried those colors over to my author world. I like flowers especially pink peonies, pink roses, hydrangea and Casablanca lilies. A staple to my table is a huge arrangement of assorted pink silk flowers. The vase with the flowers is about 3’ tall. This is an attention getter and events. Most women like flowers so when they see the flowers, readers are quick to come see if they’re real. Once they get to my table, it allows me to introduce them to my author world.

I research design ideas and once I settle on a look, I test it out. I want to see how long it will take me to set it up and tear it down. When I set up my table, I’m arranging everything so I can see how it looks to the reader walking by or stopping to purchase. I want to see if they can reach for something without knocking anything down. I utilize every inch of the tabletop for display. 

I handle my sales and book signing at a small collapsible table I hide behind my sign.

I use small signs with trope cards, series order, prices, newsletter sign up and any other information I need posted. I scatter loose swag on the table and use glass bowls for saleable swag. Stacks of postcards are placed near their respective books. I also use a plain tablecloth in one of my signature colors. 

My design For Steamy Lit, was beautiful if I say so myself. However, I wouldn’t have done this design if I had to fly to an event because there were a lot of elements. A tall vase with flowers, gigantic pink and cream flowers attached to the front of the tablecloth, risers, a small table and my retractable sign. The flowers on the  tablecloth looked like they had fallen from the vase of flowers. This was an elaborate design which required a couple of hours to assemble. 

This design can be modified for a travel event by eliminating the flowers on the front of the tablecloth and the small table. Instead of silk flowers, I recommend purchasing fresh flower and later use as a giveaway or thank you to the event host. I could pack the silk flowers and trick up a vase, but I would prefer to use an extra suitcase for books to sell, plus the ones I bought.

Funny story. At Steamy Lit, I had broken down all my empty boxes and put them next to my table. The cleaning people thought they were trash and took them. Thank God, I’d sold books so I didn’t need those boxes.

There are exceptions to every rule. Now if your signing space is limited, I suggest you stay as close to your brand as possible. Maybe instead of a tall vase of flowers, get a small one and a floral garland. Use a tabletop retractable sign and possibly a table banner. Print a price list and had it to readers or put it in a frame. Still stumped for a design idea…visit Pinterest. Set up a board with looks you like and when the time comes, you’ll be set to shine and hopefully, gain new readers and sales.

To sum up. Make your signing space representative of your brand.