You’ve likely heard it a thousand times by now if you’ve done even the minimum of research for marketing your book: Your author newsletter is king.
Industry and marketing experts can argue about many points of what the best book marketing practices might be, but building your author email list is one they all agree on.
It’s that important and paramount to growing your readership, and when done well, can turn readers into super-fans.
The big question: How do you build your author email list?
And the next biggest: What do you do with this all-important list once you’ve got it?
Getting started on anything is always half the battle, but fortunately for you, millions of authors have been in the exact same position! Because of this, there are some proven tips to start and grow your author email list:
Create A Reader Magnet
This is a free gift you offer to readers in exchange for their email address and permission to use it for connecting with them and sending them content.
For fiction authors, the reader magnet can be a short story or novella that ties in with your most popular book or series (e.g., one about a secondary character or a prequel). This kind of reader magnet is a great tool for bringing new readers into your books, giving them a sample of your writing style and the world you’ve created.
A bonus scene or chapter, such as an epilogue, that readers can get by signing up for your newsletter. This type of reader magnet is targeted to those who have already bought and read your book, enticing them to connect with you for exclusive content related to the story they just finished and loved.
For non-fiction authors: Your reader magnet can be a bonus resource related to your book’s topic. Ideas can include a case study, a self-assessment quiz, a list of relevant resources, a bonus chapter, or even a video or audio recording that introduces the topic of the book or goes in-depth on one of the sub-topics within it.
For either fiction or non-fiction, if you have several books published, you can use one of your books, or even the first chapter of your book as the reader magnet, giving it away in exchange for the reader’s email address. You now have a way to directly contact them to promote your other books without relying on retailers and social media.
What To Do With A Reader Magnet
Promote your reader magnet everywhere you can! On social media, in the front and back-matter of your books, on your website, on a business card or bookmark you hand out, every time you speak with someone about your book(s).
Pay to advertise your reader magnet. You’ll likely find it easier to get people’s attention about a gift you’re offering than a book you’re selling. Once they sign up for your email list, they become warm prospects, allowing you to (softly) promote the book you’re selling.
Join multi-author list-building giveaways. These are group promotions where readers enter to win a big jackpot prize in exchange for giving participating authors their email address. These list-building giveaways vary in how they’re run, and it’s worth exploring the different types to take advantage of the exposure not only to the audiences of all the authors participating, but also to the host of the giveaway, who likely has their own audience and marketing tactics. For example, CraveBooks hosts monthly list-building giveaways, each one targeting a specific genre.
Participate in newsletter swaps. This is when you connect with other authors in your genre and offer to cross promote through email marketing. In other words, you promote their book or reader magnet in your author newsletter, and they do the same for you. Both of you encourage your readers to subscribe to the other author’s newsletter. Some newer authors can get wrapped up in the fact that their list is small and feel like they don’t have much to offer. If this is you, you’ll be surprised how much authors with bigger lists love to help others get started. So don’t let this hold you back from connecting with authors on all parts of the experience and audience spectrum.
Capture at in-person events. Provide a way to subscribe at in-person author or reader events. When you have a table at a reader conference or book convention, you’re making a direct connection with potential readers as well as current fans. Don’t lose that rapport after you all go your separate ways! Make sure you have a way for them to sign up for your newsletter. Offer a prize, such as a signed book or prize basket with a book and swag, and they provide their email address to enter. Be sure to place a QR code that leads to your sign-up page on everything you give away, such as bookmarks and postcards, as well as on your signage.
Nurture Your Author Newsletter and Subscribers
Capturing email addresses from potential and new readers is fantastic, but you also have to keep them. This is the trickier part of the process, and while there are also best practices here, every author and their email list is unique. You will learn what works for you and your specific audience by taking action—trying, testing, exploring, and honing in on the best experience for everyone. Most important is to focus on being authentic and nurturing your audience. What does this mean?
CONTENT
Readers want to know more about your books, but even more about you as a real person. People are more likely to buy from those they know, like, and trust. So use your newsletter to gain that trust. Follow the 80/20 rule for content—80% real connection and 20% book promotion. Or another way to look at it is 80% giving and 20% asking.
You don’t have to share every little detail about your personal life to build rapport and gain trust. Nobody has to know about your children or anything about your personal life, but you can share anecdotes about your author journey, or about your favorite writing spot, or what inspired a beloved character or hated villain. Even your favorite tea or writing snack. Glimpses into your writing life and process are often enough to connect with your readers. Or you can share about your pets, your garden, or other hobbies.
Another way to “give” more than “ask” without getting overly personal is to offer added value. As examples: teaser chapters from your current WIP or upcoming release; song playlists you listen to while writing or that inspired you; recipes from you or your characters; craft ideas or tips about hobbies you or your characters share with your readers; and recommended books by other authors in your genre (see above about doing newsletter swaps).
CONSISTENCY & TIMING
Most authors, regardless of experience, question the timing of their newsletter. How often or rarely should they send something out? Nobody wants to be a nuisance, let alone spam their beloved readers. But you also don’t want them to forget about you.
There are two common reasons for people to unsubscribe to email lists: too much or too little (leading to them forgetting they opted-in and believing they’re being spammed).
Unfortunately, there’s no right or wrong answer here, and no real middle ground. However, it’s highly recommended you don’t send out a newsletter only when you have a new release unless you release often and/or your readers have specifically requested only to be notified of new books and sales. And in that first case, if you’re releasing at least every other month, still follow the 80/20 rule of providing value and not just asking for the sale each time.
A monthly newsletter is the most popular choice among authors. Sending with monthly frequency is manageable for the author and doesn’t feel overwhelming and spammy to readers. Plus, it’s frequent enough that readers don’t forget who you are when your name lands in their inbox. Some authors keep to a quarterly cycle, but this frequency runs the risk of readers forgetting they signed up for your email list (and reporting your email as spam) or that every email you send to them is “buy my book.” To keep to the 80/20 rule, a quarterly newsletter might also be longer than readers are willing to give their attention to.
Growing in popularity is a weekly author newsletter. These are usually much shorter emails that keep your name front-of-mind for readers, giving them extra value so when you have a new release or a book promotion, it doesn’t feel like every email is asking them to buy, buy, buy. However, this frequency also requires commitment and enough content ideas to keep you going while, again, avoiding always asking for the sale.
The most important factor to consider when deciding how often to send your newsletter is consistency.
You’re setting expectations with your readers, and it’s necessary you keep to those while honoring yourself, your time, and your energy.
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF ABOUT YOUR NEWSLETTER STRATEGY
What kind of time do you have to devote to a newsletter?
Do you do better by committing a day or two to a longer newsletter every month or quarter or by having a dedicated weekly practice that requires only an hour or two?
Do you find it easy to come up with plenty of value-added content ideas or is that a major struggle that requires too much energy?
You may need to test different frequencies and pay attention to what your readers want. Don’t just ask them, though. They may enjoy your newsletter more than they think they will and want to hear from you more often than they expect. Watch your open rates and whether they increase or decrease with timing as well as types of content. Pay attention to how many readers reply and what they’re replying to when they do.
All email services provide analytics—use them to hone in what works best for you and your email list.
AUTOMATION
Take advantage of email automation to connect with your readers, build rapport, and nurture your audience with less work from you. Create automated workflows for:
Onboarding new subscribers—Start this automated sequence by sending out a Welcome email as soon as readers subscribe so they don’t forget that they did opt-in to your newsletter, and then follow that up every couple of days or every week for a while to keep reminding them of who you are.
Pro Tip: You can include more insights into your books and you as a person to keep them interested. Surprise them with a bonus gift or two throughout the sequence. Set up this sequence ahead of time with your email provider and know that every time someone subscribes to your author newsletter, they’re receiving a fabulous first experience.
New releases—New releases require several emails to be sent out, leading up to the release, during, and for a few weeks after. Create these sequences ahead of time to go out to your author email list so you don’t have to worry about them during those often chaotic launch weeks.
Sales, special promotions & events—Like new releases, these events often require a series of emails before, during, and even after it ends. Prepare these ahead of time with a schedule for them to be sent out, and you don’t have to worry about them in the midst of everything else going on.
Other ways to make growing and nurturing your email list easier:
Create a QR code to your sign-up form that you can easily copy and paste into the front and back matter of your print books, on signage, and other physical marketing pieces.
Create templates for your front and back matter that include your newsletter sign-up link and can be easily copied-and-pasted when formatting your ebooks.
Set a schedule for signing up for list-building giveaways and preparing newsletter swaps with other authors.
Final Thoughts: You Just Gotta Do It
However you decide to do your author newsletter, the most important thing is to just do it, quickly followed by authenticity, added value, and consistency.
When you simply be yourself, give more than you ask, and maintain consistency, you’re offering quality over quantity and that’s all readers want from your newsletter.
Just like your books offer, the reader and author experience are what matter.
CraveBooks is a book promotion and marketing platform…and so much more. To help you build your author email list, they offer list-building giveaways and the ability to set up reader magnets in our system. Just this week they launched a completely new CraveBooks site, adding even more features and benefits to authors. This means their membership prices will soon be increasing, but you can still lock in at their old prices, this week only.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
This guest post is brought to you by Kristie Cook of CraveBooks.
Kristie Cook is a best-selling, award-winning writer in various genres, primarily romance fantasy and paranormal romance with over 15 years’ experience in indie publishing. Her Soul Savers series includes ten books, as well as several companion novellas and short stories, with over 1.2 million books sold. She has also written the Book of Phoenix trilogy, and is the creator, publisher, and an author of the award-winning Havenwood Falls shared world, a collaborative project with multiple series, 45+ authors, and 100+ stories.
Additionally, Kristie serves on the CraveBooks marketing team and as community manager for CraveBooks Insider. CraveBooks is a premier book marketing and promotions platform connecting authors and their books to readers hungry for them.
Join AutoCrit and CraveBooks for a joint webinar about book marketing in May 2025.
