Affiliate Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Associates links, which means if you click on them and make a purchase, I will receive a couple of pennies (at no extra charge to you).

I learned about Make a Big Impact With Your Book: Author Marketing Strategies for Long-Term Success by book marketer Melanie Herschorn on social media.

Without looking the book up on Amazon, I contacted the author for a review copy. The title told me that it’s a book you’ll want to know about. (I mean, if you’re reading a book marketing blog, you’re probably interested in long-term book marketing success.)

I didn’t even look at the Amazon description before I started reading the book. Again, the title was so broadly on-target with what most of my blog readers want to learn, that I didn’t think I needed to.

That was a mistake.

Note to self: Always read the book’s description

It’s why I was surprised when I saw in the third paragraph of the first page of text that the book is for “thought leaders” who have written a nonfiction book. That’s a pretty narrow focus.

Huh.

Only then did I pull the book up on Amazon.

The description clearly says,“Are you a nonfiction or children’s book author with a powerful message to share with the world? Do you dream of becoming a thought leader, increasing your book sales, and leaving a lasting impact on your readers?”

Whoops.

Stop now if you write fiction

The fact that it’s for a narrower audience than I expected is not a dealbreaker, of course. (But it does explain why my Kindle announced it was a one-hour read and the description noted the paperback version is just 115 pages.)

And really, so much of what works with nonfiction book marketing also applies to fiction.

Except not in this case – and that’s okay. Most of Make a Big Impact With Your Book won’t help novelists.

The key to long-term book marketing success

This book is built around the premise that its readers are mission-driven (yes, cynical me rolled her eyes while reading that chapter), and the advice focuses 100% on content marketing.

The Content Marketing Institute defines content marketing as “a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”

It adds that when you use content marketing, you aren’t pitching products or services – in this case, a book. Instead, you’re providing your target audience with relevant information that helps them in some way.

It’s an approach designed to build trust in the entity providing the useful content.

All good. This blog is an example of content marketing, so you know I appreciate the strategy’s value.

Repurpose your book’s content for long-term book marketing success

The author wisely advises readers to build their content marketing plan from their book’s content. She explains that you can use it to create:

• Blog posts
• White papers
• Podcasts
• Emails
• Social media posts
• Lead magnets
• Guest blog posts
• Articles for blogging platforms such as Medium and Substack
• Public speaking
• LinkedIn articles and newsletters
• Recorded videos
• Live videos
• Online summit presentations

(I’ll add one more to her list: tip sheets.)

This strategy is absolutely a smart timesaver.

Herschorn shares more “what” and “why” than “how,” though. She writes about what you need to do, but I felt like you’d need more instruction on how to do much of it.

Still, repurposing your book’s content into several different forms for marketing purposes is smart.

Will the book help children’s book authors?

Back to that book description I overlooked…it says it’s for children’s book authors.

Um, no.

The content marketing strategy might work for some children’s book authors, especially nonfiction books for older readers.

But there’s no question that it’s a book for people who have written nonfiction books they want to use as giant business cards to generate consulting and speaking gigs, among other opportunities.

The author illustrates her points with helpful anecdotes from client experiences, but only one of them is for a children’s book.

Children’s book authors might need more help connecting the dots than the book offers.

Should you buy this book?

Take these specifics into account before buying this book:

• I’ll admit that I feel like the title makes it a bit of a bait and switch. A more accurate title would be: Make a Big Impact with Your Nonfiction Book: Content Marketing Strategies for Long-Term Success.
• The author’s advice is solid. And some of it is universal for all authors — specifically, why you must get clear on your target audience and where you’ll find them online, and the importance of consistency in your marketing.
• Readers get a URL for several helpful worksheets and tips. That URL is repeated over and over and over. Including screenshots for those bonus resources plus information on how to use the worksheets would have added value to the book. (But I love a digital download!)
• If you believe the book will help you, get the Kindle version after you’ve accumulated a few digital credits from Amazon. At $9.99 for the equivalent of 100 print pages, I think it’s a tad over-priced. But it’s more affordable than the higher-than-I’d-expect print price.
• This book is a big lead magnet for the author. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say Herschorn wrote this book to build credibility with the people her LinkedIn profile says are her ideal clients: law firm founders and million dollar business owners. She’s saying to them, “You can trust me to market your books.”

Regardless of Herschorn’s motive for writing Make a Big Impact With Your Book, it’s a useful, albeit limited, resource for nonfiction authors. Just don’t expect it to give you a complete blueprint. (Here’s a better book for that.)

What’s your best nonfiction book marketing tip? Please share it in a comment!

Affiliate Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means if you click on them and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission (at no extra charge to you).

When I delivered the luncheon keynote about platform-building for authors at the UW-Madison Writers’ Institute several years ago, I recommended that attendees secure book publicity with tip sheets.

I explained that a tip sheet is a type of press release that offers tips or advice in a bulleted or numbered format.

Like a press release, it’s written like a news story so that a media outlet or blogger can run it as is. No  additional research or writing is necessary.

“We love tip sheets”

After lunch, an attendee thanked me for recommending tip sheets to the audience. He was a features editor for the largest daily newspaper in the Midwest, he explained, adding, “We love tip sheets. We’d like to receive more of them.”

He’s not alone.

Media outlets, especially newspapers and magazines, like tip sheets because they can pull just one or two tips to fill space. They also run them  as submitted or use them as a starting point for longer feature articles.

Tip sheet success story

That’s what happened recently to Sandi Schwartz, author of Finding Ecohappiness: Fun Nature Activities to Help Your Kids Feel Happier and Calmer, when she took advantage of current events — a heat wave across the U.S. — to create and distribute a tip sheet titled, “How to Enjoy the Benefits of Nature Inside During a Heat Wave.”

Her advice was included in an article in the Palm Beach Post that was then re-published by USA Today, Yahoo, and The News Sow.

It’s a great example of how publicity begets publicity.

Monthly book publicity tip sheets

“I am grateful that Sandy suggested this tactic for book publicity because it keeps my book marketing active. I had no idea that my tip sheet would be used in a local paper that would ultimately get syndicated to USA Today. That was a huge hit for me and something I can use in all future marketing,” Schwartz says.

She has been sending out monthly tip sheets since April to a handcrafted media list consisting of her local media, national outlets covering parenting and environmental issues her publisher provided, and a few parenting bloggers as well.

“I have been happy with the results given the minimal effort it takes to tweak existing content into the tip sheet format that Sandy provides. It is simple and can lead to great results as I experienced with the USA Today article. Other tip sheets have resulted in articles in Women.com, Mothermag.com, Kiddos Magazine, and Embracing Change blog,” Schwartz adds.

Radio, TV, podcasts, bloggers use tip sheet advice

Radio stations like to share the advice in snippets or, like podcasts and TV talk shows, build author interviews around the tip sheet topic. In fact, my tip sheet on how to get a good holiday gift from a man was the basis of my appearance on the national TV talk show, “Home & Family,” which ran then on the The Family Channel.

Bloggers run them as posts because tip sheets save them the time it takes to write something helpful themselves.

When done right, tip sheets showcase a nonfiction book’s content or a novel’s theme or message while getting the book title in front of the book’s target audience. That’s what book publicity is all about.

Book publicity tip sheet topics

For many, the hardest part of writing a tip sheet is coming up with a topic.

For nonfiction, start by making a list of the most commonly asked questions you get from readers or others. Each can be turned into a tip sheet.

Your chapter topics are a goldmine of ideas, too.

For fiction, begin with your book’s themes, messages, and lessons. A novel that deals with grief and loss, for example, could yield a tip sheet on how to recover from loss.

When Irish children’s author Avril O’Reilly sent a tip sheet to media outlets throughout Ireland, she had immediate success that included newspaper and television exposure for her fiction book, Kathleen and the Communion Copter.

In her tip sheet, O’Reilly offered parents advice for selecting just the right Communion gift for girls. While her book is fiction, she was able to find a nonfiction nugget she could use to create a tip sheet that offered the media useful information they could use immediately.

You can do that, too.

Tip sheet elements

Successful book publicity tip sheets include specific elements:

• An attention-getting headline that includes the number of tips.
• An opening paragraph that describes the problem.
• A quote about the problem from the book author.
• A sentence that introduces the tips.
• Short, helpful tips in a list format.
• A concluding paragraph about the author and book.

Breaking it down

Let’s look at each element.

Headline

The best tip sheet headlines mimic those you see on the cover of women’s magazines – “5 surprising ways to get a beach body fast” or “6 tips for keeping your email inbox at zero.”

Include the number of tips and the tip sheet topic.

Opening paragraph

When writing the opening paragraph to describe the problem you’re solving, use statistics whenever possible to give your content weight and credibility. Using statistics isn’t required, but it’s effective enough that it’s worth doing a little research for studies, surveys, and reports.

For example, the author of a book about family caregiving writing a tip sheet about how to avoid caregiver burnout might use this first paragraph: “The National Association of Family Caregivers reports that self care is one of the biggest problems among caregivers today. The association says that nearly three quarters (72 percent) of family caregivers report not going to the doctor as often as they should and 55 percent say they cancel their own doctor appointments.”

Author quote

The author quote amplifying the problem should always add something new, rather than repeat what was stated in the opening paragraph. Use this opportunity to share an opinion.

Provide quote attribution with the author’s full name and book title.

Here’s how Schwartz did it with her heatwave tip sheet:

But nature is so critical to our health and well-being. “Nature calms us, reducing feelings of stress, anxiety, and anger. It has also been shown to improve focus and attention, as well as reduce blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, and the production of stress hormones. It even makes us friendlier and more apt to reach out to others in our community,” explains Sandi Schwartz, author of Finding Ecohappiness: Fun Nature Activities to Help Your Kids Feel Happier and Calmer.

This part: [explains Sandi Schwartz, author of Finding Ecohappiness: Fun Nature Activities to Help Your Kids Feel Happier and Calmer.] is the attribution.

Sentence introducing your tips

The set-up sentence for the tips is simple. Use this formula: “Here are (author’s last name) (number) tips for helping (audience/group) (topic).”

For the caregiving tip sheet, this sentence could be: “Here are Smith’s six tips for helping family caregivers take better care of themselves, too.”

Short tips

Use bullets or numbers for your tips. Start each tip with a verb to encourage action and keep each to no more than three sentences.

Remember that your goal here is to offer advice, not talk somebody into buying your book. Focus on providing helpful advice.

Concluding paragraph

The final paragraph ties everything up with two or three factual sentences about the author, the book, and where readers can purchase it.

Again, don’t be overtly promotional. This is a news piece, not a sales tool.

Here’s what a book publicity tip sheet looks like

I wrote “Nine tips for writing an op-ed that gets published” to publicize my book, Publicity for Nonprofits: Generating Media Exposure That Leads to Awareness, Growth, and Contributions. It was widely picked up and used in full, as is, by nonprofit trade journals.

Here’s the finished version:

sample tip sheet from Build Book Buzz

(Click on the underlined text above to view or download the PDF file.)

5 common author tip sheet mistakes

When teaching authors how to create and use these media relations tools, I see these mistakes repeatedly:

1. Confusing a tip sheet with an ad. A tip sheet is a subtle book promotion tool. It doesn’t shout “buy my book.” Instead, it communicates, “If you think this information related to the book is interesting, imagine how much value you’ll get from the actual book.”
2. Forgetting to study newspaper and magazine articles before writing the tip sheet. News writing style is informal and factual. There’s no hyperbole.
3. Not understanding that a tip sheet is designed to help people solve a problem. State a problem . . . offer your solutions.
4. Offering a list of reasons to buy the book instead of a list of tips.
5. Avoiding tip sheets because you write novels and don’t see the connection between advice-giving and fiction. It’s true that it’s harder to generate tip sheet topics for fiction, but it’s do-able for every book. I’ve taught many, many novelists how to do this — you can do it, too.

How to use book publicity tip sheets

Distribute tip sheets to media outlets that would be interested in the content. For mass distribution, I recommend eReleases. Do not rely on free press release distribution sites as they won’t send your tip sheet to the press. It will just sit on their site, hoping to be discovered.

Email your tip sheet to a handful of media outlets you’ve researched by copying and pasting your tip sheet into your email message form. Or, use the email list management service you use for your author newsletter.

Add them to your book’s online press room.

Turn them into fiction and nonfiction lead magnets designed to entice people to sign up for your mailing list.

Use them as the starting point for future blog posts.

Include them with article pitch letters sent to journalists.

Add tip sheets to your book marketing plan and you’ll have many new friends among media editors, reporters, producers, podcasters, and bloggers. You’ll also get much more exposure than your competition.

And that’s exactly what you want.

Want help brainstorming a tip sheet topic? Share a brief description of your book here and let’s get people thinking! 

(Editor’s note: This article was first published in December 2015. It has been updated and expanded.)

Raise your hand if you waited until you hit “publish” on Amazon to start thinking about how to get the book launch results that author dreams are made of.

If you’re a traditionally published author, you might not have thought about it at all. You expected your publisher to do whatever was needed to make sure readers discovered your book. No need for you to get involved. (Whoops.)

You were probably disappointed with your launch results, too.

Let’s turn that around. It starts with taking specific book marketing steps while you’re still writing.

Discovery is key

I understand the challenge. It’s hard enough to find time to write the book. Making room in your schedule (and mind) for book marketing while writing might seem like too much of a challenge.

But you have to — even if it means it takes a little longer to finish writing.

If you don’t start laying the groundwork you need to sell books before your manuscript is done, your book launch results will be dismal, discouraging, and disappointing.

If you don't start laying the groundwork you need to sell books before your manuscript is done, your book launch results will be dismal, discouraging, and disappointing.Click to tweet

Your book won’t be discovered on launch day or any other time of the year unless you goose the discovery process. That work starts early.

9 early steps to improving your book launch results

Here are nine steps to take while still writing that will help lay the groundwork for success.

Take on just one at a time. Fit in what you can, when you can.

If you do this, you’ll have several of your book marketing basics in place by the time your manuscript is done. That will set you up for a better, more successful launch.

1. Learn as much as you can about book marketing.

Read a book. Take a course.

Identify the bloggers who are publishing book marketing information you can trust. Subscribe to their newsletters.

In addition to my newsletter, I recommend:

• Kindlepreneur
• Author Marketing Experts
• The Nonfiction Authors Association
• Reedsy

2. Get clear on who will love your book.

That’s your target audience, the people you wrote your book for.

If you’ve written a nonfiction book, your target audience is people who are interested in that topic. But what do you know about them?

Many novelists tell me they wrote the book they’d like to read. It makes sense, then, that their ideal reader – their target audience – is people who are like them. (That’s not always the case – it’s just an example.)

3. Research your target audience.

Learn as much as you can about the person who is most likely to buy your book.

This will help you visualize your audience “avatar” – the one individual who best represents those who will love your book.

Next, do more research to learn where you’ll find them online and offline. For example, do people in your target audience use TikTok? Will you find them on LinkedIn? Do they like Pinterest?

4. Build a following on the social network that most of your audience uses. 

Your research into your target audience helped identify where you’ll find them online. Select one or two social networks that are most popular with your audience and learn how to use them effectively.

After you’ve spent some time learning how they work, start following “the right” people there.

Try this: Find the most popular authors in your genre. Follow them, and follow the people who follow them, too. (If they like the types of books the category leader writes, they’ll be interested in yours, too.)

And, of course, share content that will interest your ideal readers.

5. Connect with bloggers. 

Virtual book tours (author blog tours) are common and popular book launch elements.

When you “go” on a virtual book tour after your book is published, you’ll ask bloggers who reach the people you want to reach to share content that’s related to your book. That might be a:

• Guest post
• Q&A
• Audio or video interview
• Book review

You will be far more successful with bloggers who already know who you are. So, after you’ve identified the blogs you’ll want to visit on your tour, comment on and share their posts regularly.

They’ll notice you.

6. Build an email list.

Start gathering email addresses now. This is a never-ending process and for many, that growth is slow. So don’t wait.

Be sure to offer a downloadable gift – a “lead magnet”– in exchange for each email address. (Get ideas for fiction lead magnets and nonfiction lead magnets and learn how to create them at those links.)

Learn how successful authors use email to communicate with their readers by subscribing to their newsletters. What do you like about their approach? What do you dislike?

I also recommend reading Newsletter Ninja: How to Become an Author Mailing List Expert.

Learn how successful authors use email to communicate with their readers by subscribing to their newsletters.Click to tweet

7. Compile a list of “key influencers.”

Who is most influential with your book’s target audience? You’ll want to ask them to endorse your book after the manuscript is polished and finished.

Begin gathering names and contact information for them now. That’s all – just figure out who they are and how to reach them, and save it all in a file.

8. Create a Facebook Page.

I’m not talking about a Facebook profile – that’s your personal account where you acquire “friends.” I’m referring to a business Page where you acquire “likes.”

You’ll need a Page to advertise on Facebook, but it’s also a good way to establish your book’s presence on this popular social network without annoying your friends.

Use it to solicit opinions on your book’s topic, share progress updates, ask fans to vote on cover options, and so on.

9. Add your book title to your e-mail signature.

It doesn’t get any easier than just typing “Author,” followed by your book title.

Which one of these will you start doing today? Will you pick the easiest or the hardest?

Do what works for you, but whatever you do, be sure to do it now.

What’s the most important thing you did before you launched your book? Please tell us in a comment. 

A nonfiction lead magnet is the digital, downloadable incentive you offer your target readers in exchange for providing their address so they add themselves to your email list.

Whether you call it a lead magnet, reader magnet, freebie, or ethical bribe, it’s what people get when they “opt-in” – choose to add themselves – to your email list.

And you need one.

Nonfiction lead magnets and email list-building

Years ago, author email marketing was novel enough that all you needed was a newsletter sign-up form on your website to begin building your essential email list. Now that email marketing is the norm, things are more complicated.

Today, people expect a gift in exchange for their address, and why shouldn’t they? When they opt-in to your list, they’re giving you permission to contact them regularly. Thank them with a small, useful, and relevant gift.

“Useful” and “relevant” are key. Your nonfiction lead magnet has to be something your readers, fans, or audience need or want. (Do you write fiction? Read “3 fiction lead magnet ideas.”)

Make sure it solves a promise, is short and easily digestible, and offers high value.

Lead magnet examples

My primary lead magnet is a one-page PDF file with my “Top 5 Free Book Promotion Resources.” Authors receive it when they complete the form on the right side of this screen or on a page I’ve created specifically for that purpose — a “landing page.” (I use ThriveArchitect, a WordPress plug-in, or my email service provider, ConvertKit, to create most of my landing pages.)

I have several others, too. I offer each on its own landing page. They include:

• Virtual Book Tour Basics: How to Connect with Your Audience and Sell More Books Without Leaving Home
• Guest Blogging Cheat Sheet
• Book Marketing Plan Template
• Platform Building for Authors Cheat Sheet

What can you offer as a lead magnet? What does your target audience want that you can provide? Here are five ideas.

Nonfiction lead magnet idea #1: The Template

A template is a fill-in-the-blanks form.

What can you pull from your book that you can turn into a form? If your book teaches a system, you might have a worksheet that you can pull out of the manuscript and turn into a downloadable PDF file.

A fitness book author might offer an exercise tracking Excel file; the author of a book on small business website design can offer a form that lets people outline site content.

Example: Momentum Planners by Productive Flourishing

Nonfiction lead magnet idea #2: The Cheat Sheet

I’m a sucker for a cheat sheet, which is probably why I like to create them. A cheat sheet offers best practices or your best advice on a specific reader problem or challenge.

I created my author Guest Blogging Cheat Sheet after volunteering as the editor of an association blog with a monthly member column. Many member-written posts and headshots arrived in my inbox with issues I had to fix before the next step. I used them to create a short list of best practices for authors using guest blogging as a book marketing tool.

Any nonfiction author writing how-to or instructional content can easily pull a list of tips on a specific topic out of their book. Memoir writers can distill their lessons learned about the key problem or turning point in their lives into a cheat sheet, too.

Example: Guest Blogging Cheat Sheet

Nonfiction lead magnet idea #3: The Plan

A plan is a form of calendar where you’ve mapped out what someone needs to do on a schedule – it might be daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly.

Are you a cookbook author? Create a menu plan based on your book. Is yours a career book for new college graduates? Provide a simple “do this, then do that” plan for landing that first job.

Example: 100 Days of Real Food (when you move your mouse to leave the page, you’ll get a pop-up with a free meal plan offer)

Nonfiction lead magnet idea #4: The Resource List

People love resource lists because they save them time.

What are your favorite resources that are related to your topic? What tools, products, or sites do you use that will help others who are interested in what you write about? Drop them into a one-page resource list.

Are you a social media guru? List your favorite content creation and scheduling tools. Do you write travel books? Give us a list of what you won’t leave home without.

Example: The Content Hacker Educational Resource List for Today’s Marketers-in-Training

Nonfiction lead magnet idea #5: The Checklist

Who doesn’t love a checklist that will keep them on track and prevent mistakes?

Do you offer dating advice? List the elements of a dating app profile that gets results. Is your book about how to make soap? Give us an ingredients shopping list.

Example: The Ultimate Optin Form Checklist

Designing your lead magnet

Before you can create a compelling lead magnet, you need to know what goes into one and what it looks like. For that reason, I recommend downloading the examples listed above.

Add yourself to lots of other email lists, too, and study their lead magnets to see how others are doing it.

Once you’ve selected a format and written text to go with it, you’ll decide whether you’re going to design it yourself or outsource the work.

You can also create an attractive, effective lead magnet with low- or no-cost resources. I’ve used each of the following. The first is for out-sourcing; the second two are do-it-yourself options.

Fiverr 

Fiverr is an online marketplace for freelance services. For tasks like this, I think it’s an easier way to find a graphic artist than alternatives that include ask friends for recommendations or using a job site such as Upwork.

On the site, search for “lead magnet design” until you find one or two designers that you like.

When placing an order, attach to your order a lead magnet that represents what you’re looking for. It will help your designer better understand what you need in a finished product.

If you don’t have a lead magnet to offer as a sample, scroll through the design samples offered by Fiverr designers to find something that resonates with you and your book’s personality.

In general, I find that I get the best results on Fiverr when I can give the designer an example of the type of look I’d like to have.

Designrr 

Designrr is one of my favorite book marketing resources. It’s a web-based tool that lets me take content I’ve already created on my blog, in a Word file, or on a web page and turn it into a range of end products. I pay $27 for it annually and use it specifically for lead magnets.

Just last week, I used it to turn my 2021 Literary Calendar blog post into a downloadable PDF. Now, authors reading that article can also download and save the calendar when they provide their email address.

It was as simple as selecting the template I wanted to use (this one was my first time using a two-column design), pasting my URL into the form for the text import, and  playing around with the result.

Every time I use it, I get a little more brave . . . and a little more creative.

Canva 

Canva is an online design tool with both free and premium levels.

Creating a lead magnet is easier, of course, if you already know how to use Canva. If you aren’t taking advantage of it yet, it will probably take longer to create an end product than other options. Reviewing templates and learning how to customize or replace elements isn’t hard, but it takes time.

If you know what you want  – say, an e-book or a checklist   – simply type that term into the search box. You can also search for “lead magnet” to get some fun ideas and templates.

As an alternative, on the home page, review the options under the Canva header image. These categories are your best bets:

• Documents
• Education
• Marketing
• Events

Click around each collection to find something that speaks to you.

Set aside time to browse your options, as there are plenty of them. To get started, in the “documents” collection, try the “A4 document” options. Or, in the “events” group, select “announcement” in the “events” collection.

There are many more lead magnet options available to you, so spend some time Googling the topic to see what else you might discover. Once you’ve got your lead magnet (or magnets!) in place, remember that it won’t help if people don’t know about it.

Your goal with email list-building is to constantly send ideal readers to your landing page so your list — and your reach — grows steadily.

If you have a lead magnet, please tell us what it is in a comment and explain why you selected that format and topic. 

I’d love to see more of you use email marketing to build relationships with readers in a way that will help you sell more books.

As with just about every book marketing tactic, there’s a right way and a wrong way to use email marketing as an author. And, not surprisingly, it’s not as simple as finding someone who knows how to add an email form to your website.

You also need to know how to encourage people to add themselves to your list, and you have to send email messages that “speak” to them.

That’s why I’m reviewing Newsletter Ninja: How to Become an Author Mailing List Expert by Tammi Labrecque. I think it will help with nearly every aspect of author email marketing.

Who will find this book helpful?

Newsletter Ninja will help authors at several different knowledge levels. They are people who:

• Aren’t convinced it’s a smart marketing tactic
• Know they should do it, but don’t know much more than that
• Make building an email list a priority and send a regular newsletter
• Are more experienced email marketers, but know they can learn more about how to use it even more effectively

The book covers everything you need to know and understand about using email marketing as an author with one exception. It doesn’t show you how to get set up with an email collection form on your website.

That’s because the process isn’t uniform. It varies for each email service provider, so you’ll need to use your provider’s tutorials and support staff for that. (If you’re not a do-it-yourselfer, ask a friend to recommend someone who can do it for you.)

What you can expect from Newsletter Ninja

There’s a lot to like about this book, including the author’s friendly, conversational tone. She’s an excellent writer, which makes it easy to learn from her.

There’s something for every author in this book, no matter where you are in the spectrum. Not using email at all? She’ll talk you into it. Power user? You’ll love the last few chapters about re-engagement and split testing.

If you’re using email marketing already, you’ll learn how to do it better — and you’ll learn how to become a more sophisticated user, too.

One of the beauties of this book’s contents is that you can stop reading as soon as you feel like you’re getting in over your head. Use what you’ve learned to improve what you’re already doing. Then, with that mastered, come back to the book and read more about what is, for you, next-level author email marketing.

Throughout the book, Labrecque makes it clear that she knows that not everyone understands industry buzzwords. She defines many of the terms she uses, such as “cookie” (what she calls that incentive you offer readers in exchange for their email address), and “onboarding sequence.”

This is important because if you get confused by or hung up on the buzzwords, you might stop reading. The author brings you along with her gently, all the while reassuring you that she is in tune with you. I like that!

A few gems

I’m sure it’s not surprising that I like a book that repeats some of the things I tell the authors I coach. One of these is in Chapter 1: “Do not make business decisions based on your own consumer behavior.” You are not your reader, she reminds us.

In Chapter 4, she tells us that the primary purpose of an author newsletter isn’t to sell books. It’s to build superfans. With those superfan relationships in place, you’ll sell books, but you don’t want to reach out to your subscribers only when you’ve got a new book for them to buy.

In Chapter 7, Labrecque explains the newsletter triad: you want your subscribers to open, click, reply.

If you’re sending a newsletter, is that happening for you? Do you know what percentage of your messages get opened? Are subscribers clicking on your links? Are they replying to your messages? If not, Newsletter Ninja will help you fix that.

Labrecque also offers an extensive list of helpful links to more information online, taking your learning outside the pages of her book to other websites.

For fiction and nonfiction authors alike

I was surprised to discover that in this book, Labrecque focuses on fiction, with no reference to nonfiction authors — at least none that I could find. The book’s description doesn’t say it’s specifically for fiction writers, and that’s not clear from the table of contents, either.

Even so, we nonfiction authors are smart enough to see past the fiction examples and stories and focus on the valuable lessons, regardless of how they’re packaged. You will learn as much as any novelist — you just won’t have the “for instances” that could help bring the concepts to life for you.

One topic that’s fiction-specific and less helpful to nonfiction authors is the Chapter 11 discussion about what to give fans to encourage them to sign up for your newsletter. Labrecque’s suggestions — a novella or prequel, for example — let readers sample the author’s writing.

I’d recommend considering other, more creative options, in light of recent research suggesting that short-form content works best. Labrecque did offer a few non-writing-sample alternatives, and I encourage you to consider that approach, too, whether you write fiction or nonfiction.

Two thumbs up

In college course terms, this book starts out at the 101 level, moves to 201, and ends at 301. You might not be comfortable moving through all levels right now. If you’re a beginner, start with the basics before implementing more sophisticated tactics.

You’ll want to know everything in the book eventually, but it’s OK to learn at your own pace.

I highly recommend Newsletter Ninja: How to Become an Author Mailing List Expert. I’m excited about implementing some of the ideas I got from it, too!

Are you using email marketing? Are you getting the results you want? Tell us about it in a comment! 

Tip of the Month

I like to share a “Tip of the Month,” a free resource or tool for authors, on the last Wednesday of the month.

This time it’s a Audiense.com, a fascinating tool that helps you understand your audience’s demographics. It will help you learn more about your readers and, in turn, discover where to reach them online.

At Audiense.com, scroll down to the “Unique audience segmentation” section and click on “create a free report.”

After adding a name for your report, you’ll define your audience. This is done with Twitter accounts and hashtags. Add the “@” accounts followed by  your ideal readers, but also add the hashtags you believe are relevant to them.

In a few hours, you’ll get a report with insights about your audience that you can use to help determine which social media platforms will work best for you or to guide your Facebook advertising audience choices. Be sure to click on all the tabs to get the most from it.

You can generate three reports a month.

Or do you – like so many – take on what you might see as a more literary demeanor online or in your newsletter because you think readers expect that of someone with the title “author?”

If you’re not being your true self, please reconsider.

I’ll explain why using a recent experience I had.

So I signed up for a newsletter . . .

I regularly add myself to email lists to study “lead magnets” (those incentives offered to give up your name and email address) and how marketers communicate with their lists.

I did this last week at a site owned by a woman who teaches people how to earn money as freelance writers – “even if you have NO experience!” As someone who does have experience, I was interested in what she had to share.

But I’m not so interested anymore.

It was clear in the first email I received that I’m not in her target audience – I’m not her ideal reader.

How do I know that?

She said what?

It was clear to me that we weren’t a good match because while being herself, the marketer used an “f-bomb” in the second sentence.

Don’t get me wrong. I can swear with the best of them – and I do (too much, in fact).

But when I’m in work mode, I don’t want f-bombs in my inbox.

If I had taken the time to read her “about” page before adding myself to her list, I would have known what to expect. Her sort-of bio includes “asshole,” “what the actual ‘f-bomb’,” and “shit sundae.” (Can you believe I found an image of that?)

I’ll confess that the f-bomb in her opener did keep me reading, though, because I wanted to see what else would make me think, “We aren’t a good fit.”

Don’t call me lazy

I found it a few paragraphs and a dozen emojis later.  

The marketer’s message included a link to a video and this text: “If you need to XXX but you’re too lazy to watch a 16-minute YouTube video that will literally walk you through how to XXX, you’re probably too lazy to XXX.” (I replaced specifics with XXX to protect her identity.)

Substitute “busy” for “lazy” and she might have been speaking to me.

But she wasn’t. And that’s OK.

This is how it should be. She doesn’t want to continually email someone who will never buy from her, regardless of the reason.

It’s not just me!

One of my author subscribers had a similar experience last year.

She added herself to the list of a young male marketer who, she quickly learned, used foul language and imagery in his emails. She wondered what to do about it.

I advised her to unsubscribe from his list.

Easy enough, right? Poof! The offensive content is gone.

By being himself, the marketer targeting authors was appealing to someone like him – young, male, crude. He might have been doing this intentionally because those are the people he wants to work with — or he might not have even been thinking about that.

Regardless, it was clear that my author friend, a baby boomer female, wasn’t his ideal reader.

Be you

What can you learn from our experiences and others like them?

To be yourself.

Just be yourself in your email newsletter, on your blog, and on social media.

This is important because research shows that birds of a feather actually do flock together. People gravitate to people who like the same things they do.

That includes books.

You will attract the right readers

So if you like what you write – if you’re writing the types of books you like to read – then others who are comfortable with your style and personality will be attracted to you and your work.

Stop striving to be like another author you admire. Sure, you can use some of the same strategies and tactics if that author is successful, but while doing so, put your own spin on it.

Remain true to you, whether you’re an f-bomb dropper or wouldn’t swear in public if your life depended on it.

Let the real you shine through. You are enough. You are the you we want to hear from.

Have you had an experience like ours and realized that you weren’t a good fit based on the marketer/author/consultant’s personality? What did you see that showed you that?

“Lead magnet” is a marketing term for the gift you give readers as an incentive to add themselves to your email list.

Think of it as an ethical bribe.

This isn’t optional. To get people to sign up to receive occasional author updates or a regular newsletter, you need to offer them a free, downloadable gift. It has to be something your readers, fans, or audience need or want.

My primary lead magnet is a one-page PDF file with my “Top 5 Free Book Promotion Resources.” Authors receive it when they complete the form on the right side of this screen or on a page I’ve created specifically for that purpose — a “landing page.”

The big question for you is: What should I offer as my incentive?

Not an easy question for novelists

That question is easier for nonfiction authors to answer than it is for novelists. Nonfiction authors can create quizzes, templates, infographics, cheat sheets, and samples, among other options.

More often than not, if they’re using any kind of lead magnet, fiction writers are using a novella or short story.

But is that your only option?
Nope.

Here are a few suggestions to get you thinking.

Fiction lead magnet idea #1: How to do something

Bear with me on this. It’s possible.

When I read Jane Green’s Saving Grace, which made frequent references to food that sounded delicious, I wanted the recipes. I wanted them so badly that I searched for them online. Unfortunately, she didn’t provide them.

If Green had offered a collection of recipes featured in that book as a lead magnet for her list, I would have “opted in” — marketing-speak for “added myself to her list” — without thinking twice.

The author of The Language of Flowers could create a one-page illustrated guide to flowers as symbols (daisy is innocence, calla lily is passion, aster is wisdom, etc.).

And how about a tongue-in-cheek sheet of instructions for “how to be a crazy rich Asian” to go along with the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy?

It’s not that hard after all, right?

Fiction lead magnet idea #2: A cheat sheet

Imagine a lead magnet for How to Make an American Quilt that offers the best quilting tips from top quilters — even though it isn’t a nonfiction how-to quilting book.

If you’ve read Dan Brown’s Angels & Demons, you can appreciate how a map of the Vatican or a guide to Bernini’s art might have enhanced your story enjoyment. You’d add yourself to his mailing list to get that, right?

If you write fantasy novels with many characters with unusual names, consider creating a one-page PDF character guide with names and descriptions. It will be a Godsend to fans who read in many small units of time rather than in long sittings.

Fiction lead magnet #3: Your book’s first chapter

This is the go-to option for most novelists. It’s what most recommend doing not because it’s the only idea they can think of, but because it’s the easiest to offer and implement.

Just save your first chapter as a PDF file and set it up in your system for downloading.

It’s a smart option because it lets readers sample your storytelling and writing skills. (Because of that, if you’re not a good writer, this could work against you.)

Because it will help readers who aren’t yet familiar with you take your book for a test drive, it’s a solid option for first-time novelists.

If you’re a seasoned writer with an established fan base, though, start getting creative with options one and two. You’ll have more fun with it, and so will your readers.

Creating your lead magnet

You can create an attractive, effective lead magnet with low-cost resources. I’ve used each of the following:

Fiverr

On the Fiverr site, search for “lead magnet design.”

To make sure you have a vision for what you want your designer to create, I recommend adding yourself to lots of email lists that offer lead magnets so you can see what other people are doing.

When you find one or two that you like, attach one to your order as an example of what you’re looking for.

Your other option is to scroll through the design samples offered by Fiverr designers to find something that resonates with you and your book’s personality.

In general, I find that I get the best results on Fiverr when I can give the designer an example of the type of look I’d like to have.

Designrr

Designrr is my new favorite toy. I paid $27 for this web-based software that lets me take content I’ve already created on my blog, in  a Word file, on Facebook, or on a web page — and turn it into a range of end products.

When I wanted to create a special free gift for a conference I spoke at recently, I used Designrr to turn a blog post into a short report. The nerd in me enjoyed exploring the templates and imagining the many design options for the audience handout.

You’ll get a PDF as well as a URL that houses the PDF. Give that URL to people who add themselves to your list.

Canva

While Canva is free, if you aren’t familiar with it already, it will be your most time-intensive option as you review templates and learn how to customize or replace elements.

Start by typing “lead magnet” into the search box to get a nice selection of options and templates. Or, if you know what you want — say, an e-book — simply type that term into the search box.

Alternatively, on the home page, select “browse all” in small type in the upper right, just under the large search box. Scroll down to see all options. Best bets are documents, education, marketing, and events categories. Click around each collection to find something that speaks to you.

“A4 document” in the “documents” collection and “announcement” in the “events” collection offer appropriate templates and inspiration.

Need a lead magnet idea for your book? Join the Build Book Buzz book marketing group on Facebook and start a discussion. Tell us you’re looking for help with a lead magnet idea, provide your book title, and give us a short book description. Let’s rally the troops to help you if you need it!

What are you using as an incentive to get people on your list? Tell us in a comment.