What’s the best way to announce your book via email?

I receive a steady stream of book announcement emails. I want to be excited for the authors, because this is a big deal. Sadly, though, most of the messages aren’t very compelling.

More often than not, they’re self-congratulatory (“I’ve achieved my dream!”) or self-serving (“If you buy my book on Amazon in the next 24 hours, I can become a best-selling author!”).

Some are brief: “My new book is out. Here’s a link where you can buy it.” Others are rambling. Few tell me why I’d want to buy the book – what’s in it for me, the reader.

8 tips for using email to announce your new bundle of joy

I don’t want you to repeat the mistakes I keep seeing in my inbox, so I’m sharing eight tips that will help authors with any level of marketing experience write a book announcement email message that will resonate with recipients.

1. Tell us what the book’s about.

Don’t presume that we’re up to speed. This might be the first time we’re hearing about your book.

Start with the description on the back cover or, if it’s e-book only, the Amazon description. It should tell us why we will want to buy your book, right?

You might need to massage it to make it more personal, since email is such an informal means of communicating.

2. Realize that it’s not about you.

It’s about the person you’re writing to.

Tell me what your book will do for me.

Will it educate, inform, entertain, enlighten?

How will your book improve my world, help me improve someone else’s world, or help me forget about my world?

3. Include a link where we can purchase the book from a trusted online retailer.

Seriously – you’d be surprised at how many messages omit this. If possible, include links to more than one retail site.

Don’t use your Amazon Associates link when providing that retailer option, though. Amazon’s terms of service don’t allow using them in email messages.

(Hint: Your author website is not a “trusted online retailer.”)

4. Forget the “help me make my book an Amazon best-seller” plea.

This message is too you-focused.

And, really, unless you and I are close, I don’t care if your book is a best-seller or not.

All I want to know is whether I’ll like or need your book or if I know someone else who would.

5. Don’t come on too strong in your email blast.

You might suggest that your book makes a nice gift, but don’t tell me that I “should” buy it for everybody I work with.

Some of us respond better to requests than to demands.

6. Ask me nicely to share your news with my networks.

If I know people who will want to know about your book, I’ll help spread the word. But sometimes I need to be reminded of that excellent idea.

7. When sending from your desktop email program (Outlook, Gmail, etc.), “bcc” everyone you’re sending to.

Put your own email address in the “to” line and the recipient addresses in the “bcc” line so that you aren’t exposing email addresses. Using the bcc option will keep your connections’ addresses private.

Send your announcement to anyone in your address book who might realistically be interested in your book. Be thoughtful about this. Not everyone will be interested, and it could be inappropriate to send to some.

If you plan to send an email blast to lots of address book contacts, consider emailing in batches over time so your messages don’t get flagged as spam.

8. Remember that the quality of your announcement reflects the quality of your book, so make it as good as you can.

I received one that looked like a ransom note, with multiple fonts and sizes. I know this wasn’t what the author intended.

What’s that old saying? You only get one chance to make a first impression?

That’s why you want to make sure that your announcement uses correct grammar and has no errors. (I actually received one that had a mistake in the book title.) Details matter.

If it’s sloppy, we will think your book’s content is a mess, too.

Don’t stop with the email announcement

Whatever you do, make this just the starting point for your book launch. There’s lots more you could — and “should” — be doing to promote your book.

Focus on learning as much as you can about your ideal readers so you can get your book’s title in front of them both online and off.

Have you ever purchased a book based on an email blast announcement? Why?

(Editor’s note: This article was first published in August 2010. It has been updated and expanded.)