Business Post: Newsletter Subscriptions - Getting Subscribers

Because of how important subscribers are, I figured I'd write something quickly about how to get new subscribers. Many of these methods we've used ourselves, and there are - of course - companies that do all these things, but I figured we'd consolidate all the different suggestions and methods and level of effectiveness we've seen.

There are also, I think two major things that you need to think about when acquiring subscribers, which is the type of subscriber and, also the collection method.

To start, you should be breaking up your newsletter subscribers in two lists:

- pre-existing readers 

- mass subscribers

Pre-existing readers are just that, people who are already interested in you as an author, whether they purchased and read a book before or came across you and your writing via social media. These are your golden standard, the people who are most likely to read new works by you, and should thus be treated better. 

Mass subscribers come from a variety of sources (see below); but might be here for free books, or because they saw your work via a promo or newsletter building method. They are not (currently) directly interested in you, so you'll likely see a lower open rate and clickthrough. Eventually, though, you can shift some of these over to your pre-existing readers as they show great interest in your work and you reduce / send fewer promo emails to them.

Alright, so two lists (types of readers) and two types of collection methods:

- passive (readers or subscribers come to you)

- active (you search for them yourself).

Let's talk about Passive Collection methods first.

Website and Social Media

Websites are the most passive by far. A link on your website or social media page, for those who might be interested in it. I also, generally, include the social media shoutouts to fans of those pages and/or followers on social media under this. Mostly, there's nothing given to make them subscribe (beyond whatever free short stories / chapters / artwork that are on your automation sequences) and thus, the majority of these subscribers are highly interested in you or your writing.

Newsletter List: Existing Readers

Bonus Epilogues / Extra Scenes

At the end of a book, I would recommend that you add a bonus epilogue link, generally to a bookfunnel page where you can then collect e-mails for those who arrive and request the bonus epilogue / chapter / scene. This is, by far, the best method I have found for collecting new e-mails from existing readers and has significantly increased my own newsletter. 

Definitely do this for book 1's. Less important in future books, but the first book in a series is where you gain the most readers. You can also, because they have downloaded specific newsletters, create new newsletter automation sequences to push readthrough of future books.

Newsletter List: Existing Readers

Active Collection

Newsletter Builders (Author Run)

When you're looking at active collections, author managed collection methods come in two major forms. Exclusive and non-exclusive  collection routes. 

The majority of the non-exclusive collection methods originate from places like Bookfunnel and StoryOrigin.

Newsletter Builders (Company Run)

- Bookfunnel and Story Origin and a few other companies run newsletter collectors, allowing multiple authors to join together to promote one another. The general format is a set date where promotion begins and ends, a series of books that are added to the newsletter builder and a page where everyone promotes and sends their own newsletter subscribers to acquire these books - at a discount or free.

- Generally, subscribers from this group are of lower quality, with a large number 'free book acquirers' and thus, they will rarely become full price readers. However, that is not to say that none of them will, so it can be a good way to get a new list off the ground or pad out an older list

- If possible, I try not to use the pre-existing reader list for such promos, preferring instead to use my mass subscribers. Not only are they more interested in such offers, it keeps my personal readers less 'burnt out' from constant promos.

Newsletter List: Mass Subscribers

Giveaways & Shared Newsletter Builders

- these are generally managed and organised internally. Now, mind you, depending on local laws, you have to be careful not to run afoul of lottery laws; but the idea behind giveaways is to provide value to your readers with a potential item of use. Generally, we've found paperbacks and actual books better returns on giveaway items rather than things like Kindles. We get more subscribers with Kindle giveaways, but then more unsubscribes as these subscribers are here JUST for the product.

Books are easier in that sense.

Newsletter List: Mass Subscribers

- Shared newsletter builders are a recent push, where authors work together to give away a book - or a series of books - for free. This is more exclusive, set-up individually with authors who are known quantities, who all promise to share the newsletters - multiple times - with both their newsletters and also socials. In many cases, money is throw into the pot too - like $25-50 and these funds are used to add advertising for newsletter subscribers to the group.

At the end of the promotional period, all the subscribers are shared out to the participants. Obviously, information is given that such sharing will happen beforehand, and there is some degree of checking needed to verify that the newsletters are not spam or junk mail, but it can be a very useful way of getting targeted subscribers.

Newsletter List: Readers or Mass Subscribers depending on list and targeting of group.

Paid Advertising

Lastly, paid advertising can work well at gaining new newsletter subscribers. In many cases, it is via Facebook or other social media ads that make the offer of a 'free' book, so long as the subscriber adds themselves to the e-mail list. Then, once they have themselves added, they get sent the free ebook and are added to the usual automation list.

There are also companies that do newsletter builders or directed ads for you to gain such subscribers, which can sometimes be better; depending on the level of knowledge and expertise you have with such advertising strategies.

This is likely the most expensive method of acquiring newsletter subscribers. They are also, often, not the best subscribers in terms of $ spend on your actual books; so it's something I only recommend to those with a large backlist and a big budget.

Not for the faint-hearted or small budgets.

Newsletter List: Mass Subscribers

Alright, so those are the major ways that I know of for getting new subscribers to your newsletter. Making sure you have a good balance of passive (reader driven) subscribers and new, mass subscribers is important. Even if you're running a mass subscriber methodology every few months, making it part of your regular promotional strategy can result in a small but steady increase in numbers - and, generally, sales.

Of course, to make best use of that, you'll want an automation list for subscribers and a good newsletter that touches on your backlist as well as upcoming promotions.

But that's another post.