Indie Publishing Guide: Book Marketing Tip #3—Use Email Blasts for Short Term Marketing
So you've set up your automation, you've got a long-term marketing plan, and you're feeling pretty good about your open and click rates. You don't have to stop there, though! You're probably working on things all year round (or you should be). If one of the goals of email marketing is to keep your list up-to-date with your work and efforts (so they get to know you better, right?), send them an email whenever something cool comes up. Here are some of the new things I've sent my list outside of the automation.
Book Launches
I'm new to the book launch. However, the entire strategy behind this first year and a half is to build up enough fans and followers behind my first three books to be able to launch my new book and series to a dedicated audience. I won't go into a ton of detail about the launch in this post, but I've already sent out a few updates on my progress and an offer to vote on the cover design. As I get closer to releasing the novel, I'll use single emails to let my list know about any of the readings, signings, or other events I'm doing, too.
Customized Short Stories
Last year at Heroes Con, the artist at the table next to me did a lot of business on commissions. He drew caricatures, inserted his customer's faces onto drawings of their favorite superheroes, etc . . . . I decided to offer the same thing, only since I'm not an artist, I figured I'd do it with short stories. Thus, my Customized Short Story service was born. The idea is simple: pick a template—Zombie, Post-Apocalyptic Death Cult, Rapphannock River Monster, or Be the Murderer—and choose whether you want to live or die. There are also two levels. The template version allows you to insert your name into the template. The premium version allows you to provide three details that I have to somehow work into the story. One customer had me weave a bottle of mustard, kittens, and a plane crash into the Rapphannock River Monster story ("Steps"). Another wanted one of his friends named Out-Run-David to die in the first scene, as well as mentioning Weird Al Yankovic, and the Borg into the Post-Apocalyptic Death Cult Story ("The Deepest Cuts.")
Novel Chapters and Outtakes
I'm in the middle of writing two different novels right now. One, The Rabbit, The Jaguar, & The Snake, is the first book in my Bonesaw series. It's a sci-fi, post-apocalyptic, horror mashup, and I'm about two months away from releasing it. The second one, Twitty Carson's Third Act, is still in the early drafting stages. It's my first attempt at writing straight up literary drama, too.
The Rabbit, The Jaguar, & The Snake is about 99,000 words long, and throughout the process, I've cut out a lot of chapters, sections, and digressions—anything that didn't serve the narrative in some way. As I get closer to my launch, I'm not getting rid of them entirely. I'll use those as teasers into the novel's world. They'll get the full treatment, too: cover art, .mobi/.epub files, theme music, and an audiobook. I'll also send out some of my favorite chapters or passages that did make the cut, too, along with all the extras!
I'm not sure if I'll do all of that with Twitty Carson's Third Act. It's a different genre from what my list signed up for, but there are a few suspenseful passages that they might like, specifically "Run For Your Life," the opening chapter of the novel, so I'll send that out to them.
One note of caution: If you already have your list on a scheduled automation, you probably don't want to bombard it with emails. It'll feel aggressive, like you're trying to sell something, and if they feel like you're trying to sell them something, they'll unsubscribe.
Next up: Host your own event
CLICK HERE to join my email list and receive a free short story, audio book, and theme song for "Beta":
A monster terrorizes an isolated village in the mountains of Eastern Europe, draining the blood of its victims, leaving them frozen in the snow. The villagers hunt wolves, decapitate “vampires,” but the murders continue. As each new body is found, the residents grow more and more paranoid. Who will be next? Will it ever end?
Book Launches
I'm new to the book launch. However, the entire strategy behind this first year and a half is to build up enough fans and followers behind my first three books to be able to launch my new book and series to a dedicated audience. I won't go into a ton of detail about the launch in this post, but I've already sent out a few updates on my progress and an offer to vote on the cover design. As I get closer to releasing the novel, I'll use single emails to let my list know about any of the readings, signings, or other events I'm doing, too.
Customized Short Stories
Last year at Heroes Con, the artist at the table next to me did a lot of business on commissions. He drew caricatures, inserted his customer's faces onto drawings of their favorite superheroes, etc . . . . I decided to offer the same thing, only since I'm not an artist, I figured I'd do it with short stories. Thus, my Customized Short Story service was born. The idea is simple: pick a template—Zombie, Post-Apocalyptic Death Cult, Rapphannock River Monster, or Be the Murderer—and choose whether you want to live or die. There are also two levels. The template version allows you to insert your name into the template. The premium version allows you to provide three details that I have to somehow work into the story. One customer had me weave a bottle of mustard, kittens, and a plane crash into the Rapphannock River Monster story ("Steps"). Another wanted one of his friends named Out-Run-David to die in the first scene, as well as mentioning Weird Al Yankovic, and the Borg into the Post-Apocalyptic Death Cult Story ("The Deepest Cuts.")
Novel Chapters and Outtakes
I'm in the middle of writing two different novels right now. One, The Rabbit, The Jaguar, & The Snake, is the first book in my Bonesaw series. It's a sci-fi, post-apocalyptic, horror mashup, and I'm about two months away from releasing it. The second one, Twitty Carson's Third Act, is still in the early drafting stages. It's my first attempt at writing straight up literary drama, too.
The Rabbit, The Jaguar, & The Snake is about 99,000 words long, and throughout the process, I've cut out a lot of chapters, sections, and digressions—anything that didn't serve the narrative in some way. As I get closer to my launch, I'm not getting rid of them entirely. I'll use those as teasers into the novel's world. They'll get the full treatment, too: cover art, .mobi/.epub files, theme music, and an audiobook. I'll also send out some of my favorite chapters or passages that did make the cut, too, along with all the extras!
I'm not sure if I'll do all of that with Twitty Carson's Third Act. It's a different genre from what my list signed up for, but there are a few suspenseful passages that they might like, specifically "Run For Your Life," the opening chapter of the novel, so I'll send that out to them.
One note of caution: If you already have your list on a scheduled automation, you probably don't want to bombard it with emails. It'll feel aggressive, like you're trying to sell something, and if they feel like you're trying to sell them something, they'll unsubscribe.
Next up: Host your own event
CLICK HERE to join my email list and receive a free short story, audio book, and theme song for "Beta":
A monster terrorizes an isolated village in the mountains of Eastern Europe, draining the blood of its victims, leaving them frozen in the snow. The villagers hunt wolves, decapitate “vampires,” but the murders continue. As each new body is found, the residents grow more and more paranoid. Who will be next? Will it ever end?
No comments have been added yet.
