Email marketing: the Holy Grail of book sales or Spamalot?
by Anne R. Allen
Email marketing is the only way to sell stuff online these days, we’re told. Get yourself an email address list and customers will beat a path to your buy page door, desperate to buy your deathless prose.
Authors are abandoning blogging and social media to jump into their time-travelling DeLoreans to return to those simple days of yesteryear when nobody had heard of Tweets, Facebook or Instagram–when a “weblog” was a online diary for getting angsty about The Breakfast Club and Star Wars figurines.
We’re back to the era of You’ve Got Mail, when Grandma sent those chain letters that threatened certain death if you didn’t forward the Serenity prayer to 147 of your closest friends and Aunt Sally emailed warnings that refrigerator magnets cause cancer…and those nice Nigerian princes had millions for all.
The rule is back to: “The One with the Biggest Email List Wins!” It’s got be bigger than the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers! Slap Bracelets!! Beanie Babies!!! Who cares how you get those addresses: just grab ’em and spam, spam, spam!
Um, wrong.
See, it’s not actually 1998. We now have something called the CAN-SPAM Act, which President Bush signed in 2003 as a way of setting the national standard for sending commercial email.
CAN-SPAM is an acronym for “Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing.” It’s a way to “can” the spam.
One violation can cost you up to $16,000.
I used to politely inform clueless authors who spammed me that 1) they shouldn’t send to people who haven’t subscribed and 2) they need to set up an unsubscribe function.
But after I got some obscenity-laced responses (interestingly, from a “conservative, family values” children’s author), I now simply forward the email to the FCC at spam@uce.gov. You can do the same.
I love to picture these guys getting a bill for $16,000. Karma’s a b****.
1) Never Buy an Email Marketing List
Ruth and I have been buried under a barrage of unwanted email in the last few months. Most address us by name. If we delete, they “follow up.” Often with identical templates. They seem to be learning this stuff from the same source.
Some send book ads and newsletters. Others tell us we can become “rich publish writer” if we read their blogs.
By far the most annoying email comes from people who make demands for free services. Not one has read the blog or has any idea who we are. But they expect us to do stuff for them…free.
But I may have finally figured out what’s going on.
I think they’ve all bought email lists containing our names and addresses.
For-sale email lists have long been banned from places like Fivrr, but with the back-to-the-future email marketing craze, they seem to have resurfaced. Maybe phony email lists are the latest offering from the people who sell fake reviews, mythical Twitter and FB followers and bogus “blog traffic”.
The people who demand we market/review their books, promote businesses, provide backlinks, etc. may feel entitled to our services…because they’ve PAID.
That is, they bought an email list.
Similar stuff happens to book bloggers. An author pays for a blog tour and proceeds to dictate to the bloggers, oblivious to the fact that nothing they’ve paid actually goes to the bloggers.
But at least buying a blog tour is legit.
Buying a “harvested” email list is against the law.
For some reason we seem to be on a bunch of lists. Maybe the pirate who hijacked us last year is responsible. (We have more pirates trying to get in this weekend. GRRR.) But no matter where you get an email address, it’s NEVER okay to spam. So don’t.
2) Don’t Email “Influencers” and Demand Free Advertising, Consulting, or Recommendations because Some Course Told You To
I get a lot of email asking me to rewrite old posts to insert recommendations for books, businesses or services–mostly stuff that has nothing to do with writing or publishing.
Apparently people have been told I’m an “influencer” which means I love to do free stuff for people who have paid for courses on how to have “passive income.”
I’ve seen blog gurus tell their disciples to “get influencers to advance your career.” They promise that said influencers will fall all over themselves to give free services to hundreds of thousands of newbies, because that’s just what we do.
I once protested to one of these guys that most working authors don’t have time for this. The guru said I’d feel better about myself if I did some giving for a change.
We should give free services to the people he charges big bux for his passive income courses. Because his peeps are too busy being passive to read our blogposts or books. We should do all the work–so we’ll feel better about ourselves. Gee thanks. 🙂
I figured out I was still an “Influencer” when I heard from a major bestseller a few weeks ago. She was stunned by the spam ad from the obscenity-spewing “family values” author who had cc’d us both. I looked at the other recipients (he didn’t know how to send blind copies) and saw lots of big-name authors on the list.
I figured some charlatan probably told him to email successful authors and demand we promote his book, because that’s what “influential” authors do.
And besides, maybe he’d bought our email addresses fair and square, so it was our duty to deliver the sales.
There are tons of bogus “courses” on the Internet. That’s how the “make gazillions with your blog” people earn their money. The courses are basically pyramid schemes.
The fact a course costs a lot doesn’t mean it’s valuable.
3) Don’t Dump Yourself in the Spam Folder
Don’t send promotional emails to Facebook friends, Twitter peeps, commenters on your blog, or your Pokemon Go recovery support group…unless they actually sign up for your list.
Not only is it against the law, they’re likely to send your email to spam, which marks you as a spammer. Once a program like gmail red-flags your address as spam, you’re done there.
Also, some email programs automatically dump bulk personal emails into spam if they’re addressed to more than a handful of people–even if they’ve subscribed.
Some more sensitive spam filters may block you from reaching anybody in their network once you’ve been marked as a spammer.
That happened to me with one of my best friends. I have a small personal list who get notices of new posts on this blog. My friend switched to a new server that not only blocked those posts, but also all my personal emails to her.
So it’s best to get an outside company like MailChimp to handle your list. They’ll give you a a sign-up widget to put on your website the way we have here in the sidebar.
Feedburner has a simple rss email feed that will provide you with a sign-up widget for most platforms. It had a lot of problems a few years ago, but seems to be working fine now. It doesn’t deliver newsletters, but it automatically delivers every new blogpost, in its entirety, into a subscriber’s inbox whenever you post. If you’re on Blogger, you can get the Feedburner RSS subscription sign-up as a part of your template. Just install it in your sidebar with one click.
There are plenty of other programs like Awebber, Constant Contact, etc. you can use with or without a blog platform. MailChimp seems to be most popular with authors. But it will cost $30 a month if you have over 2000 subscribers.
4) Don’t Send an Email Ad When You Have Nothing of Value to Offer
If it’s just an advertisement, sending it via email could be counterproductive. That ad the “family values” guy sent was ill-advised on many levels. It was jarring and weird to get a big photo of a book cover and some ad copy without explanation.
If you do use email marketing, make it personal. Send a newsy letter with some information and something of value. Announce a pre-launch special sale or giveaway that’s for subscribers only.
Otherwise, people will unsubscribe, fast.
I subscribe to a few author newsletters. They’re very different, but they all offer value. I’ve unsubscribed from 100s of others. They were too frequent, too trivial, too self-serving, or took too much time.
But I’ve subscribed to C. Hope Clark’s Funds for Writers newsletter for over a decade. She always has several articles of use to authors, plus a vetted list of contests and calls for submissions. It’s a weekly newsletter, but I find time to open it, because there’s always something I can use.
I also subscribe to Elizabeth S. Craig’s newsletter. Hers probably doesn’t come more than five or six times a year—usually when she has a new book out. She writes the Memphis Barbeque series and the newsletter always has a great Southern food recipe.
I get the emails from iconic mystery author Lawrence Block too. He offers free books. That’s right: a free ebook of his latest title, pre-publication. He’d like us to review it, but it’s not required. That’s a perk that’s hard to refuse. I might try doing that myself.
That’s what I call value!
5) You May be Swimming with Sharks, but you Don’t Have to Grow a Dorsal Fin and Big Teeth.
Some email marketers can be unethical bullies. Sometimes I wonder if university courses in marketing offer “Killing Your Soul 101.”
Clickbait headers that don’t deliver, a “free book” that’s just a sample teaser, or mazes of clicks that lead nowhere may be standard operating procedure in some online marketing circles, but they won’t get and keep readers.
As anybody knows who watched Mad Men, lots of marketing is about manipulation and trickery. But online marketers have taken things to unethical depths Don Draper never dreamed of.
Consider those political emails. Signing one petition protesting the price of asthma medication somehow put me on dozens of political email lists. (Please, no politics in the comments. I’ve seen this stuff from candidates on all points of the political spectrum.)
- Here’s how they get around the CAN-SPAM Act. There’s an unsubscribe button, but when you go to the unsubscribe form, you have to give your phone number before you hit enter. Yeah. Talk about frying pan/fire! I give them the local Domino’s number. Sorry, pizza people.
- They spread poisonous negativity. Every header is some lie about how the world will end if you don’t give them money. Ever see a positive political email?
- They are all about greed. Ever see a political email that asked for your vote? They don’t care about your vote. The same marketers are probably working for all parties. I suspect the money is only to pay the marketers–a self-perpetuating vicious circle.
- Bait and switch. Political emails often say “donate $1!” But when you click on the dollar button, it turns into $5 on the new page. It costs a lot to process a donation, so I get it. But they couldn’t just say “donate $5” and be honest?
Being devious and underhanded won’t sell books, any more than that “family values” guy sold me his book by saying “#%&* you, *&%#”.
Do you want people to cue the Jaws theme when they see your name, or think, “good, a new book!”
***
Does email marketing sell books? Everybody says it does. I do buy books through Bookbub and the Fussy Librarian. And sometimes I buy when I get an Amazon announcement that an author I follow has a new book out. An individual email? Maybe.
But one thing I am sure of is that you can’t sell books by bullying, insulting, tricking, or lying to your potential customers.
Be ethical. It will pay off in the long run.
And BTW, I’ve heard about this newfangled thing called social media. Here’s a post about how to use Facebook ads from Barbara Morgenroth, a niche author who’s had great results with Facebook ads. And if you didn’t see last week’s post from marketing guru Chris Syme, check it out. She tells you how to use social media to sell books without giving up all your writing time.
by Anne R. Allen (@annerallen) September 18, 2016
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What about you, scriveners? Do you use email marketing? Do you like getting emails from authors? Which emails do you like best? Least? Would you subscribe to a newsletter from me if I offered free pre-publication books? Have you been spammed by people who think you’re an “influencer” who owes them freebies?
If you’d like to get notification of new blogposts in your email inbox every Sunday, we’ve got a handy-dandy subscription sign-up in the top of the sidebar. We don’t have a popup because we don’t like getting blocked by popups on other blogs and we like to follow the Golden Rule. You won’t be signing up for a newsletter or book ads or anything else. Just weekly announcements of new posts on this blog.
NOTE: We run no advertising. We only get paid if you buy our books. Please take a look. Here’s a link to my book page.
***
BOOKS OF THE WEEK
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Who shot rock diva Morgan Le Fay? Only her childhood friend Dodie, owner of a seedy small-town diner, can find the culprit before the would-be assassin comes back to finish the job
Boomers, this one’s for you. And for younger people if you want to know what your parents and grandparents were really up to in the days of Woodstock and that old fashioned rock and roll. Plus there’s a little Grail mythology for the literary fiction fans.
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A hilarious satire of the online review culture. Camilla leaves a comment on one of her Amazon reviews. A series of unfortunate events follows: mischief, mayhem and murder. Plantagenet is the main suspect.
And there’s a cat.
Isn’t it ironic that a self-published author trying to pay the rent can’t buy an email list, but for thousands of corporations making billions, such practices are just good old common sense. Oy gevalt.
CS–Those email lists that corporations buy are generally bought from marketing companies that have come by them in some legitimate way–a customer signed up for something that put their name on a list.
These people just steal your name off your website when you have not given consent in any way. That’s as illegal for a corporation as it is for an author.
Some of this follows a trend I’ve been seeing. People will say they’re too busy to do something, so they try to pawn it off one someone else, claiming “it’s important.” The influencers become like pieces of software–a tool to be used, like Triberr was to send out blog links, or Buffer to send timed Tweets. I’m not sure these people even think that an influencer is someone who does actual work, which reflects more about them than they realize. If they got a million dollars, they’d quit the job and do absolutely nothing except sit around. Absolutely no connection to the possibility someone might be working to keep the money flowing in and not have the time.
Linda–Great insight there! I do think these “gurus” see other people as things–objects to be exploited. The idea that other people have the same human needs and 24 hour days they have is impossible for them to get their heads around.
Also, they are generally greed-based, so, as you say, if they were in any way successful, they’d sit around all day and disappear into a bottle or a bong, The idea of doing any real work doesn’t even occur to them. They are obsessed with the idea of “passive income”–which I don’t believe exists, unless you’re born into the one-percent. They don’t realize that most one-percenters work too. They’re either doing charity work or keeping the machine generating the income going.
I am so encouraged by your post, thanks! You’ve given flesh to a ghost of an idea that’s been troubling me for some time.
And I know just the thing you describe when speaking of passive income pyramid schemes. I took a closer look at the claims of certain bloggers and found exactly that business model at work.
I am also not at ease marketing to anyone else in a way that I myself would not like to be marketed to. Especially when it’s attached to over frequent and trivial emails, and derivative content.
I was a prolific artist before having kids and some twenty years ago, when I was traveling the world and collecting kudos for work, it sufficed to simply have a professionally vetted bio up somewhere.
Some years on however, the advice for artists is a mantra of near unsustainable contact and accesseability. But this activity feeds the online commercial ecosystem better than it does the artist.
I’ve seen lovely people weathered so terribly by the demands of their online interactions. They now do all alone what entire marketing teams once did, with no close of business hours.
It is an unsustainable business practice that must have at least several reasonable alternatives. Not least because the online audience to which my friends give such slavish attention is not the same audience that actually buys their work.
The shame of these repellent online marketing habits is that I do actually do a lot of shopping and research online. I buy a lot from artists directly and from their distributor sites when I know what I want and I like what’s on offer. I’m a great supporter, promoter, and a repeat shopper. When people like me unsubscribe, a lot more than a single purchase opportunity is lost.
I never got around to making a newsletter for myself, but the IWSG uses Mail Chimp. (We also let people know who sign up for the IWSG monthly blogging that they will be getting the newsletter, which does of course have a way to unsubscribe.)
I get some that ask if they could put content on my site. And we’ve had them for the IWSG where they wanted us to add their company to a post.
Alex–I think in creating the IWSG, you did something totally “outside the box” that benefits so many and is much more useful than any email list. Look at how many times people see your name every day because of it. An email list only reaches people who already know you.
I can imagine that the IWSG is targeted by all the same people who target Ruth and me. They want free advertising and think we somehow owe it to them because working writers have nothing to do all day. Hard to figure out how their minds work. As Linda said above, they see us as tools to be exploited.
Anne—Thank you! At times it feels like the internet has turned us into prey. Unless we know you or are fans, we will not buy your book, review your book, edit your manuscript, publish your blog post, or write a blurb for you. We will also not walk your dog, do your dishes or pick up your dry cleaning. Period.
A follow up will not change our minds. A follow up will just annoy us even more.
How can people not understand that you and I are professional, hard working, best selling writers who are offering for FREE the lessons we learned the hard way during years of publishing experience?
Ruth–AMEN!! We offer the advice on this blog FREE. But because we do, these morons seem to think we want to spend 24/7 giving freebies to strangers who can’t even be bothered to read the blog–in fact we somehow owe it to them.
The idea that we might have to spend some of our time writing the books that pay the bills comes as a complete shock to them.
It’s mind boggling.
Really good advice, Anne. I have steadily been working at my email list for the past three years. Some folks sign up voluntarily but if anyone contacts me via email and wants to discuss my novels, I always ask them at the end of the correspondence if they want to be added to my mailing list? Most have no problem with this, and I have a very low unsubscribe rate and a high ‘click’rate when I send out my ‘Occasional Newsletters.’ I use Mailchimp for the newsletters. These go out once every six weeks. I recently launched a new novel and advertised 20 free links in exchange for an honest review for the as-yet unpubished book via my newsletter and FB page. 14 of the 20 offers of an honest review came from the newsletter list. It’s a slow process but the quality is worth it. BTW my novels are currently all in the top 100 eBooks of the US Amazon.com charts.
Karen–Thanks for those useful numbers. I’ve been resisting a newsletter because I don’t much like getting them. But I’ve had a terrible time getting reviews, especially for the last book. So I’ve been thinking of doing something like your “occasional newsletters”–maybe offering free books for people who would consider writing an honest review.
I know you’re with Thomas and Mercer, and I think Amazon imprints are the sweet spot in publishing right now, so that has a lot to do with sales as well, but obviously your newsletter is helping you. Thanks! .
With the following you have, I think that would be a really good idea to get reviews, Anne. The key is not to overdo the newsletters. Just send one out when there is actually some news – or an offer. Keep them chatty and include news of how the next WIP is progressing – and even a bit of personal news. (I recently included pictures of my new grandson.) It is a lovely way to keep in touch with your readers.
I can mark something as spam or delete it, that’s one thing. The ones that are clearly criminal enterprises are the most annoying, partly because of the insult to our intelligence, and partly because it’s clearly phishing and they’re going to nail your grandma sooner or later. What’s really frustrating is when they’re back, day after day after day. Under ‘settings’, there might be a way to permanently ban an email address and that was what I ultimately did. The next day? An email from a different name and yet clearly the identical format…
I also outed one particularly obnoxious account on Twitter. Hopefully, they’re getting tons of spam now.
Louis–It is the insulting aspect that’s the galling part isn’t it?
I get an email from Sears most days, because I get my glasses there, and I don’t mind deleting them every day. But somehow the scammers bother me more. I guess it’s partly because they come into my regular inbox, not the commercial one, so I tend to read part of it, thinking it’s a real email so I have to get the full brunt of the insult.
Then, as Ruth mentioned, there are the follow-ups. “Did you get my email I sent last week? Why haven’t you answered?” Blah blah. We now have a form response that does mention we won’t pick up their dry cleaning or feed their cat. That seems to have cut down on some of the follow-ups. But others do keep coming–as you say, often with a different name, but the same message.
Then there are the truly clueless. A few weeks ago somebody emailed to ask if I knew Anne Rice, because they had a vampire novel they wanted her to read “to say if it’s any good.” Sigh.
Another great post. Anne, I have never used an email list. I absolutely hate being put on them. As Executive Director of Crime Writers of Canada, I found that every new member (we had 350) would automatically sign me up – my personal email address – for their email list. After receiving hundreds, I vowed never to inflict myself on others.
Instead, I keep an up to date website and blog weekly, so people can choose to visit. And I try to get out there on Facebook and Twitter. But not just to promote.
And another thing! (here she goes…) I can SO relate to the influencer situation. I continually get people who want to appear on my humour blog. These people do not write comedy, and have never read my blog. They tell me that someone ‘told them it was a good place for their book to get seen.’ (hits head against desk)
Melodie–That’s the way I feel, and I’ve never been put on 350 email lists. Yikes! That would turn me off forever.
As the head of the CWC and a bestselling author, I’ll bet you’re on ALL the lists, so you probably get those people daily, the way we do. I think one request to guest blog out of 500 comes from somebody who has actually read the blog.
I remember when I got your query and I practically kissed the screen. She’s read the blog! She knows how to write a query! She’s a bestselling author! And she’s funny! How soon can I sign her up?? So incredibly rare.
I hate to annoy people. Especially about my books. Oy, vey. Life is too damn short. I will never ever do any of this. Keeps me honest. And sane. Great post, Anne, as always. 🙂 Paul
Paul–You’re like me. You follow the Golden Rule. If something bothers you, you don’t want to do it to somebody else. Which means Internet marketing is a little tough for us. 🙂 I’m still on the fence about the emails. And you’re right. Life is too short.
The subject is certainly a downer, so thanks for the chuckles. That cursing family guy, I have an open manhole over on my street and we have to get these two together.
The thing that pulls me down about all this is the degree to which it’s probably automated; it’s maximum upset and hassle for us but not even ten keystrokes for them. In fact these lists get sold on and collated so often, it could be layers removed from any actual “them”. I feel if I dug through all the layers of crassness and unthinking, inflicted pain I’d probably unearth some guy who’d blink at me and say “hey, nothing personal”.
Will–The manhole might be a good solution. Of course the poor guy isn’t selling any books and he had two reviews and the book had been out since 2013. It looked like he’d paid a lot for an illustrator, so I guess being him is kind of its own punishment.
But I fear you’re right about the automation. It’s like the robots who ring my phone all day to try to say I’m being “sued by the IRS” or “about to be arrested by the Magistrate’s Court.” Some guy in Bangladesh is running 500 of these a minute and it’s just a business to him. The idea that there are real people on the other end never crosses his mind.
In this global economy we have no way to prosecute global petty crooks.
Good luck with the proofreading. 🙂
Great post Anne! I agree with you and most of the commenters, but Ruth’s comment “feels like the internet has turned us into prey” is so true! As a book blogger who hasn’t taken an outside submission in almost 2 years, the review requests I receive in the hundreds clearly haven’t dropped by my blog recently. As a receiver of newsletters, I am VERY careful of what I send out to my list. I rarely send a note, and when I do, there is a purpose behind it and frequently I’m giving away something free.
Also, as the person who has handed over the virtual kleenex to people who have actually been fined – that $16,000.00 is in US dollars and is per offense. If 10 people complain, the bill is $160,000.00. The CAN-SPAM act needs to be taken very seriously!
Barb–Thank you, thank you for some real-world info about the CAN-SPAM act. People keep telling me “Oh, they never enforce that!” “How could they collect that kind of a fine?” Well, you have proof they do! And it is $16,000 PER COMPLAINT. i wrote that in the first draft of this post, but the “readability” robot told me I had too many words. Ha! I sure hope that Family Values guy got a bill. 🙂
I agree that email has to be carefully thought out. I hit unsubscribe whenever people over-send or I open and don’t find anything but advertising.
I also get frequent emails telling me a company has seen my post on a certain article, asking me to write a post for them, and/or include their company on the article already posted. And oh yes, I made the mistake of signing a petition, now I get at least 5 more emailed to me a week. It’s so darned invasive this bully marketing.
And even spam is scary that innocent people could get fined. If someone chooses to complain about our emails to CanSpam, unjustifiably, does that make us an automatic victim who spammed and will be fined? I’m wondering because, you know, like so much of the law, you’re actually guilty till proven innocent. 🙂 Great article as always Anne.
Debby–Those people who want you to rewrite old posts drive me batty! I’ve been dealing with one of those idiots this week. He asked me to rewrite a guest post from 2012. I replied with our standard reply that we do not rewrite old posts. But this guy kept coming back. So I said I’m not in touch with the person who wrote it who may be dead, but he came back whining again.
I realized I’d made a big mistake even sending a standard rejection. You can’t engage with them at all. I finally marked the guy’s email as spam and I’ll have to hope he disappears.
I no longer sign any petitions. They are just a way of collecting email addresses.
“Bully marketing” is a good term.
I’m sure that the FCC does some serious investigating before they fine somebody. They probably collect a number of complaints. The government isn’t like Amazon, where the complainer is always right. Because, you know, lawyers…
Hey Anne,
Another epic post.
I’ve had a lot of bad experiences with being on emails lists myself. This year I unsubscribed from every poilitical site that sent me anything. I think I’m finally off all their lists. Thank gawd! And there was a product I bought on the internet, that I got a refund for because it was so useless and the guy is still sending me 5 emails a day! A day!Oy!
As to developing an email list, I have a tiny one and I mean tiny. I really haven’t done much with it and I feel anxious because that it the conventional wisdom about selling books – thou must have a huge mailing list. I do think it’s a good idea to have one but I want to go about it the right way. So at present I am reading a lot about how to develop a list properly to promote and stay in touch with readers. It’s a long slog. And maybe that’s the problem for many writers – they don’t want to put in the hard work. And perhaps many are seeking that passive income as well.
The hard truth is that shortcuts don’t work, except maybe on commuter drives. If you want to develop a following and readers, you have to put in the work, study, test marketing methods and then stick with what works for you.
Thanks for these words of wisdom. I always find value in the things you have to say.
Hope you’re doing well.
Annie
Annie–The political emails are what did it for me. I don’t think I ever signed up for one on purpose. But I was getting 100s. And everybody hates them. I’ll never forget Jon Stewart ragging President Obama about them. They were having a great conversation and both laughing until the subject of emails came up. Suddenly Stewart’s face went dead serious. “You know, I’m tired of your emails asking for my money. Those emails. They’re awful. You know that, right?” The President looked genuinely shocked. I don’t think he’d ever seen his own emails.
I have the same thing with one stupid shoe company. 3-4 ads a day. They go to spam now, but really, if they put their energy into making a better shoe, instead of spam, they’d have a better sales record.
I honestly don’t know if an email is better than a blog that’s emailed. Somebody can stumble on a blogpost, but an email only goes to people who already know you. But if the email list offers a reward for faithful readers, then maybe….I’m still not sure.
One thing I know is you’re right about the short-cuts. There aren’t any. And there’s no such thing as “passive” income if you’re a writer.
no email marketing for me! Never had and never will – i have shared works with friends (both personal and Facebook) who are happy that i do….I am very happy to simply blog and share that with those i know
britemist–Thanks for weighing in. I have to say I’m still in the no-email camp. And I have friends who have made it to #1 on Amazon who don’t use email. It’s a Golden Rule thing with her. Blogging seems so much more friendly.
Once upon a time, I did email marketing. I think it was back in the 90s. I found it to be a lot of work. Blogging is a lot more fun.
Leanne–My feeling is the same–email marketing is retro. It’s also not very much fun because it’s broadcasting into nothingness, not interactive like this. I love blogging because it’s like a big party. Everybody gets to have their say. In email, even if you reply to every single one, there’s no discussion. It’s only one-to-one. People can all interact on a blog.
But I seem to be missing something, because marketers all say the email works better. Sigh.
Anne,
Funny yet informative, as all your posts are.
Have a question about the CanSpam act. Is there actual enforcement of it?
Some years ago, the Do Not Call list was heralded as the cure-all solution to abuse by phone spammers. For a while, it helped. But then the abusers figured out there was little money budgeted to enforce the law. Yeah, making the calls was still against the law, but if you weren’t punished, why not make the calls?
Therefore, the millions of us on the Do Not Call list still receive calls each week from that helpful gentleman warning about the federal magistrate we’re going to be dragged in front of if we don’t cooperate.
Laws without teeth give us a false sense that politicians are actually doing something.
Debbie–The CAN-SPAM act is indeed enforced. I thought it was mostly with bigger companies and porn spammers, but in Barb Drozdowich’s comment above, she says,
“As the person who has handed over the virtual kleenex to people who have actually been fined – that $16,000.00 is in US dollars and is per offense. If 10 people complain, the bill is $160,000.00. The CAN-SPAM act needs to be taken very seriously!”
Barb is a marketing and tech consultant for many authors, (and webmaster for this blog) and she knows what she’s talking about. This is real. And even an individual author can get fined.
It’s true that the Do Not Call law can’t reach those robo-callers in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, but it has cut way down on domestic phone abuse. The problem is the technology is way ahead of the law on this and the FBI has no jurisdiction where that “magistrate’s court” guy is generating those calls.
But if you’re in the US or Canada (where Barb is) you can bet you’ll be fined if you get caught spamming.
Thanks for the clarification, Anne. Yes, seems like the bad guys are always way ahead on technology with the good guys forever playing catch up.
First of all, great post, as always — and started me off with a laugh and fond memories of Spam-a-lot…
I tell all the authors I collaborate with to trend softly with email lists, and to avoid any that are ‘offered’ as book selling options.
Thanks also for bringing CAN-SPAM to the forefront. People forget about it. I have it on my email list for ease of access (old person memory).
My spam-list contacts seem to be people who want to help me reach new authors as clients (I need no help with that) or to review their book for free, and then post the review in several places.
Thanks also for the mentions of the blogs you follow. I have followed Funds4 (as I call it) for the past 6 years and, like your blog, always find something I can use. I’ve popped over to Mr Block’s site and signed up, looks like a wonderful spot to hear from, as regularly as he wishes.
Do you think that a new wave of ‘authors’ have leapt into self-publishing (now that it’s being touted as respectable) and have re-discovered the old email ‘advice’? I have had some new, young authors recently (in last year) that have asked me about email lists and such. I advise them to go into retail sales, if that’s how they view writing and selling a book — well, I say it nicely.
The idea of approaching selling your book as a real-live business, doing research on your audience and how to reach them, etc. seems to be ‘too much work’, and many people seem to view their new book as a product. Brings the old ‘cottage industry’ phrase to mind…
ah well — thanks again for yet another wonderful, thoughtful post. I set aside special afternoon lazy time every Sunday for you and Ruth. :o)
Maria D’Marco
TigerXGlobal
Maria–The spammers usually offer something of no value “I’ll post your review on Facebook and spell your name right!”, “I’ll give you a backlink on my blog with an Alexa rating of 26 million!”,”I’ll whisper your name in my sleep!” in exchange for something that will take us many hours.
They count on you not being impolite enough to point out how rude they’re being.
It’s refreshing to hear from somebody who hasn’t bought into the back to the future ‘Email is God” thing. Most marketers seem to swear by it these days. But they fail to warn people about CAN-SPAM. Which is not doing their clients any favors.
There’s a big push in the indie world to put out a book a month and treat it as a product. Quality control isn’t as important as grinding out those puppies. I think it may have started to backfire.
What these people don’t get, and obviously you do, is that in the end, your name is your brand. If you have a bunch of half-a** books or spammy emails attached to that name, it’s not going to help your career in the long run. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Absolutely– on that marathon thing…
Once in a blue one I have a ‘sprint’ thing happen – like a flash in the ether pan – but I rarely know what caused it or brought it on. I just keep trying to be stable, sensible, and reliable — eventually, I figure people will offer their trust and acceptance in the form of inviting me to collaborate.
As an old gal, I understand the urgency that is sometimes felt — but your book world has to mature and grow at its own pace.
I offered Janice (Fiction University) a thought I had that I felt might be useful, and I hadn’t seen the topic in her blog. Thought long and hard before I approached her though, as I didn’t want to assume that she was open to such things. Worked out okay, she asked me to write the piece, which I did — and was humbled by her trust.
Cool things still happen, eh? :o)
People like Janice Hardy are the opposite of the kind of people I’m talking about in this post. She’s knowledgeable, honest, and helpful–a total pro. She’s always going to welcome a guest post that offers value. Congrats on landing a guest post with her. She’s the best!
And she happens to be our guest for next month! 🙂
I’ve taken a few of those freebie webinars on publishing and book marketing and get emails every single day from the promoters about new stuff. Not mentioning any names but there is alt least one prominent person in publishing circles I’ve now lost respect for because of this emphasis on trying to sell me ‘how to’ courses.
As for newsletters, ok, if they’re sent occasionally. though if the author can, send an acknowledgement or something. I signed up for a newsletter a few months ago and have yet to receive anything. The author did say on her website ‘occasional’ but I wonder now if she received my address for her list!
One piece of advice I’ve read is to contact authors who write in your genre and ask if they could read yoru book – or a portion so they can determine you can write decently – and give a quickie 1 or 2 liner blurb you can use for promotion. Following up with a short polite email if there’s no response. I’m a bit tempted since I don’t know anyone ‘famous’ to give my book a boost and so many authors have other authors praising their books/writing in the editorial reviews on Amazon. But I don’t want to be ‘spamming’ a busy author either. Has this happened to you or Ruth?
Colleen–Do NOT take that blurb advice. We get those requests all the time. If we had to read all those books, we’d be homeless under a bridge somewhere. We just don’t have the time. Most authors don’t.
In the big houses–at least in the old days–the imprint would get name authors in your genre to “blurb” your book, but usually the author didn’t have anything to do with it. A marketer might write it, or an intern in your department. “‘The best horror novel I’ve read this season!'”…. Stephen King”. No, Stephen King did not read it or write the blurb. It all came from the marketing department.
I don’t blurb anybody unless I’m already a total fangirl. Anything else just makes me have to spend 15 minutes writing an uncomfortable thanks but no thanks. 15 minutes I don’t have. I have 16 projects that have to be done by November 1. I don’t have time to read the newspaper.
And you’re right about those “free” courses. They are teasers to get you on an email list so they can spam you to death. That’s the whole marketing game these days. Do anything to get that email address and then spam people until they hate the sight of your name. Good marketing? You decide.
As for acknowledging newsletter subscriptions, that’s usually done by the subscription service. You have to click something to confirm. If you didn’t get it, maybe there was a glitch. That has happened with us. We’ve gone through some awkward changes with different hosts and MailChimp can get confused.
Thanks for the reply.
Re the blurb advice, yes, that’s what I suspected but glad to see it confirmed by an established author such as yourself. The author blogger who gave this advice also gives other advice I’ve doubts about.
I do wonder if having those big author blurbs in the editorial reviews section on Amazon or in the ‘praise’ page of books/ebooks helps. The author I’m thinking of now – different from the one giving the bad blurb advice above – said her first novel did well because a big name author blurbed her book. She received emails from readers who said they bought that first novel based on Big Name Author’s rec. I’m already freaking out a tad over promo and the 2nd and 3rd books in my hisfic trilogy aren’t even done yet.
Thanks again!
Colleen–Those “magic” blurbs from big name authors don’t happen because some charlatan charges money to tell the gullible that big name authors love to work as slaves 24/7.
They happen because the author got to know the big name author in a real and organic way. Maybe they went to school together. Maybe they’re cousins. Maybe they were in the same critique group.
I know my career got a big boost from superstar author Catherine Ryan Hyde. I got to be friends with her at a writer’s conference back in the mid- 90s. We became friends because we liked each other and I told her I admired her writing after somebody trashed it.
If I’d just emailed her out of the blue after she made it big with Pay it Forward, I’m sure she would not have dreamed of collaborating with me. But I was having lunch with her the day her agent called her to say Simon and Schuster were interested and there’d been a call from Warner Brothers.
You can’t just demand this stuff of a stranger. It happens from lots and lots of networking. And being real with people. It’s about making friends, not making demands.
Wow, $16,000 per complaint? I really hope some of the spammer/scammer companies I’ve “marked as spam” eventually had complaints filed. I’ll set that email address aside for later.
Also, I love your sense of humor. 😀
I have a very small newsletter for my most loyal readers. I tried to set up MailChimp a long time ago, but I found the interface a bit overwhelming. I figured that I delete most newsletters *I* receive, and I wasn’t sure what I value I could offer that would make mine stand out.
There are always too many things I need to do, but there’s not enough time or I don’t have enough expertise. Sigh!
Thank you, by the way, for all of the information you share each week. 🙂
Anastasia–Full disclosure: MailChimp terrifies me. I had to hire somebody to set it up when i started with them three years ago, and now I need Barb to help me with changes. I have my own small list that’s just a regular email with bcc recipients. Because I’m a cybermoron. If you have a small list, I’m sure you can do the same.
And I so much relate to the too much to do and not enough expertise.
But there are tons of people out there with expertise and obviously tons of time. They try to hack this blog and con Ruth and me every day. But you know what they don’t have? The writing skills and talent and empathy to get an audience. That’s what writers like you have that they’ll never get in a million years. So hang in there. And shut out the noise. 🙂
Terrific post, Anne. No more will I respond to those email solicitations, and I’ll certainly be a good book marketer…when the time comes.
sk–I’m sure you will never spam us with unsolicited “family values” obscenities, Mr. Figler. 🙂 Emails to friends and family are fine, of course. Just make sure they are friendly and personal. And you don’t send them every week.
Informative post, Anne. Thank you. I actually joined Writerspace a few months back. They run contests and post blogs and newsletters for their authors in order to build readers’ interest in reading my blogs and buying my books. Have you heard of them? Authors such as Robyn Carr and Jayne Krantz use them so I thought it was a good idea.
Patricia–I haven’t heard of Writerspace, but with major authors like them on board, it sounds like a winner. Anything that lets you collaborate with big name authors is going to be a win-win. Fewer emails for the reader and gets your name in front of a lot of eyeballs. I’ll have to check it out. Thanks for the tip!
I receive one or two emails per week from people who want me to promote their client’s book on my blog. Some linked-in connections also contact me about that. I guess if you get a certain number of followers they will find you. Once in a while a newsletter shows up in my email and I have no idea how they got my address. I don’t appreciate it at all.
Susan–If you get on a list for publicists, you can really get overwhelmed. I was on a list like that after we won a Goodreads award. I got daily requests for reviews and interviews from publicists for at least a year. None of them had ever looked at the blog, obviously. I had to write a canned response that I sent out a dozen times a day.
It sounds as if you’re on one of those lists. Probably for sale You might have to write a canned response. “Sorry for the form response, but my address has been put on a list in error. I do not do promotions or advertising. Please remove me from your list.” Something like that. If they “follow up,” report them for spam at that .gov address.
I can’t believe some guy tried to tell you you’d feel better if you – you- did something to help people. Clearly, he had no idea the time and effort you put into your amazing blog, on top of writing your own books. Just, wow.
Weirdly, I’m subscribed to a couple of authors whose newsletters I like better than their books, but I subscribed to both because I was told they know how to do it “right,” entertainingly and ethically. Both only send out maybe one a month at most, and both offer something of value, like notice of a free or discounted book in their genre, if they don’t have anything new themselves. Both feel like a genuine, friendly communication, not selling, with a bit of personal news, as well as writing updates. But I suspect that’s a talent or a skill in and of itself.
I’m on the fence on the doing a newsletter myself. I did manage to set up a Mailchimp account and list, etc, but I’ve done nothing with it, mostly because I don’t have anything to offer. I get the theory, and as a reader, like the idea, because most of my favorite writers don’t have new release newsletters, and somehow I rarely get the Amazon emails unless I search for them in my inbox.
It’s a conundrum for those of us who want to “do it right,” truly offer something of value, not spam.
And, yeah, I learned the hard way on the petition thing. I actually think the government ones are the worst, now. I suspect they’re public record, so anyone who knows how to find them gets the “list, ” without even buying one. Sigh.
Thanks for another wonderful article, Anne! Sharing…
N.E.–I appreciate the share! Yeah, I have to admit that guy left me kind of fuming, although he’d probably never read my blog. His minions don’t either. I know because they don’t read our guest post guidelines. They just make demands. And tell me how much I’ll benefit from a mention on their blogs with a following of three, so I should take their guest post on how they wrote their inspirational children’s book on how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
A new release newsletter from me would come out about once a year. 🙂 A few more times if it included audiobooks and paperbacks.
I understand your hesitation. I’m not sure that readers really want to look at pictures of an author’s grandkids. Not of any interest to me, anyway, but I may be weird. I have lots of real-life friends to show me grandkid pix.
OMG thank you for the tip about the Domino’s number! That’s a great idea and I never thought of it before. I’ve never felt comfortable giving out my phone, although I do have a Google number just in case. Usually when the unsubscribe fails, I spam/junk it. Most comes to my personal email; my author email has thus far only been the recipient of aggressive offers to revise my website and tweak SEO.
Wendy–I feel kind of bad for the Domino’s people. I hope they have a mechanism for blocking robocalls. Putting political email into spam does help cut down on it after a while.
And oh those “revise your website” and SEO people. I’ve checked out the websites they design and they’re the kind I’d click away from in a half a second. Slick, corporate, boring stuff that would turn off any reader.
An author I really like recently had her website redone by a “professional” and I wanted to cry. Her friendly, warm site had turned into a tech-heavy maze of uninviting, dark, incomprehensible garbage, designed to impress some 20-something male and drive away her target audience of older women in a heartbeat. Watch an episode of “Silicon Valley” before you trust any of your business to those guys.
Hello Anne. I was looking for information regarding email marketing service providers and found your article. Even though it doesn’t really cover subject I was looking for I enjoyed reading the article, could really relate to a lot of the things you said.
Especially no.1 – I COULD see some sense in buying FB or Twitter followers because at least the number can be seen by others and it can give false sense that you are bigger and more important than you actually are. But e-mail list…can’t really find logic behind that.
Regarding SPAM folder and email marketing service providers such as your mentioned MailChimp. I had a chance to test few of them myself and sometimes, whether your mail gets into spam folder or not, depends on the provider you use. Those are rare cases and even customer support wasn’t able to answer why it happened. So you should pay attention to that. However, best luck I’ve had so far was with MailerLite (they do get into Promotions tab in Gmail but that’s perfectly normal). Also they actually offer customised services specifically for book authors which is nice addition.
A1.Jo–Thanks for the tip about MailerLite. I’m still in the “no newsletter” camp, as I wrote in this week’s post.
With the spam problem, I put all unwanted newsletters into spam, and almost everybody I know does. Gmail pays attention to that. If enough people put you in spam, gmail will put you in the spam folder or even mark your site as “unsafe.”
I don’t think that changing providers is going to keep people from being annoyed by your unsolicited spam. If you disrespect people and steal their time, they won’t like you. That’s just my opinion of course. You may find that spamming people works for you. An awful lot of people do. And I report them and report them…and I remember their names.
I will NEVER buy one of their books if they spam me..
Such an interesting post. I’ve been reading what seems like one million articles about author newsletters. I think I’m probably more of a blog-writing person. I do send to my email list but all I do is send the latest post from my blog which I thought wasn’t the right thing to do but maybe it is! Thank you, for such sensible advice 🙂
Tanya–I don’t have an email newsletter either. That’s because I hate getting most of them. I’m sure my readers don’t care about my fabulous vacation or what I had for lunch. So we use MailChimp to send out blog notices to our mailing list. That’s all. So it’s the right thing for me and maybe it’s just right for you, too. 🙂