Writers, Ink Podcast: Episode 72 – Why You Need a Mailing List

Why You Need a Mailing List

In this episode, J, J.D., and Zach talk about why every author needs a mailing list and how to build one from scratch, maintain expectations, and continuously acquire new readers.

Whether you’re traditionally published or indie, writing a good book is only the first step in becoming a successful author. The days of just turning a manuscript into your editor and walking away are gone. If you want to succeed in today’s publishing world, you need to understand every aspect of the business – editing, formatting, marketing, contracts. It all starts with a good book, then the real work begins.

Join international bestselling author J.D. Barker and indie powerhouses, J. Thorn and Zach Bohannon, as they gain unique insight and valuable advice from the most prolific and accomplished authors in the business.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• JD’s new ghost project
• Methods to build your list
• Why to set up expectations for your list
• The differences between fiction and non-fiction lists
• Why to limit CTAs when acquiring new readers

Links:

Google Play Books Announcement 

Google Play Books has redesigned our promotional pricing tool, which allows publishers to change the list price of their book for a specified date range.

Publishers are no longer required to upload a spreadsheet to activate a promotional price.  Instead, publishers can easily create a new campaign in their Promotions tab by selecting the promotion’s date range, titles, and prices. For a step-by-step guide to promotional pricing, visit g.co/play/promopricing.

When a publisher discounts their book on Google Play Books, the book becomes eligible for additional in-store merchandising and customer notifications. This doesn’t mean that every book will receive every promotion, but this discount significantly increases the book’s likelihood of receiving more promotion in the storefront. 

These discount promotions are driven by our algorithm and can include:

Appearance in a collection highlighting discounted titles, including relevant genre collections

Targeted in-app notifications and emails to customers that have wishlisted or sampled that title

As a reminder, Google Play Books recently launched another marketing tool for publishers: promo code campaigns. Promo code campaigns can be used to offer select customers a discounted book without lowering the book’s list price.  After creating a promo code campaign, publishers can easily share the deal via a link to the Play Store, where customers can redeem the discounted book offer.

Both promotional pricing and promo code campaigns can be used to offer discounts to customers in 75+ countries. To get started, publishers can visit the Partner Center and go to the Promotions tab.

Tell J.D. your ghost story – https://jdbarker.com/haunted/ 

J. D. Barker – http://jdbarker.com/

J. Thorn – https://theauthorlife.com/

Zach Bohannon – https://zachbohannon.com/

Story Rubric – http://storyrubric.com  

Nonfict Rubric – http://nonficrubric.com  

The Career Author Summit 2021 – https://thecareerauthor.com/summit2021/ 

Proudly sponsored by Kobo Writing Life – https://kobowritinglife.com/

Music by Nicorus – https://cctrax.com/nicorus/dust-to-dust-ep 

Voice Over by Rick Ganley – http://www.nhpr.com and recorded at Mill Pond Studio – http://www.millpondstudio.com

Contact – https://writersinkpodcast.com/dev/contact/ 

*Full disclosure: Some of the links are affiliate links.