Recently, I’ve been very involved in this form of marketing and have watched my newsletter subscriber list bloom in leaps and bounds.
For those of you who haven’t actually joined in multi-author giveaways, this is what happens:
Coordinators like Ryan Zee or Authors Cross Promotion organize a special event, which can be based on certain genres of romance like “A Suspense Giveaway” or a specific date like “A Valentine’s Giveaway” and then they advertise to their list of authors for those who want to sign on.
Those of us who decide to be involved will sign up with a book we’re willing to give copies of to a certain number of winners (usually 3) and pay a fee that can differ from individual organizers. This money is collected and put towards the prizes: see here. In the Giveaway I’m now signed up with, there are fabulous prizes to be won.
Also – the authors must agree to share the Giveaway on their social media and even more important – to their personal newsletter subscribers. This is the unique way that we can link with other author’s subscribers and give us a further reach to readers.
Also – the authors must agree to share the Giveaway on their social media and even more important – to their personal newsletter subscribers. This is the unique way that we can link with other author’s subscribers and give us a further reach to readers.
And this is how it works: the contest entrants must sign up their e-mail addresses in order to win one of the prizes. In some cases, to get more chances to win, they will agree for their addresses to be passed out to all of the authors involved in the Giveaway. The problem is – many are only interested in winning a prize and not keeping up an ongoing relationship with the author.
When it’s over, the coordinators send out the prizes, they send the book winner’s names to the authors (usually 3 free books are gifted by all authors) and then they share the exclusive list of e-mail addresses.
Over the last six month, I have gained thousands of new subscribers. This is good – right?
Well… yes. In a way, it is good. But only if the subscribers are truly interested in receiving the author’s newsletters, want to follow the author and best of all – like reading their books. If not, when they get besieged by all the newsletters they might delete them without opening them which is a negative benefit.
You see, on most of the Newsletter providers like Mail chimp for example – my provider – I must pay a monthly payment depending on the numbers of people on my lists. Up to 500 it’s free. From then on, the price rises:
So… unless my new subscribers, are truly interested enough in my newsletters so that they open them and maybe even interact by buying one of my special offers on books that I always price low or give away for free, I’m paying a lot of money every month to be allocated to the junk mail or worse yet – to spam.
NO!!!!
So… does that mean I should quit trying to grow my newsletter?
NO!!!
An author’s newsletter is her own special link with her readers.
What I try and do is this. I don’t inundate my subscribers with constant newsletters that have nothing to offer. I watch for other giveaways from different organisers that they might want to sign up for – with good prizes. I always include either a fabulous sale on a book they might feel is a great buy – Like the Hotshot Lover’s multi-author collection for 99 cents when my book alone – Special Agent Booker – currently sells for $3.99.
Or I set up an Instafreebieand give them the chance at a free book just from me and only given to my subscribers as a special gift for them. Soon, I will include a gift certificate prize one of them will win each month too. But not until I make sure that my lists are full of only those who will open my e-mails and who want to be included.
And that’s another post – coming soon! – How to clear out your newsletters – separate the wheat from the chaff so to speak :-))
