By Barbara M. Britton
Does social media sell books? In the recent webinars I have attended, the answer is no. Social
media may help in the “Rule of Seven” where a reader has to see a book seven times before they
buy it, but purchases from social media do not seem to be significant. Not to mention the horror
stories that still occur about authors being de-platformed and losing followers with the push of a
button. What does sell books? The consensus of late is an author’s newsletter. I have seen this to
be true.
Author newsletters are easy to create and distribute. Are you laughing or horrified at that statement? While newsletters may move the needle on sales, they require time and treasure. People don’t like to talk about the treasure. I consistently tell pre-published writers to save money. The newsletter pillar of your author platform will cost you money.
The more successful you are at gaining newsletter subscribers, the more money you will invest in those names. Let us look at the costs associated with building thousands of names on a newsletter provider.
Providers such as MailChimp or MailerLite or any other provider may be free at first, but once
you hit maximum gathering you will hit a level that costs money. This monthly expense adds up
if you multiply it by twelve months. The more successful you are at gathering names the more
you will pay.
The propulsion to thousands of names usually comes from giveaways. Some giveaways are done
with author friends, and some are done by professional companies such as BookSweeps. The
companies will charge a fee to participate. Private promotions for email names may cost a fee as
well.
In any giveaway, there is a product cost to entice someone to part with their email. Don’t forget
the cost of the physical book and its mailing price or the cost of your eBook. Are you offering a
gift card or other gift? This prize comes at a cost to the author.
Time is money as the saying goes. A group promotion can be stellar but if no one sees it, it won’t
rocket to hundreds or thousands of names. Promoting the giveaway on social media and in your
newsletter takes time. If you make your own graphics, you are adding time to the sharing cost. If
you have an active newsletter list, you must budget time to answer the responses to your
newsletter. Interaction improves satisfaction.
Do you have a leader magnet? Everyone likes a free novella or story. This magnet costs you time
and creativity and a product to market separately.
Your author newsletter is only one of the pillars associated with your platform. Consider the
costs of website design and hosting, graphic design fees, advertising costs, travel expenses to
events and conferences, professional organization dues, and the list of business costs goes on.
We all believe in our books and would like as many readers as possible to enjoy our Christian
message. Start saving some of your treasure to build an author platform that supports your book
baby and increases those hard-won book sales.
Have I missed any costs associated with newsletters? Add them to the comment section.
Barbara M. Britton writes Christian Fiction from Bible Times to present day. Her Tribes of Israel series brings little-known Bible characters to light. She also writes sweet romance set in Whispering Creek, Tennessee. Barbara has a nutrition degree from Baylor University but loves to dip healthy strawberries in chocolate.
Comments 10
Thanks for pointing out the costs of a newsletter, Barbara. Lots of things to think about!
Thanks for being here, Priscilla. Our platforms aren’t free. I wish they were.
Hi Barbara,
You did a good job. It all adds up before we know it.
Yes, it does. Thanks for joining me here, Gail.
All your comments are very true. It surprises me that people want to sign up for an author’s email or visit his website. Before I started writing, I never did so even for my favorite authors. Thanks for your thoughts.
Hi Lynne! Times have changed and I can’t believe how engaged readers are with their favorite authors. It’s wonderful, but it does add to our author workload. Thanks for being here and commenting.
Great thoughts worth considering! However, 2 months ago, I decided to self-publish my book as a Patreon Serial, with the idea of uploading a new chapter each week. The great thing about Patreon, is that I can click the button that says to “notify subscribers of my post” and anyone who is a subscribed follower will get an email alert. If my posts use a combination of graphics and texts, it’s just a preview of my post. But if my post contains only text, or only graphics, I can have the post sent as a full email. And the best part is, Patreon is free to use. You only get charged a fee from the income you generate from your paid subscribers. I send out monthly updates of my writing progress or share literary tips. And of course, the chapters of my book each week or so. I’m up to a whopping 4 subscribers. 2 of whom are personal friends, and the other two are acquaintances from Facebook circles I promoted my Patreon in. No idea how my endeavors will pan out in the long run, but in the short term, I don’t need to create separate newsletters. I have an interface with a built-in email alert system at the click of a button. Depending on the free or paid tier my subscribers chose to sign up for, depends on which posts I let them have access to. So easy. 🙂 (The free tier gets all my monthly updates and literary tips, and the first 5 chapters of my book. Paid tiers get unlimited access to my full book and everything else the free tiers get.)
Hi Amber! I have heard about Patreon, but I am not an expert. Patreon sounds like a platform that you could grow without breaking the bank. I would make sure that you have access to the subscribers’ emails and download them in case Patreon would cease to exist.
You sound like you have a good plan of reaching your readers. Continued success to you.
I’m glad you joined us.
Thank you! Hoping that Patreon will garner the funding necessary to self-publish. That’s my overall plan and goal. It’s a user-friendly platform. Good idea to save emails, though. Thanks! 🙂
Yes, your emails should belong to you and not the platform. All the best on your journey to indie-publishing.