Email Marketing for Authors: Getting Started with Lead Magnets

Photo by Mariia Shalabaieva on Unsplash

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​Marketing your book begins well before the final words are written, the query letters are sent, or the edits are complete. Marketing begins when the idea forms and the words start coming together on the page. After all, marketing is all about building relationships with your target readers.

Social media can be a great way to connect with potential readers, but building a contact list can prove to be even more valuable. In the ever-changing world of social media, an email contact list of your own won’t change. It isn’t dependent on algorithms. And you can feel confident that your target readers are hearing your message.

So, how do you start building an email list? A lead magnet is a great tool. One that can help you connect with the readers that you aim to reach. Let’s take a look at the benefits of creating a lead magnet and some examples of lead magnets that might work for you.

Benefits of Author Lead Magnets for Email Marketing

• Attract Your Ideal Readers: You want readers who are interested in your genre or book topic. Lead magnets help you find those readers, allowing you to nurture those relationships, deepen their trust, and build a fan base that will be eager for your next release.
  
• Provide Value and Build Trust: When readers see that what you offer is valuable, like exclusive content or a short story, they learn they can trust you. You’ll be showing them that what you offer is quality writing, and they’ll be open to paying for past and future books.
• Build Familiarity and Anticipation: A lead magnet also shows readers your writing style. It gives them a glimpse into your story world or introduces them to your characters. It gives you a chance to demonstrate your authority on your book topic. You can establish yourself as a professional. Someone they can count on. As they become familiar with your style, they will be more likely to anticipate any books you write in the future.

• Create a Loyal Community: When you engage with target readers, you build a community that trusts you and the content you provide. They come to know you as an author and look forward to future publications.
• Capture Qualified Leads: The whole purpose of a lead magnet is to capture the attention of readers who are already interested in what you have to say. By finding readers in your genre or topic of interest, providing them with a free quality lead magnet, and showing them the level of content you provide with your writing, you are building a base of future readers who will happily pay for future writing.
• Gain Audience Insights: The lead magnet that brings the most value and is the most successful with readers is one that reveals what it is that your audience values the most. When you know what your audience values, you can tailor your content and marketing strategies to meet their needs.

Examples of Author Lead Magnets
Fiction Authors can offer a prequel or novella related to your book, an excerpt from one of your books, backstory on your characters or character profiles, maps or illustrations from your story world, deleted scenes, or bonus content.

Nonfiction Authors can offer a guide or ebook related to your new or existing book, checklists, worksheets, or templates that complement your book, or research summaries related to your book that your readers would find valuable.

You can also offer discounts, bundle offers, quizzes, surveys, printable art, bookmarks, etc.

Conclusion: The Value of an Author Lead Magnet for Email Marketing
Lead magnets are more than free offers. They help you establish relationships with your target readers. Readers who want to learn what you are equipped to teach. Readers who want to become immersed in your story world. Readers who will support, encourage, and cheer you on.

​When you develop a quality lead magnet, you can attract the readers you are writing to and help your story reach those who need it most. 

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