{"id":17726,"date":"2017-09-29T01:00:09","date_gmt":"2017-09-29T08:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/?p=17726"},"modified":"2017-09-25T14:22:50","modified_gmt":"2017-09-25T21:22:50","slug":"if-you-build-a-mailing-list-the-sales-will-come-by-jack-thompson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/2017\/09\/29\/if-you-build-a-mailing-list-the-sales-will-come-by-jack-thompson\/","title":{"rendered":"If You Build a Mailing List, The Sales Will Come by Jack Thompson"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/a>Today we welcome a new guest writer to Writer\u2019s Fun Zone, Jack Thompson, who is stopping by to chat with us about \u201cIf You Build a List, The Sales Will Come.\u201d \u00a0Enjoy!<\/em><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

The field of fiction writing is highly competitive.<\/strong> There are a lot of us out there. It is painfully ironic that in too many cases authors promoting books or courses on how to market fiction works have had their greatest success with their non-fiction how to book, not their fiction works.<\/p>\n

Having said that, I do appreciate all the help I can get. There are definitely some venues for book marketing that can help an author raise subscribers, reviews and sales. I have and do use Amazon Marketing Services (AMS), Bookbub and Facebook, to name three of the most prominent with varying degrees of success.<\/p>\n

Important note:<\/strong> there is no magic formula that always works. If you are reading someone\u2019s book on THE thing to do to successfully market books, the chances are good that the window for what they did has already closed. If I have learned one thing it is that the marketing scene for indie authors is a constantly changing landscape.<\/p>\n

What is cheap and highly effective today may become cost prohibitive and ineffective\u00a0tomorrow. Of course, given enough money and the willingness to spend it, you can brute force your way up the charts.<\/p>\n

IF done well, with proper testing of ads, and with plenty of support actions in place, you will most likely eventually make money. No guarantees, and note that is a very big IF.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

However, if you are patient, build a list of fans,<\/strong> balance your time between writing and marketing, and most importantly write good books, you can achieve success. There are some major names out there who have proven that to be true. DON\u2019T GIVE UP<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

If you build a list, the sales will come.<\/h2>\n

The only way to control your writer destiny is to build a fan base mailing list. Every indie author success I have seen started with a growing fan list. Therefore, mailing list management is vital.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>My favorite platform is Author Reach.<\/strong> I would describe it as a specialized marketing service that includes the benefits and functions of a Mailchimp\/Aweber in terms of managing and building a mailing list, but with one major difference.<\/p>\n

The Author Reach platform services only authors, and the staff are dedicated to helping authors succeed. They have many helpful features that other list management companies don\u2019t have.<\/p>\n

Here are some highlights:<\/p>\n