How to Build an Email List for Your Books as a Kindle Author

Acquiring the knowledge of how to build an email list for your books as a Kindle author is a valuable skill you will benefit from over and over again. Book sales of any kind are made easier when there is an attentive audience to promote to. An email list is something every author should build and continue to grow.

Getting Started
Initially, there are some preliminaries that must be set up. If you already have a website, then you are one step ahead of the game. If you do not, you will need to have one designed or design it yourself. Most importantly, that website needs to be capable of adding a widget, html code or Java script. WordPress has many option for adding widgets to your blog for email signups.

A widget is a small application that is used to add information to a website. This is necessary in order to add an opt-in box to your site for list building purposes. If you have ever visited a website and they asked for your name and email address in exchange for some sort of free give-a-way, then you have used an opt-in-box. It is best if you offer your visitors some sort of free give-a-way too, such as a free report, ebook, video or chapter they can easily download. The html code and Java script are the coding used to install an opt-in box on a website. This coding is given when someone uses an auto-responder company to host and manage their email list.

Autoresponder Services
These auto-responder sites vary in services offered and price. They can range from an affordable twenty dollars per month, to as much as two hundred dollars per month. Some of the most popular ones are aWeber, Constant Contact and InFusion Soft. For beginners, aWeber is the easiest and most affordable one to use and learn. Once you set up an account, you will be able to go through a tutorial that will walk you through the process of setting up your auto-responding system.

For instance, on aWeber, you are allowed to choose from dozens of opt-in box templates. With their wide selection there is sure to be a style that suits your particular needs. You can determine what you want your opt-in box to request from a potential visitor to your website. You can request as little as their first name and email address, or as much information as you feel you need. Other information you may request includes, their first and last name, phone number, address, gender, occupation and just about anything you can imagine. However, it has been test and proven that most people will not opt-in to your list if you ask for more than their name and email address.

Once you have decided on a template, you will be given the html code or Java script which is necessary to attach the opt-in box to your website. When a visitor leaves their contact information, they will be sent an email. When you are setting up your auto-responder, you will need to decide what you want to say in that first email they will receive. This is important because it will set the tone for a lasting relationship. You will also be able to schedule future emails to be sent out to them automatically. You decide if you want these future emails to go out every other day, or weekly.

Those on your list will come to expect correspondence from you via email. If you do this well, they will actually look forward to receiving your email. This is what you are aiming for. Keep them thirsting for more. Give them incredible value. Then when your book comes out, you will have an eager and ready audience to purchase your book. Learning how to build an email list for your books as a Kindle author will translate into more sales.

4 Comments

• 
  John D Thomas June 4, 2012 at 2:07 pm

  I purchased your Kickstart Kindle Promotion book and found out that the customer profile page option was not available. Can you explain what is going on here? Did they discontinue the profile page? I DO have the author page and bio set up. Thx

  Reply
• 
  Amy Harrop June 4, 2012 at 2:13 pm

  Hi John,

  I was able to access the page recently, try this:
  Go here:
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/css/homepage.html

  Scroll down to the bottom, on the left it will say Personalization, right underneath Digital Content. To the right, you’ll see a section call community, underneath that is a link called your public profile. Click on that and that is your customer profile page. You’ll see a yellow button (similar to the Amazon add to cart button) that will allow you to edit your profile on the top right of the page.

  hope that helps,
  Amy

  Reply
• 
  Yolanda June 5, 2012 at 2:16 am

  If you are just publising fiction, short stories to be exact, would you suggest the give away be a short story? Thanks!

  Reply
• 
  Amy Harrop June 5, 2012 at 3:32 am

  Good question! I think either a short story or a preview of a longer work. You want to get the readers hooked into your writing style so they will want to read more.

  Reply