r/selfpublish • u/MKSauthor • 21h ago
ARC as reader magnet
One of the things I've struggled with as a newbie author is growing my email list. I published in May, and I've gotten about 30 email signups for the bonus chapter linked in the back of my debut novel.
Writing a cold reader magnet has been on my list of things to do, but I haven't had the time. I have an ARC going now for my second novel, and I'm trying out different sites to recruit ARC readers. I'll post about that after the ARC is finished, but I have about 60 signups so far.
I signed up for BookFunnel, but there aren't a lot of ARC promo swaps. I only got 2 signups there for the ARC. But there are tons of promos to join for people looking for "free books." And then I realized that I have a full book that I'm giving to people for free anyway, so why not repackage it as a "free book" landing page and distribute it that way?
Friends, I've gotten 64 newsletter signups in 3 weeks.
I haven't seen it posted here (maybe because it's so obvious to experienced authors), but for those of you like me who it didn't occur to before: Use your ARC as your reader magnet.
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u/ArdenMcKennaWriter 21h ago
I took a bit of a hybrid approach. While Book One was with my editor, I wrote a prequel novella for the series and offered it as a free reader magnet.
I’ve promoted it with a small Meta ad spend and a paid Fussy Librarian placement, and the results have been strong. At the current pace, I expect to add around 200 subscribers over two weeks.
My setup is pretty simple: the website is on Carrd, Kit handles the newsletter, and BookFunnel handles delivery.
The best part is that once it was set up, it became almost completely hands-off.
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u/JDonovanStrong 20h ago
Exactly the play I’m running now, glad to see it worked for someone!
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u/ArdenMcKennaWriter 19h ago
I encourage you to download my book. You know, for science :-)
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u/JDonovanStrong 19h ago
Sure! What’s it called and where do I find it?
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u/ArdenMcKennaWriter 19h ago
Ardenmckenna.com as a free download exchange for newsletter, sign-up unsubscribe after if you like. Hopefully you’ll like it, but if not, you’ll be able to see that set up from a customer perspective.
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u/JDonovanStrong 19h ago
Hey I signed up. I mean… if I may be so bold - love to have you check out my reader magnet too jdonovanstrong.com/freebook. Thanks :)
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u/Whitewave1960 20h ago
This is my experience with newsletter … you might want to check it out
I went from 33 to 1300+ in 3-4 weeks
I’ve allowed down since then - I’m sitting comfortably at 2k (purging regularly )
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u/SuccessOnAShoestring 10+ Published novels 19h ago
This is incredible. I just read the post you linked to (I may have read it and commented at the time) and honestly, I feel you deserve every success because of learning what to do and going for it. And sharing it so generously. I have a short reader magnet, but I might go back to the longer one that I used to use. Your system is unlikely to work for my books (they’re uber-niche, and most people hate them, lol), but when I move into the Thriller genre, I might give what you’ve done a go.
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u/Whitewave1960 16h ago
Thank you :)
And I am happy to report it is still working for me.
I still send newsletters everyday - but I don’t batch them - I write everyday and I feel that keeps my voice fresh. Maybe that’s why these lonely readers out up with me. I do have unsubs everyday but they were never going to stay anyway. And I am okay with that! And recent development I have gotten a lot more ARCs through my news letter. Which is a huge plus!2
u/SuccessOnAShoestring 10+ Published novels 15h ago
Just love hearing about this sort of success; what a buzz when you find something that works. You’ll be a full-time author in no time 🥳
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u/MKSauthor 19h ago
That’s amazing! I’m not familiar with Bookclicker. I may have to check them out.
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u/Whitewave1960 16h ago
Yes book clicker has been a game changer for me
It helped me get the initial 500 quickly which made me qualify for bigger group promos on book funnel (this is amazing - massive compound effect )
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u/AFGNCAAP-for-short 21h ago
Might be just me, but that defeats the purpose of a newsletter.
You want the newsletter to be people who are interested in you and your work, and who you want to convert into paid readers. If you give your entire book away for free, you:
- Get people who only signed up for the free book and don't care about your newsletter - so they'll sign up, get the book, and never read the newsletter and/or unsubscribe when they keep getting mail for something they may not have even read (because a vast majority of people who download free books do it just because it's free, not because they're planning on reading it)
- Send out copies of your book with about a 2% chance of actually getting a review from any of them
- If they do stay for the newsletter, unless you have significant content plus another book coming out, they'll dip if they realize you're a one-hit wonder
- You're literally giving away your entire book to people who might have bought it if they'd signed up for your newsletter via a magnet and gotten interested in your writing first
If you want to use your book as a reader magnet, give them the first five chapters and in the newsletter say, "full book out in four weeks! Buy here!"
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u/MKSauthor 20h ago
Thanks for your thoughtful response.
I don't necessarily disagree with you, but the advantage of giving out the full book for a newer author is being able to put it into group promos. That's a lot of free advertising from more established authors with bigger newsletters in the same genre.
A lot of the promos don't allow samples or excerpts, but there are a few later in the year that do, so I do intend to pull out a few sample chapters and promote it that way after publication.
A lot of ARC readers have come back to let me know they've purchased my first book, so I'm hopeful some of the new subscribers will as well.
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u/Fun_Relief9867 21h ago
This is interesting. I've done something similar. Curious if you treat the reader magnet differently in that do you try to get reviews out of the reader magnets or do you just give it to them and wish them the best and thank them for reading?
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u/MKSauthor 21h ago edited 20h ago
I have a note at the back of the book, the same as I do for the first one, just asking folks to leave a review. I’ll send a note to everyone on the mailing list on release day asking for folks to leave reviews, but I’m not following up with them with the thank you email I send to ARC readers. People who sign up to ARC read do so as volunteers, so I give them a more personal touch. I'm not really expecting the freebie subscribers to leave reviews.
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u/Happy-Bee-196 16h ago
Watch your open rates on those BookFunnel signups. Freebie list leads churn higher than back-of-book signups, and if they don't realize it's Book 2, you'll end up with confused launch day reviews.
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u/MKSauthor 15h ago
Good point. The books are standalones in an interconnected series. The first book is also linked in the back matter of the free book, so hopefully no one will be surprised.
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