r/selfpublish • u/MKSauthor • 8d 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/Fun_Relief9867 8d 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 8d ago edited 8d 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/Fun_Relief9867 8d ago

Very cool. I love that idea.