Support for Indie Authors discussion

Hi, thank you for reading.

I'm just about to release (this Friday) my 3rd book on Amazon (3rd in a series). Book 2 was picked up by Kindle Scout and did well. My 3rd is self-published. How can I let the 2,500 folk who bought book 2 from Amazon know that book 3 is now available?

Thank you!

Roland Ladley

Hmmm, as far as I know it's not possible to let past readers know directly. Unless they've signed up for something you put together, like an email list on your author website or a place where you advertise.

I would recommend working on a few specific things to connect with any new readers going forward. That way, you have the right tools in place:

Set up an email list signup on your author website so you can email your readers directly. I only use mine a few times a year so it's not spamming people, but it lets readers know when I have something new coming out. Mailchimp works well for this, but I know there are others out there, too.

If you do a lot on Amazon, explore using the "follow" feature. This is exactly what you want. To find it, go to any of your books on the Amazon webpage and look for your author bio photo. Beneath the photo there is a button "follow".

That button is Amazon's way of letting your reader sign up for updates from you that will go their email when you add a new book- I believe it also lets them know if you create a new edition of a previous book, etc. Major changes.

How do you get someone to click that magical "follow" button? Amazon Giveaways, my friend.

If this is book 3 coming out (congrats, by the way!) then give away copies of book 1 and 2 on Amazon. You can add a requirement in order to enter the giveaway, which includes the option for someone to click that "follow" button. Then when you release book 3, every person who clicked that follow button will get an email about the book.

If Amazon Giveaways is something new to you that you want to learn about, simply google "how do I set up an amazon giveaway" and the steps to set it up will be right there.

Just remember, while you may not be able to contact all the people who have already bought your books, setting up these things above will put you in contact with your Amazon readers for all your future work. Best of luck with it.

Jordan wrote: "Hmmm, as far as I know it's not possible to let past readers know directly. Unless they've signed up for something you put together, like an email list on your author website or a place where you a..."

Dear Jordan, what can I say - thanks! I don't have a website (I have a wordpress blog) and so currently I'm only selling books via Amazon. I've clicked on the 'follow' button - so I understand that. And I'm now going to research the 'giveaway' process - it's not the same as the promotion (free) process?

Anyhow. I did think about using Amazon to advertise book 3, with the only demographic being ME! And I assume that those adverts would target people who had bought the previous 2 books.

Thanks again...

Roland

Roland wrote: "Jordan wrote: "Hmmm, as far as I know it's not possible to let past readers know directly. Unless they've signed up for something you put together, like an email list on your author website or a pl..."

You're quite welcome! Book launches are overwhelming to be sure, and the learning process never ends.

It sounds like the giveaway program would be a good idea. Blogs help, too! Write a blog post about the giveaway, include a link (Amazon will provide you with one) and redirect the interest so readers who know you will also follow you on Amazon.

A few things I figured out about the giveaway process itself:

It surprised me that I had to buy copies of my book to give away. That was weird at first until I thought about it from Amazon's perspective instead of my own.

Amazon issues a redemption code for each copy of the book that you offer as a "prize". They need the monetary value of the book up front because they're essentially selling it to someone else, but you're the one paying for it, if that makes sense.

You can adjust how often people win (say, one in fifty, or one in two hundred entrants wins). You buy your book copies when setting it up. When you run out of won copies, the giveaway ends, so don't worry about Amazon charging you for a hundred copies of your book suddenly or anything like that.

If you have any leftover after the time period elapses, Amazon sends you the codes for the books so you can run another giveaway or gift them another way.

I don't know what your advertising budget is, or what else you are doing prior to launch, but giving away book copies is a pretty great way to renew interest. And remember, if you set it up so that people follow you to win the book, then you want to get as much interest as possible!

Separately, I would also suggest making the first book in your series free for a few days, if it isn't already. You will encourage people to pre-order or order all three books at the same time!

I hope it works out well for you. Feel free to friend me and let me know how the giveaway/launch goes! It's a labor of love, isn't it?

Cheers,

Jordan