I-SPY Free Books?? How, Where, and What to Watch out for!

Join the authors and friends of Not Your Usual Suspects for an occasional series of posts about their world of reading, writing and publishing.

Short and sweet, hopefully both informative and entertaining - join us at I-Spy to find out the how's and why's of what we do.

TODAY'S POST: I-Spy something beginning with ... Free Books!

Instafreebie/bookfunnel campaigns - and please accept those example names in this post as relating to ANY other similar sites - have recently burst on the scene, as a way of offering free books in multiple formats

As a reader? They're great! I've been able to download backlist books from authors I love, and sample new books from authors I've yet to "meet". Admittedly there are some drawbacks, even when the product is free:
* some books are poorly presented and written. I DoNotFinish, and avoid that author in future, but it means having to trawl through some dreck to find the gems.
* my Kindle is so full after a campaign that it takes me ages - if ever - to get around to reading all the new books! It does slow down my buying habits, which you could take as a good or bad thing.
* and I get myself subscribed to future free offers and early sneak peeks from the author.

As an author? It's a very useful marketing tool.
* if you send out Advance Reader Copies for a new book, this is a quick, low workload, and efficient way to do it.
* you can personalise the copies - in case one gets into the hands of book pirates, you can track where it came from,

* you can use a giveaway campaign to increase your mailing list, to attract future fans. You can set conditions to your giveaway, where the subscriber can choose to - or must - subscribe. Then the free book program will connect them to your list on the platform you use for newsletters e.g. MailChimp.


So, but... what happens when the Honeymoon is over??

As a reader: Some authors are too pushy for me, following up with weekly newsletters, often checking in on me to see if I've read the book / what did I think / can I leave a review / do I want to hear about the next project?
In most cases, the answer will be positive, but I'd like to choose my time to engage. Gradually, I peel away the newsletters that *don't* appeal to me. After all, we can all use the internet to follow up on a new treasured author, at our own time.

As an author: I recently banded together with 80 other authors for just one week, offered a self-published backlist novel, and doubled my newsletter subscriber list to 1000+! Of course, it meant I gave away a whole bunch of books for free (though it was a slow-moving title in the first place). Nor is it just a numbers game - I can only hope it generates some new reviews, or interest in my other books. It's difficult to measure that success or not, but exposure for my author name is always a plus for me.
And a small percentage of the newsletter subscribers gradually peel away, just like I have done myself.

There are conditions to Instafreebie, and they do monitor drastic ups and downs on an account, in an attempt to minimise spammers using them. However, it's relatively easy to set up and use, and the basic account is free, though you have to pay a modest monthly subscription if you want to link your giveaway to your mailing list (which I think currently is worth the money for me).

And a plea? If you do subscribe to newsletters and then want to unsubscribe, please be careful not to tick the reason as being "inappropriate" or "spam", if all you want to do is back away amicably. Choosing those options (unless they're true, of course!) can flag up the author and cause them to lose their account.

Overall? I recommend it as a great way to share free fiction, meet new books and authors - because they're appearing every day in their multitudes! - and also reach out to readers of your own with writing updates, fun news and treats. You know, NOT everyone spends 12+hours of the day online like me *cough*, so a newsletter is a valuable way to reach new, and unique, readers.

And everyone loves the occasional free book, right? :D

~~Clare London~~
www.clarelondon.com
And my newsletter is HERE!


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FUTURE POSTS will cover:
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We welcome everyone's constructive comments and suggestions!

TO NEWSLETTER OR NOT

Authors like to write. So, why is it that writing a newsletter often fills us with a sense of dread and panic? Perhaps it’s because we know we should be writing on our next book, but instead we’re writing a newsletter. Or maybe it’s because it’s just one more freaking thing we have to do for promotion and we are totally, utterly promotioned-out. Whatever the reason, do authors really need to have a newsletter?

I wasn’t sure, but my publisher finally convinced me it was a good idea. My talented sister set it up for me, so it was a done deal. Mail Chimp was our vehicle of choice to both collect email addresses and create a newsletter template. Thankfully, Mail Chimp wasn’t nearly as scary or daunting as we feared. There was a bit of a learning curve, but luckily not that bad. Luckily it looks like subsequent newsletters will be fairly simple to create and send out. So, after the initial newsletter, it looks like all downhill from here. Whew. So, why do it?

I thought about it and decided to write it to reward my inner core of awesome readers—those people who are excited enough to sign up for my newsletter and buy my books as soon as they come out. I will use my newsletters for special cover reveals, swag giveaways, exclusive excerpts, free books, and so on. It also helps me stay in touch with those readers who are not on social media, but who want to know what I’m writing. It’s a fun and fabulous way to keep your readers engaged and interested. Once I determined for whom the newsletter was intended, I actually had a blast writing it. After I sent it out, I was excited to hear if they enjoyed reading it. Apparently they did! Yay! Right now I have plans for a whopping two newsletters a year, possibly three if I'm ambitious. I'd prefer to start slow and gauge interest.

For those of you who may be interested, here is a little peek at my newsletter which just came out last Sunday.

The bottom line—if you are an author and you decide to write a newsletter, do it to engage your readers and inform your fans. Make it fun. And, by all means, have fun writing it.

By the way, if you want to see my most recent newsletter in all its glory, hop over to my website at www.juliemoffett.com and sign up.