How I Grow My Email Newsletter To Help Sell My Books and Find My People
5 Ways to Grow Your Email Newsletter
And if you want your words to change something, then you need an audience. The best way to do all that is by building an email list. Many writers don’t get the attention they deserve, and this frustrates me. Their messages fade into oblivion before they even have the chance to be heard. — Jeff Goins, GoinsWriter
As I considered how to wrap up this short series of posts, I returned to it before sharing my practical steps for growing my newsletter.
Jeff Goins has made an enormous impact on my writing over the years. One of his free resources got me back into blogging, and each course has given me tremendous insights into self-publishing.
And to this day, if it hadn’t been for his work, I may never have gotten back on the wagon to writing in the first place.
That said, I hold this quote above close to heart because it reminds me of the importance of an email newsletter.
And today, I want to share with you what I do to grow my newsletter so you can have an example of how to do it.
5 Ways I Grow My Email Newsletter
This is by no means a complete list. I’m sure there are other ways I have shared my newsletter, but these are the five ways I intentionally share my newsletter with people.
№1 — I Publish My Newsletter on Substack
Substack has been huge for growing my email subscribers because it has an internal network (Notes) that helps you create a platform to get attention to your newsletter. It also has an internal referral system (Recommendations) where other creators share your newsletter.
Thanks to this platform, I have grown my email subscriber list far beyond anything I had ever had. I am closing in on 1,000 subscribers; the largest list I had ever had was just under 300.
My success on Substack has been due to the platform's ease of gathering readers and sharing my content on and off the platform.
№2 — Call-To-Actions on Other Platforms
If I write a blog post or story on any other writing platform, I have a call-to-action at the bottom of the post, sharing about my newsletter.
Yes, this might be a traditional piece of advice, but you look around any writing platform and find writers leaving this significant bit off of their articles.
It makes no sense to me that you would leave that out. If you are writing articles, they are traffic sources that must be referred to in your email newsletter. So, don’t forget it: freshen up your call-to-action and grow your newsletter.
№3 — Share On Social Media
First, you should work on growing one social media platform at a time. Now that I have given that warning, when you post on social media, you should share a link to your newsletter.
You can do this in three ways:
A link in your bio.
At the end of your social media post.
As a comment to your social media post.
These are three super easy ways to share your newsletter; surprisingly, they convert when you have a steady following and post consistently.
№4 — Share Your Newsletter in Your Books
Another way people forget to share their newsletter is in their books. If you have purchased any of my books, you will always find a call to action in two places.
The first place is in the beginning, in that ten or twenty-page window that previews your book. That way, you can gather email subscribers of people who might preview your book and not buy it.
And then again, at the end of the book, for the people who read it all the way through and decided they wanted more.
I don’t have many stats on this, but I have received emails from people who found my books on Amazon, subscribed to my newsletter, and then bought more books as soon as I shared them in my newsletters.
№5 — Email Signature Link
This may sound funny, but I get subscribers from my email signature link. Often, people will email me from different places they find my emails, or I reach out to others, and they follow the link.
My email signature looks like this:
J.R. Heimbigner
The Minimalist Author
Check out my Newsletter for Self-Publishing Content!
And Don’t Forget My Books!
It’s that easy. And people click for my email newsletter and my book link. Sometimes, it is the personal connections that make people want to know more.
Final Thoughts on Building My Email List
Growing your email newsletter doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be straightforward. All you need to do is create content, point people to your email list, and then create even better content in your emails.
Once you get that down, it will grow. However, to help you with building your list, here are the five ways I do it again:
Publish on Substack
Call-to-Actions on Other Platforms
Share on Social Media
Share in Your Books
Leave a Link in Your Email Signature
One of the greatest joys for any creator is to see those subscribers grow. But it is going to take time. And the most important thing to remember about it is this:
You want YOUR people in your subscribers list.
You want people who will appreciate and benefit from your content and want more of it.
You don’t want everyone. So, when someone unsubscribes, be okay with it. They don’t belong on your list anymore. The good news is, they just made room for someone who does belong.
Alright, that is all I have for you today, I would love to hear other ways you promote your email newsletter. Share in the comment below!
My name is J.R. Heimbigner and I am a #1 Bestselling Author on Amazon with 14 self-published books. I have two things I want to share with you:
A short book on to help you use your Substack posts to write books.
The First Draft Masterclass. I share exactly how to write your first draft so you can get that book published!
Have a book already? See how I can promote it with my newsletter!
Also, this post may contain sales or affiliate links, so I might get a little kickback if you purchase anything. Thank you in advance!
I went to your medium page and clicked the link for your homepage. Got a 404 message: no longer existing.
I got your email today on the value of building an email list in which you linked to Goins, a mentor. I went to his site from your link. He, too, emphasized building an email list.
At the bottom of his page he has, as your recommend, a form to sign up.
I put in my email and got a message: this is no longer available.
I am not impressed.
Every one of these are easy and super effective. The thing is a lot of people miss the most direct and simple stuff.
I love getting validation on tips like this as it shows what works for other creators and as such helps me continue to build and improve my own reach. Thank you