What\u2019s the best way to announce your book via e-mail?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve received quite a few book announcement e-mails lately. I want to be excited for the authors, because this is a big deal. Sadly, though,\u00a0most of the messages aren’t very compelling.<\/p>\n

More often than not, they\u2019re self-congratulatory (\u201cI\u2019ve achieved my dream!\u201d) or self-serving (\u201cIf you buy my book on Amazon in the next 24 hours, I can become a best-selling author!\u201d).<\/p>\n

Some are brief: \u201cMy new book is out. Here\u2019s a link where you can buy it.\u201d Others are rambling. None of them tell me why I\u2019d want to buy the book \u2013 what\u2019s in it for me, the reader.<\/p>\n

8 tips for using e-mail to announce your new bundle of joy<\/h2>\n

I don\u2019t want you to repeat the mistakes I keep seeing in my inbox, so I\u2019m sharing\u00a0eight tips that will help authors with any level of marketing experience write a book announcement e-mail message that isn\u2019t obnoxious, annoying, offensive, or downright sad.<\/p>\n

1. Tell us what the book\u2019s about.<\/h2>\n

Don\u2019t presume that we\u2019re up to speed. This might be the first time we’re hearing about your book.<\/p>\n

Start with the description on the back cover or, if it\u2019s e-book only, the Amazon description. It should tell us why we will want to buy your book, right? You might need to massage it to make it more personal, since e-mail is such an informal means of communicating.<\/p>\n

2. Realize that it\u2019s not about you.<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s about the person you\u2019re writing to.<\/p>\n

Tell me what your book will do for me. Will it educate, inform, entertain, enlighten? What\u2019s in it for me? How will your book improve my world, help me improve someone else\u2019s world, or help me forget about my world?<\/p>\n

3. Include a link where we can purchase the book from a trusted online retailer.<\/h2>\n

Seriously \u2013 you\u2019d be surprised at how many messages omit this. If possible, include links to more than one retail site.<\/p>\n

(Hint: Your author website is not a \u201ctrusted online retailer.\u201d)<\/p>\n

4. Forget the \u201chelp me make my book an Amazon best-seller\u201d plea.<\/h2>\n

Unless you are my total BFF, I don\u2019t care if your book is a best-seller.<\/p>\n

All I want to know is whether I\u2019ll like or need your book or if I know someone else who would. If you feel compelled to focus on that best-seller-for-five-minutes-in-an-Amazon-category plan, at least share information about your book, too.<\/p>\n

5. Don\u2019t come on too strong.<\/h2>\n

You might suggest that your book makes a nice gift, but don\u2019t tell me that I \u201cshould\u201d buy it for everybody I work with. Some of us respond better to requests than to demands.<\/p>\n

6. Ask me nicely to share your news with my networks.<\/h2>\n

If I know people who will want to know about your book, I\u2019ll help spread the word. But sometimes I need to be reminded of that excellent idea.<\/p>\n

7. When sending from your desktop email program (Outlook, Gmail, etc.), “bcc” everyone you’re sending to.<\/h2>\n

Put your own email address in the “to” line and the recipient addresses in the “bcc” line so that you aren’t exposing email addresses. Using the bcc option will keep your connections’ addresses private.<\/p>\n

Send your announcement to anyone in your address book who might realistically be interested in your book. Be thoughtful about this. Not everyone will be interested, and it could be inappropriate to send to some.<\/p>\n

If you plan to email it to many, many contacts, consider sending the message in batches over time so your messages don’t get flagged as spam. (Note that when you’re sending just a single “blast” message, rather than a series of messages, you don’t need the recipient’s permission to send to them.)<\/p>\n

8. Remember that the quality of your announcement reflects the quality of your book, so make it as good as you can.<\/h2>\n

I received one that looked like a ransom note, with multiple fonts and sizes.\u00a0I know this wasn’t what the author intended.<\/p>\n

What’s that old saying? You only get one chance to make a first impression?<\/p>\n

That’s why you want to make sure that your announcement uses correct grammar and has no errors. (I actually received one that had a mistake in the book title.) Details matter.<\/p>\n

If it’s sloppy, we will think your book’s content is a mess, too.<\/p>\n

---

\n

Whatever you do, make this just the starting point for your book launch. There’s lots more you could — and “should” — be doing to promote your book.<\/p>\n

Have you ever purchased a book based on an e-mail blast announcement? Why?<\/em><\/p>\n

(Editor\u2019s note: This article was first published in August 2010. It has been updated and expanded.)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

What\u2019s the best way to announce your book via e-mail?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve received quite a few book announcement e-mails lately. I want to be excited for the authors, because this is a big deal. Sadly, though,\u00a0most of the messages aren’t very compelling.<\/p>\n

More often than not, they\u2019re self-congratulatory (\u201cI\u2019ve achieved my dream!\u201d) or self-serving (\u201cIf you buy my book on Amazon in the next 24 hours, I can become a best-selling author!\u201d).<\/p>\n

Some are brief: \u201cMy new book is out. Here\u2019s a link where you can buy it.\u201d Others are rambling. None of them tell me why I\u2019d want to buy the book \u2013 what\u2019s in it for me, the reader.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":19768,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,11],"tags":[21,22,23,24],"class_list":["post-278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-tactics","tag-book-announcement","tag-e-mail-announcement","tag-email-announcement","tag-new-book"],"yoast_head":"\n