Email marketing is one of the most popular methods for communicating with readers. With all the emails people get these days, it’s a challenge to get folks to sign up. There is one trick to attracting readers to your email list: a stellar reader magnet.
What Is a Reader Magnet?
A reader magnet is a document you give away for free when people sign up for your email list. It should be related to your book(s) and enticing to people. It doesn’t have to be anything super fancy, but it needs to be something of value to the reader.
What Can I Use as a Reader Magnet?
There are endless options for things you could use as a reader magnet. It’s really going to depend on what kind of books you write. Here are a few ideas:
- First chapter – You can offer the first chapter of your book for free as a way to expose readers to your content and get them wanting more. A caveat: don’t do this if you want to be/are traditionally published.
- Bonus content – Things like deleted scenes make great reader magnets. You could write an alternate ending, a chapter in another character’s POV, do a character interview, or extend a fun scene.
- An original article – This is especially good for nonfiction authors. Create an article related to your content. For example, if you write about gardening, you could draft “Top Ten Patio Plants” or something similar.
- A recipe – It could be from your book or shared as one of your character’s favorites. Be sure it’s one you’ve created and not one that’s copied from someone else.
- A coloring or activity page – This works well for children’s books. But hey, even adults like to color too!
This is obviously not an exhaustive list; there are many ideas of content you can use. Whatever you decide on, it needs to be something enticing that will make people want to sign up.
How Do I Deliver a Reader Magnet?
Two things you don’t want to do: first, have to send off each reader magnet individually, and second, add it as an attachment to an email. You want to make this as easy as possible for yourself.
If you are using an email service like MailChimp, Constant Contact, or MailerLite, start by setting up an automation. This means as soon as someone joins your mailing list, they immediately receive an email welcoming them automatically. In this welcome email, you can set up how to deliver your reader magnet.
If it’s short, you can copy-paste it into the welcome email itself. If it’s longer, I recommend setting up a hidden page on your author website with the freebie and just adding the link to the welcome email. (This is what I do.)
When Should I Change My Reader Magnet?
Think of reader magnets as a fishing experiment. You want to have the best bait to bring people in. This means you’ll need to monitor your sign-ups, and when things slow down, change your reader magnet. You may also want to change it with each new book you put out.
In Conclusion
Reader magnets are a great tool for getting people to join your email list. Try different ones and see what works best. Be sure it is content that will attract the readers you are looking for, ones who will be likely to buy your book. It helps to have multiple newsletter sign ups on your website. I put them on the bottom of every page and also have a pop-up that announces my freebies. I am fishing for readers and reeling them in, and you can too!
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