Are Your Book Marketing Emails Getting Read?

 

 

We all send emails that seem to go nowhere. No response from the intended recipient. No acknowledgment of its receipt. No error message of a wrong address. We just send off messages into the ether. Where do they go? 

It’s like asking: “What happens when you die?” 

The answer of: “Nothing and who knows?” seems applicable to both questions. 

Rather than wonder if you’ll ever get a response or if they received your email in the first place, simply ask yourself: “What can I do to get people to open, read, and respond favorably to my email?” That’s the bottom line here. The rest doesn’t matter. 

Here are some best practices to ensure your email arrives to your destined location -- and that its recipient plucks it out of a crowded in-box and actually is moved enough by it to respond and to do so favorably:

1. Duh, make sure you have the correct email address. Also, try to track down any other working email addresses for that person. Hit them all.
2. Avoid SPAM filters by tying two things: Do not send attachments and don’t put words in your subject line that cause problems. Avoid curse words, “free,” or using the recipient’s name in the subject line. 

3. If you don’t receive a response within three to seven business days, send another email out with a different subject line. Maybe they missed it or forgot to respond. Perhaps they were traveling, sick, or very busy. A reminder email to nudge them is fine.  

4. Most people won’t open an email if: they don’t recognize the sender, they recognize and don’t care for them, believe it’s spam or hoaxes, or the subject line simply doesn't interest them.  

5. If they start to skim your email, keep it short, use bullet points, short paragraphs, and a strong opening sentence.  

6. Give people the chance to opt out of your emails. You hate to see them go, but who needs to email people who don’t want your stuff? 

7. Understand that some people are morons. They live to tell others that they don’t want your email or that they don’t trust you, even though you did nothing but show love. I've offered people free information and services and they act like I called their mothers a name. 

The key to email is the following:

• Use it in conjunction with other methods. Sometimes it takes a text, a phone call, a fax, a mailed letter, direct a tweet, or an in-person visit to reach someone.

 

• Don’t expect much. Email is a tool. These tools are not always what’s needed to fix a specific problem. 

 

• Make great offers, be polite, and if you can use humor well, you may just get people to responds favorably. 

 

• Always follow the CAN-SPAM Act from the Federal Trade Commission 

 

• Lastly, emails are a numbers game. The more you send the more that get through, and the more that get through get read. The more read, the more responded to. 

“Always give more than they expect to get.”

--Nelson Boswell 

“Believe the unexpected to create business karma.”

--Deb Duncan  

“No one ever attains success by simply doing what is required of him.”

--Charles Kendall Adams 

“Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don’t be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.”

--Dr. Wayne Dyer, Best-Selling Author 

“You see things; and you say ‘why?’ But I can dream things that never were; and I say ‘why not?’”

--George Bernard Shaw 

“We do not remember days; we remember moments.”

--Ceasar Paverse 

Need Book Marketing Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com He is available to help authors promote their story, sell their book, and grow their brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

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About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on Twitter @theprexpert. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2023. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This award-winning blog has generated over 3.2 million pageviews. With 4,400+ posts over the past decade, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and two jobs at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Susan RoAne, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America, and has spoken at ASJA, IBPA, Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. He has been featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald. For more information, please consult: linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum.