How to build a basic marketing funnel to grow your email list

Having a marketing funnel is the secret weapon many bestselling authors use to sell more books. In this video, I share how to build a basic marketing funnel.

Meet Fantasy Author T.C. Southwell

This month's featured author is T.C Southwell, author of "The Queen's Blade: Book 1".

Bio

T. C. Southwell was born in Sri Lanka and moved to the Seychelles when she was a baby. She spent her formative years exploring the islands – mostly alone. Naturally, her imagination flourished and she developed a keen love of other worlds. The family travelled through Europe and Africa and, after the death of her father, settled in South Africa.

T. C. Southwell has written over thirty fantasy and science fiction novels, as well as five screenplays. Her hobbies include motorcycling, horse riding and art, and she is now a full-time writer.

Excerpt:

In the time of Shamsara, Idol of the Beasts, on the world of Chasym, favoured of the great god Tinsharon, Queen Minna-Satu, beloved of the Jashimari, took power upon her mother’s deathbed. Tashi-Mansa, Elder Queen of the Jashimari, died two days later from the poison she had taken, and was duly interred within the royal tomb. On the day of her coronation, Minna-Satu stood upon the Plinth of Power and declared herself sworn to her people and the Endless War. Her declaration, however, proved different from those who had gone before her, for she vowed to bring an end to the eternal conflict.

Of the vast crowd that cheered and celebrated her ascension, many went away muttering darkly of her vow, unable to envision a world without war, an economy unspurred by the dark trades of death and weaponry. The Jashimari and the desert people of the Cotti had been at war for eight generations at least, some said longer, and none could remember its beginning or the reason for it. All that was known was that each successive queen was sworn to continue it, and every boy who reached manhood must fight in it, save those of high rank. Now their young Queen, daughter of the long line of queens who had upheld the honour of their people, had vowed to end it.

The seasoned warriors gathered before the golden palace to witness the new Queen’s pledge raised their white-plumed spears in salute, and the populace beyond their ranks roared in adulation, as if her words had not reached them. In truth, the day’s celebrations, the music, marching, chanting and priestly exhortations to the faithful, brushed this oddity from most people’s minds much as a spider web is swept from its dusty corner by a housewife’s broom. Some, with more ordered minds, noted it, wondered at it, and filed it away, while others wrote it down in texts and records. A few penned it on notes that swift, feathered messengers flew across the land, into the hands of the enemy king.

Upon receiving the first of these messages, King Shandor of the Cotti laughed uproariously and handed it to his eldest son. Prince Kerrion read it and tossed it aside, his countenance unlightened by levity. Shandor shook his head, still chuckling, and gazed at the sea of armoured warriors that surrounded his desert camp, an unstoppable tide of brawn marching inexorably towards the mountains that guarded Jashimari lands. There they would hurl themselves against the defenders’ ramparts in waves of bloody combat in the time-honoured way.

Thus, with Queen Minna-Satu’s declaration, began a time that would be remembered always. A time of sorrow and pain, of struggle and sacrifice; a time that would be named after the man who brought it about: the time of the Queen’s Blade.

Free download link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/33966

Contact T.C. Southwell

Email: fantasyauthor21@gmail.com

Website: http://www.tcsouthwellbooks.com/ 

Blog: http://tcsouthwell.blogspot.com/  

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Until next time,

How Podcasting Can Help You Sell More Books

Podcasting can be a great promotional tool for authors

If you are like many authors, you are probably looking for new and exciting ways to get the word out about your business. Well, there is a way that you can do that without having a huge marketing budget. In fact, you can even start your very own professional podcast for free, using a service called blog talk radio.

Blogtalkradio came onto the scene in 2006, offering a platform for amateur radio show hosts to launch their own radio shows online. Since its inception, the site has allowed regular everyday people to interview some of the biggest names in entertainment, media and other arenas.

What is podcasting?

Podcasting is derived from the words 'broadcasting' and ipod. The most popular format of a podcast is MP3, which is a type of audio file. It is a form of audio broadcasting on the internet.

Podcasting became linked to the ipod because people would download the broadcasts to listen to them on their ipods.

Now, you can listen to a podcast on virtually any device, from your desktop computer to your smartphone, to your tablet.

You can record your talk radio style podcasts from home and share them with people all over the world.

People like to hear from authors, so you could actually use this platform to interview other authors, or to do readings from your book.

If your book is nonfiction, you can use a podcast to share your expertise on a particular subject.

How can podcasting work for me?

Think podcasting wouldn't work for you. Ask yourself these questions:

1. Are you passionate about a particular subject?

2. Does your book touch on a subject that you could build a show around?

3. Do you feel comfortable talking about a subject?

These are just a few of the questions you should ask yourself.

Then, sit down with a pen and paper and write down your show ideas.

Authors On Tour is a great example of podcasting that focuses on interviewing authors. It is a live broadcast of authors being interviewed at Tattered Cover Book Store with three locations in Colorado. 

So, if you have been looking for ways to promote your book, consider starting your own podcast.

Interested in learning about more ways to promote your book? Subscribe to my mailing list where I share tips and strategies to help you build a business around books. You can do that here.

Until next time,

How Landing Pages Can Help You Sell More Books

Authors very rarely think of their books as products. I believe that if they did, they would understand the importance of doing the things businesses do in order to sell their products. A very powerful tool that can be used to help authors sell more books is a landing page.

What are landing pages? 

A landing page, or 'lead capture page' is simply a page that requests at least the name and email address of someone who would like to gain access to premium or exclusive information. Landing pages are used by Internet marketers to sell affiliate products. The goal of these pages is to collect leads and nurture them through emails to convert them into sales.They usually promise to offer something in exchange for the information given by the page visitor, such as a free report, or an ecourse or something of that nature. These leads become subscribers that you can build a relationship with, as well as to promote other products and services that you offer. Landing pages are ultimately used to build email subscriber lists.

Landing pages can be a page hosted on your website or blog, or it can be a standalone link like this one that takes people to your landing page once it is clicked.

Authors can benefit from using landing pages if they know how to use them properly.

How authors can use landing pages to sell more books

An author can actually use a landing page to collect the names and email addresses of their subscribers in exchange for free ebooks, exclusive chapters released only to their mailing lists, and more. You can use a video to introduce your special offer and encourage site visitors to sign up to receive it. Your readers will be thrilled to know that just by giving you their name and email address, they can get some special 'goodies' from their favorite author.

An easy and affordable way to create landing pages is with a program called Landing Page Templates. For a low monthly fee, you gain access to over 300 templates that can be used to build attractive landing pages that make people want to enter their information and ultimately, join your list.

You want to make sure that your landing page requires the bare minimums of a name and email address, but, you can get as personal as you like; but keep in mind that most people will be more apt to opt-in to your email list via your landing page if you don't require much information in order for them to join. Some people ask for name, email address, phone and physical mailing address if there is a print component to their list as well. Use your discretion here.


Ready to build your email list with landing pages? Click Here! 

Until next time,