Grow Your Email and Contact List
An author’s contact list is a group of people who have genuinely chosen to stay connected with your work. These may include readers, people who attend your events, ministry or professional contacts, people who respond to your content, or those who ask to receive updates about your book.
The goal is not to collect as many names as possible. It is to gradually build a community of people who are interested in your message and are comfortable hearing from you again.
Why Build the List Before Your Book Is Released?
When your book is eventually ready, you should not be starting from zero. Your contact list gives you people you can appropriately inform about:
Start With Permission
Do not automatically add everyone whose telephone number or email address you possess.
A smaller list of interested people is more valuable than a large list of people who never asked to hear from you.
I am preparing a book on Christian parenting and occasionally share resources and updates around the subject. Would you like me to keep you updated?
I am preparing a book on Christian parenting and occasionally share resources and updates around the subject. Would you like me to keep you updated?
What Information Do You Actually Need?
For a beginner, keep it simple. You normally only need:
You can organise more sophisticated mailing systems later. For now, begin with information that is simple, useful and easy to maintain.
Where Can Your First Contacts Come From?
Begin with people who naturally encounter your message: readers of your posts, people who attend your talks, church or workplace programmes, book events, professional forums, training sessions and people who personally express interest in your subject.
Always give people a genuine opportunity to choose whether they want continued communication.
Keep the Relationship Useful
Do not build a list that only hears from you when you are selling something. Share useful information occasionally: an article, a helpful reflection, an invitation, a new resource or an important update.
Practical Tool: Build Your First Author Contact List
The tool below guides a first-time author through three assignments:
- Decide who belongs on the list.
- Identify where those contacts may come from.
- Begin a simple permission-based list.
Grow Your Email and Contact List
Begin identifying people who genuinely want to remain connected with your writing, message and future books.
Who Should Be on Your List?
Choose the kinds of people who are most likely to genuinely benefit from your writing and want to hear from you again.
Where Can Your Contacts Come From?
Think about places where people already encounter you, your work or your book’s subject.
Build Your First Simple List
Begin with a few people who have genuinely indicated that they would like to stay connected with your work.