And, there are hundreds of publicists offering their services.  Options range from expensive (most publicists charge between $10,000 to $30,000 for a three month contract) to overpriced (services offered by most publishing firms which could range anywhere between $500 and $10,000) to free (social media you do yourself.)  As well, arm-chair experts, through blogs, offer their expertise on "what you should do" usually for free.  Yet, much of this information is regurgitated from others' and they offer nothing new.

I've noticed recently that email campaigns are re-emerging.  For awhile, when social media marketing was the "new" wave these campaigns slowed down but I assume most companies are finding that social media isn't as effective as anticipated.  Beg to differ?  If you are an author and you are on FaceBook or Twitter, how many books did you buy from your "followers"?  And, I bet you are just as inundated as I am with posts about their fantastic books and that you should buy them, but how many of these people actually purchased your book?  Enough said.

Email campaigns come in different forms and from different sources.  There are many email blast companies online; even the credit score monitoring company Experian offers email campaigns. You can also buy your own software to send out blasts. And, you can purchase or rent email lists from the hundreds of companies online and send them out yourself. 

As well, many of the self-publishing firms also sell email services. These could range anywhere from $350 for an eblast to $10,000 for a tailored campaign which would include 10 million addresses.
This all may sound fine-and-dandy, but are you aware of the CAN-SPAM ACT released in 2004, with updates in 2008, by the Federal Trade Commission?  It is the official law that governs the transmission of business related (yes, your book is a business) emails. SPAM is defined by the act as unsolicited marketing emails.  So...what does all this mean?  Unsolicited Commercial E-mail (UCE) (also known as Spam) is prohibited and email campaigns should only be sent to 100% opt-in lists. This means that anyone you send an email campaign to must have agreed to receive information from you. This also means that you can't barter or purchase/rent lists to legally send out email campaigns.

Sure, you can possibly get around the spam aspect through one of these campaigns by using the campaign company to send out the emails but most of these lists wouldn't be targeted, despite of what they might promise.  Do you really think that there are 10 million people that signed up to receive notification of a book published about making purple widgets? Doubtful.  Or do you think that 1000 book reviewers are eager to review your yellow widget book? Doubtful.  Also, be skeptical if you are told 10 million people opted-in to receive information about your book.  Doubtful.  I once heard someone saying that sending out an email campaign through a service is equivalent to dropping your book announcement off the top of building and hoping it lands in front of someone that might be interested. Be wary if you are swayed into buying an email campaign service because it's doubtful the list contains a selective list of interested readers; it's mainly a list of people that probably aren't even interested in your book, or a list of harvested email addresses to pump up the numbers. 

This is a technique that doesn't work so don't waste your money. But, there is a technique that could work and is a cheap way to get your message out to your potential readers.  First of all, start creating your own list of those in your personal email address list because these people have already consented to getting your emails. (Be discerning because not all of your friends or family want to get eblasted continually about your book. Put yourself in their place and ask yourself how often you want to hear from them about their book, and what should that email look like.)  Also, your website visitors are your potential readers so it's important to provide them the option to subscribe to your mailings. (Remember to use the captcha to prevent bots filling out the form automatically.  The captcha requires a human to fill out.) However, just putting up a sign-up form doesn't work; you have to give a solid reason to have the visitors give you their email address.  Explain clearly what they will receive for their email address: news, tips, promotions, etc.  Dismiss the skepticism and provide something of value. And when I say value, it doesn't mean the first chapter of your book or a poem you have written. It has to be something the visitor wants or needs. For e.g., on my personal author website I provide a full version of an ebook to anyone that signs up.

If you do have a legitimate list (one that you created yourself from your opt-in list) there a few things you also need to know to comply with the CAN-SPAM ACT:

1.  The From "Address" and/or From "Name" must be recognizable by the recipient.
2.  Do not offer the recipient an incentive (awards, discounts, money) to forward the email to their list.
3.  The opt-out link must be available and not complicated. 
4.  Your physical postal address must be visible in the message.
5.  Subject line must be straightforward and not misleading.

Yes, you have to put all those items in the email campaigns you send out - even if it is only 25 or 100 on your list; if you are promoting your book, you have to comply with the CAN-SPAM ACT.

Comments?  I'd like to hear from you here.

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