So You Need a Funnel…
There’s a LOT of marketing advice out there for indie writers, and I’ve read a lot of it. Many of the posts and pages that promise to let you in on the Secret to Making the Bestseller Lists are just rehashes of the same ol’ same ol’ advice–have a platform, use social media, be giving, take part in community discussions, make sure your book is professionally edited, have a good cover….If you’re at all like me, you’ve read these things in infinite variety and can spot the re-hashes in the first few lines of most posts.
One idea that I have found particularly useful, though, is that of the “Funnel” as part of a writer’s marketing strategy. The basic idea with the funnel is that you cast a wide net with a specific product that pulls people in to read (and purchase) more of your work. Ideally, this works with a series:
- Make the first book in your series permanently free or deeply discounted (that’s the mouth of the funnel)
- Make the next books in your series attractive, maybe by offering a bundled or discounted price (the funnel narrows)
- Link the remaining books in your series to your other projects (the funnel’s end)
Photo Credity: Tomfriedel
In theory, a reader finds the author’s first book and downloads it because the book is free. The reader enjoys the book and downloads the next ones in the series because (A) the books are a good deal and (B) the reader is now hooked on the series. Upon reading all the books in the series the reader (now a New Fan!) explores the writers’ other books, maybe embarking on a new series or reading the author’s stand-alone books. Along the way, the New Fan has likely engaged with the author, liking the author’s Facebook page or clicking on a contact link on the author’s web site, signing up for the author’s newlsetter, or all of the above.
Sounds great, right?
Unless you haven’t written your books in a series.
That’s my situation. My two Ace Stubble
So what’s a writer to do when he knows he needs a funnel but his products aren’t very funnel friendly?
Simple. I made a funnel anyway. Here’s how:
At the end of each of my books, I’ve included an Author’s Note, a friendly couple of paragraphs in which I thank the reader for his or her time and support. I also talk a little bit about what went into writing the book, kind of an insider’s view of the book the reader has just finished. In the note, I include a polite request for the reader to post a review to Amazon (I provide the link) and invite the reader to like my Facebook page and sign up for my newsletter. And–here’s the real funnel part–I include a sneak peek of another one of my books along with some of the reviews it’s gotten. Of course, there are also links to the book’s Amazon page.
To get around the free-first-book-in-a-series issue, I’ve made my short story “Walk a Mile” perma-free on Amazon and have done the same Author’s Note and Sneak Peek at the end of that one. That’s the mouth of my funnel: readers download the free story, get to the end of the story, find a nice note from me and a free preview of Take Back Tomorrow
If readers enjoy the story, they read the excerpt of the novel. If they enjoy that, they follow the links to the novel’s Amazon page and purchase it. At the end of that book are another Author’s Note and Sneak Peek of another novel…and so on.
Is it working?
I’d say so. I put in the Author’s Notes and Sneak Peeks about two months ago, around the same time “Walk a Mile” went perma-free. Since then, my sales have nudged up a bit, but the reviews of my linked books have crept up faster, I’ve had more likes on my author Facebook page, and I’ve gotten more sign-ups for my email list than I’ve had in the previous year.
We’ll have to wait and see where else it leads, but so far so good. One of these days, I’ll work up a series, but until then I think this strategy may be the next best thing.
Ace Stubble Amazon Funnels indie publishing marketing Take Back Tomorrow Walk a Mile
9 Responses
[…] struck a chord with me, as my last blog post was on the creation of funnels, or loss leaders: a free sample of one’s work that is intended to pull readers in, hooking […]
There’s no real way to get a perma-free on Amazon. They rarely do price-matches to zero any longer (it would defeat the incentive to be on Kindle Select). Matter of fact, I clicked and found your Walk a Mile to be at 98c right now. But okay – that’s pretty cheap. Still, it’s your funnel mouth, and it’s not at Amazon, but at Smashwords and the retailers to whom they distribute. A small problem. Still a loss leader in a way – I think we all have one at Smashwords. I know I do.
I must get round to putting in the leading links at the back of my eBooks.
Ah. Yes, I need to update the link away from Smashwords and back to Amazon. That link was put up before Amazon did the free price match. It took them a few months to do the price match, but they eventually did, which you can find here if you’re interested: http://www.amazon.com/Walk-Mile-Richard-Levesque-ebook/dp/B00FJZJBHY. Thanks for reading
I’ve done pretty much exactly the same things you have, and I even have the advantage of four of my books being a series, and it hasn’t done one bit for my sales, which are miniscule. I would *love* to know what it is about funnels that I’m not doing correctly so that I could fix it, but I can’t figure it out to save my life.
Interesting. One thing I’ve learned for sure is that there’s no silver bullet formula. Have you gotten into Google+ communities at all? There’s a great one that I’ve gotten a lot of good ideas from and the people there are very generous with their suggestions. It’s called Writer’s Discussion Group and has more than 18,000 members. You probably need a G+ account to sign up. Check it out at https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/106134988944938026164.
Thanks for reading, and good luck with your books!
Time is probably the worst aspect, besides waiting.
Good point. Thanks for reading.
[…] authors, as Richard Levesque explains in So You Need a Funnel, this marketing tactic involves “cast[ing] a wide net with a specific product that pulls people […]
[…] and links to the next book in the series. People will grab the free book and be sucked into your funnel. Of course, it’s got to be a good book, well-edited, compelling, etc. If you don’t […]
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