What is the best way to advertise your book via email?

I’ve been getting quite a few book ad emails lately, including some trying to achieve “Amazon bestseller” status. Unfortunately, most of the posts were not very convincing. Most of the time, they were self-congratulatory (“I’ve achieved my dream!”) or selfish (“If you buy my book on Amazon tomorrow at 11 am, my book could become a bestseller!”) . ). Some were brief: “My new book is out. Here’s a link where you can buy it.” Others were rambling. None of them told me why they would want to buy the book, what was in it for me, the reader.

I don’t want you to repeat the mistakes I keep seeing in my inbox, so I’m sharing seven tips that will help authors of any level of marketing experience write a book announcement email that isn’t obnoxious, annoying, offensive, or downright sad:

1. Start with the text on the back cover of your book. You should tell us why we’d want to buy your book, right? You may need to modify it to make it more personal, as email is a very informal means of communication.
2. It’s not about you. This is the person you are writing to. Tell me what your book will do for me. Will it educate, inform, entertain, enlighten? What’s in there for me? How will your book improve my world, help me improve someone else’s world, or help me forget about my world?
3. Include a link where we can buy the book. Seriously, you’d be surprised how many posts skip this.
4. Forget the “help me make my book an Amazon bestseller” plea. Unless you’re my total BFF, I don’t care if your book is a bestseller. All I want to know is if I will like or need your book or if I know someone else who would like it. If you feel compelled to focus on that bestseller blueprint for five minutes on Amazon, at least share some information about your book as well.
5. Don’t come too strong. You can suggest that it’s a good gift, but don’t tell me I “should” buy it for everyone on my Christmas gift list.
6. Ask me to share your news on my networks. If I know people who will want to know about your book, I’ll help spread the word. But sometimes I need to be reminded.
7. Remember that the quality of your ad reflects the quality of your book, so make it the best quality possible. I got one this week that looked like a ransom note, with multiple fonts and sizes. And I know that this was not what the author intended. He doesn’t need to have a fully HTML professionally designed message, but he does want something that reflects the quality of his book.

Send your announcement to the largest list you can muster, remembering that some people will be more interested in this news than others. And some are naturally better at sharing and forwarding. And whatever you do, make this just the starting point for your book launch. There is so much more you could, and “should”, be doing.