Author: Robert Covelli
Date:   11-18-09 15:17

I've self-published, and I'm pursuing reviews now. I also want to send out mass email to prospective readers and buyers of my book. I can find lots of email addresses. What's the best way to compile a data base, can I send a single email to many, many addresses in one mailing and what's the most efficient and cheapest way to do that? Thanks!

Author: Janice W-D
Date:   11-18-09 19:25

I'd like to know how to do something similar. I wouldn't dream of sending out a mass email to 50 or more people at a whack. The recipients' email filters would just dump my email into their trash.

Is there any way to set up a database to automatically send individual emails to each person, with the same message? I need a less time consuming way to send upcoming deadline reminders to writers who have expressed interest in the various contests my writers groups sponsor.

Thanks,
Janice

Author: jayce
Date:   11-19-09 10:42

Janice: if you have Mac, use the Address Book to create a group, and then address your message to the group name.

Maybe Microsoft has a similar function on its address book.

HTH.

Author: Josh Lemay
Date:   11-20-09 19:54

This is a neat site that does something similar, although it's more for event planning and things like that. http://www.evite.com/

It sends out individual e-mails, though. Each one says what the event is, and asks you to confirm or deny if you'll attend. I imagine you could use it, or something like it, for the purposes mentioned in this thread, though.

Some friends of mine used it to send out a mass mailing for their wedding and it looked very nice and professional. Though that's a wedding, which of course is usually not a commercial style event. I don't know how it would go with the evite.com people if you used their site for commercial purposes. Something to look into, I guess.

Anyways, there are sites that do that sort of thing, it's just a matter of finding the right one that will work for you.

Author: Jeanne Gassman
Date:   11-20-09 20:24

Josh,

That looks pretty cool! I bet you could design an invitation using your book cover as the background--for a reading or a signing. Thanks for sharing.

Jeanne

Author: Azhden Belle
Date:   11-22-09 13:34

ACTUALLY I HAVE AN EVEN BETTER ONE! What if you could send 10,000,000 emails at a time. Chances are only 1-1000 people will buy your book (unless you're famous), but that's still 10,000 books sold.

Just look for 10000000 person opt-in mailing list for emarketing on Google. You will find many companies with that option. However, it's going to cost you $$$!!!

Author: Gary Kessler
Date:   11-22-09 13:42

You can send 10,000,000 e-mails and still sell only five books--to friends who were looking for when the book would be available to start with. There's no nice correlation between e-mails sent and books bought. The American public has become to numb to push solicitation in all forms.

Author: Azhden Belle
Date:   11-22-09 13:54

Whoa, Dude, are you like cyber-stalking me? Seriously, Gary, this is both immature and ridiculous. You're just looking for a fight.

You know... you know very little about SOLICITATION... Ironically, the whole OPT-IN part covered that. Opt-In means that people have chosen (opted) to receive these emails about books. But, leave it to a US Diplomat to try and force his ways off on you. You're just a deterrent; that's all you are. You'll never be anything but... Of course, leave it to the fearful to be afraid to try new ways of thinking.

WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS DO WHAT YOU NEED; something people pick up from living in the Ghetto. There's a word for it, and I believe it's called PERSEVERANCE!

Azhden Belle

Author: Gary Kessler
Date:   11-22-09 16:53

No, Ahzen, I was responding to the topic--and will continue to do so when I want to. If you haven't noticed, you've continued asking for others to do your work for you on this and that so you can then tell them they're wrong and I haven't commented at all. I'm happy to let you do your thing as you want. But again, if I see some issue on WN that I want to comment on, I will do so.

And if your post doesn't sound like you want to fight, I don't know what does.

Author: Janice W-D
Date:   11-22-09 22:29

Jayce wrote:
Janice: if you have Mac, use the Address Book to create a group, and then address your message to the group name.

Maybe Microsoft has a similar function on its address book.

Jayce,
I don't have a Mac. I have a HP laptop with Vista. I mainly use Works; my Word isn't working at all & I won't have time in the near future to troubleshoot. As to an email address book, won't that just send one mass email, addressed to a zillion people via "To" or "Blind CC"?

Josh,
Thanks for the link. I'll look into it.

Best,
Janice

Author: Anthony Ravenscroft
Date:   11-23-09 21:17

Group mails are increasingly being stopped by antispam filters. You could put a lot of cash or effort (or both) into a mailing that doesn't reach 10% of the Inboxes.

I was a sociology major in college. As a rule of thumb, we assumed that a 15% response rate was not merely good, but utterly incredible.

Take those factors together. If you send 1,000,000 emails out, it's unlikely that 15,000 people will click the Reply button, if only to confirm they like what you said.

I love books, I'm an Amazon.com fanatic, I raid bookstores & libraries & even paw through the rare remaining card catalogues I encounter, just to see what pops up randomly.

I once liked a radio ad for a book so much that I turned the car around & bought it from the nearest shop.

Once.

I'm on the mailing lists of a dozen well-known authors. There's two or three who I'll buy whatever comes out, so blandishments won't change that. A newsletter or website or magazine review might get me to look further into it, but I've never bought a book because of an email.

You want to find readers? Go speak at the library. Join Toastmasters. Send out a press release to every newspaper & TV & radio station within 150 miles -- you've already got your first five or ten press releases typed up, right...?

Stop looking for Magic Bullets, or start accepting that you've thrown your money away on a get-rich-quick scheme.

Author: L C
Date:   11-24-09 08:20

<< You know... you know very little about SOLICITATION... Ironically, the whole OPT-IN part covered that. Opt-In means that people have chosen (opted) to receive these emails about books. But, leave it to a US Diplomat to try and force his ways off on you. You're just a deterrent; that's all you are. You'll never be anything but... Of course, leave it to the fearful to be afraid to try new ways of thinking. >>

New ways of thinking? Spam has been around for 20 years. As for people "opting in," I highly doubt ten million people opted-in to receive spam about self-published books. People get opted-in by not reading the tiny print at the bottom that tells them by responding, they've "opted in."