A lot of experts say to ask those you know personally, such as friends and family, to join your email list, as well as those you don't know. Yes, it opens up more connections as they can refer those they know that the author probably doesn't know to join the mailing list. But what if they're not really in your target audience? They already cannot review your book on Amazon since it would count as a biased one, and Amazon doesn't allow reviews from people the sellers know personally.
I also don't know a lot of friends and family who would be willing to join my email list. I know a lot of people, and I do have a lot of friends, but I don't usually talk about my writing projects with many of them.
However, that paperback promotion I tried where I reduced the price, added a digital signature, promised that 75% of royalties would be donated to charity, and offered free help guides as long as the people purchased a hardcopy and joined the email list between October 12th and November 30th, is failing, despite what I did to promote it to my audience. Maybe I should wait until after the pandemic to try again, even if I choose to stick with online sales only and not try to plan an in-person book signing when it's safe. But should I really ask friends and family to join my mailing list? They're not going to be able to keep their reviews on Amazon, plus, I usually don't discuss my book content with them. If I talk about my writing, it's usually my blog I tell them about.
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