What you really need to help build an email list is a reader magnet’s irresistible draw. But I realized mine didn’t reflect the content of my published novels. So I need a new one…
A reader magnet, or lead magnet, is some kind of giveaway to incentivize potential readers to invest in your paid work. For most authors, this means a short story, novella, or bonus chapters. It’s some additional content to persuade readers to join your mailing list or go to your website to find out more.
And it better be good.
According to Damon Courtney, that bonus material needs to pass a certain threshold.
Short Stories and Novellas
The short story magnet has to be a complete story that showcases your writing and leads into your published books.
The same goes for the novella: prequel, sequel or side story, it has to connect to the published works and generate interest in reading more.
Neither of these demands a big commitment from new readers. They make ideal samplers.
Also, they can be quick to write, and easily connected to the world of your main works. Perhaps it centers on a side character, maybe an ancestor or descendant of the main protagonist. Perhaps it’s a trigger event from the past, or a consequence of something that occurs in the main work. Just beware of spoilers.
Bonus Prize or Booby Prize?
Bonus chapters don’t make such good reader magnets. They attract fans rather than casual visitors. While they make for high engagement for fans, new readers may be lost or confused. And: spoilers! The bonus chapter is fraught with spoilers. Or else they are incomplete stories filled with references to other characters and events from the main work.
So why is this a problem?
Your reader magnet is there to convince people to join your mailing list and hopefully buy your published work. If a bonus chapter only attracts existing fans, that’s a fail. If new visitors are confused or disappointed by it, that’s a fail.
Quality Check
The other issue with reader or lead magnets is quality. It has to be written and edited to the same or higher standard as your other work. You can’t put out an inferior product that’s meant to showcase your work.
People, Place, Plot, and Promise
I’m going to upgrade Sanderson’s Three P’s. For your reader magnet you need to include likeable, compelling and relatable characters that readers want to know more about: people. Then there’s an opening to the world of your story for readers to immerse themselves in: place. There has to be enough plot to keep readers engaged and give them a sense of progress.
Finally, you must make some promises of what your main works are about. Genre, tone, style, atmosphere, emotion, plus more of character and plot-types.
The reader magnet has to showcase your other work to those who don’t know who you are yet. It has to be in line with that other work. Don’t promise fast-paced action in the reader magnet if the main work is a slow-burn philosophical exploration of themes. This is no time for a bait-and-switch. It’s dishonest.
The New Short Story
I realized my planned reader magnet didn’t fulfill these criteria. Based on a deleted chapter from an early draft, it didn’t feature my main protagonist. It told a partial story from a male character perspective; one who is nowhere near as compelling as Jo, my female lead. And it didn’t touch on the events and themes that affect Jo for three whole books.
I need another Jo-story. It has to have action, and it has to reflect her moral dilemmas. It has to set up the events of Book One, without spoilers and draw the reader in to the series.
No pressure.
How many fathoms deep?
Estimates for the length of a reader-slash-lead magnet vary. Some say two to five thousand words. Others say up to ten thousand, or twenty thousand. Some say a novella of twenty to fifty thousand words.
The longer you make it, the more work it needs; not just writing time but revising and editing. Remember those quality criteria: no skimming.
Work in Progress
I’m going for the short story. Currently, To the Outlands is three thousand words, unfinished and unedited. It might finish between four and five thousand. There’s no set target.
Lucky for me, it taps into characters and scenarios I know well from the four books in the series. Adding to the word count isn’t hard. Editing will be hard.
What I do with it and how I use it when it’s done is a whole other… magnet.