I surveyed 1,100 readers to find out their email preferences, specifically in regards to contact from authors. How often do readers want to hear from us? What do they want to see in those emails? And do they actually buy books from emails they receive?

Here are the results for your viewing pleasure…

How often should an author email their readers?

While there was a small portion of readers that only wanted to hear from an author at sale or release time, the majority of readers wanted regular contact. Here’s the breakdown of their responses:

37% wanted emails once per month
28% wanted twice a month
20% wanted weekly contact
15% only wanted an email if there was a new release or a book was on sale

What should authors include in a reader newsletter or email?

Readers could select multiple answers on this question. It was an interesting mix, with no clear winner but several interesting takeaways. For example, I found it interesting that only 12% were interested in a giveaway! Check out the responses and see what you think:

How many authors are emailing your readers?

The majority of readers surveyed received emails from more than 16 authors! That’s A LOT of emails hitting their inboxes on a weekly, or monthly basis. Only 12% of readers surveyed subscribed to less than 4 authors. Here’s the stats:

35% subscribed to more than 16 authors
28% subscribed to 8-15 authors
24% subscribed to 4-7
12% subscribed to 3 or less
2% did not subscribe to any author

Do readers buy new releases and full-priced books from emails?

Great news, they do. 81% of readers buy new releases or other full-priced books from emails. Only 4% of readers said they never buy books from an email.

25% said they frequently do
56% said they sometimes do
15% said they rarely do
4% said they never do

Do readers buy discount or free books from emails?

Heck yeah, they do! Over 88% buy discount books from email marketing on an occasional or frequent basis. Here’s the full stats:

38% said they frequently do
50% said they sometimes do
10% said they rarely do
2% said they never do

What day and time should I send emails to readers?

My last two survey questions proved that you don’t need to overthink your sending day and times. In response to the questions, When do you typically buy books? and What time of day do you like to receive author emails? - the overwhelming response was that readers bought books and read emails at all times of the day, night, and week. So, fire off that new release blast at any point in time that works for you. Here’s the charts if you want to see the proof of their flexibility:

image is of 2 side by side graphs. the first shows that 80% of readers don’t care when an email is received. The second graph shows that 94% said the day does not affect whether they buy.

That’s every question from the survey! If you want more insight and help with your emails to readers, I’m going to be teaching an advanced one-hour masterclass, and I’d love to see you there! It’s completely free and will be jam-packed with awesome content. Our live software does limit the number of guests who can attend, so be sure to save your spot by clicking here.

I hope to see you at the email masterclass! Until then, happy writing!

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