Bo Bennett On Building Author Mailing Lists

## Episode Summary Bo Bennett returns to walk through AuthorMailingLists.com, a list-building service that helps authors own a direct, permission-based relationship with their readers. The conversation zeroes in on double opt-in as the technical and ethical backbone of the platform, and how controlling your own reader list is the most focused marketing asset an author can build. Bo also reveals the company is running more than 40 author and marketing tools — with roughly 30 still to be covered on the show. --- ## What You'll Learn - Why the author's own mailing list is the most targeted audience possible: readers narrowed from "all readers" → "genre readers" → "readers interested in your specific books" - What double opt-in actually means in practice — subscribers confirm via a follow-up email click before they're added, protecting deliverability and list quality - Why Bo himself avoided building a mailing list for years (the technical overhead felt worse than the payoff) and what changed his mind: "you just have it out there and it just keeps on building by itself" - How AuthorMailingLists.com is bundled inside the AuthorPass subscription, so authors paying one monthly price get this tool alongside the full suite rather than buying it separately - The distinction between accessing genre-based reader lists to find new readers versus owning your own list — and why both are useful but only one gives you full control --- ## Notable Quotes > "You want to build your own list — it's the most focused list that you could possibly have." — Bo Bennett > "I've discovered over the years that you just have it out there, and it just keeps on building by itself." — Bo Bennett --- ## About the Guest Bo Bennett, PhD is the owner of Archieboy Holdings, a company that has built over 40 tools serving authors, marketers, and general business users. He came to AuthorMailingLists.com partly from personal experience — he admits he long resisted email list building because the technical friction outweighed the perceived benefit, a problem his own software now solves. Across this podcast series he has walked through more than ten of his publishing-related platforms, with roughly thirty more still to discuss. He can be found at archyboy.com. --- ## Topics Covered - Author Email List Building - Double Opt-In Compliance - Direct-to-Reader Marketing - Genre Reader Lists - AuthorPass Integration - Email Deliverability Standards - Book Marketing Pipeline