When your email list is you, your mom, and three accidental subscribers

Every author you admire has a list. Thousands of subscribers, books launching to actual readers. Meanwhile, your list is basically you, your mom, and three people who signed up by accident. If you’ve ever wondered HOW people acquire these lists, today we’re pulling back the curtain.The tool almost every working indie author is using — and the one most beginners either skip or barely scratch — is BookFunnel. It’s not sexy. It’s not glamorous. It’s plumbing. And you need plumbing.In this episode, Tara and I get into what BookFunnel actually does (it’s a lot more than ARC delivery), the pricing tier most authors should land on, why we both use it differently, where group promos can backfire on you, and the one feature I wish I’d understood the day I signed up.“If I were a new indie author, I would not get a website right away. I’d just do a BookFunnel landing page and a Linktree.” — TaraThat’s a hot take with money behind it. We get into why on the episode.Subscribe to Ill-Behaved Women for the unfiltered truth about DIY publishing — new episodes drop every Tuesday, and we send the post straight to your inbox.[Subscribe button]What we cover* What BookFunnel actually is (and what it isn’t)* The three pricing tiers — and the one most working indie authors should be on* Reader magnets, ARCs, group promos, author swaps, direct sales* The audiobook delivery feature that lets you skip Audible’s exclusivity* Why genre matters more than you think for group promos* The features we both still aren’t usingYou’ll want to listen if you’ve got a reader magnet but no way to deliver it, an ARC team you’re managing by hand, or a series with back-matter freebies you’ve been meaning to set up.Episodes referenced* Ep. 17 — Reader Magnets* Ep. 14 — Newsletters* Ep. 3 — ARCs (deeper dive episode coming soon)(paste the actual Substack post URLs for these before publishing)Platforms & tools mentioned* BookFunnel — founded 2015 by Damon Courtney. Tiers: First-Time Author $30/yr, Mid-List $200/yr, Bestseller $300/yr* StoryOrigin — newsletter swaps, group promos, ARC management* BookSirens — vetted reviewer community (~51,000+ reviewers)* BookSprout — review-focused, free-tier-friendly* Prolific Works (formerly InstaFreebie) — public giveaway links* NetGalley — traditional publishing-leaning, librarians and booksellers* Draft2Digital Universal Book Links — alternative landing page option* Payhip / Shopify / WooCommerce — all integrate with BookFunnel direct sales* Flodesk — flat-fee email service provider (LL uses)* Linktree — biosite Tara recommends pairing with a BookFunnel landing pageKey BookFunnel features we covered* Reader magnets & landing pages (download-only or email-collecting)* ARCs via Certified Mail (watermarked, up to 500/month)* Group promos and author swaps (genre matters — romance and cozy mystery thrive here)* Direct sales delivery via Shopify/WooCommerce/Payhip* In-person event print codes and (new late 2025) digital ebook signing* Audiobook delivery (launched June 2024, Mid-List add-on)* Back-matter freebies — unlimited, all collecting email addressesWhat we’re reading / listening to* Tara: A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn — the 35-hour audiobook, a chapter at a time* LL: Galápagos by Kurt Vonnegut — a man banished for the sin of thinking too muchSupport our booksFind Tara’s books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Tara-Lush/author/B00O5M5T5G Find LL’s books: https://llkirchner.com/booksComing next week on YSTWT — where to put your hard-earned indie author dollars. What’s worth paying for and what’s not.Thanks for reading YOU SHOULD TOTALLY WRITE THAT! Subscribe for to receive new posts and support our work.Found this useful? Restack it for the indie author in your group chat who’s still emailing PDFs to their ARC team. 💚What are your BookFunnel questions — or which features have you been ignoring? Drop them in the comments. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit youshouldtotallywritethat.substack.com