Your Reader Magnet Is Losing You Readers

We’ve been teasing this one since the very first episode—reader magnets, freebies you can offer readers to entice them to read your whole book.Maybe we put it off to avoid all the confessions?We’re no different than anyone else on this. We got the same advice every new author gets the: write your reader magnet first. Build your list before you have a book to sell. And both of us… did not do that. This week, we’re getting into what that cost us — and how to do it right. If right is even a thing in indie publishing.Reader magnets are one of those deceptively simple concepts that turn into a rabbit hole the moment you actually try to execute one. Does it have to be a short story? Feature the main character? Should it be an epilogue? Something else entirely? Then there’s what to do with it once you have it. And why does a 10,000-word freebie require almost as much work as a full book?We talk about all of it — the prequel vs. the bonus epilogue, what readers actually want vs. what you think they want, and the one thing your reader magnet absolutely has to do (hint: it’s not what most people focus on). Plus, Tara reveals the smart cover hack that let her build out a whole short story series without starting from scratch, and LL talks about why her first attempt broke every rule she’d just given you — and why it’s still working anyway.What’s your relationship with the reader magnet? Did you write yours first, or did you do what we did? Drop it in the comments!Support the showFind Tara’s books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Tara-Lush/author/B00O5M5T5GFind LL’s books: https://llkirchner.com/booksThanks for reading YOU SHOULD TOTALLY WRITE THAT! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.Show notesEpisodes referenced:* Episode 16 — Newsletters * Episode 10 — BookBub and promo sites * Episode 21 — BookFunnel (coming soon!)Platforms & tools discussed:* BookFunnel — https://bookfunnel.com* StoryOrigin — https://storyoriginapp.com* Amazon KDP — https://kdp.amazon.com* Written Word Media (promo sites) — https://www.writtenwordmedia.com* Melody Simmons (pre-made covers) — https://bookcoversbymelody.com/* 100 Covers — https://www.100covers.comWhat we’re reading:* LL: Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino — contemporary women's fiction, all the real estate porn of HGTV in a domestic suspense* Tara: Black Thorn by J.T. Geissinger — spicy gothic romance, dual narration, “a little WTF at the end but bonkers and fun”* Both: Bittersweet — a whole conversation for another episodeComing next:* Episode 19: ConferencesThanks for reading YOU SHOULD TOTALLY WRITE THAT! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support our work. 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