Make It Easy to Stay Connected

In the last post, we talked about the foundation of your Hive — your Book Package — and how a strong title, blurb, and cover make every marketing dollar work harder. (Missed that last email? Head over to The Buzz to catch up!)

Today, we’re climbing up to Row 2: Author Presence.

Because whether your challenge is getting seen or keeping readers around, this is the layer that starts to solve both.

Visibility is great — but if you don’t have a way to stay connected, it’s hard to turn attention into traction.

What’s in Your Author Presence Layer?

• A simple author website or landing page (even a one-pager works!)

• An email list — built with something like MailerLite

• A way to deliver your reader magnet (use BookFunnel or StoryOrigin)

• Visual branding that fits your genre

• A light ARC team to gently start building trust and reviews

Let’s talk about your email list.

This is the piece that changes everything. 

A good blurb gets a click.
But a good list? That builds a career. 

You don’t need thousands of subscribers. You don’t even need a perfect freebie yet.

You just need a way for a reader to raise their hand and say, “I want more from you.”

Here’s how to start:

• Use MailerLite — free, easy, author-friendly
• Pair it with BookFunnel or StoryOrigin to deliver a bonus scene or free story
• Add the link to your back matter and social bios — even if it’s not fancy

Don’t overthink the rest.

Your website doesn’t have to be elaborate.
A one-page site or even a BookFunnel landing page can work beautifully.

Your brand doesn’t need to be perfect.
Just make sure it matches your genre’s tone and vibes. (Dark romance and romcom shouldn’t look the same.)

You don’t need a huge ARC team either.
Even a group of 10–20 trusted readers can help you build trust and boost reviews early on.

The takeaway:

Make it easy to stay connected — and marketing gets easier, too.

Next time, we’ll talk about Buzz Builders (Row 3)… and why ads only work when your foundation can catch the traffic they bring in.

If you’re stuck wondering whether your current setup is doing enough — or if it’s time to finally start your list — we’d love to help.

You can check out our services here — or just email me at [email protected].

 Wishing you steady growth and sweet momentum in your hive!