How Does a Lead Magnet Work With Your Book? The Page Inside and the Landing Page

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A lead magnet works through two pages. One page inside your book offers the freebie, and a landing page is where the reader gives you a name and email address to get it. I think this is the best marketing move an author with a book out can make, because every reader who signs up becomes someone you can email about the next book.

This post covers what goes on each page, how to deliver the freebie, and how to tell whether it works.

Where does the lead magnet page go in the book?

Early, around page 3, straight after the title and copyright pages. I tell authors to use one page for it, and to put only that offer on the page. A reader magnet is the free gift itself, a short book or a checklist, and this page is the doorway to it.

The same landing page link also works in a YouTube description or a TikTok bio, so one freebie can bring in readers from the book and from video.

What goes on the lead magnet page?

A picture of the freebie, one short line about the benefit written as sales copy, and the link. ChatGPT can write the line and make the picture. For the ebook, make the link clickable. If the link inside an image will not click in the ebook, type the link as text under the image, or make the whole image the link.

Paperback readers cannot click, so I add a QR code and a short typed link. A link shortener gives you an address that is easy to type, and the best link shorteners for self-publishers are in my other post.

One caution on KDP’s rules. KDP’s Hyperlink Guidelines list “links to web forms that request customer information (e.g., email address, physical address or similar)” as prohibited, and say the list is examples, not everything. A landing page with a sign-up form is exactly that kind of page. So in a Kindle book I send the link and the QR code to a freebie page on my site that explains what the reader gets, and the sign-up form sits one click further on. What KDP allows for links in a book explains this in more detail. Check every link works before you publish.

What should the landing page show and ask for?

Show the promise of the freebie, such as a small or blurred preview, not the freebie itself. Ask for first name and email only. The first name lets you personalise later emails, and leaving out the last name gets more sign-ups.

Mailchimp or my own website?

Either works. Mailchimp’s own landing page is the easiest. Its help page says a page on a Mailchimp address is free, a custom domain needs a paid Websites plan, and a sign-up form on the page adds new subscribers to the audience you pick (Mailchimp). I tell authors a page on their own website with a Mailchimp form is best long term, because if they ever leave Mailchimp they only swap the form. It also suits the KDP rule above, since the link in the book can go to a page on your site rather than straight to a form. If you have two websites, pick the one that fits and do not split the traffic.

How do I deliver the freebie?

I tell authors to store the PDF in Mailchimp, Google Drive or Dropbox and have Mailchimp email the link automatically after sign-up. Never attach the PDF to the email, because email providers flag attachments. A short PDF is enough, since people prefer short and simple.

Your emails to the list also have rules. The FTC’s CAN-SPAM guide (August 2023, edited January 2024) says every marketing email has to carry a valid physical postal address for you and explain how to unsubscribe, and any unsubscribe has to take effect within 10 business days.

Can I email people who opened my announcement but did not claim the freebie?

Yes. I tell authors to send those people one short follow-up that offers the freebie again, with the sign-up link. They showed interest by opening the email, so a second nudge is fair. Keep it to one follow-up and keep it soon after the first email. Mailchimp says unsubscribes and complaints rise when a resend goes out two or more days after the original (Mailchimp).

To pick the right people, build a segment in your email tool. Mailchimp’s help page does it with the “Campaign interaction” filter in the segment builder, which it uses to pick people who did not open an email, and you choose the campaign and a timeframe. Opening and not signing up is a different test from not opening, so look at the interaction choices in your own account and check the segment’s size before you send (Mailchimp, read 14-Nov-26).

What sign-up rate should I expect?

I tell authors to aim for 25% to 50% of landing page visitors signing up. If you get only 5% to 10%, make a different lead magnet and test again. Track the rate in Mailchimp.

Should every subscriber go on one list?

No. Give each book its own list or audience, and do not mix audiences, such as fiction readers and exercise readers, unless they share the same problem. Someone who joined for one topic and gets emails on another gets confused.

What next?

If your book is out and you are not sure your lead magnet page or landing page is pulling its weight, book a free 25-minute discovery call. Bring both pages and we will go through them together.

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