by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
I’ve mentioned here before that I was slow to start sending out a newsletter. What really made me finally commit to sending them (in 2013) was that readers were getting irritated. They wanted me to send out a newsletter to let them know when I had a new release. I had been a published author since 2009, so I was 4 years late to the party.
So I finally followed through. I realized that, for the readers who wanted to sign up for my newsletter, they expected me to notify them of releases. That’s how I started out and how I still handle my newsletters today.
I use MailChimp which is free for up to 2,000 subscribers. I do have more than that, so I have to pay to send out my newsletters. Since I only send out newsletters when I have a release, I send out only 3 or 4 emails a year and decided to choose the pay-as-you-go plan (they also have a monthly plan). More on costs here.
Most of the writers I know send out newsletters a lot more frequently than I do and it works out really well for them. But I can’t seem to be persuaded to change what I’m doing. I feel as if I have a sort of pact with my readers now…that they’ll only hear from me in their email inbox when I have a book out. Besides, there are only so many hours in the day. I don’t want to be coming up with newsletters on a monthly or (God forbid) weekly basis.
What’s more, I can’t handle merely announcing the release in the newsletter because it just feels spammy to me. I tried to think of all the value-added things that I could to make the newsletter less like advertising and more useful and personal.
My extras:
Easy recipes (recipes are frequently in the backs of cozy mysteries).
Notes on books I’ve recently read and enjoyed (these aren’t promo tradeoffs with other authors but books I’ve come across myself).
Pictures of my pets (because corgis and cats are adorable) and a quick update on my own life.
Elements that I was specifically asked to include in my newsletters by readers:
The price for the book in different formats and buy-links to the most popular retailers (Amazon for ebook and print, Nook, Kobo, Apple). I also have a link for international readers that takes them to links for their home country (using free UBLs from Draft2Digital).
A full list of all my books, hyperlinked with buy-links.
Where they can find my audiobooks and which titles are available (not all of my books are in audio since it’s a time consuming process).
Upcoming releases (what I’m working on now) and when to expect them (here I tend to be a little vague since the release will be months away).
My email address.
Creating a similar newsletter is pretty easy. Announce your releases. Think about what your readers are interested in and provide it. And make it easy on yourself, too. Set up a template on MailChimp or whatever your newsletter distributor is, and then adjust it depending on the release.
To see an example of my newsletter, click here.
Do you send out newsletters? What sorts of things do you include in yours?
Newsletter Tips for the Reluctant Author: Share on XPhoto on VisualHunt.com
The first time I released my 5-book series (before redoing them and releasing through DLP) I started a newsletter by the second book. I sent it out monthly until after the final book released and I featured news and another author as well as my own stuff. (It eventually dropped to 4 times a year and then I stopped.) Now I send one out through DLP 4-6 times year and like you, mostly when a book is releasing.
I bet it makes for great open rates! I really feel as if I get more engagement this way…I only send one out when I have something important to say.
Ugh, newsletters. I know I should be doing them, but I kind of got lazy and they petered out and now it’s been a couple years since I sent one. In my defense, I only had like 10 subscribers and the data was showing only about half of them read the newsletter I sent out. It’s hard to get the gumption up when the results are like that.
I tried to make them interesting – notifications of new releases and discounts, a look ahead at the publishing schedule so they’d know what was coming, and some kind of contest (with free books or gift cards as prizes).
Now, I just post everything to social media and hope it finds the people who are interested in buying books. But maybe I should try resurrecting the newsletter. First, though, I need to resurrect my gumption and get some new books published. ;o)
That would be unmotivating, for sure! Maybe start completely fresh, if you decide you want to try again? You could just stick the link in some of your backlist and put it up on your website and your FB profile and see how it goes. You have a natural conversational style, so I’d think you’d be excellent at connecting with readers through email. :)
Thanks, Elizabeth, for sharing your newsletter experience. As you know, I keep going back and forth on this one. But I definitely see lots of advantages to doing it.
I totally understand where you’re coming from. It would be super-easy for you to make, though…you could use some of your blog content and you could have a ‘books I’ve read’ section, since you’re always reading. But, I get it! I’m always stressed over my thrice-yearly newsletter (to a ridiculous degree).
From a reader’s viewpoint, it is informative to receive newsletters from authors. I’m not one that is fond of getting a newsletter each week from an author unless there’s something new going on. I like the idea of using the newsletter for announcements and include the tidbits that you do. That makes the newsletter both informative and a bit more personal.
I think that’s a lot of my problem…I wouldn’t want to hear from even my most favorite authors very frequently, so I can’t imagine sending out a newsletter more than quarterly.
Great ideas. Many of us think we should send out a newsletter but are reluctant to do anything that readers might construe as SPAM. Thanks for the ideas. Of course, some authors (such as Donna Tartt) won’t send out very many issues if they rely on release dates.
That is very true! One of the reasons I decided to release 2 books on the same day in early April was that I could announce *both* books in the same newsletter instead of sending out two, ha.
I recently signed up for your newsletter and really like it. I think it’s important not to send them out too often. I tend to delete them when authors do that. Thanks for all the tips in case I ever get to the point where I need one.
Thanks, Natalie! That makes me feel better about it, ha. And hope you’ll be launching your own newsletter soon.
It’s a fine line between annoying/spamming people and giving them the info they want! I like the way you do it – and will probably emulate that once I’m publishing :)
Thanks, Jemi! A fine line, for sure.
I take a similar approach, Elizabeth…I don’t want to be a pest! So I only send out newsletters when I have a release, and I like to do a giveaway along with it as kind of a thank you and to encourage opens/engagement. I use MailPoet Pro (have to pay because I’m over 2K, but it’s unlimited newsletters for $99/year, and it’s set up as a WP plugin, so you compose the newsletter within your WP.org account). I send only 2-3 a year because I’m a slowww writer, LOL!
Thanks so much for the advice!
That’s a very good deal! Thanks for passing that along. :) And a giveaway is a great addition to a newsletter!
Interesting comments here about the frequency. Sometimes when we don’t get an email from an author for a while and then one shows up, we don’t remember we subscribed!
We send out a newsletter every week. Usually we include an essay on life in Carpenter Country and notices of interviews or other posts about our “travels” around the internet. Nothing spammy, and no direct selling; more a way to keep in touch. We only mention our books in the newsletter when we have a new one going out.
That’s really cool that yours is more of a way to connect with readers in a friendly way and give updates. I do *some* of that in mine, but with mine going out so infrequently, my newsletters tend to be long already, ha.
As a reader, four times a year is the maximum I’d want to receive a newsletter. One of my favorite authors only sends one every other year, and that’s fine. I’d much rather she put the time into writing books. If newsletters repeat all the same stuff that the author already has on a blog or social media, I usually unsubscribe to the newsletter. I know some prefer that to Facebook or Twitter, however.
As a new author working on my first book, I’m not sure when to start a newsletter. At this point it seems like it would just be repeating what I already have on other venues. I’m thinking that when I finish the book, secure an agent and/or publisher, etc., that might be the time to start.
Thanks so much for your thoughts, as a reader!
‘They’ say that it’s better to start right away, even as an unpublished writer, to start sign ups…even if you don’t send anything out for a while.
Hi Elizabeth – very useful information … love the idea of adding recipes, and also the books I’ve just read … love the comments and your replies too – cheers Hilary
Thanks so much, Hilary!