Do the words “author newsletter” strike fear in your heart?
Depends who you ask, of course. To our readers, we certainly hope not! We love you. We want you to love us (authors), too. We hope you enjoy hearing from us!
To my writing friends who tremble at the mere thought of adding yet another thing to your must-do list—no worries! Really. Let’s chat about this for a moment.
I’ll admit, when I started my newsletter (about three years ago), I really didn’t have a clue what to do or where to start.
I just knew, pre-published or not, that building relationships and fostering those relationships seemed to make sense.
- I love to create.
- I love to encourage.
- I love to motivate.
- I love to share good things.
Too, I hoped to eventually chat about my books. But it all started with relationship first.
I’m so glad I nailed that early.
Until we care, others won’t share.
If an author’s sole reason is to market? *a-hem* Best to step ten paces back and rethink that. An author has missed the point of having a newsletter. (Click-to-Tweet)
Sure, authors hope to connect with readers. We hope readers will buy our books and share our books with others. (That’s one reason to have an author newsletter. As with any career, we must make a living. To be successful at what we do, we must write and sell books. No shame in that.)
Still, if all we do is “market,” we dilute our intended message. We devalue our readers.
As I mentioned a few years ago in this blog post Does a Newsletter Scare You? Five Ways to Rock It! our newsletters aren’t about us.
By now, we all get that, right?
Why, then , are newsletters important?
- Newsletters bring value to the table.
- Newsletters communicate concern for our readers.
- Newsletters multiply good thoughts!
- They make others’ lives better.
- They offer something that can’t be found elsewhere.
- They say I like you.
We don’t have to be like Annie Author and share similar content.
That’s not why readers subscribe to author newsletters. Readers crave variety. They also want to feel like an author’s content is specifically geared toward them—and what they (our newsletter family members) care about.
Copying Annie Author’s style, format, and content won’t score brownie points. Again, that dilutes an author’s message, brand, and art.
Don’t be that author.
Sail your own ship.
And remember, we grow our numbers by “growing” others first. Paying it forward always mushrooms.
Also, don’t jump on the bandwagon because it seems like the thing to do or because everyone else is doing it.
Create something new, uniquely you.
Folks will ditch fake, but a genuine heart resonates.
And if you like grins, giggles, and encouragement and Heartfelt, Homespun Fiction, I’d love to welcome you to my newsletter family! Sign up here and let the lovin’ begin! (Remember to click on the confirmation link that arrives in your inbox, as that completes the process. For your peace of mind, I am GDPR compliant, and subscribing to my monthly e-newsletter is always and forever FREE. xoxo)
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PLEASE SHARE
Are newsletters really all that and a bag of pork rinds? *munch* *munch* You decide!
Great reasons to consider an author newsletter. BTW jumping on the bandwagon isn’t one of them.
ENCOURAGEMENT
They say age is relative, but how long should we really pursue our goals?
Original Image Credit: Neven Krcmarek on Unsplash
Do you have an author newsletter?
Can I answer any newsletter questions for you?
Think about newsletters you subscribe to. What features do you like best?
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Until next week…
Much Love and Many Blessings,
Comments 2
I still struggle every month to come up with content for my newsletter. It’s not easy to be different or “add value”so can you suggest how to do that when you’re staring at a list of emails on MailChimp and you have no real idea of where they’re from? 🙂 I know I haven’t been doing it long enough to know what’s working or not working yet either but it all feels very nebulous.
Author
Laurie, one thing I’d recommend trying is to ask your subscribers (your newsletter “family”) for feedback. Ask pointed questions about your content and let them know how much their answers matter. Encourage them to e-mail you with suggestions. Hint: if your subscribers are opening your newsletters on a regular basis, then you know your content’s resonating. Bravo!
Now, that being said, it takes a while to hit our stride. Even doing this for three years, I continually force myself to raise the bar and try new and improved things. In other words, I try not to stagnate or allow content to go stale. Readers do like “brand” recognition (same colors, style, format, font, etc.), but they also enjoy when we switch things up a bit.
We learn by trial and error. We’re not perfect, and I don’t think our readers expect us to be. That’s what humanizes us. I bet a lot of folks signed up to receive your newsletter because they’re anticipating your awesome stories. They’re probably also interested in the region you write about. And still others connected with you because they love your down-to-earth demeanor and your personality—in other words, they like you—which is great—relationship first. Continue doing what you’re doing. Ask questions. Share interesting tidbits about you, your life, your stories. Encourage your readers to share something about themselves with you. Make them feel valued. We all want to feel like we matter—not that authors just want us to buy books. Does this help?