Want to start a writer’s newsletter? I heard the BLAH. But you want people to buy your book, don’t you? Everybody screams: yes! Maybe you have an author presence on several social media platforms, and creating another content channel feels like much work and no fun.
Table of contents
I always say: choose your weapons. We have our preferences, and someone swims like a fish on Twitter as the next person loves Instagram (I do). When you open a new channel to reach for your readers, nothing is more direct than a newsletter. The preferred message arrives at people’s private inboxes. The list of your newsletter subscribers is a database of potential book-buying customers.
The Introvert Dilemma
Many of us are introverts and miss the golden times when authors sat typing while sipping red wine and chain-smoking. The manuscript traveled via snail mail to the publisher who took care of the rest, which became history.
Well, those days are long gone. Even if you hook the agent with a genius query letter, and consequently, Barnes & Noble is dying to publish your book, they still want you to market it! The agent takes a look at your social media presence, and so does the publisher. Do you blog? How many subscribe to your newsletter? Three? Thirty? Three thousand? The numbers don’t lie; they tell the professionals that you know how to market, and you’re a potential moneymaker.
Writing is easy; selling the book is the hard part. Not selling has created more disgruntled ex-writers than booze and the Second World War combined.
The Facebook Poll
If you’re not a member of my Facebook Writer’s Group, join now: https://www.facebook.com/groups/569574570248527
I asked the members which issue I should blog about next, and the answer is (ta-da): Author Newsletter.
This is because writers think the newsletter is the hardest channel to create because of technical difficulties with WordPress plugins and what-not IT- problems. But there’s another obstacle which is more difficult to overcome: fear of marketing your brainchild.
Making a Connection
There’s no going around this evil duty: you must establish a newsletter. And newsletter marketing is so much more than blasting: “Buy my book!” on days without end.
“If you’re an author, this means identifying the target market for your books and understanding how they spend their time online. If you’re writing for a young adult audience, spend some time immersing yourself in the densely populated online world of YA readers and writers. What do they like to see from YA authors online? How do they discover new books and new authors?”
Source and more information: https://writersedit.com/self-publishing/ultimate-guide-establishing-author-newsletter/
And: https://writersedit.com/self-publishing/ultimate-guide-online-author-presence/
The Subject Matter
Think about your Social Media posts. You’ve established a set of content types and subjects which your followers enjoy. Use that knowledge when you create newsletters. Programs like MailChimp (which I use) have excellent tutorials that guide you toward better marketing. The web overfills with marketing courses for writers. Ask your author friends who sell impressive figures, on Amazon or elsewhere, how they studied marketing.
Steps of creating The Author Newsletter
- Choose a newsletter program to use. MailChimp, Campaign Monitor, Constant Contact, AWeber, and many more.
- Embed a subscription form on your website. Sometimes you need to copy-paste a string or HTML- code from the newsletter software to WordPress or whoever hosts your site. Allow subscribers to sign up via a form in the sidebar or footer on every page of your website.
- Decide how often you send. Once a month is enough if you ask me. This frequency also allows you time to design awesome content.
- Gather subscribers before sending out anything. Offer a freebie in return for giving their email address.
- Compose your newsletter. Promote the newsletter across Social Media and build your subscriber base.
Legal Matters
Don’t add anyone into your subscribers unless you have their permission! Also, learn about spam legislation in your country.
- European Union GDPR- law: https://eugdpr.org/
- US Legislation: https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business
- Australia: https://www.jezweb.info/australian-spam-laws/
- Canada: http://www.chamber.ca/resources/casl/
Organizations that don’t comply face hefty fines.
Source and more information: https://writersedit.com/self-publishing/ultimate-guide-establishing-author-newsletter/
What To Put in Your Newsletter?
The answer to this question depends on who you ask. Googling the search term: “What to put in your author newsletter” produces some great articles. Think of your products and who you are as a writer. Draw lines around what you feel comfortable sharing.
A list of possible subjects:
- Share customer reviews
- book excerpts
- cover reveal, or a sneak peek
- giveaways: a signed copy of your book or a chance to ask you questions about your characters
- Share your blog
- Exclusive articles that you don’t share elsewhere. Give your subscribers the feeling they are VIP, part of a selected few.
- who you are as an author and a person
- awards from writing competitions and honorable mentions
- writing advice
- spotlights on other authors
- books that gave you inspiration for your writing
Source and more information: https://allthekissing.com/2018/10/what-to-include-in-an-author-newsletter/
Be Patient and Study Statistics
Remember that new skills take time to master. You spent several years learning writing and developed through trials and tribulations into the author you are today. Study how each post does. MailChimp and others offer excellent spreadsheets for statistics. Take heed of the percentages: how many opened your email? Did the opening produce link clicks? Don’t replay errors and use the themes & content which people love to open and follow.
You do this with Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram, don’t you? If not, start immediately.
Each link click loses a percentage of your customers. Design your newsletters in a way that offers direct, clear statements and endorses a call to action. Allow subscribers to comment and respond. Pick a theme for each newsletter. If you lead your subscribers into a maze of confusing directions, they won’t end up buying the product.
The Funnel
Seeing that only 1,3% of receivers ended up clicking the Shop Now-link of your recent newsletter might depress you, but the funnel explains what happened. It’s normal; most customers don’t come out as frequent buyers at the bottom.
Image source and an interesting article on digital sales: https://www.crazyegg.com/blog/sales-funnel/
“A marketing funnel is a collection of stages that prospective customers move through with the first stage being the awareness stage. Marketing funnels were designed to push these potential customers through the buyer’s journey to ultimately purchase a brand’s products or services.”
Source and more information on funneling:
Study funnels and everything else. And stay patient because an expert industry attempts to unravel the secrets of buyer decision making and the psychology of the hunter-gatherer. As an author, you are a start-up business, but leave time for child-like unchained creation. Do something small every day to add subscribers to your list. Post daily on social media and learn to publish content which has a demand. Before you know it, you have cracked the killer combination.
Even if you end up with the email addresses of sixty people, that’s sixty more than the guy or gal next to you.