Getting out the News!

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Edith here, writing from the deep freeze north of Boston.

Most authors maintain a list of fan emails and send out an occasional newsletter. We include news of events, book releases (our own and those of friends), thoughts about writing, a few personal tidbits, and sometimes special content only for our subscribers – a short story, the opening to a new book, a special giveaway.

I recently made a behind-the-scenes change to my newsletter and thought I’d share a few thoughts here about the purpose and process of newsletters.

Timing

Some authors send news on the first of the month like clockwork. The Wicked Authors as a group for many years have sent news on the second Thursday of the month.

Me, I get to about mid-month and say, “Woops! Time for a newsletter.” I scramble to pull it together and get it sent out. Should I be more organized? Sure, but I figure a newsletter at sent at a slightly shifting date is better than no newsletter.

Subscribers

We all know how ephemeral social media is. I might think I have thousands of followers on my Facebook author page and elsewhere, but the social media owner can change that or deny access in the blink of an eye. As Julie, FOW Ellen Byron, and others have said, you OWN your email list. Subscribers have to opt in to receive our mailings. Nobody can take that away except the subscriber.

So, we try to make it easy to sign up for our newsletters. I have a signup form on the front page of my web site.

When I go to author events, I always bring my newsletter sign-up clipboard.

And of course you can easily sign up for the Wicked Authors newsletter here or by clicking the Contact button and then the link under Newsletters – and we hope you do.

We’re planning on shaking up the format of the Wicked Authors newsletter a bit, so stay tuned for that!

Beginners might despair of ever getting more than a few hundred subscribers. How did I get nearly 5000 subscribers? Part of my list came from joining group contests where entrants are required to list an email address and advised that their contact info will be shared with each of the featured authors. Having my signup form front and center on my web site helps, as does reminding fans on my Facebook author page to sign up. But partly it’s having been published for over a decade. It takes time, Grasshopper – do not despair.

Content

So what do we write about? What constitutes news?

Of course we want to let our readers know when we’re excited about a new book coming out or a new series beginning. If we get a contract renewed for a series, that’s news, too, as is a new short story publication.

Events are news, too, whether in-person or virtual. A solo talk at a bookstore, a three-author panel at a library, and an appearance at a fan convention are all news.

I always like to include a bit of personal news, too. It might be a photo of my effusive garden produce in August. Pictures from vacations count. And I usually mention family gatherings. This is from my latest mailing:

If I’m doing a giveaway or sharing special content, that goes in, as well.

I end with a paragraph about how to find my writing and me, and a few ending words, such as the following from the recent newsletter.

I know other writers include different content or organize it differently, and I hope they’ll chime in in the comments!

Sending

I have been using the mailer software Mailchimp for some years. It’s free for a small number of subscribers and/or mailings, but the more subscribers I acquired, the more expensive it grew. Some of the other Wickeds had shifted over to Flodesk for cost and other benefits, and I planned to join them but never found the time.

I finally downloaded my subscriber list and made the switch last week. I’m happy to report that the first newsletter went out smoothly, with the same open rate as before. I was even notified of a new subscriber who signed up via my web site, so that part is working too!

The software offers options for scheduling the newsletter. Will more people open my mail if they get it on Sunday afternoon? The morning of the first day of the month? Thursday nights? Who knows? I tend to vary when I send mine out. Alas, I don’t necessarily track which time/day get the better open results (but the program lets me, should I get around to it).

I tend to get around a fifty percent open rate. It was lower until last year, when I deleted email addresses who hadn’t opened any one of my three newsletters. Still, I wonder about that other fifty percent!

Readers: Fans, what do you like to see in a newsletter? Do you open one as soon as you get it, or wait a while? If you prefer not to receive author news, do you unsubscribe or simply let it languish? Writers, how often do you send your newsletter and what do you include?

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Published by Edith Maxwell

Agatha Award -winning author Edith Maxwell writes the historical Quaker Midwife Mysteries (Beyond the Page) and short crime fiction. As Maddie Day she writes the Dot and Amelia Mysteries, the Country Store Mysteries series, the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries, and the Cece Barton Mysteries (all from Kensington Publishing). She lives north of Boston in an antique house with her beau and cat Martin, where she writes, gardens, cooks, and wastes time on Facebook.

39 Thoughts

  1. I’m honored to be a FOW!

    As a reader, what grabs me is a subject line. I can’t really give specifics but if it intrigues me in any way, I’ll open the newsletter.

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  3. I like the newsletters, especially if they give a little bit business news and personal news. Also important to me is if they know the title and date of their upcoming releases.

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  4. I always open it the same day if not as soon as I open my email. I plan on at least a quick read and don’t let things pile up on me. It’s a good way to start the day! Of course, I really hope for news of a new book but I’m realistic too; you can’t write 24 hours a day.

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  5. Since I’m signed up for a bunch of author newsletters, I do tend to open them all. I do try to open them as soon as I get them but sometimes I might not have the time right then and there. Mainly do to a time crunch and I was just quickly checking my email to see if anything came in that needed to be taken care of immediately.

    But I do open them. I like the news stuff, the personal stuff and a giveaway or something is always intriguing to sign up for even when I don’t win.

    The one thing that does annoy is when I get a bunch of newsletters in one month from the same author. I’ve got 2 or 3 that seem to send a newsletter almost every other day or something like that. That gets freaking annoying. They are the ones I consider unsubscribing from, though to date I haven’t gotten around to it.

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  6. I always end my newsletter with Mews News, a tidbit about my cat, Kensi, along with a photo of her. I might have HUGE publishing news, but the response emails I receive are always about Kensi. She’s the star. I’m just her human who writes books.

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  7. I try to open newsletters when I get them but sometimes I am looking for a particular email so don’t have time to linger. So much of our life is done by email now it needs a system for organization.

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  8. Over the years I have subscribed to many newsletters through giveaways. I need to go through and unsubscribe from the ones I’m really not interested in. I do open them if it is an author I enjoy reading, especially to see what is coming up.

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  9. Great information, Edith. I end my newsletter with “Koda Sez” and a picture of him. I send once a month on the last day of the month (and if I’m organized, I’ve written it early and scheduled it to go out). I tend to read the author newsletters I receive on the day I receive them – and yes, that includes yours.

    I didn’t find contests all that useful. Yes, a I got a lot of subscribers, but they either never opened a newsletter or unsubbed. I don’t find people sign up at in person events either – but I do have a pop-up on my website and a subscription form on every page. I get a pretty high open rate.

    But trying to come up with catchy subject lines is tough.

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  10. If the newsletter hits my inbox in the morning, it gets opened early in the morning since the emails are one of the first things I see when I get on the computer right after getting up. That’s when I tend to most things computer wise because once dressing and starting my day, I never know what direction I will be going. Understand them signing you up for newsletter to enter a contest, but from a reader’s standpoint, it’s really a bother. Often it curtails me entering a contest because of that factor. I’ve joined the author’s newsletter for those I wish to follow already. I think it would be better to have a choice to join button in the contest. I would think it would be a high hit by a strong low for an author to have many join the newsletter only to be unsubscribed from. I know I only have a certain amount of time on the computer, which means I can’t be opening lots of emails that aren’t high on my list to read. Yes, I do unsubscribe from many and as for the reason just stated. If an author is new to me, I prefer getting to know them via Facebook or their website and then make the decision to join their newsletter or not once I’ve had time to get to know them and their works. As for me, I like the idea of newsletters coming out at different times of the month. Doing so, would prevent certain days of the month flooding my inbox.
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

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    2. Kay, the laws have changed and senders can no longer automatically sign people up when they enter a contest — the subscribers have to “opt in” or choose which authors’ newsletters to sign up for. That helps eliminate spam, so it helps readers; it helps authors, too, so we’re not paying to send to people who aren’t interested.

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  11. As I slowly disconnect from many media sources, I rely more on the writer’s newsletters to keep me up to date on new releases & such. I normally read them within 24 hours of receipt as I love the snippets & information provided.

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  12. I honestly try to read every email I get from Authors but when you enter a contest you end up subscribing to a lot of new Authors. I have now gotten my content down some so I have to unsubscribe to those newsletters that just do not interest me. It is a long process. Deborah

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  13. Thanks, Edith. I am not yet published, so I don’t have much of the ‘book’ news a published author would. My agent convinced me to start a newsletter anyway. I’ve actually enjoyed the creativity in making them ( ;
    As for the receiving end…, I generally open any and all author newsletters I receive. I like seeing graphics and/or photos, and I really enjoy reflections, thoughts, and maybe a quote or a short poem that touches me on a deeper level.

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    1. That’s lovely, Pamela. I’ll try to remember to include quotes or short poems. Good for you for starting a newsletter while pre-published. I did the same and maintained it until we started Wicked Authors. I like to get ideas from other authors’ newsletters.

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  14. This is great, Edith. I am terrible about sending out my newsletter, but endeavor to be better. As you mentioned, this is one way authors can connect with readers that won’t go away. We all rent social media–we own our websites and newsletter lists.

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  15. Great topic, Edith! I really enjoy writing my monthly newsletter — I love thinking about my readers and what will interest them. This next newsletter, going out mid-month — like you, I avoid the crush of the first of the month — will include historical tidbits I didn’t get to use in All God’s Sparrows. I’ve discovered readers enjoy knowing what I’m reading, watching, and cooking, so I like to include a quick recap of those things, too, along with recent and upcoming events. I love connecting with readers this way, as well as in person.

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  16. I look forward to author newsletters and read as I receive them, then take action and delete. Occasionally I save them to go back to later when I have more time. A bit each of book news, personal happenings if the author wants to share and even a good recipe if the author wants to include is welcomed.

    My goal this year is to really reduce the volume of incoming email so I’m scrutinizing and unsubscribing now. I’d much rather spend my time reading books than emails. I stopped doing the giveaways and contests to prevent new subscriptions. If I want to subscribe I’ll do it myself. There are a few authors I like that don’t send emails and only use Facebook to provide info. I dumped that platform. Instead I add them as a favorite on Amazon books so at least I get notifications of new releases.

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  17. I am definitely someone who fell victim to email overload. I have been unsubscribing from all kinds of emails that I am no longer interested in. Which makes it much easier not to miss an email that I really want to see. I definitely enjoy seeing pets and reading a bit of personal news. My favorite thing about getting to know authors is getting inside information about their books. I like knowing what inspired an incident in a book, if a character is based on someone, or comparisons between real and fictionalized settings. I think offering exclusives like that would get more readers to open a newsletter. And it is Sue, now known as slowly anchor lol.

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  18. Hi Edith, Great article, and timely for me. I’m a new author and know I need to start a newsletter but keep kicking the can down the road. I’m glad to learn more about what folks like to read. How interesting you switched to Flodesk. I haven’t heard of it. I’ve been wondering about Substack since a lot of authors seem to be using that platform. I still need to do more research to see which one would be best for me. Any more advice is welcome!

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