If you are a resolutions person or a goals person or a “ugh, I am going to start/re-start this damn newsletter…soon” person, this post is for you. We’ve all heard that an email newsletter is one of the best things you can do for your writing career, but we also all know that newsletters aren’t exactly the most fun thing to do and it can often feel like a chore to churn them out.
At the same time, I cannot underscore just how valuable your newsletter subscriber list is. It’s much better than your Instagram/Twitter/Facebook followers list because if any of those platforms disappear overnight or the algorithm changes and it becomes harder for you to reach them, you no longer have access to all those people. Also, 60% of consumers will subscribe to an email list to get info on that brand, but only 20% will follow on social media, and your potential for engagement on social media is looooow. But you own your newsletter list—and it’s full of people who liked you enough to invite you into their precious email inbox, and you have direct access to them that way, no matter what happens on social media.
So I created a brand-new PDF for you all to help kickstart your newsletter game so you can make 2021 the year you really do this thing consistently. You’ll see big leaps in your fans’ engagement with you, which will also hopefully translate to more sales! This PDF walks you through why it’s important to have a newsletter and how to serve your fans AND gives you 25+ content ideas for your newsletter.
GRAB IT HERE!
This PDF is mostly focused on how you keep subscribers on your list with great content, but how do you get them on there in the first place?
First things first, If you’re starting a newsletter from scratch, you need a service to send out your newsletters. I’d recommend using MailerLite—this is what I use, and I’ve been happy with them. It’s pretty easy to use, and it’s free up to your first thousand subscribers. There are other services out there that can do lots of sophisticated things, but if you’re just jumping in, keep it simple and inexpensive and don’t go for the fancy automations and stuff straight off. You can always export your list over to another service later when you become a pro at newsletters.
If you’re re-starting your newsletter, warm up your list again and remind them that you exist. You might get a bunch of unsubscribes after that from people who don’t remember ever signing up for your list, but that’s okay—we’re going to rebuild!
Whether you’re starting new or starting over, you want to have some kind of freebie/lead magnet that will entice them to sign up. By far, the most common freebie for fiction authors is a story: either an exclusive short story just for your list or a free book from your backlist (if you have a backlist that deep). All you need is a way to distribute that freebie—either by a direct download from your website or from Dropbox or from a service like Bookfunnel—and you’re good to go.
Get creative in your thinking if you don’t want to do the standard story freebie! Here are some other possible freebies you could create:
Sequels/epilogues for your already released books
Screensavers featuring your (beautiful) cover with a quote from the story
Colouring pages of your covers
Buzzfeed-esque quizzes about your books, e.g. which hero is your ideal partner? Which book should you read next?
Playlists for each character’s arc
Access to a private group where you do regular chats/events/giveaways/etc. just for fans
Video from you revealing a spoiler for a new book
Something related to a major part of your book – e.g. if your MC is a baker, create a collection of delicious recipes from the book; if you’ve developed an extensive fantasy world, create a map that includes exclusive clues or info that isn’t revealed in the book
Whatever you decide for your lead magnet, it should be relevant to your book(s) and something that readers will want. If music doesn’t figure into your MCs’ lives at all, a playlist probably wouldn’t be a great freebie. But if music features prominently and plays a pivotal role in setting the mood of the book, then a playlist could be perfect, especially if you explain how each song relates to the story.
Once you have your lead magnet in place, it’s time to start getting some subscribers. Use your social media to promote your lead magnet, advertise it on your website either as a pop-up or in the header or footer of every page, and make sure you include a newsletter link at the end of all of your books when potential subscribers are already warmed up to jump on your list.
Now that you’ve got ’em on your list, keep ’em there with my content ideas in the PDF!