In today’s fast-paced digital world, maintaining a consistent and engaging author newsletter is a powerful tool to keep your readers connected and your literary endeavors at the forefront of their minds. Newsletters provide an ideal platform for announcing new book releases, sharing book-related updates, and fostering a deeper connection with your audience. But how can you ensure that your newsletter captures your readers’ attention and keeps them eagerly awaiting your next edition?
Five Invaluable Tips for Crafting a Captivating Author Newsletter
Know What Value You’re Providing to Your Readers
Some readers only want to know about new releases and special book promotions – that’s the value they get from subscribing to your author newsletter. Anything more feels like spam to them. Others are hungry to know as much about you, your writing, your characters and stories as they can possibly get. They don’t want only “buy my book” emails, but desire added value. You set this expectation up with your sign-up forms by notifying readers what they can look forward to in your newsletters – what value they’ll receive. You may even want to segment your list to allow readers who only want to know about releases and sales to only receive those types of emails, while those who want more receive more.
What kind of value can you add? Snippets about your personal life (as much as you feel comfortable sharing) so readers get to know you as a real person; insights into your characters, settings, and stories; updates on what you’re currently working on; what you’re reading, watching, listening to – those are just a few ideas. Also, swapping sales and new releases with other authors in your genre can be mutually beneficial for you, your readers, and the other authors.
Determine Your Author Newsletter’s Frequency
How often do you want to create and send your newsletter? Create a strategy and make sure your readers know what to expect. Some authors only send an email when they have a new release or a special book promotion. Except for those who rapid release, this means readers are hearing from them less often, which can be a pro and a con. Like the rest of us, readers’ inboxes are inundated with newsletters and promotions, so the fewer they get from you, the happier they may be. On the other hand, if you don’t release frequently, this may mean they only hear from you a few times a year – or even less. They may even forget they signed up for your newsletter, and it gets sent to spam.
A more regular frequency, such as monthly, can keep your name and books closer to the forefront of their minds. Be sure to consider your own ability and constraints to produce your newsletter. Most importantly, choose a frequency that is consistent and sustainable for you and communicate to your readers when they sign up how often they can expect to hear from you.
Create a Content Calendar
A content calendar allows you to plan in advance what topics you want to include in each edition of your author newsletter. While you can plan content out for the entire year, it might be more reasonable to focus on 90 days at a time. A lot can change beyond three months, so if you get too granular too far out, you may find yourself spending a lot of time revising your content calendar because of changes in goals and plans.
Use your release dates, any special promotions, and events such as signings and conferences for the basis of your content creation strategy. For example, if you have a release in October, you definitely want your October newsletter(s) to focus on that release (and probably September’s, too, to get those pre-orders and boost excitement). Once you have your major topics strategically placed in your calendar, think about what else you want to share with your readers and integrate those subjects into your calendar. With this content calendar, you don’t have to scramble at the last minute to decide what to write about for this month’s newsletter – it’s all laid out for you.
Make Sure Your Subject Lines Grab Attention
Your newsletter’s subject line plays a crucial role in determining whether it gets opened or ends up in the spam folder. Create subject lines that pique curiosity and entice your subscribers to open your email. Avoid using spammy phrases like “free offer” or “read this right away,” which can trigger spam filters. Instead, craft subject lines that reflect the engaging content within your newsletter, leaving readers eager to explore what’s inside.
Appearance Matters
You want your newsletters to be visually appealing with a look that allows for easy reading and showcases your call-to-action. Use images to break up long walls of text and dividers to separate topics. Most email services these days allow you to create multiple columns, which help to break up the monotony as well. Highlight your call(s)-to-action with graphical buttons. Be sure your author newsletter’s appearance fits within your author branding, including the colors, fonts, and imagery you choose.
A well-crafted author newsletter, when executed with care and dedication, serves as an invaluable tool to stay connected with your readers and cultivate a devoted fan base. By paying attention to layout, maintaining a content calendar, providing added value, crafting enticing subject lines, and carefully considering your newsletter frequency, you can create a newsletter that not only captures your readers’ attention but also keeps them eagerly awaiting the next one.
