Newsletters for Emerging and Established Authors by Sofia Aves
Writing your book is a (mostly fun) challenge. Marketing it? That’s where the work really starts…or so rumors have it.
The truth is that a well targeted newsletter is fairly simple, and doesn't have to be expensive to use. Before looking at current resources, let’s think about how and why newsletters are such a benefit to authors.
Hold up–shouldn't we talk about where to find newsletter subscribers first? Probably, but as that relates to the HOW, it's a little further down. Let’s go with the what first.
Unlike socials that can be cancelled or stripped away at any time, your newsletter subscribers are your captive audience. Think about that for a moment. If you woke up tomorrow to a closed Instagram, Tiktok or Facebook account (this happens more often than we like to acknowledge) who are you selling your next release to? A newsletter develops a superfan base that allows you to send your new releases, updates, sales and author life direct to your readers as often as you like. It might be when you release a new book, or you might send out 2-4 times a month (no really, just ask them!) You might be surprised.
SUPERFANS are a group of readers who read EVERYTHING you write. Some will even review even if your newest books aren’t written in the genres they love most because they just love your writing and hang out for everything you publish. They also love to know what you had for breakfast, what your desk looks like, the parrot you fed this morning and is eating your vege patch and which slippers you’re wearing (this last one was stupidly popular for me in October). Superfans, and readers who are well on their way to becoming superfans, also are super keen to read about your struggles. Did your character go off script? (yes). Has your plot wandered off in the middle of the night with no sorry note (frequently). Have you suffered with imposter syndrome to the point of freezing up completely? (All. The. Time.) I accidentally wrote this last in four giant paragraphs to one newsletter, was relieved to get it out, and hit send.
A lovely Canadian lady printed off the entire thing and shared it with her book club that week.
SUPERFANS (your subscribers) LOVE TO READ ABOUT AUTHOR LIFE.
We think it’s boring.
It’s very much not.
I once read a Facebook diatribe Diana Gabaldon wrote (in her author voice) about not being able to get sick from butt cooties on toilets at the airport. It was hilarious, just like reading in Claire’s voice, and relatable. It was also her author life as she was in pre-production for Outlander at the time.
How long does your first section of your author life need to be? It can be as short as one paragraph and as long as you need it to be to get your story out–providing you are writing in the same AUTHOR VOICE your readers hear in your books. Keep your branding and colours consistent, and link your logo header and your signature box to your website. Lots of people click on these and having a place to send them that relates to your books benefits you. It’s also that extra little bit of social proof that you’re not a scammer for newcomers.
WHAT ELSE GOES IN A NEWSLETTER?
I focus on my newest release, maybe a well worded or fun review that might get a giggle, or part of a chapter (for Indie books. For traditionally published authors, check with your publisher before you share). Deleted scenes are great for this as you can talk about why they were cut, what changed, and a link for readers to find out what actually made it into the Editor’s Cut. Have fun with your readers! This is a chance to have a conversation with them.
Newsletter Swaps. These are a simple and free way to get your book in front of readers of a similar genre that you haven’t captured yet. Or, it's a chance to get your book in front of someone who has seen it before but hasn’t purchased. Marketing stats (of which there are many, lots unfounded!!) say a buyer needs to see something X amount of times before they purchase it. Newsletter swaps are a way to get this ball rolling a little faster.
Book Fairs and competitions. Have a giveaway? A freebie, or are part of a group promotion? This is a place where you can put all these things, right at the bottom of the email so your readers have to scroll past all your other info and books to see it. Yes, it is exactly like walking to the back of the store to get milk. Same strategy.
Now that we’ve covered what goes in a newsletter, WHICH PROVIDER SHOULD I USE?
Mailchimp, Mailerlite and Sendfox all have free levels to start you off. To give readers a place to find you, it will ask you to create a sign up box (or landing page, depending on the provider) where the reader can enter their details and get started. Make sure there is a chance for a DOUBLE OPT IN. Weird stuff, right? This is just a second chance for them to opt out, like an email confirmation. But do we want to give the reader this chance? Absolutely. Double opt-ins are part of GDPR international privacy law and are required (as is an actual street address, or a PO Box for your newsletter that will be displayed). Knowing your laws, just like understanding copyright and other publishing laws, is a critical part of your author business, and this is absolutely the business end of the publishing stick (writing being the art side).
WHERE DO I GET MY READERS?
For genre writers, including non fiction, BOOKFUNNEL and STORY ORIGIN are two of the strongest newsletter growth platforms out there and neither break the bank. I have both, and am affiliated with neither. I’m just a huge fan of the way they bring me readers and sales. You can enter your book into sales promotions that redirect the reader to a retail platform to buy, newsletter promos where they have to (double) opt in to get a free read (a reader magnet–we will cover that in a moment), author swaps and, on Bookfunnel, send ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies) to your review team complete with watermarks.
If used well, and your reader magnet has a fabulous, on-genre cover, and a tight, trope filled blurb, you can garner up to 1000 NEW READERS A MONTH.
Nope, you didn’t read that wrong, and I’ve done it across five pen names, one of which is kidlit. This is a totally doable challenge.
BUT FREEBIES DON’T WORK. This is another rumor that floats about. Let’s bust it down. Some of those freebie hunters won't buy your books and may even (gasp) unsubscribe. That’s okay, because they weren’t your reader. You can always redirect them to your ARC team where they get a FREE BOOK (sensing a theme?) in exchange for leaving a review when you release. Still not happy to stay? That’s okay, because during this time you’ve picked up plenty of readers who will. THESE readers become the basis of your superfans we talked about above.
What’s a READER MAGNET?
This is a short story dedicated to building your newsletter list. It has all the same features as an anthology story, and should lead into your existing world (except for traditionally published authors–give us a short in your author voice instead). Lengths can range from 5k-60k, but I’d be wary of giving out a 2k short with a link to buy as some readers get annoyed with this. Same goes for the first chapter in a book for free. The reader expects a full book, and is happy with a novella, but not much less. Do this job well, and they will read through your series as they are already invested in your characters.
Keep to the to-market standards for your genre in your reader magnet. If it’s romance, we need a HEA/HFN ending. If it’s middle grade fiction, don’t cross into YA land on this one. Keep that market to the audience you want to bring into the books you’re funnelling them into reading now.
What’s ‘to-market’? Writing to market is writing what readers currently expect of you in a specific genre. Knowing what books are selling in your market helps you create a saleable book. You still get to keep your story and your author voice but it is packaged into something recognisable and covetable for the reader. If you stray outside writing to market, your marketing just became a whole lot harder as you’re niche marketing…and you need to nail that niche.
Platforms like Bookfunnel rely on a to-market approach. It might seem like fitting your work into a box, but it does make release day and sales a lot easier when you have an already primed audience to do a little show and tell with over your launch week.
Some advanced stuff…
Automations. These are your series of 1-3 welcome emails that greet your new readers, ask them to follow you on targeted platforms (Amazon, Bookbub, etc) and give them a place to find your work. You might give away a chapter of your best first in series book in one and your cover and link. Once the reader completes these timed (usually over a week) email sequences, they become a normal part of your list.
What we don’t say (in our email headers).
Freebie. Sale. Free. Blast. Sexy. F*ck. There’s a stack of no-no words that usually relate to sales that will get your newsletter sent straight to the spam box. There are ways around it, just like on socials. F-R-3-3 covers your tush effectively. Be creative. Lots of email providers will give you a rating for deliverability - a little grade like at school. A C/D probably means your emails are going to spam. A, B+ etc means your readers are getting plenty of your emails.
PRO TIP: To get your readers ‘white listed’ (think phone book, but friendly). Have them respond to a question in your automations sequence. This makes their email provider think you’re friends and puts your future emails in their primary email box and most importantly, avoids spam-jail.
BONUS LEVEL: Use the Newsletter swaps feature on Story Origin. This platform shows which genre the author writes in, and their open and click rates. This is important because a huge email list of 20k with a less than 1% open rate has less chance of getting you sales than a 3k list with a 15% open rate. Big lists with small open rates are stale lists. SO shows these stats and helps you work out your best chance at gaining sales. You can also filter your genre search. For me, clean and sweet books aren’t my audience and because I write steamy, clean authors can be upset if I apply for their newsletter lists. It’s not a good fit as usually our readers don’t cross over. I also filter out sci-fi, as I don’t write that. Target the genres that make the most sense to your readers.
BOSS ROUND: Create an on genre reader magnet that leads into EVERY series so you’re constantly collecting new readers in ALL of your genres/subgenres.
USA Today Bestselling author Sofia Aves writes fast-paced police romances, sizzling military units, steamy cowboys with a Montana backdrop and the occasional cheeky god. Married to a veteran, she often tackles topics of PTSD and reintegration and has a soft spot for all who work in uniform. Sofia writes kidlit for charity and has over one hundred and fifty publications across four not-so-super-secret pen names.
Sofia is a mum of three crazies in a returned veteran household and has an overly large fur baby who thinks she’s a teacup puppy. After eighteen years of planning and dreaming, Sofia and her husband will put the finishing touches on their very own alpaca park this year. Sofia lives near Brisbane, Australia.
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