What is the purpose of a newsletter, anyway? I get several a month. Some I open, some I delete without opening. I ask myself, what makes me click, and what do I enjoy reading? If it’s an author newsletter, and especially one I happen to like, I do look for news about their upcoming releases and awards. But I also glom onto insight into their lives. For example, author Paul D. Marks has a great newsletter he calls “PostMarks” – cleaver, huh? Paul talks about his newest and upcoming noir mysteries, awards he’s received (and there are many), some of his great reviews (many of those, too!) But Paul often drops in a photo of his dogs, or an anecdote about L.A.’s storied crime history that I really enjoy. The personal touch is important. Otherwise, I might as well just look at his Amazon page.
I revamped my newsletter last month. I will have quite a few new releases in the coming year, and I want to share the joy with as many friends and fans as possible. Still experimenting and feeling my way. My masthead (above) displays a few things about me: I have probably ten gorgeous rose bushes; I have a serious chocolate chip addiction; my puppers Melie is my youngest child; and I spend an inordinately amount of time and cash at Starbuck’s. Here’s a link to my Good News Letter.
Between the time I set up my newsletter account (with MailChimp) around 5 years ago and now, at least 450 spambots joined my mailing list. Before creating my new campaign, I had to weed them out and beef up my signup routine. I also had to clean up email addies that were no longer viable. It left my list a little bedraggled, but I forged ahead and was able to get a 55% open rate. Not too shabby.
Free content is recommended, so I included a link to a free Valentine’s Day story. Alas, not many takers. Is it too scary to click on a link? Or too time-consuming to read a few pages? Too much of a commitment? (BTW, the password for the story is PINKHEART).
For one thing, I know my list is made up of many friends, and not all of them are truly readers. They are there to support me, but not necessarily because they are interested in romance or mystery. So the next task is to get actual romance readers to join my list. Suggestions welcome!
And… you can sign up here!