5 Things to Do Right Now for Your Author Newsletter

No really! Right now. This minute.

We all know that newsletters are hard work—both writing them and growing them. It’s tempting to let it slide. But, and I mean this as a serious question, is it really harder than learning to produce and post trendy little videos that can make you go viral by magic?

I’ve never managed to become a TikTok darling, and since I can barely find the app on my phone, the odds don’t look great for me. Instead, I’ve been slowly building up my subscriber base for a decade, and now I have a six-figure list of names who receive email from me at least twice a month.

Building up my newsletter was slow and not very sexy, but it’s the best way I know to grow a readership brick by brick. When you have someone’s email address—and permission to use it—you aren’t relying on social media to help show your message to the world.

A newsletter list is powerful. Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise.

Thing 1: Start it

The best time to start an author newsletter was three years ago. The second best time is right now.

If you are a published author of books, or a published author of articles on a very focused topic, you need an email newsletter. We can’t rely upon social media, where we’re constantly at the whim of changing algorithms. Visibility is a game, and the house always wins. 

That’s why you need a newsletter. At the moment when a reader consents to receive your wisdom by email, that’s the moment you begin to control your own reach. Even if building that list is slow and painful. Even if it feels as though the only early subscribers are Auntie Millie and her seven cats. Nevertheless, you owe it to yourself to start this important journey. Mailerlite will let you join for free up to your first thousand followers.

Once you sign up for an ESP (email service provider) like Mailerlite or Flodesk, create a signup form to share with readers, and link prominently to it on all social media and your website.

Thing 2: Send a newsletter this week. You can do it. 

I spoke to some wonderful authors at Thrillerfest about their newsletters, and they often gave me embarrassed smiles when the subject comes up. “I really should do a better job with my newsletter, but I only publish one book a year.”

I feel their pain. But the problem with this logic is that if you never send an email to your list, those subscribers will absolutely  forget who you are and why they signed up in the first place. If you let your list forget why they ever signed up, that’s a problem for both you and your ESP (email service provider.) If you go months and months without sending a new message, you risk triggering a wave of unsubscribes. That’s not okay! We need to keep our readers engaged even when it feels scary. We can strengthen that relationship even when we don’t have top tier news to share. 

Thing 3: Sit down and brainstorm your next five newsletters

“But I don’t have anything to sayyy,” you whine. “My next book is three years away from completion, or at least it feels that way.” 

Now is the moment to remember one simple thing about your subscribers: they share at least one interest with you. 

• If you write fiction, then send a newsletter about “the three upcoming books I’m most excited to read.”

• If you write a podcast about popular culture, write your top three pop culture moments from the last few weeks.

• If you write practical books about gardening, discuss your own garden.

• My audience for romance novels is largely women who read a lot. So as long as I’m addressing that audience, I can vary my recommendations even more widely. For example, I recently wrote this newsletter: “The books, shows and snacks that got me through May.”

It’s important to note that you don’t have to share personal details about your life to make a connection with your readers. And many times it works better to keep yourself out of the limelight. If you’re cataloguing your year-long trip around the world, or your $4 million renovation of a European castle, that’s going to sound tone deaf. (Unless, of course, you write books and articles about restoring European castles. Then you get down with your bad self and send out all those photos of all your travels in France.)

And if all you can think to write about is books you’ve enjoyed, at least there’s a bonus to this exercise: writing about how much you loved someone else’s book is excellent practice for pitching your own next book when the time comes. 

Thing 4: Check Your Signup Form

If it’s difficult for readers to sign up for your newsletter, they won’t do it. Does your sign-up pass all these tests?

1. If you have an author website, will I spot your signup invitation immediately when I visit your site?

2. Is the form easy to navigate, and it doesn’t require too much information from me?

3. Do you remember to share that sign-up link ALL THE DARN TIME? Because you should.

4. Is it easy for you to remember the address? For example, my signup form lives at sarinabowen.com/signup. I’m never forgetting that, and it makes it easy for me to rattle it off on podcasts and in emails.

Thing 5: Make a friend

One of the best ways to grow your email list and your readership in general is to co-promote your work with others. If you have an acquaintance who writes on the same general themes as you do, ask that person if you can do a newsletter swap in the next few months. Here are some ways to do that:

1. Each of you might simply recommend the other author’s latest book in your own newsletter.

2. Each of you might recommend that your readers sign up for each other’s newsletter lists.

3. You might run a giveaway together on a site like Rafflecopter. Choose a prize that would appeal to your readers’ common interests, and require a signup for both lists a requirement for entry. Then, each of you shares the giveaway in your own newsletter, which cross-pollinates the giveaway.

Remember, every writing success starts with baby steps, and your newsletter journey is no different. Embrace the incremental successes, experiment with your content, and learn as you go.

Happy writing and happy emailing!

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Are you a “sticker”?

Regular listeners know that whenever we meet our writing goals around here, we text each other one word: STICKER. (and then we add a cute sticker to our calendar, because we’re fun like that).

We call supporters of the #AmWriting podcast “stickers” too—and while our regular podcasts and shownotes go out to all of our listeners, we have created a few things just for stickers. First, there’s the Summer Blueprint for a Book Sprint—10 weeks dedicated to working with coaches and a community to figure out how to turn your next idea—or your struggling draft—into the book you want to write. You can join it anytime (the how-to is below).

Stickers can also submit the first page of their WIP to the Booklab First Pages podcast, where we might choose it to discuss, review and offer ideas for persuading agents, editors and readers that they want to turn that page and see what happens next. (Find the link to submit a first page HERE.)

I’m a sticker! Give it all to me now.

To join the Blueprint for a Book Summer Sprint, you must be a paid subscriber. Then, opt-in and set up your podcast feed. Don’t worry, it’s simple! Click here to go to your #AmWriting account, and when you see this screen, do two things:

1. Toggle “Blueprint for a Book” from “off” (grey) to “on” (green).

2. Click “set up podcast” next to Blueprint for a Book and follow the easy instructions.

Once you set those things up, you’ll get all the future Blueprint emails and podcasts (and if you’re joining the party a bit late, just head to our website and click on Blueprint for a Book in the top menu).