Subscribe Me, Captain!
Author, you have a newsletter, don’t you? Don’t you?? Author, you must have a newsletter!
Newsletters are not outdated, I promise.
Think of every shopping website you’ve ever signed up for. They’ve all sent you multiple emails, sometimes over the course of a single day. Sometimes those emails work to get you back to their site, and maybe you purchased something. (And of course, sometimes they are super annoying and you can’t click unsubscribe fast enough, am I right?)
Those are newsletters, believe it or not. And they can be a really great way to drive traffic, maintain engagement, and boost your relationship with your readers.
I’m not suggesting sending ten a day, because that is 1) unsustainable and 2) really annoying. I suggest sending a minimum of one every 60 days, and ideally one or two (max) per month. That is the Goldilocks amount of time to stay in your readers’ heads, it’s just right. If you have the urge to send out a lot of newsletters, consider moving some of your shorter form thoughts to a blog.
Gaining new subscribers can be the hardest part of building your newsletter, author. Enticements are one of the easiest ways to build your subscriber network. Cover reveals, sneak peeks, inspiration layouts for your latest book, and polls are all things your fanbase want to see. And you can limit those to newsletter subscribers only!
A few things you can do to help grow your subscriber count include making your signup link easy to find on your social platforms as well as your website, making posts on social media teasing with what will be in the next newsletter (and including information about how to sign up), offering a reader magnet that the subscriber wants, and asking people to sign up for your newsletter. You won’t know what works until you try it! And very soon, the prize we seek will be won (lots of subscribers).
