How to Make an Author Newsletter

HelloOoOo everybody!

Today we're talking about newsletters, why you need 'em, how to make ’em, and how to get people to subscribe to them. This topic was requested by one of my patrons over on Patreon, Michael. A huge thank you for your support for being one of my patrons and thank you for requesting this topic, it's a good one. If any of you want the opportunity to request one of my video topics, or if you want access to tons of other rewards, check me out on Patreon. It's linked below.

Authors newsletters are super important, and no matter how large or small your platform is, you absolutely need a newsletter. A newsletter is a series of emails that you send out to anyone subscribed to your mailing list. Some authors send out a newsletter once a week or once a month. I personally send out a newsletter every other week.

Newsletters are super important because they give you your very own list of emails belonging to people who are super interested in you and your product. It's great to have a popular Instagram page or a popular YouTube channel, but at the end of the day, these are third-party platforms. You do not own them. If YouTube decides to delete your channel, or Instagram goes under, all of your followers are gone. This doesn't happen with a newsletter, because that list of email addresses directly belongs to you. Plus it gives you the opportunity to contact your readers directly. You're popping up right in their inbox.

Now, before I get into my tips, a very important note. Everything I have learned about newsletters is from the book Newsletter Ninja by Tammi Labrecque. This book is an absolute must-have. It will teach you every single facet of building a newsletter. Once I read this book and implemented its techniques, my newsletter open rate went from 20% to 60%. This post will break down some of the more basic steps to creating a newsletter, but I cannot emphasize this enough if you really want all the details you need to read this book. I am not sponsored by Tammi. I doubt she even knows that I'm alive. But I love this book, and I would be doing you a disservice not telling you about it.

If you haven’t already, don’t forget to also subscribe to my YouTube channel for more writing tips, sarcasm, and of course, more of Princess Butters!

Number 1: Stop Telling Yourself That No One Is Going To Join

“But Jennaaaa! I would never subscribe to an author newsletter.”

Okay, that sounds like a you problem. Just because you're not into newsletters doesn't mean other people feel the same way, and I have thousands of newsletter subscribers to prove it. Authors have this irrational fear that no one will subscribe and that if people do subscribe, it'll be out of pity. No one is pity-subscribing! Do you know how much people hate junk mail?

Think of it this way. Are you a big fan of any celebrity, musician, or hell, even a character? If they had the ability to contact you directly, to ask you questions, to give you sneak peeks at their upcoming work, to send you pictures of their pets—would you be interested? Probably. This is the same deal. You may not see yourself as someone important, but someone out there may feel differently. That's who your newsletter is for.

Number 2: Find a Reputable Service

I've met a shocking number of writers who thought that creating a mailing list meant collecting email addresses manually, creating the list in some kind of spreadsheet, and then emailing each subscriber individually.

What year do you think we're in? There are plenty of platforms available that will manage the newsletter process for you. Two popular platforms that I have personally tried are MailerLite and MailChimp. I do believe, don't quote me on this, that MailerLite is a bit more popular among authors. That's the one that I currently use. MailChimp is a little bit easier, but it's more expensive. MailerLite has a slight learning curve, but it's cheaper, which is why I went with it.

Now before you freak out, yes, these platforms cost money, but they are usually free until you reach a certain number of subscribers. For example, MailerLite is free until you hit a thousand subscribers. These platforms will allow you to store email addresses, create beautiful newsletters, schedule those newsletters, and track their performance. This way, you can see what newsletter content is performing well and what's gotta go.

Number 3: Offer an Incentive

A reader magnet is a free product that encourages people to subscribe to your newsletter. “Subscribe to my newsletter, and you get XYZ for free.” Whatever XYZ is, is up to you. But seeing as we're all writers around here, it's usually a story. Most reader magnets are short stories, novelettes, novellas, or workbooks that are somehow linked to whatever series you have that's available for purchase.

My reader magnet is a behind-the-scenes short story from The Savior’s Series. Sign up here if you wanna read it.

Sometimes people create series bibles and use those as reader magnets. Other people use character profiles as reader magnets. But usually, you gotta write some kind of story. No, it can't be available for purchase elsewhere. It has to be exclusive to the newsletter. That's the entire point. Once you utilize an effective reader magnet, your subscriber rate will increase.

Number 4: Offer a Service

People hear this point and freak out.

“Am I supposed to educate people via my newsletter?”

That's not what we're talking about here. Your newsletter can't solely be self-promo. You have to give people a reason to read it. That means offering something that's exciting or beneficial to them. Are any of your books discounted? You can put that in your newsletter. Are any other books in your genre discounted? Are there any upcoming reader events going on? You could put those things in your newsletter. Do you have character art in the works? Let your newsletter subscribers see that stuff before everyone else. Do you have vision boards or face claims? Let your newsletter subscribers see that before everyone else. Hell, do you have a cute dog? Put that floof in your newsletter. You should get the idea at this point. Your newsletter can't solely be you bragging about your book. It's not a commercial. Offer something readers will enjoy and make it fun to read.

Number 5: Get Personal

To be clear, I am not recommending you use your newsletter to talk about the strange mole or your back or your six-month dry spell. And I definitely don't recommend using your newsletter subscribers as unpaid therapists. What I'm saying is people join your newsletter because they care about you and want to know what you’re doing. This is not the place to be stuffy and overly professional. This is the place where you can talk to your subscribers like real human beings.

I like to adapt a conversational tone in my newsletter. Like I'm speaking to each subscriber one by one. Address your audience as “you,” not “you all” or “y’all." Tell them what's going on in your writing journey. Crack jokes, ask them questions. Remember they're here to get to know you, so let them do just that–without showing your ass in the process.

I tell my subscribers when I'm celebrating great news. I let them know how Buttercup’s doing. I tell them when I'm in a writing slump or when I'm busy with so many projects, I wish I had a clone of myself just to tackle the workload. This allows them to get to know me. It gives them a deeper look into my life without crossing the line into uncomfortable and inappropriate territory.

So that's all I've got for you today!

Again, if you really want to know the ins and outs of creating a badass newsletter, check out Newsletter Ninja. I have it linked right here. It is absolutely incredible.