Tag: Author Newsletter

Do recommendations in author newsletters encourage you to try a new book?

Bookish Question #379 | Do recommendations in author newsletters encourage you to try a new book?

Do recommendations in author newsletters encourage you to read a book by another author?

Yes … if it really is a recommendation.

(And not just an advertisement.)

If an author whose books I enjoy recommend a book I haven’t read, then I’m going to pay attention to that recommendation. It makes sense. If I like toast and I like avocado, then it makes sense that I’m going to like avocado on toast.

(I’m lucky enough to live in an area where there are a lot of avocado trees, and it’s not uncommon to be able to buy a bag for a few dollars from a roadside honesty box).

But there has been a trend for authors to do a “newsletter swap”, where Author A shares a book by Author B in their newsletter, and Author B shares a book by Author A.

These swaps are often shared as recommendations, and some have been … disappointing.

I later learned these authors aren’t reading the books they promote in their newsletters. It’s simply a promotion technique to get their books in front of a new set of readers. As a result, I’ve stopped clicking through on these kinds of shares unless it’s clear the author is recommending the book. In some cases, I’ve unsubscribed from the author newsletter because it was no longer about the author.

But I will still buy or read books based on the recommendations of other authors when it’s clear they’ve read and enjoyed the book.

After all, authors are (or should be) readers too, and reading books by authors I love is a great way of finding new books and authors I will enjoy.

What about you? Do recommendations in author newsletters encourage you to read a book by another author?

Do you expect an author newsletter to be about the author?

Bookish Question #378 | Do you expect the newsletter to be about the author you follow?

Do you expect the newsletter to be about the author you follow?

Well, yes. What else should it be about?

I want to read about the author and their books.
(Or their area of expertise, for a nonfiction author.)

If an author wants to share what’s going on in their life, great. If they want to share a short devotion, great. If they want to share about a book they’ve recently read and love, great. If they want to share about a promotion they’re in, that’s okay as well.

But, as I said last week, I’d prefer they keep it short – so perhaps a life update or a devotion, but not both. And share about one promotion or one book. If they want to share more, I’d rather they share a link to their review or to a blog post.

But that’s just me and what I like (and don’t like).

What about you? Do you expect an author newsletter to be about that author?

If not, what do you expect? What do you want to see in an author newsletter?
What do you feel about newsletter welcome sequences?

Bookish Question #377 | What do you feel about newsletter welcome sequences?

How do you feel about the welcome sequence for author newsletters?

It depends …

Last week, we talked about reader magnets – the free book many authors offer to encourage people to sign up for their email newsletter.

That freebie is typically delivered as part of a series of emails intended to introduce the author and their books. This is called the welcome sequence.

Some are short, only one or two emails. Some feel as though they are never-ending. Some come once a week. Some come once a day (I’m not so much a fan of those).

Some showcase all the books or series by that author. Some offer even more free books (sometimes including the one I’ve already downloaded and read, which can be a little confusing).

Some ask questions. Some jump straight into trying to sell you their next book (which I don’t mind, given that’s the purpose of an author newsletter) or their training course or (worse) tries to get you to upgrade to a paid newsletter. I have no objection to paid newsletters from nonfiction authors who are providing valuable advice in their area of expertise, but I don’t understand what a fiction author would be offering. Writing advice, perhaps?

On that basis, my preferred newsletter welcome sequence is a relatively short series of relatively short emails: say, 3 to 6 emails that take no longer than a couple of minutes to read.

After all, I don’t want to be reading their email newsletter when I could be reading their novel …

What about you? What do you expect (or want) from an author newsletter welcome sequence?

Do freebies inspire you to join an author's newsletter list?

Bookish Question #275 | Do freebies inspire you to join an author’s newsletter list?

A lot of authors offer some kind of freebie or incentive to sign up for their email list to receive their newsletter.

Do freebies inspire you to join an author’s email list?

If so, what kind of freebie do you like best?

My least favourite freebie is a download that sounds interesting or insightful but turns out to be just two or three pages of sparse text.

My favourite freebie is a novella that introduces the author’s work … or perhaps even the first novel in a series. I find this gives me a good introduction to the author’s work. Sometimes that’s good, because I’ve found a new favourite author.

Sometimes it’s less good (for the author) because I decide I don’t really gel with their style, so I unsubscribe from the newsletter. Most authors do pay an email list provider, and their monthly subscription cost is based on the number of subscribers. I figure if it costs them for me to be on their list, then I’m doing them a favour by unsubscribing if their writing isn’t for me.

The issue is that I’ve downloaded so many over the years that I’ve learned I have to make a conscious effort to read the free book as soon as I download it so I know whether I want to stay on the list, and whether I want to look out for more books from that author.

What about you? Do freebies inspire you to join an author’s email list?

If so, what kind of freebie do you like best?

How so you feel about welcome sequences when signing up to newsletters?

Bookish Question #274 | How do you feel about email welcome sequences?

When you sign up to a newsletter list, you often receive a few emails in fairly quick succession to introduce you to the author and their writing.

Newsletter marketing gurus will often call this the welcome sequence.

As a reader, the value of the welcome sequence is correlated to how much I already know about the author. If it’s an author I’ve read before and I’m joining so I don’t miss out on future books, then I sometimes feel like I don’t really need the welcome sequence … but it also doesn’t bother me.

If the newsletter is for an author I don’t know so well, then the welcome sequence is a good introduction to that author because it sets the tone for what future newsletters are going to be like. It may also provide insight into what the author’s books are like.

I generally prefer shorter welcome sequence for fiction.

Don’t drag it out forever. Instead, let me get on the regular email list so I don’t miss any of the announcements I signed up to receive.

I don’t mind longer welcome sequences for nonfiction, as long as there is a purpose e.g. the welcome sequence is actually a free email course examining some aspect of writing, editing, publishing, or marketing.

For example, my nonfiction email list (at www.christianediting.co.nz) has a two-week email course on self-editing for fiction writers, which is a combination of a freebie and a welcome sequence.

James Clear (author of Atomic Habits) has a similar welcome sequence, an 11-part course on how to build better habits that’s delivered over 30 days. He then sends a short weekly 3-2-1 email with useful quotes and ideas. Going back to last week’s it’s a newsletter I’m inspired to keep receiving because it’s short, regular, and interesting, and has an element of predictability embedded in the 3-2-1 format.

What about you?

How do you feel about the welcome email sequence you receive when signing up for an author newsletter?

Do you read author newsletters?

Bookish Question #62 | Do you read author newsletters?

Once upon a time, author newsletters were a rare beast.

That was mostly because of the work involved—it wasn’t just a case of writing the newsletter, but getting it printed, printing off address labels, stuffing envelopes, and posting the newsletters.

I was once responsible for writing, publishing, and mailing a 16+ page newsletter to 500+ paying subscribers for my employer. It took about a week each month—longer on the months when I didn’t manage to bribe the receptionist into helping with the last part. A regular newsletter was a big commitment of time and money.

But now it’s all done by email.

The mailing list is managed by a service such as MailChimp, and all the author has to do is write the newsletter, load it up, and press ‘send’ (or pay a virtual assistant to help with the actual sending). This has meant a proliferation of newsletters. I’ve signed up for dozens (many through giveaways).

The recent introduction of GDPR meant I got to unsubscribe from several using the passive-aggressive method of not hitting either the subscribe or unsubscribe buttons when they sent the (perhaps unnecessary) reconfirmation emails. There is one I don’t read because I’d unsubscribe if I could, but legal details aren’t that author’s strong point because there is no unsubscribe option.

Do I read them?

I read the newsletters of my favourite authors. I read the newsletters of the funny authors. And I read the newsletters of the authors where I know it’s going to be news, not a sales pitch for a book I’ve either already bought, or already decided I don’t want to buy. (I know the email gurus say to ask for the sale more than once, but I’m the buyer who proves all the theories wrong).

What about you? Do you read author newsletters?