Newslettering

I have never been crazy about e-mail newsletters, which is probably why I've never attempted to do one myself until I sold the Disenchanted & Co. books. Since there is a lot going on behind the scenes with the new series I really needed one, but I didn't want to get myself into a huge time sink that would just end up being deleted unread from someone's inbox.

The first thing I did was search for instructions as to exactly how to get a newsletter subscription option on a Blogger template. This video by Odin Spark not only explained that, it directed me to MailChimp, a free newsletter creation and mailing service -- which basically eliminated the rest of the research I was planning to do.

Once I watched the MailChimp tutorials, I put together my first test newsletter in about half an hour. I used one of their designer templates for the first issue, although I plan to create my own once I become a little more experienced with the site.

I think newsletters should be short, so I kept mine brief. I made a couple of insider-info type announcements about upcoming events, and included a request for feedback on what my subscribers would like to see in the newsletter. As an extra temptation I offered an incentive giveaway for those who take the time to respond. Right now my subscriber list is small but as it grows I'm planning more perks for the recipients that won't be available to anyone else.

The primary challenge of a monthly newsletter is to put together enough news, bonus material and incentives to make it worth someone's time to read. Before I jumped into doing my first issue I put together six month's worth of newsletters in draft form to get an idea of how best to approach the content, and that was extremely helpful in getting a handle on how to sustain it. Since I'm doing a lot of advance marketing right now I have plenty of news about the first book, but that tends to dwindle after the initial release and promotions are over. I also have to remain flexible enough with my content that I can add all those last-minute items that plague every author.

I think offering monthly incentives like contests and freebies is a fun way to keep subscribers reading the newsletter, but you have to think about what your readership really wants to know. My people are huge readers and always on the lookout for great books, so one of my newsletter content goals is to come up with a monthly recommended read by another author I think will appeal to them. I may also extend that to include recommendations from my subscribers.

The one thing I don't want is for the newsletter to become tiresome -- on either side. This challenges me to keep creating content that helps promote the series but that doesn't bore me or the subscriber. I'm going to do a lot of thinking outside the box on this aspect, and hopefully put together a monthly mailing that keeps readers clicking to open it instead of opting for the delete button.

Do you use a particular newsletter service that has proven valuable or helpful in some way? Let us know in comments.

Always Forever

Every writer has little idiosyncrasies they bring to the writing life or acquire along the journey. For example, I use only Courier New font for my work. I'm not a font snob; I prefer it because I wear trifocals and I can see the punctuation marks without squinting. A few years back I started writing a draft of the last chapter of my novel before I reached the midway point of writing the actual manuscript so I'd have something to work toward, and to get rid of my last-chapter anxieties. That little trick, which I read about online, proved 100% effective for me. And while I can write dressed in pretty much anything (often my pajamas) I can't summon a single word if I'm barefoot.

I write a lot of e-mail; I don't count them but after glancing at my Sent folders I think I average about fifty to a hundred per week. Last night I got an e-mail from a colleague who jokingly signed off with xoxoxo as protest to an anti-signoff article. That was the first time I'd heard of that (and the first time I'd gotten virtual kisses and hugs from a colleague), so I went looking for the piece, found and read it.

My search results also suggested that the poor guy is already at the bottom of a massive pile-up, so I won't add to it by naming him or linking to the article. He's obviously wrestled with the issue, and I don't think he really meant to beat up on anyone but himself. In the process of defending his opinion, however, he casually insulted everyone who writes letters, e-mails or anything else that is traditionally signed off with a Sincerely Yours or Best Wishes or Cheers. Considering how much correspondence we all write, however we write it, that's a lot of people. That's probably billions of people.

I wasn't deeply offended, probably because I've wrestled with the issue myself. I started out like most using Sincerely as we were taught in school to sign off e-mails, and progressed to Best Wishes and then to the abbreviated Best. I still use Best with business correspondence or with people I don't know well because it sounds a bit warmer than Sincerely but not as lofty as Best Wishes. For reader mail I settled on Always, mainly because no one else was using it and it's one of the two ways I sign off when autographing books. With friends I generally use some variation of Hugs. I like Hugs; it's warm and friendly and personal. I mean it, too; I'd give them all real hugs if I could.

There are plenty of sign offs I don't like. I'm not a big fan of the authorial sig block so beloved by the writer organization crowd, the one that lists upcoming releases, award nods and sometimes even bookseller links; personally I find the really long ones a little tiresome. At the same time I know the pressure to promo put on every writer, so I don't take offense (nor do I mean to ridicule anyone who uses them; I just don't care for them) Same thing with Cheers; I was a bartender and while I've tried using it a few times myself that word will always be a toast to me. Makes me occasionally wonder if the other person is inebriated or expects me to be, too.

Despite the inherent awkwardness of the e-mail sign off I don't think it's outdated or that it needs to be eliminated. Removing it from our cyberlives might buy a few more seconds to Tweet something clever or update the Facebook status, but it would erase something far more important: a chance to express some respect or affection. When you end a telephone call, or you go to work, or you send your kids off to school, you wouldn't think of just hanging up or driving off or slamming the door shut. You say take care, have a good day, see you tonight -- or even simply good-bye.

We exchange these words because no matter how much the world progresses or becomes gadgetized, that moment may be the last time we speak to that person, Maybe for today, for the week, for the month, or for the rest of our lives (or theirs.) For these reasons I am so glad the very last e-mail I sent to my friend Monica Jackson signed off with a Hugs, and the last words my father heard from me over the phone, when he was still conscious and could understand me, were I love you, Dad.

I'm already a dinosaur, so I don't think anyone will mind if I continue using my e-mail sign offs. I hope you will, too. Some things should not become antiquated, and like our lives, our chances to say farewell are not infinite.

Always,
Lynn