Edith here, writing from the deep freeze north of Boston.

Most authors maintain a list of fan emails and send out an occasional newsletter. We include news of events, book releases (our own and those of friends), thoughts about writing, a few personal tidbits, and sometimes special content only for our subscribers – a short story, the opening to a new book, a special giveaway.

I recently made a behind-the-scenes change to my newsletter and thought I’d share a few thoughts here about the purpose and process of newsletters.

Timing

Some authors send news on the first of the month like clockwork. The Wicked Authors as a group for many years have sent news on the second Thursday of the month.

Me, I get to about mid-month and say, “Woops! Time for a newsletter.” I scramble to pull it together and get it sent out. Should I be more organized? Sure, but I figure a newsletter at sent at a slightly shifting date is better than no newsletter.

Subscribers

We all know how ephemeral social media is. I might think I have thousands of followers on my Facebook author page and elsewhere, but the social media owner can change that or deny access in the blink of an eye. As Julie, FOW Ellen Byron, and others have said, you OWN your email list. Subscribers have to opt in to receive our mailings. Nobody can take that away except the subscriber.

So, we try to make it easy to sign up for our newsletters. I have a signup form on the front page of my web site.

When I go to author events, I always bring my newsletter sign-up clipboard.

And of course you can easily sign up for the Wicked Authors newsletter here or by clicking the Contact button and then the link under Newsletters – and we hope you do.

We’re planning on shaking up the format of the Wicked Authors newsletter a bit, so stay tuned for that!

Beginners might despair of ever getting more than a few hundred subscribers. How did I get nearly 5000 subscribers? Part of my list came from joining group contests where entrants are required to list an email address and advised that their contact info will be shared with each of the featured authors. Having my signup form front and center on my web site helps, as does reminding fans on my Facebook author page to sign up. But partly it’s having been published for over a decade. It takes time, Grasshopper – do not despair.

Content

So what do we write about? What constitutes news?

Of course we want to let our readers know when we’re excited about a new book coming out or a new series beginning. If we get a contract renewed for a series, that’s news, too, as is a new short story publication.

Events are news, too, whether in-person or virtual. A solo talk at a bookstore, a three-author panel at a library, and an appearance at a fan convention are all news.

I always like to include a bit of personal news, too. It might be a photo of my effusive garden produce in August. Pictures from vacations count. And I usually mention family gatherings. This is from my latest mailing:

If I’m doing a giveaway or sharing special content, that goes in, as well.

I end with a paragraph about how to find my writing and me, and a few ending words, such as the following from the recent newsletter.

I know other writers include different content or organize it differently, and I hope they’ll chime in in the comments!

Sending

I have been using the mailer software Mailchimp for some years. It’s free for a small number of subscribers and/or mailings, but the more subscribers I acquired, the more expensive it grew. Some of the other Wickeds had shifted over to Flodesk for cost and other benefits, and I planned to join them but never found the time.

I finally downloaded my subscriber list and made the switch last week. I’m happy to report that the first newsletter went out smoothly, with the same open rate as before. I was even notified of a new subscriber who signed up via my web site, so that part is working too!

The software offers options for scheduling the newsletter. Will more people open my mail if they get it on Sunday afternoon? The morning of the first day of the month? Thursday nights? Who knows? I tend to vary when I send mine out. Alas, I don’t necessarily track which time/day get the better open results (but the program lets me, should I get around to it).

I tend to get around a fifty percent open rate. It was lower until last year, when I deleted email addresses who hadn’t opened any one of my three newsletters. Still, I wonder about that other fifty percent!

Readers: Fans, what do you like to see in a newsletter? Do you open one as soon as you get it, or wait a while? If you prefer not to receive author news, do you unsubscribe or simply let it languish? Writers, how often do you send your newsletter and what do you include?