Your newsletter might be (and likely is) one of the most critical elements to your ability to sell books, but you shouldn’t have to spend half your time tweaking it.
Sometimes, it pays to go the simple route. It might even be the best option!
How minimal should you go?
There are some authors who stick to some default black text on a default white page. That’s fine—but if you want to keep some visual flair, here are some ways you can cut the clutter and clean up your newsletter so that it’s no longer a pain to manage.
When I’m talking about minimal newsletters, I don’t mean the aesthetics. I mean the process—basic, clean, and easily repeatable for future letters.
1. Frequency
People often say that you need to send emails often to keep readers engaged. For authors, that’s not necessarily true. While there is definitely enough content out there for you to write a regular newsletter even with infrequent releases, you don’t need to write every week—or every other week.
If you’re falling behind on schedule or in the middle of a busy draft, you can skip a newsletter. If your audience is big enough to sustain you without any need to do a ton of cross-promotion, you can email people only when you have a new book coming out.
2. Templates
You don’t need to go anywhere and download a custom minimal template. Many email creators have their own, as well as an option to drag and drop elements to your liking.
You can save a lot of time if you design one basic template early on or save a newsletter as a template. Tweak it every time you have a new letter to broadcast, and half the work will be done for you.
3. Graphics
You don’t need graphics or even color to create an attractive template. Actually, a simpler look might be better if you don’t have a defined aesthetic to your author brand or feel unsure of your ability to design something attractive.
Too many visuals can clutter a small screen as well, and with so many people checking email on their phones, you want to stick to something basic and readable.
4. Your Call to Action
A busy newsletter might include multiple calls to action: book reviews, book sales, waitlist signups, promotions, and swaps. It’s hard to keep up with so many different items—so don’t worry about it.
Your newsletter needs only one purpose at a time. Before you write it, decide what the most important section of your newsletter is and focus on that, adding in the other parts as time and effort allow.
5. Rant
Don’t spend too much time ironing out the wording of your newsletter. This is a fun chance for you to connect with readers on a personal level, so you don’t have to be as uptight as writing a book description.
If you have a quick rant, share it! It will make you seem more human and more engaging to readers… and there’s a higher chance that they’ll take you up on your call to action after your personal heart-to-heart.
Newsletters aren’t supposed to be stressful, but they can bring in a variety of powerful results. How do you manage yours? Please sign up to share in the comment section below or click on the blue button to join my Facebook group for self-publishing fiction writers.
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