Before I get stuck into today’s blog topic, I want to let you know I’m running a giveaway for new subscribers to my mailing list. If you join my mailing list during March 2019, you’ll receive the free eBook all subscribers receive, and go into the draw to win an autographed copy of The Kingston Chronicles. Joining my mailing list is super easy, just fill out the webform on the right of your screen. You’ll get a confirmation email sent to you and once confirmed, the free eBook will be sent to your inbox.
As I’m running this giveaway, I thought it would be a good week to discuss why authors, especially Indie Authors, encourage people to join their mailing lists. Chances are you are already subscribed to a few newsletters. I know I’ve subscribed to more author newsletters than I can count. One thing I’ve learnt from authors like Ella Barnard and Russell Nohelty is newsletters are one of the most reliable, and instrumental, ways authors can reach our readers. I won’t go into intricate detail, because other people, especially Ella and Russell, have done so more succinctly than I could, but I will explain why I decided to start a newsletter.
I decided to follow advice and start a newsletter because while social media has its place, and I love interacting with my readers on Facebook and Instagram, it’s not necessary the best way for me to inform my readers. I’m guessing that you are already aware that social media platforms limit what their users see. I have about 300 friends on my personal Facebook account, but I regularly only see posts from less than 10 percent of them (I think). I don’t fully understand the science and math behind the algorithms, but as I understand it social media platforms want to keep you interested and so they filter your newsfeed to show things the bots think you’ll be interested in. If I’m wrong and you know more about this than me, please let me know because I’d love to learn more (you can email me via the link below). These algorithms can be great for you, but not so great for people like me who are trying to get your attention.
On my social media platforms, I have a very small pool of followers currently. Judging by my understanding of how the algorithms work, chances are if I announced a giveaway on social media (without paying for an ad or boosted post) only a fraction of the people following me would see it. That means that someone who might be really interested in participating in the giveaway wouldn’t even know about it.
On the other hand, with a newsletter I can email my list of interested readers and tell them that the giveaway is happening, or a book is about to be released, etc. Having a newsletter means that I’m less reliant on social media algorithms to tell you when I’m having a sale or running a workshop. I can just send you an email and it’s in your inbox almost immediately. It also safeguards against social media platforms becoming outdated or obsolete (anyone still using Myspace these days?)
If you’ve come through to this post from a link on social media, you may be thinking, “geez I’ve seen how often she can post a week, I don’t want to get daily spam. No thank you!” I promise I won’t spam you if you sign up. I post out a monthly newsletter, and occasional updates such as “my new book launched today!”. Primarily because I don’t want to be that annoying person who emails you a couple of times a week until you unsubscribe, mentally screaming “leave me alone!”, and also because it takes a lot of work to create the content in a newsletter and I already have enough on my plate.
Another reason I started a newsletter is to give my readers a chance to talk to me. I can give my readers freebies, or surprise announcements before releasing that information to the general public, and it gives them a way to give me feedback. They can simply respond to my email.
If you’re following my Indie Publishing journey because you’re interested in Indie Publishing yourself, I highly recommend checking out the fabulous resources that Ella Barnard at Author Like a Boss, as well Russell Nohelty have been providing to the Indie Author Community. I mentioned some of the resources I’ve enjoyed in this post. I’m constantly on the look out for new resources but I’m truly a fan of Ella and Russell. I wish I’d found them before I started publishing, but it’s never too late to change what you’re doing if it isn’t working.
B. Forrester 