Newsletters–yea or nay?

My friend, M. L. Rigdon/Julia Donner just spent time setting up a newsletter with mailchimp.  She sent out the first one, and I enjoyed reading it.  I’d link it here, but I can’t find the link.  (Hint, hint, Mary Lou, if you’d like to put it in a comment for us).  I’ve seen more and more writers offering newsletters.  Do any of you?  I started one a long time ago, but fizzled.  I just couldn’t figure out what a reader would want to hear from me.  I already have this blog and a webpage and an author Facebook page.  I thought that was probably more than most people would want to bother with.

I read that authors often provide something free for people who read their newsletters. I wrote many free stories for my webpage.  And I had lots of visitors.  I don’t have the time to do that now, but I’m putting up excerpts.  And thank you to the people who still visit my page!

So, I’m asking:  what makes newsletters better than other author sites?  Are they more fun to write?  Do readers enjoy them more?   I’m curious.

I finally turned in my first mystery for Kensington and I’m working on my second one. They won’t come out until 2018, so if I wanted to start a newsletter, I have plenty of time to play with ideas, etc.  How often do you send a newsletter?  How do you make it special?

Thanks for any feedback!  And happy writing!

 

webpage:  http://www.judithpostswritingmusings.com/ 

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Twitter:  @judypost