Snoozy Newsletter? Not for me!

 

What do readers want from a newsletter? What do they hope for when they join a mailing list?

I can’t imagine that anyone joins a mailing list in the hopes of being left alone, or without the expectation that they’re going to get notices of books being published by the author producing the newsletter. So, why do you join a mailing list?

I imagine you all noticed last week that I have created a sign-up for my own mailing list. It’s because I’ve been told a number of times recently – and by various people – that I really should have one and that I should reward people who sign up for my list with a newsletter. This naturally got me thinking about what I would put into a newsletter. It can’t be boring, or else people will un-sign up for it as quickly as they signed up. And it can’t be filled with “buy, buy, buy”, because that’s worse. So what goes in there? What do I write about?

This past year, I have been lucky enough to be able to publish three “books” (I put that in quotes because only one was a full length novel, one was a novella and another a short story.) and I’ve got more (full length novels) sitting on my computer waiting to be published after professional editing. This does mean that I’ve had news which I could have shared with any potential newsletter readers. Since I had no newsletter, I put the news up on my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/meredithbondauthor). In essence, I’ve been treating my Facebook page as a newsletter that goes out to my friends and readers every day.

So, I’m looking at different things to put into my newsletter. I could put in a super-short story (5-8 pages), articles on writing, reviews of a book I’ve read, or even a serial novel. What would you be interested in reading? Tell me what you want and sign up.

 If you’re an author, what do you put in your newsletter? If you’re a reader, what do you want in a newsletter?  If you’re both, tell me all!