Nearly 4.5 billion people worldwide use email, with 88% of users checking their email multiple times a day, and 59% of users reporting that product and service emails do influence their buying decisions. By 2027, the number of email users worldwide is projected to reach over 4.8 billion!
With this huge potential reach, an email newsletter can be a very powerful tool for authors wanting to create awareness for their work, build a loyal following, and share exclusive content with their readers. While social media platforms can come and go, email remains a direct, reliable, and cost-effective channel authors can control. No matter your genre and publishing path, email communications can and should be an integral part of your author platform.
Here are eight steps for starting and maintaining your own author newsletter:
Just because you have a list of emails in your personal contacts or professional network, doesn’t mean you can automatically add these emails to your newsletter distribution. The proper process is to invite people to subscribe to your newsletter or “opt in”, meaning they are giving you permission to send your newsletters. In addition, U.S. consumers are protected by the “CAN-SPAM Act”, which sets regulations for commercial email messages. To stay CAN-SPAM compliant and avoid hefty fines, you must give people a way to unsubscribe from your mailing list, and include a physical postal mailing address (which can be a P.O. Box if you prefer). The best way to ensure you are following protocol is to sign up with a reputable email marketing service provider. Do not use your Gmail or Yahoo email account for managing and sending email newsletters.
There are several user and budget-friendly email marketing platforms that can be explored to determine which one is a good fit for your skillset and goals. Here are three of the more popular:
MailerLite: You can sign up for a free plan for up to 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 email sends per month. Paid plans start at $9 per month. It’s one of the most user-friendly and affordable with a drag & drop email editor, easy-to-use automation features, and customizable templates. In addition, it features landing pages, sign-up forms, and pop-ups.
Kit (formerly ConvertKit): You can sign up for a free plan for up to 10,000 subscribers and unlimited email sends. Paid plans start at $25 per month. Features include automation, landing pages, opt-in forms, and monetization.
Mailchimp: You can sign up for a free plan for up to 500 subscribers and 1,000 email sends per month. Paid plans start at $13 per month. This platform has a more advanced user interface and features include landing pages, opt-in forms, pre-built templates, and a “Creative Assistant”. Automation is not included in the free plan.
All of these platforms offer free trials for their upgraded paid plans, so definitely do your research to determine which platform has the features and support you will need as your email list grows over time. It can be very cumbersome to switch email service providers after you are established with one.
A “lead magnet” or “reader magnet” is what you use to entice someone to join your email list. Essentially, you’re offering something for free in return for providing their contact information. It’s important to think about your target audience when determining your reader magnet, because what will attract fiction readers can differ greatly from what will attract nonfiction readers. Fiction authors, for example, can provide a downloadable short story, character sketch, deleted chapter or scene, or helpful guide, while nonfiction authors can provide downloadable lists, assessments, or worksheets related to their book’s topic. No matter the freebie, make sure it is easy to download and access.
To entice readers to sign up for her mailing list, fiction author Nancy J. Cohen uses author giveaways through websites like BookSweeps, AuthorsXP, and BookFunnel. The giveaway or prize can be a signed copy or special edition of your book, an advance review copy of your soon-to-be-released book, branded merchandise, or even one of your favorite books from another author.
Whether through your online presence or at in-person events (or both!), you need to be talking about your newsletter and the benefits of subscribing, while making it as simple as possible for someone to be added to your list. Your website or blog should include either a landing page with a form to sign up for your newsletter, or an integrated pop-up box. Many email service providers, like the ones noted above, offer assistance with creating landing pages and pop-up forms.
In addition, the account profiles on popular social media platforms allow you to include website information and other links. You can include a link to your newsletter landing page, or, potentially integrate a sign-up form on platforms like Facebook, depending on your email service provider and plan.
You’ll want to ensure your landing page or pop-up form includes information about how often subscribers will receive your newsletter and what they will gain. What can they look forward to receiving from you? It’s important to consistently provide value in your newsletters.
Before sending your first email, there are several important details to consider to ensure your communications are optimized. By enhancing these essential elements, your email communications will result in better open rates and less SPAM filter issues:
Subject Line: To entice subscribers to open an email, the subject line needs to be short and catchy. It should hint at the content contained in the email and be no more than 50 characters in length; otherwise, it will be cut off. Avoid using all caps, excessive punctuation, and more than one emoji, as these can trigger the SPAM filter on some email platforms.
Preview Text: This line of text appears right under the subject line. Rather than repeat your subject line, this text should complement your subject line and provide more details on what the email contains. This text should be no more than 100 characters in length.
From: Ideally, your newsletter should be sent from you or your company name with a unique domain URL. If subscribers aren’t familiar with the sender of an email, it will likely remain unopened or even end up in their SPAM folder. You can typically purchase a domain URL through the email service provider you choose.
Personalization: You want to make your subscribers feel appreciated by addressing them by their first name. For example, you want the newsletter to open with “Hi Jane” versus “Hi Subscriber”. Most email service providers have a feature that allows you to personalize your emails.
Links: If you plan to link to articles, blog posts, or other landing pages in your newsletter, you may want to track who is clicking on those links. In order to do this, you have to add UTM parameters to the end of your links. Google's Campaign URL Builder and UTMBuilder are popular tools that can assist.
ALT text: To make your newsletters visually appealing, you should include images. You’ll want to fill out the “ALT text” for any images you do include. This is the text that appears when an image doesn't load, or when you hover over the image. You don’t want your subscribers to miss out on any important headlines or messages contained within an image.
When a reader signs up for your email newsletter, they are expressing a genuine interest in you and your work. It’s important to hook them with your first few emails to keep them coming back for more, which you can accomplish through a set of inviting and engaging welcome emails. Many email service providers offer the ability to set up an automated welcome sequence that fires when someone new joins your email list. The number of automations and emails you can send will depend on your service provider and plan.
An effective welcome sequence typically consists of 3 to 5 emails that build upon each other over a short period of time. This is a chance to introduce yourself, thank them for joining, and set expectations about what kind of content they will receive. Here is an example of an effective welcome sequence:
Email #1: Welcome and Introduction: Your first email should welcome any new subscribers and thank them for joining your email list. It should include a brief biography of who you are, and explain what subscribers can expect to receive from you and how often. If you’ve offered a digital reader magnet in exchange for signing up, this email should include the downloadable content, or a direct link to download the content.
Email #2: Introduce Content and Encourage Engagement: In your second email, give subscribers an idea of the type of content they can expect to receive from you. It can be a blog post or even a podcast episode. You also want to encourage subscribers to share their thoughts or feedback on some questions you ask. What are they reading right now? What is their favorite genre to read?
Email #3: Get Personal: In your third email, you want to connect with subscribers on a more personal level by sharing a personal story or anecdote. You can introduce your writing process, share what inspires you, or reveal what you are working on. Most importantly, be authentic. This is a good time to encourage subscribers to follow you on your social media channels.
Email #4: Share Exclusive Content and Perks: In your fourth email, you want to “Wow” subscribers with a new freebie or exclusive piece of content that only subscribers receive. Show subscribers you care by asking more questions. What do they think of your working title on your work-in-progress? Do they like cover option #1 or #2 better? What would they like to see from you in the future?
Email #5: Reiterate Benefits and Explain Next Steps: In your fifth email, remind subscribers of the benefits of being on your list and the value you provide. Encourage them to take the next step by checking out your website or purchasing your work. Let them know how often they can expect to hear from you going forward so that they can anticipate receiving your emails.
What you include in your author newsletter will affect whether it will engage readers and keep them from unsubscribing. Email newsletters are different from other marketing emails because they do not focus solely on selling or promotion. The goal of a newsletter is to grow and deepen your connection with readers. The content should cover a wide range of topics, all with the intention of informing, educating, or entertaining your subscribers. Only about 10% of the emails you send should be promotional in nature.
Per author and editor Troy Lambert, readers sign up for your mailing list because they want to get to know you and follow your writing career. Your content doesn't have to be super personal, he says, but does need to be authentic and include something readers can relate to. You can share content about a favorite pet, your travels, or interesting hobbies. You can even think about themes or elements in your book
Yes, your readers signed up for your newsletter because they like you and your books, but they will quickly tire of hearing only about you. Be sure to weave in some informative content that helps and educates your readers to keep them interested. Here are some email newsletter content ideas:
• Behind-the-scenes content: Writing process, story development, world-building, research, etc.• Personal stories and reflections: Life musings, personal experiences, funny stories, and lessons learned.• Exclusive content: Bonus material, deleted scenes, short work, character backstories.• Book reviews or recommendations: This is a great way to support fellow authors.• Top ten lists: Favorite foods, movies, books, brands, past times, etc.• Writing tips or advice: Many authors are followed by aspiring writers, so share your knowledge and wisdom, or helpful advice you’ve received from others.• Industry news, or news related to your book’s topics or themes.• Reader spotlights and testimonials: Rave reader reviews, fan artwork, photos with fans (with permission).• Contests and giveaways: Signed copies, branded merchandise, swag, gift cards, etc.• Book-related news and announcements (10%) – New releases, pre-orders, cover reveals, sales, upcoming events, etc.
You’ll need to decide how often you want to send your newsletter—monthly, biweekly, or weekly, and stick to it. Make sure it’s a schedule that feels manageable so you can maintain quality content without burning out or communicating only sporadically. Subscribers will lose interest and may even forget about you if you aren’t consistent.
Readers won’t subscribe to your author newsletter if they don’t know about it! Just like your website, you should be including information about your newsletter or a link to sign-up wherever you can. Here are some ways to promote your author newsletter:
• Include a link to your sign-up form on your website, or have a pop-up appear when readers visit your home page• Add a link in your book’s back matter• Occasionally post about it in your social media feeds with a link• Include a link in your email signature• Run giveaways or partner with other authors to boost exposure• Mention it during interviews and podcast appearances• Have a sign with instructions on how to join your newsletter at all in-person events• Include a QR code that links to your sign up form on all marketing materials
For even more helpful ideas on how to build your email newsletter list, review “How can I start collecting people’s email addresses for email marketing purposes?”
After sending an email, you should review any data provided by your email service provider, and take action based on those results. Here are some of the important data points to analyze:
Open rate: The open rate tells you what percentage of subscribers opened your email. A good open rate can range from 20% to 40%+ depending on the type of email that is sent. A welcome email, for example, tends to have a higher open rate than a promotional email. According to GetResponse, the average open rate for publishing-related newsletters was 39.89% in 2024.
Click-through rate: Click-through rate shows the percentage of people who clicked on at least one link within the email. According to the GetResponse report noted above, the average click-through rate for publishing-related newsletters was 5.76% in 2024.
Conversions: A conversion is when a subscriber does something you directed them to do in a call to action in your newsletter, such as making a purchase, or subscribing to your blog. You can set up goals in Google Analytics to track specific conversions.
Delivery rate: The delivery rate tells you the percentage of emails that deliver successfully to your subscribers’ inboxes. If you send an email to an address that doesn’t exist (hard bounce), or to a full inbox (soft bounce) your delivery rate will fall. It’s recommended that if your delivery rate falls below 95 percent, it's time to clean your list and get rid of any email addresses that consistently bounce.
Unsubscribes: This is the percentage of subscribers that choose to manually unsubscribe from your email list by hitting the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of an email. According to the GetResponse report noted above, the average unsubscribe rate for publishing-related newsletters was 0.11% in 2024.
If you find that any of these data points are moving in the wrong direction, it’s time to reassess your newsletter elements and content. You may need to enhance your subject lines, add more personalization, improve visuals, provide more value, or request more engagement. Constantly monitoring these data points will allow you to test various changes and enhancements to see what works best.
Authors have many options for building their author platforms and promoting their work. The most effective book marketing plans include a variety of both online and offline initiatives, reaching as many potential readers as possible. An email newsletter can be a powerful addition to an author’s toolbox, allowing for a more personal connection with readers worldwide, resulting in a loyal following long-term.
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