Designing Your Newsletter

Whether you’re creating your first newsletter template or polishing one you have, these are some ideas for designing and organizing your document.

I subscribe to a bunch of different author, publisher, and company newsletters. It’s good to peruse a sampling to get ideas of how others present information and what content they include. Make note of what catches your eye and how it appeared on the page.

It helps me to sketch out (storyboard) how I want my content to look and what sections I want to have. Most newsletter services have templates that you can use to make the design easier once you know what you want to include.

My newletters go out quarterly, so I usually have some sort of seasonal theme to go with each one.

Include a give-away if you can. You can put this in the subject line to build some buzz and hopefully, entice readers to open it to see what’s inside.

Your subject line needs to be short and interesting. People get hundreds of emails a day, and you are trying to make yours stand out.

I always have some kind of introduction that is a welcome to new followers.

If you write a blog, look through your posts to see if one or two can be repurposed in your newsletter. I do interviews of other authors on my blog, and in each newsletter, I feature 10 to 12 of them. My hope is to introduce my readers to some “new-to-them” authors.

Vary the content. Think of interesting things to share. People are looking for information and entertainment. All of your content shouldn’t be “buy my book.”

Make sure that the fonts and colors that you choose match your branding.

After you add all the content, photos, and graphics, send a test draft to yourself. Make sure everything looks the way you intended. Proofread all content. Check all forms and links to make sure they work.

My newsletter software has a scheduling feature, and it offers suggestions for the best time to send a newsletter. (Usually, you don’t want it to go out first thing on Monday morning when mailboxes are already full from the weekend.) I schedule based on the most optimum time. Since I’ve been doing this, I have had a better open rate.

Be prepared. You’ll get some unsubscribers each time you send a newsletter. Don’t take it personally. People sign up for all kinds of things, and then they clean up their email boxes later.

Look at the analytics page a week or so after you send a newsletter to see what you can glean from the data. It should show you things like how many went out, how many opened it and when, how many unsubscribed, etc. This can help you with planning your content and your schedule for your next one.

Your newsletter subscriber list, like your website, is yours and you manage the contacts. It’s valuable. Your social media sites are a key part of your marketing strategy, but if they shut down or ban you, you have no way of reaching your followers.

Building Your Newsletter Subscriber List

It takes some time (and work) to build your list of newsletter subscribers. I collected names for months before I sent out my first one. Here are some ideas for ways authors can increase their lists of subscribers.

• Create a sign-up sheet and take it to all of your events. Make sure to leave enough space for them to print their name and email address.

• When I do Facebook take-over parties, I always put a link in one or more of the posts for the participants to “keep in touch” via my newsletter.

• Make sure you have a form or a widget, so that visitors can sign up for your newsletter on your websites. A lot of website design software offer a pop-up when folks visit your site to sign up. You may want to delay that for a few seconds (or minutes), so that that’s not the first thing new folks see on your site.

• Newsletter swaps are a good way to build up your following. Look for another author who has a similar audience as you. You also want to have about the same size audience to make it worthwhile for both of you. You create content for her newsletter, and she’ll do the same for one of yours. Basically, you are featuring that author, and she will highlight you and your books in hers. Add a link in your article for readers to subscribe to your list.

• There are quite a few newsletter builders out there. These companies charge a fee for you to participate. Usually, every author also agrees to give away a book or two for the contest’s prize. The contest entrants agree to subscribe to the authors’ newsletters for additional chances to win prizes. At the end of the event, you get a spreadsheet of email addresses to import into your newsletter software. If you do participate, make sure you sign up for ones in your genre. You don’t want to collect names of readers who aren’t interested in what you write.

• If you participate in group author events, make sure to have your sign-up sheet available for folks.

• I do a lot of classes for different civic and social organizations, and these aren’t really opportunities to sell books, but I do take my newsletter sign-up sheet in case anyone is interested.

• Advertise your newsletter on social media sites. It’s good to post when you’re about to send one out, so that you can pick up any interested new subscribers.

What would you add to my list?

Ideas for Updating (or Creating) Your Author Website

If you have an author website, make sure that you’re keeping the content fresh and current. Visitors don’t often return to a site with outdated information. Here are some ways authors can spark some ideas to jazz up their site or apply some techniques to improve what you have.

• Do some research. Look at other authors’ sites in your genres. Look at publishers’ sites to see what colors, fonts, and graphic designs they use. Pictures draw more attention than long columns of text.

• Find colors that match your brand. If your writing is dark, choose the spooky colors. If your writing has a lighter tone, pick pastels or brighter colors. If you’re not sure, Google “emotions colors evoke” to get some ideas.

• Make sure your website has several different versions of your biography. You should have a very short one, one with several paragraphs, and a longer one. All should be written in the third person.

• Match your colors, fonts and style of your website to the graphics on your newsletter and your social media banners. You want readers to recognize your style (brand) and know it’s you.

• Make sure you have a place for readers to sign up for your newsletter on your website.

• Always test your website after you publish it. Make sure that all forms and links work correctly.

• Most website builders today automatically adjust your page for the devices your readers might be using (wide for laptops and tablets and tall for phones). Look at your website on different devices to make sure the pictures and layouts look like you want them to.

• If your events don’t change often and your books come out yearly, you’ll need to think of other types of content for your readers. Consider adding a blog. Mine gives me content to share weekly on my social media sites, and it keeps readers coming back to my site.

What's Your Author Brand?

What is your author brand? A brand is something that is easily recognizable like a logo or packaging. It’s a way for readers to know what to expect from your writing. It’s your identity as an author.

Colors - The colors you choose for your logo, bookmarks, website, and social media sites create a feeling or a mood. Make sure your color palette matches your writing style. My first traditionally published work was a short story in an anthology series that had a black, white, and red cover. I used that color scheme for my first website and my graphics. Later, I was talking with a publicist, and she asked me why I chose those colors because my mysteries are lighter and often humorous. She recommended that I stick with brighter colors and pastels.

Fonts - Fonts also evoke a mood or style. Design applications like Canva will let you create a color and font palette with some of their packages. That way, you can be consistent with your designs. Some fonts are thicker and bolder, while others are loopier. Some fonts are more casual than others. Find one or two that match your style and your genre. If you’re using it for headlines or logos, make sure that it’s easily readable. I saw a tagline on the back of a tow truck recently. It looked like it read, “We Tow Less.” The words were on two lines and there was a squiggly something that I couldn’t read under the “We.” It was actually the word “for” in a loopy font. Their message of “We Tow for Less” got lost and twisted because of a font choice.

Things to Consider -

• Make sure you have a professional headshot. Selfies aren’t the quality that you want to reproduce online or in print.

• A logo helps link you and your brand. It’s a nice item that you can include on everything.

• It’s also good to have a tagline that’s easily understood (and readable) that describes your style.

• It’s helpful if you can get all of your social media handles to be the same. Sometimes, that’s not possible. You want to make it as easy as possible for people to find you. In Meta products (Facebook, Instagram, Threads), it is much easier to find Heather Weidner than it is Heather.Weidner.1234 or Mystery_Author _Heather Weidner.

Your brand helps readers know about you and your writing style. It creates a cohesive look for your online and in-person presence.

Recent Writing Gems

I’ve attended a bunch of classes and seminars lately, and here are some of the gems that I picked up that can help writers…

Writing Dialog with Andrea Johnson:

• Johnson reminded writers that dialog is more than just a conversation. It advances the plot and establishes the tone.

• Dialog is faster for readers to process than narrative, and it’s a way to show the point of view and personalities of your characters.

• She suggested that authors avoid long physical descriptions of characters in dialog.

• Johnson also suggested that writers avoid having characters having long philosophical discussions with themselves.

Podcasts to Add to Your Favorites’ List:

• Pick Your Poison

• Dark Predators

• Murder in the Hollywood Hills

• Missing in America

• Check out Sarah E. Burr’s post on Writers Who Kill about her favorite true crime podcasts.

Book Marketing:

• Book Funnel is a way that authors can distribute their ARCs (Advance Reader/Review Copies) and book giveaways to readers.

• It does require a subscription, and several tiered options are available. Make sure you review the features available with each plan.

• Some plans have options for authors to join newsletter swaps, email builders, and book sales with other authors. This is a way to expand your audience and add followers to your email list.

Newsletter Content Ideas

New writers often ask me what they should include in their newsletters. Here are some ideas that have worked for me.

• Announcements and What’s New with You

• Give-aways and Do Shout outs to Previous Winners

• Invitation to Join Your Street Team

• Ask for Reviews/References (e.g. book clubs, speaking events, etc.)

• Highlight One of Your Interesting Blog Posts

• Recipes

• Craft Projects

• Your Hobbies

• Your Pets

• Your Favorite Things

• Feature What You’re Reading or Watching

• Interview Other Authors

• Pictures of Where You’ve Been Recently

• Highlights of Blogs, Take-overs, Podcasts, and Interviews That You’ve Done Recently

• Where You’ll Be Next

What would you add to my list?

I'm a New Author - What Should I Work on First?

New authors often ask what part of their platform they should work on and when? Here’s what has worked for me.

Website: Purchase your domain name for your site and start creating the pages. This is the hub of all of your marketing efforts. I would create it first. If you don’t have a book to highlight yet, start with a blog and build a following. Blog about things in your book, your research, your hobbies, what you read/watch, or anything that catches your fancy. Try to have a regular schedule if possible.

Link to your social media accounts to your webpage and have a place where visitors can sign up for your newsletter. You can add pages and update the look as you add new books.

Email/Newsletter List: Start collecting names as soon as you start doing events or appearances. Have a sign-up sheet where people can register. Decide how often you want your newsletter to go out and what kind of content you want to include. I do mine quarterly with some kind of contest. I include announcements, events, photos, and interviews of other authors.

There are all kinds of free and paid email services that you can use to build your newsletter from templates and to house/maintain your list of followers. Remember, you can be banned from social media platforms, or the site can shut down. When this happens, you have no way of contacting those followers. You own your email list, and that’s why it’s important to have and cultivate.

Social Media Sites: I would also start to build a following on these as soon as you can. Agents, editors, and publishers often look at your website and social media sites to see your content and what kind of following you have. I started out years ago with three Twitter followers. It takes time to build an audience. Choose the one or two sites that you want to focus on and follow at least 10 people a day.

I write cozy mysteries. Most of my readers are on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, so that’s where I focus most of my time, but I do have a presence on a variety of other sites. Make sure your readers can easily find you. Make the look and feel of each site (photograph and banners) similar. To build (and keep) an audience, you need to be social. You need to interact with those who comment, post interesting content (that’s not all “buy my book”), and share other’s celebrations.

A business page on Facebook and Instagram gives you access to metrics and insights about your page and activity and access to the business tools. I can see when my followers are most active, and I can schedule posts during those times. Some authors use their personal Facebook accounts. There is a limit to the number of friends you can have on a personal account, and once you hit that number, you can’t expand your reach. The business page isn’t limited.

I would focus on these three key parts of your author platform as soon as you decide to start your writing journey. There is a lot of waiting when you query agents or publishers or while you wait for publication. I would use this time to work on your website, newsletter, and social media sites.

What else would you add to my list?

What I've Learned Recently about Book Marketing

I’ve attended some Sisters in Crime chapter presentations recently, and I’m loving that I can experience speakers and workshops from all over the country. Here’s what I’ve learned recently about book marketing from Chessie, Grand Canyon Writers, and Central Virginia chapters.

From Brian Paone’s session on effective marketing, I learned:

• You cannot wait for readers or sales to come to you.

• If you decide to write in a new genre, be prepared that it will be almost like starting over with your marketing and platform-building.

• Your website, headshot, and social sites need to look professional. You also need to look professional on virtual calls and in-person events.

• For in-person events where you have an author table, you need to make it unique and attractive. You want people to approach you. Make sure to take a look at how your table looks to the audience before the doors open. Make sure that all book covers face the audience (and not you).

• Have a good elevator pitch about your book(s). You need to practice this and be ready, but you don’t want it to sound too rehearsed.

• When you are at in-person events, stand as much as possible. Stay off your phone and smile. You want to be approachable.

• When someone approaches your table, be the first to speak. At in-person events, readers want to connect with authors. Be conversational.

Nicolette Lemmon had some very helpful advice. You also need to check out her book for writers at any stage. It’s called Write. Market. Succeed. An Author’s Marketing Playbook.

• Know where your readers are. Know what social media platforms they prefer.

• If you are trying to figure out who your reader is, go on social media and find authors that are similar to you. Look at what they are doing and look at their reviews. You’ll get an idea of what their fans like.

• Start your marketing plans BEFORE your book is out.

• You have about 8 seconds to get someone’s attention on social media.

• You have about 30 seconds when you talk to someone about your book to get your key points across. Make sure you have a short elevator speech ready to go.

• Your audience has to see your message 7 times before they remember and recognize you/your work.

• Make sure you stay visible on your website and social media.

• Your website is your online office. Make sure that you update it regularly.

• Google yourself to see what comes up.

• Pay attention to your writing business.