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My Controversial Theory on Author Newsletters

The experts say that you should push out content as often as possible to maintain a relationship with your readers. Now, I’m no expert on marketing, but I’d rather maintain a good relationship with my readers.

I know how I behave when some company starts spamming my inbox every day. I tune it it out. Or sometimes, I unsubscribe. What does an author possibly have to say that’s so important she can’t do it in her book? Why must she harass her readers regularly with promo? I can’t fathom it. Recent studies have shown that people have learned to tune out advertisements in magazines. No matter how perfect the placement, if it isn’t something that speaks to the reader, her eyes will gloss right over it. I think email works the same way. That’s why I’ve come up with the Stephanie Draven theory on newsletters. That being:

Don’t send a newsletter unless you have, ya know…news.

I may turn out to be all wrong, of course. (As I get older, I seem to be wrong more often. Or at least, I’m more willing to admit it.) But I’m gonna take the risk. My very first full-length novel will hit bookshelves at the end of September and run through October. That means I have a lot of news in the next month or so. So I wrote a newsletter. In a few weeks, when I’m closer to my release date for Poisoned Kisses, I’ll write another one. I might even pen one for Thanksgiving, letting everybody know how it went. After that? I’ll probably give it a rest unless I have news about my next book.

Oh, and for the love of Pete, don’t subscribe anybody to your newsletter who hasn’t given you the go-ahead!

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 11th, 2010 at 12:01 pm and is filed under For Readers, For Writers, Miscellaneous. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 Responses to “My Controversial Theory on Author Newsletters”

  1. Kate Pearce Says:
    August 11th, 2010 at 2:16 pm

    I agree-I only send out a newsletter when I have something coming out and I always offer my subscribers first go at winning my new books, so hopefully they feel they get something special out of our relationship for being kind enough to read my newsletter :)

  2. Angie Says:
    August 12th, 2010 at 5:16 am

    Definitely. [nod] I don’t do newsletters. I spend enough time hanging out online, browsing bookstores and review sites and reader blogs and whatnot, that I already hear about more books than I can afford to buy or have time to read. If I’m really interested in a writer, I subscribe to their blog. I don’t need any more spam in my mailbox, especially considering how many writers honestly seem to think you have to send your crap newsletter out to your readers every month or every two weeks or every however often whether you have actual news or not. Ummm, no. Really. :/

    Angie, who’s never subscribed to an author newsletter and doesn’t have one of her own

  3. Marilyn Meredith Says:
    August 13th, 2010 at 9:04 am

    An author sending an online newsletter should be sending it to readers not other authors unless the authors ask to subscribe. I have a monthly newsletter that people sign up for online and when I’m doing events. They can opt out at anytime by letting me know. My newsletter is about me and what I’m doing–which includes promoting my books.I write it like a newsy letter and some people reply back like I wrote just to them alone.

    Marilyn

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