By: Robin Brande,
on 4/7/2011
It’s a new world, and the old rules are rapidly falling away. This latest post by bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch is so timely and succinct–well, just read it and you’ll see!
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By: Annie,
on 1/30/2011
After you start publishing work, after you begin building a following of readers, you realize you need to stay connected so you can inform readers of what you're working on or offer writing advice or promote your latest book.
Now, you may be wondering what the best method of communication may be. You've got a website, you promote your work on Twitter and Facebook. Maybe your blog allows for an RSS feed. Do you also need a newsletter?
Before you starting penning a periodical, several questions need to be addressed. What reasons drive your desire to begin a newsletter? Who will read your newsletter? And perhaps the most important question of all: Why should readers peruse your publication?
Why Start a Newsletter?
Obviously, an e-mail newsletter can help you stay in touch with readers and grow a larger circulation base. Do newsletters give all writers and genres a boost?
Who Will Read Your Work?
Determining your intended audience will help you decide what type of content to include in the newsletter. Plus, defining your readership helps you focus on places to find potential readers.
Once you've defined who your audience will be, you need to ask why this audience will want to read your updates. Are they looking for specific advice on the topic? Do they want general information about books, articles, blog posts? Are they interested in personal information?
Sometimes, a writer may try to cover all bases. Trust me, as an avid reader of newsletters from several of my favorite writers, their publications don't always contain the information I'm most interested in. But that may be okay, too, since it forces me to check out their websites.
Formulate a strong mental picture about the type of newsletter you want. Play with several different design ideas. Make a list of potential articles. These strategies provide focus for you and the kind of information you plan to impart to readers. I scoured my favorite writer newsletters and found the following items:
What Elements Haven't I Considered?
Think you've thought of everything? Think again. Here are a few other considerations:
This is a great post. For 2011 I decided to start a newsletter for my blog http://kristisbooknook.blogspot.com I promoted it for a month prior to actually creating one and sending it out. As a result I got some followers. I genarally am chicken when it comes to things on writing. But this is one of those times i put my toe in the water and it was good. Thanks for sharing.
Wonderful ideas! This is not something I had really thought about before, but its worth taking into consideration for the future. Thank you for the great advice.
Sarah Allen
(my creative writing blog)
Thanks, Kristi and Sarah.
I'm considering it for the future, too.