Why every author should set up a mailing list
Regular readers of this blog will know that I feel very passionately that all authors should set up a mailing list as soon as (or even before) they get their book deals. All my author website packages include this functionality as standard – that’s how important I think it is!
When authors get their book deals, I often see them tying themselves in knots over social media: worrying which platforms to join and how often to post, and how to maximise their followers and engagements. Now, I’m a big fan of social media too, but if it was a competition between setting up an Instagram account and setting up an author mailing list, I would vote for the mailing list 100% of the time.
In this post I thought I’d share exactly why I believe every author should have a mailing list – even if they don’t want to send newsletters yet.
1 Mailing lists are your data
Starting with the big one!
Unlike social media, where the connections you have with your audience are controlled by the platform and their capricious algorithms, when you start collecting email addresses, this is data you own.
There is nothing standing between you and your fans – you can literally get in touch with them at any time and know that your message will get to your audience.
Whereas, with social media, when you stick up a post, you have no idea whether or not Facebook or whichever platform you’re using is going to actually share it with your audience.
And even when they do, you know that it won’t be to all of your fans. You might have 300 people following you on Instagram, but it’s likely that only a small proportion of them will actually get ‘shown’ your post.
(Unless of course you pay to promote it…)
There’s also the very real possibility that your account will be closed down and you’ll lose access to all those people.
Just this week I saw an author share (on Twitter) how her Instagram account had been randomly closed by them the day before – she was devastated, having spent years building up a significant following.
She was frantically trying to get in touch with someone at Instagram in order to get her account reinstated.
But social media companies are notorious for not being easy to deal with. There’s no customer service. They don’t owe you anything.
“If build your house on someone else’s land, you’re always at risk of one day being locked out.”
You’re not paying for the service – and let’s all take a minute to remember that quote from The Social Dilemma: ‘if you’re not paying for the product, you are the product’.
Seriously though, I have heard of many instances of people being kicked out of their social media accounts by mistake or because someone has reported them for whatever reason. It’s a very real threat.
Not so with email. Like I said. The data is all yours and no one can take it from you.
“Top tip: if your publisher offers to set up a mailing list for you, tell them thanks but no thanks. Unless you’re confident you’re going to stay with that publisher until the end of time, it’s risky strategy. Because if you ever do decide to jump ship – guess who owns that data? That’s right. Even though they’re your fans, it’s not you.”
2 Email is direct and personal
Continuing on the same theme – when you send someone an email you know they’re going to get it. It’ll go direct to their Inbox.
And the benefit of this is that any communication you have with readers over email is personal. They can reply to you, in confidence, and you can also offer them exclusive ‘rewards’ and content to thank them for being on your mailing list.
Of course you can offer bonus content through your social media channels too, but the downside is that anyone can see this – whether or not they’re actually following you.
It also removes that ‘exclusivity’ element that’s really appealing to readers.
3 Email is in depth
An email newsletter to your fans is the perfect place to share long-form content that doesn’t work on social media.
I’m not a huge fan of long Instagram captions – I’m more of a quick scroll and double tap kinda girl (also, let’s be honest, it’s a photosharing platform, and the emphasis should be on the photos, not the captions – no?)
But we’re writers and we love to, well, write. Right?
An email newsletter is the perfect place to share meaningful longer content with your readers – whether that’s essays, updates on your writing or behind the scenes of your latest book, tales of your research trips or even short stories or poetry.
Offering this kind of material is a real love letter to your readers, shows you care and that you value their readership.
4 Email is private
This is another thing most people don’t think about. Emails are private, which means that if readers want to reply, they can do without worrying about the whole world reading their thoughts.
OK, so we all have DMs but these aren’t a particularly satisfying way of engaging with anyone.
Now more than ever, when in-person events are off the table, it’s lovely to hear from the people reading what we’re writing.
I have had some truly wonderful emails from readers over the past few years, and their thoughts and feedback on my novels is something I really treasure.
I know some authors don’t actually want to hear from readers, but I really believe this can be a missed opportunity!
“It’s important to have a dialogue with your customers – after all, they are buying your product, even if that product is a novel.”
5 Email is universal
I’ll keep this point short but sweet!
It might be hard to believe in this day and age, but not everyone is actually on social media.
Some people actively dislike it.
And if you write books for an older audience – you might find none of your readers even use social media.
However, 99% of people have an email address. So get them on your list, and build a relationship with them using a medium they understand.
6 Email shows you care
Building an author mailing list takes a long time, but it pays dividends in the end.
Social media is so fast-moving and relatively ‘easy’ for authors to do (and very easy to do badly!), but showing up in people’s inboxes every month with quality content that improves their lives is the most powerful and effective way to build trust and credibility with your readers.
There are so many authors out there, and everyone is trying to stand out from the crowd.
But staying in touch between each of your book’s releases keeps you as an author at the forefront of readers’ minds.
“Don’t just show up once a year with a ‘please buy my new book!’ email. That won’t cut it.”
Take time to think about your audience, their likes and dislikes, and offer consistently good content.
This will turn casual readers, who could easily forget about you after they close your book, into bonafide fans, who can’t wait for your next release.
Then when you do have a new book to promote, you’ll have an audience ready and waiting – and more importantly, very willing - to buy it.
Want to find out more about how to get started with your author newsletter? Check out my free video training….
In the 30-minute video I cover the following topics:
· Why email trumps social media
· What software to use to build your mailing list
· How to get sign ups to your mailing list
· How to get even more sign ups (!)
· What to put in your author newsletter
· Technical and legal considerations
The beginner’s guide to author newsletters is perfect for you if. . .
You want to build a long-term career as an author and you know this means taking responsibility for marketing your own ‘author brand’
You don’t have an author newsletter yet and deep down know you need one, or
You have an author mailing list but you’re yet to send an actual newsletter as you have no idea what to put in it
You’ve sent a few author newsletters but have had limited response and are wondering ‘what’s the point?’
The tech of setting up your author newsletter is overwhelming you! Every time you start Googling to find the right email newsletter platform, you just want to crawl back under your duvet and pray for a miracle.
Sound good? To watch the video, simply sign up to my newsletter below, and you’ll be taken directly to the training (so you can watch it RIGHT NOW!).
Oh and you don’t have to have a Squarespace website for the advice in the video to apply - so if your author website is on Wordpress or Wix, it’ll still be helpful to you.
“thank you for this excellent and hugely helpful training”
And on another note…. why not check out my exclusive mini-course?
The DIY Author Newsletter Course
If you have a Squarespace author website, then you’re in luck, because Squarespace recently launched Campaigns – their own email newsletter platform, and, like all things Squarespace it is absolutely BEAUTIFUL and really easy to use too.
If you hate Mailchimp, then seriously, it’s for you – it will make your life so much easier and save you heaps of time.
I love Squarespace Campaigns, and I designed this course specifically to help the many authors I speak to who have Squarespace websites set up, but have yet to sort out their author newsletter.
In the course, step-by-step, I walk you through how to set up and send your own beautiful author newsletter. By the end, you'll be sending newsletters with ease!
Click the button below to find out more about the course. It’s priced at £45 and if you sign up, you’ll have lifetime access. 😊
