By Glenn Miller  on Career Authors site:

Must you have an author newsletter?

Yes.

Well, what you must have is a dedicated fan email list, but if you don’t want to send them a newsletter then you’re missing the point.

The point is to heap love on your most ardent supporters, the people who have asked to stay informed about your books and your career.

Of all the 8 billion people on the planet, the people on your list are the select few who have given you permission to take up precious space in their email inbox.

And your marketing success depends on what you do with that precious space.

So what should you write about?

The primary rule is: keep your readers’ needs first.

It’s easier for non-fiction writers

It is. If that’s you, then your newsletter should include more of the things you already write about. Give hard advice and add-on value that reinforces why your subscribers signed up in the first place.

Build your reputation as an authority, announce your appearances (where you’re probably making most of your money anyway), and keep your audience apprised of new content in every venue.

Use your copywriting skills to promote your training course. Make promises about the results your expertise can bring, and show your readers how to achieve those results. Educate. Inspire. Sell.

People signed up for you to send them offers and answer their questions. Done deal.

Fiction authors need more personality – so be you

To be likable, be vulnerable. This doesn’t mean publish your diary, but it does mean sliding back the curtain on the writer’s life just a little. Let readers know you, so they can like you.

Include photos of your workspace, your special occasions, your public appearances. You don’t have to log every moment and expose family secrets, but trust your readers enough to be the real person they’re trying to know. Provide something authentic to show you trust them.

Treat subscribers like distant but dear friends, like cousins you haven’t seen in years.

Some authors share recipes, fashion tips, or other lifestyle tidbits. Do this only if it’s what you do with your close friends and if it brings you joy. Don’t fake it. Artifice is poison.

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