Category Archives: New Release

Tips to Improve Newsletters Part II: Design

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Designing an author newsletter can be a daunting task. Whether you‘re a seasoned veteran or a first–time author, it‘s important to create an effective newsletter to nurture the author/reader relationship and expand your audience. 

Ready to roll up your sleeves and dive in? Cool. Let’s do this.

K.I.S.S.

A simple design works best. As JSB mentioned in the comments of Part I, many of us suffer from newsletter fatigue, so don’t confuse readers by adding more than a few key features. A minimalist style keeps the focus on the content.

Email services like MailerLite or MailChimp offer multiple templates that don’t require any tech skills to customize. Most are drag & drop.

Header Image

A high-quality header image sets the tone for your newsletter. I use the same header as my website, so readers instantly recognize the email is from me.

Catchy Headline

If your headline allows the reader to think, “Meh. I’ll read it later” chances are they’ll never get around to reading the newsletter. An irresistible headline encourages the reader to open your email as soon as it hits their inbox. Headlines aren’t easy. I still haven’t mastered them, but I have learned a few tricks.

  • Make readers feel like they’ll learn something. Example: How to Decipher Crow Language
  • Or focus on actionable steps. Example: Befriend Crows in 5 Easy Steps
  • Or solve a problem. Example: 6 Ways to Spend Less Money on Crows (if any of you ever receive an email with this headline, please forward it to me. LOL)

Once you have your header image and headline, it’s time to focus on your content.

Content

As I mentioned in Part I, give more than you receive. The majority of your newsletters should not ask your audience to buy anything. Condition them to click links, yes, but not a purchase link. For example, to match one of the above headlines, I could include a link to a live feed of crows building a new nest. Which, by the way, often includes weaving metal wires into the base to strengthen the foundation.

By giving more than you receive, you build trust. After all, you wouldn’t shove your book(s) in the face of someone you just met in person. Correct? Same principles apply.

The content should be concise, focused, and relevant to your theme. For a refresher on theme, read Part I. One of the easiest ways to lose subscribers is to overwhelm readers with too much information. No one will take the time to read a lengthy newsletter. Instead, fulfill the promise in your headline. Nothing more, nothing less. If you have more to say on the subject, save it for next time. The perfect length for a newsletter, so it’s worth your readers’ time but not time-consuming, is about 3-4 paragraphs.

Call To Action

At the end of your newsletter, include a clickable call-to-action button with compelling language like “Watch Live Feed” or “Download Free Book.” One of my favorite calls-to-action is “Hit Reply.”

Before the CTA, I ask a question. A few examples are:

  • Tell me about your favorite childhood pet.
  • Have you ever seen a bald eagle up close? What about a golden eagle? What was that experience like for you?
  • Have you ever been whale watching? How’d you feel when the whale breeched?

Note the words in bold. When you ask readers to hit reply, you are initiating a friendly conversation. Not only do you get to know your readers but you’re nurturing the author/reader relationship. And you’d be surprised how much people appreciate an author asking them anything, even if it’s only, “How’s your day going? You doin’ all right today?”

Too many authors toss out orders without giving two sh*ts about the people who read their books. Things like, buy my books, review my books, tell all your friends about my books, preorder my new release, follow me on every social media site and share all my posts. I saw your review on Amazon, but why didn’t you also review on BookBub and Goodreads and B&N and Apple and Google Play and Kobo?

Sadly, I’m not exaggerating as much as one might think. Not long ago, I unsubscribed from a well-known author’s newsletter after she told me to buy two copies of her new book, one for me and one for a friend. Seriously? I don’t care who you are. I’m not buying two $20 paperbacks because Miss Bigshot Author ordered me to do it. In fact, I stopped reading her books altogether. I’d rather support authors who appreciate their readers. How ’bout you?

Another author messaged me on social media to tell me she thanked me for my help in the acknowledgments, then had the audacity to say, “Buy the book to see your name.” If that wasn’t bad enough, she then asked if I could buy it that second — not later that night or in the morning — I had to buy the book right then. And, get this, send her a screenshot of the confirmation page as proof of purchase! The nerve of some people.

Ahem. Anyway…

By asking a simple question at the end of my newsletter, I’ve received some truly heartwarming responses. Readers just want to know they’re more than a sale to us. They want to be seen. Don’t we all? So, be genuine, be kind, and show your humanity.

Okie doke. Well, since we didn’t get to onboarding sequences and other time-savers, stay tuned for Part III.

Amidst a rising tide of poachers, three unlikely eco-warriors take a stand to save endangered Eastern Gray Wolves—even if it means the slow slaughter of their captors.

Restless Mayhem is available at all online retailers.

Multiple Book Releases

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What happens when you have more than one book to promote at the same time? Do you annoy readers with announcements about the new releases, blog tours, and contests? Which book do you choose to emphasize in your online blasts?

In this digital age, we can publish as fast as we can write. But at what point are we diluting our own sales? And how will our digital releases affect our print books with their higher price point?

I’ve reached this quandary in April through no planning of my own. Wild Rose Press gave me April 26 as the official release date for Warrior Rogue, #2 in my paranormal Drift Lords series. But then they decided to enter it into the Kindle Select program, meaning the ebook came out in December and my five free days were in February. I did a big push over Valentine’s Day weekend with announcements and contests.

I’d planned another promotional campaign for April 26 to celebrate the print release and the book’s availability for Nook and other formats. I set my newsletter to go out on that date, a Rafflecopter contest to start then, and a blog tour shortly thereafter. (If you want to sign up for my newsletter, visit http://nancyjcohen.com and fill in the form on the left sidebar).

But the best laid plans go awry. Two things happened to impact my campaign. Warrior Rogue showed up in print about two weeks early. And Shear Murder, Bad Hair Day Mystery #10, came out in ebook for $3.19!

I’d been panting with anticipation for the digital release of Shear Murder, but Five Star wouldn’t give me a specific date. This title had only been available as an expensive hardcover for over a year. And finally it shows up in the same month as my promoted new release. What to do?

Since I’d already set up my contest and newsletter and blog tour for Warrior Rogue, I’m going ahead with those plans for April 26. That date seems like a moot point now, since the title is already available in various formats. The irony is that Warrior Rogue, initially $2.99, price jumped to $5.99. So now that ebook costs more than Shear Murder at $3.19.

I don’t want to bombard my fans with notices and confuse them with my two different genres, but I really want to get word out about Shear Murder. It’s easier to keep new releases apart when they aren’t the same month!

And hereafter, I won’t treat release dates as absolute. There’s no point in planning a big hoopla around a certain date when the book shows up weeks earlier. Is this a result of the digital age?

Those of you who are hybrid authors, both traditionally and indie published, can at least space out your own uploads so as not to compete with your publisher’s plans. But if you’re writing two or more books per year for different publishers, how do you alternate your online promotions? And as a reader, how much news from an author is too much?

Release Day!

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Today is the official release date for Shear Murder, my ShearMurder (518x800)tenth Bad Hair Day mystery, so you’re going to have to put up with my shameless self-promotion. That’s the trouble when we authors must toot our own horns. We get as tired of talking about Me as you do hearing about it. Lately I’ve been clogging the loops and social networks with my blog tour announcements. I want to make it worthwhile for my hosts by getting a crowd on days when I guest post. But it means I am constantly tweeting and FB’ing and listing my tour dates and topics. I sent out one email newsletter to my fans already and will send another blast next month on my book’s official sale date.            

What? You thought I said today was the release date? Indeed, I did. However, for this publisher, that means the books are shipped from the warehouses today. They’ll be ready in the bookstores on February 8, the actual “on sale” date. Confusing, isn’t it? It was a lot less so with my prior publisher, who just had one pub date. As it is now, I’m not sure which day to urge fans to buy the book. Does it really matter anymore?

Here are a couple of sample interview questions from my online blog tour:

Tell us about your latest book.
Shear Murder is the tenth book in my Bad Hair Day mystery series. It’s the culmination of a personal journey for my hairstylist sleuth, Marla Shore. It’s about weddings and new beginnings. Just when Marla is planning her own nuptials, she gets caught up in another murder investigation. Marla is a bridesmaid at her friend Jill’s wedding when she discovers the matron of honor—the bride’s sister— dead under the cake table. She has a lot going on in her life, but when Jill pleads for her help in solving the case, Marla can’t refuse. It’s a fast-paced tale with humor, romance, and suspense as Marla races to find the killer before her wedding day arrives.

Considering the book is a mystery, how much can you tell us about the antagonist?
Since the story is a whodunit, I can’t tell you much! Many people had reason to want Torrie, the matron of honor, dead. Torrie was the bride’s sister, and Jill had a secret past that Torrie threatened to expose. How far would Jill go to maintain her sister’s silence? Then again, Torrie’s colleagues each had their own reasons to want her out of their way.

Meanwhile, Torrie’s husband inherits a piece of property that Torrie had jointly owned with her sister. How badly does he need the money from a property sale? And speaking of commercial property, Jill’s uncle and cousin were involved in a shady real estate deal with the owner of Orchid Isle, where Jill’s wedding took place. Did Torrie learn too much about his secrets? And so on. As you can see, there are a number of suspects. You’ll have to read the story to figure out which one of them is the culprit.

What motivated you to write this story?
My books all have happy endings, and so I wanted to give my series one, too. Seriously, my fans wanted to know when the next Marla Shore mystery would be coming out, but my former publisher had cancelled the series. As the markets changed, I decided to finish this book and give my readers the closure they deserved. So I really wrote it as a response to fans and in gratitude for their support. I hope they are pleased with Shear Murder. It was a delight to write, and I had fun bringing back all the secondary characters we’ve grown to know and love. I am grateful to Five Star for getting this book in front of readers. So if you’re looking for a humorous mystery centered around weddings with a whodunit puzzle to solve, check it out.

Watch the Book Trailer
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