By giving you their email address, a writer is inviting you to contact them. With great power comes great responsibility and all that. While you see a mailing list as an opportunity to market your work, a reader sees it as a chance to get information ahead of the public and other benefits.
When it comes to contacting your mailing list, I recommend the 80/20 rule. 80% of your content should be reader focused, giving them sneak peaks, bonus content and early news. The other 20% can be reserved for marketing type information like book release dates, blog tour info and appearances. If your content is all "look what I'm hoping you buy" readers are going to tune you out. They may not actively unsubscribe, but they will stop paying attention which is just as bad.
It's never to early to start building your mailing list, even if you don't have a book out. You don't have to start sending emails right away. However, you should send something out every few months or so just to remind subscribers that you are there. This also keeps them from being surprised when you do send out that all important "I'm being published" notice.
I'm so glad you're talking about this today. I've been struggling with when to start a newsletter and what to put on it. I don't want it to be a re-cap of the blog, but I don't know that I have enough writing time to create bonuses for the mailing list and fiction too.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of the 80/20 rule. It's a great idea and true. I've seen authors have giveaways for each mailing list they give out.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure I have people subscribed to my blog, but Blogger doesn't allow any access for people to see their subscriber list. Bummer. But most of my followers have email addys, so I guess I can make a list by hand - like in the time of the dinosaurs. Haha! :-)
ReplyDeleteThat's a great proportion. I'll have to start thinking of things I could send out to a mailing list once I get one started. I'm still in the process of building my webpage, now, though.
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