Joanna wants to send out proper newsletters and has lots of questions…
Libertà has not exactly been assiduous in sending out newsletters. They haven’t been regular. There haven’t been many of them. And they haven’t been all that newsy, either. Mostly, they’ve just been about special offers on books from members of the Libertà hive. Boring, no?
That’s about to change.
In fact, it already has. I sent out my first “new” newsletter on 28th March. I called it “Joanna’s newsletter on books, blogs and bumps in the road”. And a gratifying number of subscribers opened it. Some may even have read it 😉
In that newsletter, I promised I’d be in contact more regularly, probably once a month. I promised news, and stuff about books and blogs, and even recipes.
Recipes means food, of course. And eating together is a great social event. Some of my best story ideas have been devised round a dinner table. Usually with wine!
I’ve been told by others that recipes are popular in newsletters.
Is that true? Do you like them?
On the assumption that it might be true, I’ll be including one of my favourite recipes in the next newsletter which should go out to readers on Saturday 18th April.
If you’d like to sign up to get it, you can do so here.
I hope lots of you do sign up. (And we never share your private data if you do. No spam, either.)
Timing of newsletters
I usually blog about once a fortnight and the blog is published here first thing on Sunday mornings. So I plan to time my newsletters for Saturday mornings and they won’t go out on the same weekends as my blogs.
Reading my deathless prose more than once in the same weekend is possibly too much for any sane reader, don’t you think?
Libertà’s dear friend, the late Elizabeth Bailey, used to send out newsletters much more frequently. Often, once a week. And she had zillions of subscribers so, clearly, some people like getting news often. But Liz didn’t blog every couple of weeks, as I do.
I’m assuming once a month for a newsletter from me would be quite enough.
Am I right about that? Is it too often, maybe?
(Of course, any subscriber who gets bored with my guff can always unsubscribe and get nothing more.)
How long should newsletters be?
Libertà hive member Liz Fielding sends out short and chatty newsletters. I’m a subscriber and I enjoy them, even though they’re usually not much more than a screen or two. A very quick and charming read.
Now, those who have read my blogs will know that I can often go on a bit. (Not perhaps as much as a certain Dame does, but I wouldn’t dare to emulate the Pedantique-Ryter. Would anyone?)
I’m assuming my newsletters shouldn’t be as long as my blogs. My first go, at the end of March, was well under half the length of my normal blogs. Probably nearer a quarter than a half, to be honest.
I’m going to try to keep them around that length. Unless subscribers would prefer more? Or less? I hope you’ll tell me if you would. Or leave a comment.
And then there’s the biggie : content
In my first “new” newsletter, I offered future content on a range of topics:
- books I and others may have enjoyed
- (less likely) books I have not enjoyed
- life in the Welsh Marches where I live, since it’s an area full of colour and history
- my writing life (which is where so many bumps in the road occur)
- historical costume, perhaps a more detailed look at individual items I’ve had the privilege of seeing up close
- and (ahem) recipes… plus
- research items (of the “Did you know?” type) that I come across while down a research rabbit hole
Item 7 wasn’t actually in my March newsletter. It’s a later add-on that I’ve only just thought of, partly because I’ve been doing a lot of research this week. And it’s amazing what pops up.
Are there other topics you’d like in my newsletter? Are there things in that list that you definitely would not want?
Please do let me know or leave a comment on this blog.
Books I have not enjoyed??
I wasn’t sure about topic number 2, on the Bambi basis that “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” On the other hand, there are books which I would certainly not be recommending to anyone, other than as a penance.
Last night, I started a fantasy novel by a male American author who is a huge bestseller. I’d never read any of his books and thought it would be good for me to check out how he did it.
I read about the first 40 kindle pages.
Mistake.
It was nothing but death and gore. Horrible. No plot apart from killing. In all sorts of ghastly variations. No characters I cared about in the least. I consigned it to my “never read anything more by this author” kindle pile and went to bed.
And had NIGHTMARES.
Which only goes to prove that I should have stopped reading a lot earlier.
Problem there is that I’m not really prepared to bad-mouth another author. “Do as you would be done by”, you know?
A bad review from me is no good to anyone if I won’t say what the book was. For that reason, topic 2 may not feature very much in my newsletters. Except perhaps to say, as here, that an (unnamed) book has given me nightmares.
My writing life? How much am I prepared to share?
This is where it gets tricky. I’m quite a private person.
I share with my close friends but I don’t generally talk about my private life in my blogs. The exception there is when I blog about places I’ve visited on my travels. But those blogs are about the places themselves, not about me. Readers wouldn’t learn about my family or much about my private life from them.
Or at least, I hope they don’t.
I’m going to assume that you don’t want to know about my private life. You don’t, do you? It’s really pretty boring.
However, you might be interested in my writing life, for example –
- what I’m currently struggling with (yes, I’m always struggling);
- what my plans are for the next book;
- how my edits are going if I’m at the editing stage.
I can also share information about future book launches and do cover reveals and the like. There may be giveaways and competitions, too, of course. My subscribers are entitled to first dibs there.
Is that enough about my writing?
Would you want more? If so, what?
All suggestions gratefully received. I don’t guarantee to adopt them, especially if they intrude on my private life, but I will meet your requests if I can. Please leave a comment on this blog or via the Contact Page.
And finally, if after all that you think you’d like to sign up for my newsletters, you can do so here.
Thank you very much!
The “recipe” you suggest works for me and sounds interesting.
I have to say I’m not keen on very frequent newsletters (ie weekly)
What with doing fortnightly blogs, Melanie, I’m sure I couldn’t do weekly newsletters as well.