Over the last several month’s I’ve heard that all authors must have a Newsletter. Something for the writer to send out to their readers and fans that gives them insider information on the writer and the author’s works. I thought that was the purpose of my Scribbles Page (my blog). Plus, with the blog we get to interact with one another. You can ask me questions and I can respond. Which I like. So, really, ask me questions and leave me comments I want to chat with you and hear what you have to say.
Anyway, I did a little digging around on the subject, and I found tons of information on how to write an interesting Newsletter and I found tons of information on how to write and interesting Blog. What I didn’t find was a difference between them and if one is better than the other. They are both about getting more information into the hands of your readers/fans and to tell them what is happening with your works and with you. All of which is great.
While doing my research on this topic, I came across this great blog post about the pros and cons of a newsletter and blog. Check it out here. What I like about the post is that it doesn’t say one is better than the other. It does mentions why you would use one over the other and how to use each. There is a clear slant to using a Blog, but I like what Anne has to say about Newsletters especially when it comes to controversial content:
“Some content is safer to put in an email than out there on the Web. People who write about size acceptance or feminist topics are subject to horrific trolling and bullying and often prefer to use a newsletter. Ditto some medical and political content and erotica.”
All excellent points and considering how sensitive some readers can be, I can see why content providers would want to keep it to a Newsletter. Instead of the blogger putting that kind of information on their blogs.
What I appreciate is that she addresses having both, and how that may cause both fatigue on the writer’s part, but also on the subscriber’s part. Information overload is what I call it. Some call it spamming. Either way it could be a bad thing for everyone.
The second article I found (a little older it came out in 2015) talks more about the benefits of a Newsletter over a Blog. However, what this article mentions is that some writers are taking their blog posts and turning them into a newsletter. This seems like a good idea if you provide a lot of content or have some amazing information about your upcoming book that would be better suited for a newsletter.
One thought from the article I appreciated was, “One place everyone still frequents multiple times a day is their email box, so savvy writers are beginning to take advantage of the captive audience that email provides. But far from creating the hated spam that fills our daily email, writers are creating email newsletters that replace or augment weekly or monthly blog posts and keep readers interested in their books and personalities.”
You can check out the article here
Now, I’m not sure I agree with the ‘spam’ part. I worry that more than one email a week is spamming someone especially if they are nice enough to share their email address with you.
There are clear benefits to each. If you’re an author let me know what your thoughts on Blog vs. Newsletter are. If you’re a fan/reader, tell me what kind of communications you enjoy. I’m curious, as well, to what your thoughts are on how many emails per week from one source is too much?
When it comes to Newsletter vs. Blog, for me, I’m more about the blogging than the newsletters. A newsletter feels outdated (I did newsletters for a couple of start-ups I worked for back in the late nineties early two-thousands. We stopped because the click through rates continued to decline and people were unsubscribing more than subscribing). I figure, at present, I’ll keep going with what I enjoy and can manage.
I’m curious at were you all weigh in on the subject. I’m not saying it’ll change my mind, but who knows. Maybe, I could throw together a quarterly newsletter or something of the sort. If there is enough interest.
This week I have three fun updates for you:
Last weekend, Live N in the Mix, interviewed me for a local cable access TV Show. Stay tuned for more details. I’m not sure when it will air, but I’ll let you all know when it does. I may even post the interview here on my website.
On November 20, 2017, I’ll be part of the NineStar Press Author Take Over day. It will be an all-day Facebook event. I’ll be on from 8-9pm (PST). I’ll be giving away three $10-NineStar Gift Cards and two autographed copies of, The Calling once it’s released in January 2018. You must stop by on November 20th to see how to win. Check out the details about the event here.
Lastly, this week I have a guest Blog on NineStar Press Blog. I talk about Why I Write and How the Stories Come to Me. You can check it out here.
See you all next week.