Here’s a short list to keep in mind when building and maintaining your email list for your author website and platform. These tips will help ensure that your readers stay subscribed. Remember, happy subscribers turn into fans, and fans are a good thing!
Author Mailing List Don’ts
Don’t send out too many emails in a short period of time. The last thing you want is for your readers to feel overwhelmed. Concentrated email blasts might lead them to unsubscribe. Be consistent when you begin sending out mailings; ask your close friends and fellow writers “How much is too much?” You don’t want to send out too much or too little!
Don’t lump all of your subscribers into one list. There’s nothing worse than subscribing to a mailing list only to receive information that doesn’t pertain to you. If you have a large mailing list with many subscribers who are looking for different things, it’s best to segment the addresses and send your mailings targeted specifically to each list. For instance, if you’re giving a reading in the New York area and want to send out a last-minute invite, it might be best to limit your mailing to people in that location. Your fans in Japan probably won’t make it!
Don’t use deceptive language in your subject line. Perhaps the quickest way to annoy your subscribers is to lead them astray. Be clear (yet enticing!) in your subject lines as to what your mailing is about. Honesty, as always, is the best policy.
Don’t hide your unsubscribe feature. Having a simple and clear way to unsubscribe is extremely important to maintaining a happy readership. Don’t make the process unbearable. When it comes down to it, if someone wants to leave your mailing list, they will, so making it more difficult for them will only hurt you in the long run.
Don’t crowd your mailing with extraneous links. It’s good to have a few calls to action, but not many more than that. If your reader opens your mailing and sees ten links to other sites and venues, they’re not going to know where to begin and are likely not to click the link you’re really hoping they’ll visit.
Don’t EVER subscribe people to your mailing list or group without asking them if it’s okay first. Forcing friends or even strangers to subscribe to your mailing list is a sure way to make enemies. You want people to remember your name for the right reasons, not the wrong ones.
When sending out mailings, treat others the way you would expect to be treated. If something you’re doing would annoy you personally, it’s probably going to bother some if not most of your readership. Keep your message concise, don’t clog your subscribers’ inboxes, give them a clear way to unsubscribe, and be up front with your content. It’s a recipe for success!
QUESTION: What keeps you happy as a subscriber?
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