Staying in Touch with Readers: Newsletters, Part Two

by Linore Rose Burkard

Last month we looked at Author Newsletters, discussing the why and wherefore. This month we'll look at the what (what content to include) and next month the how (how to get one started).

What Do I Put in A Newsletter?
Your audience has subscribed to your list because they've read a book you've written or are considering reading one. You've caught their interest as a writer. Therefore, the first order of business is giving them book news. No new releases right now? Give an update on progress of your next book. New contracts, a stellar review, an article related to your book--it all fits.

Other Content Ideas:

• You're a writer! Share some new writing. 
• Be sure to include a copyright notice (the little symbol will do) if it's something you plan on using in a book someday.  
• A Calendar. If you're actively doing speaking engagements, or have any upcoming author-related events, share them with your fans.
• Make sure to tell them they're the first to know!
• What made you write that book, or is motivating your next one?  
• A good back story can be the catalyst that makes a reader purchase a book.
• See a current headline that dovetails with content from your book? Share the link.  
• Example: When a sizable solar flare hit, I shared a link to that story since my YA, PULSE, deals with a catastrophic solar flare that takes down the electric grid of the nation.  
• Other books in your genre catch your eye? Your audience will be interested. 
• Share direct links to Amazon. (This is a nice way to support fellow authors, too.)
• What do you know about your audience? Share content that appeals to them. Non-fiction authors have a far easier time doing this, but even fiction writers can find areas of interest in their book. 
• Example: My regency romances take place in the Jane Austen era. So, I often include links to JA news and events for readers of that genre.  
• For fans of my YA Pulse Effex Series, I share articles related to disaster preparedness and homesteading.   
• Do you have a blog or write for one? Share links to those posts.
• Spirituality: I often have something related to Christianity, whether a poem, a meaty quote, a short devotion, or book recommendation.
• Reviews: Not only for your book, but ones you write for other books. Include purchase links to the books you review.   
• Have you written non-fiction articles about something that ties to your books? Run it in the newsletter. 
• Example: I've written dozens of articles about life during the Regency. After using them as the main article of a newsletter, I often package them into illustrated PDFs and re-use them as perpetual freebies on my website.  Freebies are important, because your newsletter has to answer one question for your subscriber--even the subject line that lands in their inbox should strive to answer this all-important question; namely:  

What's In It for Them?

One pitfall to avoid is having your newsletter be all about you and your book(s). Such content gets tired quickly. Everyone who opens your email is asking on some level,  What's in it for me? So make sure there is something in it for them. How? Run a giveaway, give them chances to win a free book or other neat prizes. If you don't have a current contest or giveaway, find someone who does (in your niche or genre) and share news of that.

Better yet, get in the habit of creating little free PDFs they can download.
In the past, I've offered free PDFs such as:

One of my free PDFs

• Jane Austen-related word searches
• Historical costume articles, richly illustrated
• Short accounts from 19th century sources in the public domain, such as, "Extraordinary Escape of an American Traveller." (sic)
• Recipes for a Regency Tea.
• The Prayers of Jane Austen   
• Myths and Mysteries of the Regency
• the possibilities are limited only by your imagination!

Reader Engagement

Free PDFs increase reader engagement. And if you can increase reader engagement, you'll grow loyal readers who can't wait to open your newsletters. 

For my regency fans, I used to run a monthly "Jane Contest." I'd choose a quotation from one of Jane's books (or even her letters) and ask readers to identify the character speaking. All correct answers went in a drawing for a free book, or other prize. (Janeites adored this contest.) Anything that gets readers clicking a link, answering a question, entering a drawing, etc. will up your engagement level.  Using polls and asking for feedback on a book's title or cover are more ways to increase engagement.

Perpetual Content

Somewhere in the newsletter should be links that stay permanently. Your website link, your Amazon book page, facebook fan page, twitter profile, even your Pinterest boards, if they can tie to your writing. For new subscribers who haven't yet read your work, keep a thumbnail of your titles with links to purchase. One of my favorite perpetuals? A "share this newsletter" button!

In Closing:

Some people may read your newsletter because they're interested in you. But most readers are far more interested in the What's in it for me? question.

Don't forget to answer it.

I won't tell you how often to send your newsletter. Opinions vary widely on that, and it all depends on what your goals are. But since most authors are busy people, once a month is probably often enough to help readers remember you and to share whatever's new.

Finally, people who read newsletters are, well, readers. Keep it interesting, offer a variety of content, and you'll keep subscribers happy, engaged, and coming back for more. When at long last you  announce a new release, your subscribers will include many who feel they know you, and are eager to get that next title.

Next Month: HOW to start that newsletter and mailing list. 


Linore Rose Burkard wrote a trilogy of genuine regency romances for the Christian market before there were any regencies for the Christian market. Published with Harvest House, her books opened up the genre for the CBA. She also writes YA Suspense/Apocalyptic fiction as L.R. Burkard. Married with five children, she home-schools her youngest daughter, preferably with coffee in one hand and an iPad in the other. Her latest  PULSE EFFEX SERIES, takes readers into a "chilling possible future for America."

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Romancing the Idea ~ Colleen Coble

Romancing the Idea

Colleen Coble

People always ask how a writer gets an idea. Ideas can come from anywhere and generally reflect the kinds of things that interest us and that fit in with the kinds of stories we write. Read the newspaper, watch TV with the thought “what if?”

Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell says the best books come from who we are.

• What do you care about most in the world? What are your passions? The best novels come out of outrage.
• How do you feel about your physical appearance?
• What do you fear the most?
• What are your major strengths of character?
• What are your major flaws?
• What are you good at? What do you wish you were good at?
• If you could do one thing and know you’d be successful, what would you do?
• What three events from your childhood helped shape you into the person you are?
• What are some of your annoying habits?
• What secret in your life do you hope is never revealed?
• What is your philosophy of life?

Now think about your story and distill the basic premise to one sentence. What’s a premise? The main “hook” that lifts the story out of the ordinary. For Mermaid Moon it would be: a young woman must find her father’s killer before her past catches up with her.

Figure out the setting. Setting is much more important than most writers realize.

I want you to figure out an interesting place to set your novel, then go online and read news stories set in that area. Jot down things that can ONLY happen in that area.

1. Research setting. Come up with different ideas based on the setting. It can add to the plot. For example, in writing Beyond a Doubt, I read about how they’d taken copper mines and turned them into plant growing facilities. Part of the plot sprang from that research.

2. Flip a genre. Take a look a genre other than the one you’re writing in—westerns, for example—and see how you can flip it and make it a romance. See what makes it work and figure out if the elements of that other genre will raise your own story a notch.

3. Take a look at trends by reading current magazines like Scientific American, TIME, Newsweek, and USA Today. Maybe you can pick up on a coming wave and ride it for a while.

Okay, now you have your idea. But are their problems? Has this type of story been done before? Almost always the answer will be yes. But what makes your idea stand out? What makes it different from others?

Is the story BIG enough? Can you come up with a great hook that will catch the reader’s attention?

Is there some other element you can add to make it more fascinating? Quirks, obsession, a fresh angle?

Let’s talk about plot layers.

Ever since I started writing, I’ve heard that it’s tough to get published. And it is. But it’s not really tougher today than it was last year or the year before. It’s always been hard. Good layers are often the key to making an editor sit up and take notice. So much of the time, stories that hit the editor’s desk are so similar. Romance especially can be tough to make fresh. But it’s all in the layers.

Here are the layers I work on with every story:

1. As I mentioned, setting is huge for me. A character who lives in Boston is very different from one who lives in Indiana. The culture that shaped him/her is different too. Think about where your characters are. Read newspapers from that area and see if you can find a plot layer in what is going on currently there. Is there a culture group that’s strong there?

2. Character types. Take a look at character types and pit different types against one another to play off weaknesses and pet peeves. This can add a really great layer of conflict that’s ongoing. Maybe your female lead loves the wilderness and the hero’s idea of a great vacation is a cruise where everything is served to him. Maybe your heroine makes gourmet chocolates and the hero breaks out in hives from the aroma on her clothing. Do your research by reading obituaries and noticing people around you.

3. Can you give your protagonist an obsession? That can really springboard you to plot ideas as she pursues it. This is often where to layer in your theme.

4. Interesting occupation. This leads me to story ideas all the time. I’ve written about a SAR dog team, a dolphin researcher, a smokejumper, an antique quilt expert, and an old time telephone operator at the turn of the century.

5. Think of plot layers that are problems for your main characters. Try to come up with at least three. For example, in Lonestar Homecoming, Gracie is running away in her wedding dress from men who just killed federal agents in front of her. She has no money and no way of supporting her daughter so she agrees to be a nanny to a man’s two children. She’s estranged from her father because only she knows she was responsible for her mother’s death. The problem with many manuscripts I see is that there isn’t enough conflict and it isn’t varied enough. It’s not enough to have just ONE conflict.

Layers will life your book out of the rejected pile. They will add depth and interest to your characters and your plot. If you’ve already written the book, it’s still not too late to tear into it and make it something special. Don’t be afraid to start from scratch and add the things that need to be there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Best-selling author Colleen Coble’s novels have won or finaled in awards ranging from the Best Books of Indiana, the ACFW Carol Award, the Romance Writers of America RITA, the Holt Medallion, the Daphne du Maurier, National Readers’ Choice and the Booksellers Best.

She has more than three million books in print and writes romantic mysteries because she loves to see justice prevail. Coble is CEO of American Christian Fiction Writers. She lives with her husband, Dave, in Indiana.

To keep up with Colleen Coble, visit www.colleencoble.com, become a fan on Facebook (colleencoblebooks) or follow her on Twitter (@colleencoble).

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Wisdom from the Multi-Pubbed. A Visit with Robin Lee Hatcher...

by Kelly Klepfer

Tell us a bit about your current project.

A Promise Kept opens as Allison Kavanagh arrives at the house her aunt Emma bequeathed to her — a log home in the mountains. Her marriage of more than twenty years has ended in divorce because of her husband’s alcoholism. She was so certain God had promised to save her marriage, but obviously she was wrong. Now she is moving from Boise to Kings Meadow to start life afresh and find a way to heal from her heartbreak.

Like Allison, my marriage ended in divorce because of my husband’s alcoholism. I was devastated because I’d been so convinced God had promised me He would save our marriage. I had believed His promise through many difficult times, but it hadn’t come to pass. I knew God didn’t lie. Therefore, I must have misunderstood.

But God had many things to teach me in the following years, including that He answers prayers in totally unexpected ways and in His own time, not mine. One of those unexpected ways was realized when my husband and I were remarried more than five years later. God used the divorce to save our marriage! How amazing is that!

What two or three things would you do differently if you were starting your publishing career today?

The first is an easy one for me. I would begin writing Christian fiction rather than having 30 general market books published first.

Second, I would start with a better publisher who actually edited my work before releasing it into the world.

What one issue makes you struggle the most as an author? How do you handle it?

Procrastination. It's so easy to let a million other things distract me when I should be writing. The only way to handle it is to put my behind in the chair, put my fingers on the keyboard, and begin writing. Like so many other things in life, it is an act of will, whether I feel like it or not.

What one issue ignites your passion? Does your passion fuel your writing? What would you do with your life if you didn't write?

When the characters come alive to me and begin telling me their stories. That fuels my passion.

If I wasn't a writer, I would want to be an actress. Although memorizing lines wouldn't be as easy for me now as it was in my twenties, the last time I performed in a play.

We are all about journeys...unique ones at that. How convoluted was your path to your first published book? Share some highlights or lowlights from your path to publication.  

It wasn't very convoluted at all. After a series of events conspired to make me realize I wanted to try to write a novel, I sat down with pen and legal pad and began. Eight months later, I finished it. I mailed out 21 query letters (this was back in the dark ages). Mostly I received rejections, but the first publisher who requested the full manuscript offered me a contract. Several months later, I signed the contract. Three months after that, the publisher went bankrupt. Another six months passed until I sold both my first and second books to another publisher. They were released in January and February of 1984.

Do you still experience self-doubts regarding your work, or struggle in a particular area such as writers block or angst driven head-banging against walls? Please share some helpful overcoming hints that you’ve discovered.

I experience self-doubt all the time. Even after more than seventy books, I still have the feeling that my career is a fluke. I've learned to accept these feelings as part of my creative personality. I don't have to like it, but it doesn't make me afraid as it once did. Another thing I learned is that around the halfway mark in every book I start muttering that I don't have enough story and I'll never be able to make this all work out in the end and whatever made me want to write novels when selling shoes at the mall would be so much simpler. LOL! Again, the only way to overcome is to keep moving forward. Sort of like life.

Have you ever had one of those awkward writer moments you’d like to share with us, the ones wherein you get “the look” from the normals? Example, you stand at a knife display at the sporting goods store and ask the clerk which would be the best to use to disembowel a six foot man…please do tell.

Many, many years ago, I had been struggling all day trying to come up with a particular phrase. It stayed just beyond my conscious thought. In the middle of the night, it came to me. I was awake in an instant, bolted upright in bed, and blurted the phrase aloud, startling my husband out of a sound sleep. He has never doubted the strangeness of his wife from that night on.

What event/person has most changed you as a writer? How?

The Sunday I knew God was calling me out of my general market publishing career and into writing Christian fiction as a means of pleasing Him.

What piece of writing have you done that you’re particularly proud of and why? (Doesn't have to be one of your books or even published.)

While I don't have favorite books—each one was written because it captured my imagination at the time—there are a few books that have touched large numbers of readers in a special way, probably because they came from a deeper corner of my heart: The Forgiving Hour, Ribbon of Years, and Beyond the Shadows. Those stories have opened doors for ministry and allowed me to pray for hurting people all around the country and the world. I believe A Promise Kept will join those other three in that respect.

What aspect of writing was the most difficult for you to grasp/conquer? How did you overcome it?

I used to try to plot out my books the way I heard other people did it. You know. Writing detailed synopses and using charts that showed goals and motivations. Trouble is, I am a total seat of the pants writer and those things made me want to bang my head against the desk. If I figure out the story ahead of time, I don't want to write it because I already know how it ends. So then I want to write a different story instead.

I had to get to the place where I accepted my process as legitimate. Part of that process is that I want to get up each morning wondering where my story and where my characters are going to take me next. I'm on a journey of discovery as I write, just as I hope my readers will be as they read.

There is no right way to write a book. Every writer has to discover what works best for him or her.

What is the first thing you do when you begin a new book?

Set up Scrivener for the new novel. Name my characters. Write first person autobiographies of the main characters.

What is the most difficult part of pulling together a book? Ex. Do you have saggy middles, soggy characters, soupy plots during your first drafts…if so, how do you shape it up?

I had to laugh as I read this question. I'm pretty sure I have saggy middles, soggy characters, and soupy plots during my first drafts. How do I shape it up? Allow me to share a few lines from the movie, Shakespeare in Love.

Philip Henslowe: Mr. Fennyman, allow me to explain about the theatre business. The natural condition is one of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster.

Hugh Fennyman: So what do we do?

Philip Henslowe: Nothing. Strangely enough, it all turns out well.

Hugh Fennyman: How?

Philip Henslowe: I don't know. It's a mystery.

So right there in that last line is my answer to your question about how I pull my books together: "I don't know. It's a mystery."

I guess that's part of what keeps me writing story after story. Some of what I do remains a mystery, even to me.

Best-selling novelist Robin Lee Hatcher is known for her heartwarming and emotionally charged stories of faith, courage, and love. She discovered her vocation after many years of reading everything she could put her hands on, including the backs of cereal boxes and ketchup bottles. Winner of the Christy, the RITA, the Carol, the Inspirational Reader’s Choice, and many other awards, Robin is also a recipient of the prestigious RWA Lifetime Achievement Award. She is the author of 70 novels and novellas with over five million copies in print.

Robin enjoys being with her family, spending time in the beautiful Idaho outdoors, reading books that make her cry, and watching romantic movies. Her main hobby (when time allows) is knitting, and she has a special love for making prayer shawls. A mother and grandmother, Robin and her husband make their home on the outskirts of Boise, sharing it with Poppet, the high-maintenance Papillon, and Princess Pinky, the DC (demon cat).

http://www.robinleehatcher.com

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Author Interview ~ Beth Wiseman

Tell us a bit about your current project. 

I broke into the publishing world writing Amish fiction.  I think that after fourteen books in one genre, it was just natural for me to want to spread my wings.  I’m fortunate that my publisher has allowed me to do that.  The House that Love Built is a romance, but it’s so much more than just ‘boy meets girl, and they live happily ever after’.  I write the way I like to read, which means a story that touches on all of the emotions, that’s real, character driven, and with a few twists and turns.  I love how God puts people in our paths for a reason, although we seldom see His reasoning at the time.  In The House that Love built, it is a community of people—some with little in common—who find their way to each other in some unlikely instances.  It’s a love story filled with strong secondary characters, redemption, forgiveness, and hope.  The locale is the quaint Texas town of Smithville—where movies such as Hope Floats and Tree of Life were filmed.  Without a doubt, I feel like this is my best book.   
 
We are all about journeys...unique ones at that. How convoluted was your path to your first published book? Share some highlights or lowlights from your path to publication.

Many years ago, I knew I had the writing bug, but I didn’t spend the time necessary to develop the craft.  I thought that a good enough story would be snapped up by an editor or agent, then they’d work with me to whip it into shape.  Wrong.  Editors and agents expect you to have a basic understanding about writing for publication.  So, I lost a lot of years not doing my homework.  But a couple of years before my agent sold my first series, I set out to learn about the craft.  I was busy learning and writing when my then 15-year-old son became very ill.  I spent a month at Texas Children’s Hospital with him, fearing the worst since he was diagnosed with a rare tumor in his adrenal gland.  I was a broken woman, and I prayed like I’d never prayed in my life.  I offered God everything I had to give—my life, my dreams, hopes of ever being published, and anything else I could think of.  I am quite sure that the Lord looked down on me and said, “Now you are ready to work for Me.”  My son made a complete recovery, and no one in the medical field could explain to me what happened to the tumor.  “Medicine is not an exact science,” they’d said.  But the tumor was gone, and the power of prayer gets the credit.  

At that time in my life, I had never considered writing Christian fiction.  But my very first Christian story sold to Thomas Nelson Publishing (now HarperCollins Christian Fiction) from only the first three chapters.  I was in a different place spiritually, and since then, God keeps blessing me with stories to tell. And a lot of them are based on life experiences, things that happened in my past that I could have never foreseen the purpose. 

Do you still experience self-doubts regarding your work, or struggle in a particular area such as writers block or angst driven head-banging against walls? Please share some helpful overcoming hints that you’ve discovered. 

I’ve never had one single day of writers block, nor have I ever done any head-banging, lol.  But I am often consumed with self-doubt.  And for that…I pray a whole lot!

What mistakes have you made while seeking publication? Or to narrow it down further what’s something you wish you’d known earlier that might have saved you some time/frustration in the publishing business? 

I could paper my walls with rejection letters from the early days, and as I stated earlier—I didn’t take the time to learn the craft. 
What is your favorite source for finding story ideas?

In that regard, I’m truly blessed.  The stories find me.  They come in my dreams, while I’m driving, and sometimes in the most unlikely of places, lol. J

With the clarity of experience what advice would you offer up to the wet-behind-the-ears you if  beginning this writing journey today?

Learn the craft.  Take care of yourself.  Know when it’s important to say no, and when it’s important to say yes. 

What event/person has most changed you as a writer? How? 

Every single book I write ministers to my own soul, so it’s always my hope that my stories will minister to others as well.  The event that changed me as a writer and as a person was when my son was sick in the hospital (see comments above).  The person who most changed me was my very first editor who rode with me on the ride for five years.  Natalie Hanemann.   
What piece of writing have you done that you’re particularly proud of and why? (Doesn't have to be one of your books or even published.)

That would have to be my current release—The House that Love Built.  It encompasses everything I love in a story, and I feel blessed to have been able to pull that off.   
Do you have a pet peeve having to do with this biz?

I can’t think of a one.  J 
Share a dream or something you'd love to accomplish through your writing career.

I’m blessed to be living my dream.  I wanted to write one book that would change one life.  I’ve received an incredible amount of emails and letters from readers who say that my books changed their lives.  And that’s what it’s all about.
  What gives you the greatest writer buzz, makes the trip worth the hassles (besides coffee or other substances, or course)?

Those letter/emails I just referred to. 

Describe your special or favorite writing spot or send a picture if you'd like.

I have a brand new office, and for the first time in five years, I seem to have found my spot. I’ve worked in a study, but it was too close to the kitchen.  I’ve tried to write in a small sun run, but it was too crowded.  Until my Hubby redid a downstairs bedroom and made it into the perfect office, I’d been writing in my recliner.  I love my new space.  I have a small recliner, which is where I like to write my first drafts.  Then, I do revisions and edits at my desk.  I always have a candle or some other smell-good device going, and I even have a television in there in case I want to watch the news at five o’clock.  It’s my perfect space.  And since it’s new, it’s organized.  We shall see how long it stays that way.  J

What aspect of writing was the most difficult for you to grasp/conquer? How did you overcome it?

I think that every author has heard at some point in their career, “Show, don’t tell.”  My editor drilled that into my head…even though I was a bit thick about it. 

What is the first thing you do when you begin a new book? 

I like my life to be in order—bills paid, house clean, food in the frig, and a general feeling that I’m caught up with other things. 

Writing rituals. Do you have to sit somewhere specific, complete a certain number of words, leave something undone to trigger creativity for the next session? Some other quirk you’d like to share? 

I have several writing rituals.  I like to sit in the small recliner in my office when I’m doing the first draft.  I sit at my desk for all revisions and edits.  And I never end a chapter without at least typing one sentence for the next chapter, so I don’t lose my thought.  That sentence isn’t necessarily going to be in the book.  It might be something like, “Start in John’s POV, have him thinking about what he’s done and yelling at Patty.” 

Plot, seat of pants or combination?

Seat of the pants…100%.

What is the most difficult part of pulling together a book? Ex. Do you have saggy middles, soggy characters, soupy plots during your first drafts…if so, how do you shape it up?

After seventeen novels/novellas, I’ve learned to recognize my weaknesses, so I keep notes about what I will have to go back and clean up.  It’s usually repetitive words or beats.  My characters smile WAY too much, for example.  I always have to go back and do a ‘search’ to fix words or phrases that are repeated. 
  Have you discovered any successful marketing/promo ideas that you'd share with us? 

There are so many social media sites available.  I think you should pick your largest platform and focus on that, as opposed to wearing yourself too thin by trying to do Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Shelfari, or any number of other sites and/or blogs.

Parting words? Anything you wish we would’ve asked because you’ve got the perfect answer? 

I guess I would like to mention my next project because it is so far out of the box from anything I’ve ever done.  It will take readers far away from Amish Country and small Texas towns to a dangerous place across the world.  My next book was inspired by a true story, and while I can’t say too much yet, I can tell you that it is very close to my heart and will be a surprise to my readers.  And thank you for having me here.  J


Beth Wiseman is the best-selling author of the Daughters of the Promise series and the Land of Canaan series.  All of her books have held spots on the ECPA (Evangelical Christian Publishers Association) Bestseller List and the CBA (Christian Book Association) Bestseller List.  She is a recipient of the prestigious Carol Award, two-time winner of the Inspirational Readers Choice Award, and an INSPY Award winner.  Her first book in the Land of Canaan series—Seek Me With All Your Heart—was selected as the 2011 Women of Faith Book of the Year.  Beth is contracted with Harpercollins Christian Publishing into the year 2015. 

Beth has a deep affection for the Amish and their simpler way of life, and while she plans to continue writing Amish love stories, she is also branching out into other areas.  Her first non-Amish, contemporary—Need You Now—released in April 2012 and landed on the CBA Bestseller List. She enjoyed writing the story based in a town near where she lives, and she’s chosen another small Texas town for her next non-Amish contemporary—The House that Love Built—which is based in Smithville, the same quaint town where movies such as Hope Floats and Tree of Life were filmed. This novel just released.  In between her contemporaries, she will be writing more Amish novellas. 

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