Newsletter Ahoy!

Twitter blasts are fun. Lots of people seem to check out the threads. But I don't see them as the ultimate vehicle for communicating with readers.

As I enter the home stretch and embark on my last few rounds of drafts of my diptych, my Avenging Glory website is moving up the priority list and I’m looking to have some fun stuff on it by Mid Summer.

There's a Web Book Marketing coach/guru named Tim Grahl who seems to have lots on the ball. I've been shamelessly mining his free advice for the past year or so, regarding how to promote and market a book (and he has an excellent page on creating a author website). Frankly, he has a great track record with getting books in front of eyeballs, and gives really smart advice. The point I'm making by mentioning this is that the absolute core of his advice is the need to build an author platform – supported by an e-mail data-base of people. And one of the best ways to build that up is with an e-mail newsletter.

I still have a Mail Chimp account, from back in the day when I was editing, publishing and promoting various magazines. I've heard tell that Twitter is no longer "the place where all the cool kids hang out." But many still swear it's where you can get the best bang for your buck in terms of creating an online presence. So I've been experimenting with it.

I posted in Twitter, looking for recommendations for good author newsletters. I believe I got….uh, let me check here…a single response -  an illuminating note from someone calling themself The Hippo Campus, saying:

 “I "subscribe"to the ideas in my head. Each writer is an original. What works wonderfully for one writer, may make zero sense to another. General support for each other is a good thing. The particulars are unique to each artist.”

So what are you saying, Hip? We are all islands? 
Historically, that's not true. The great art movements were all built by artists inspiring one another.

Maybe that's why the world seems such a creative void right now ; we have our heads so far up our own asses that we can’t see what the other artists are doing. There are no longer standards we need to measure up to. We don't look to emulate people who are doing things well.

The greatest art has always come about by standing on the shoulders of geniuses. That’s what a #WritersCommunity is all about. Your greatness makes me greater.

So I’m looking for ways to make it the best that it can be. Inspire me and I'll do my best to inspire you back.

Couple things I’m sure I want to do:

Give people links to read my published work for free.

Give links to read my upcoming work for free.

Give links to cool stuff from OTHER people.

There’s a game I really look forward to playing involving music. My title character, Glory can only communicate through singing – interspersed with ubiquitous ad slogans from the 20^th and 21^st centuries. So I used songs and slogans that people would recognize, all the while changing just enough of the content to avoid copyright infringement. The game is to connect the adapted lyrics to the source material. The results will play out on my website, but the clues will appear in the newsletter. There will be prizes.

I am eager for ideas of things to put into the newsletter. So feel free to jump into my thought processes or make suggestions!

Guest posts – oh yeah.

Do you have more ideas??  I want more!

Oh yeah. I almost forgot to channel my inner salesperson. Please let me know that you'd like to subscribe - or even just have a look. I'll send you a sample newsletter so you can decide if you'd like to subscribe to future issues. 

I probably have to build my own sign-me-up widget or something - but in the meantime, please drop me a line at dalel.sproule.nl@gmail.com and ask me to send you a sample newsletter.