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(See Part 1: The website) Despite complaints about inbox overload and spam, surveys show consumers consider email the least intrusive of direct marketing tactics. When someone signs up for your messages, they’re inviting you into a personal space that’s largely competitor-free (unlike a search results page). And unlike social media, your list is yours to keep. An author website is essential. But it’s the emails you send that remind people you are there, nudge them about new work, and drive sales at key moments. Let’s look at how to get your email newsletter up and running, and how to grow your list of followers. Choose your email platform MailerLite is free for <1,000 subscribers, with unlimited email sends. A popular choice with authors, it includes automation, customisable signup forms, drag-and-drop email builders, landing pages and a visual workflow editor. (Automation is when you set up emails to send in response to an automatic trigger, such as a pre-prepared welcome email that automatically fires when someone signs up for your newsletter.) The interface is clean and intuitive, and you can segment your list to target different reader groups. As often, you need a paid plan for some features like advanced automations and additional More

Some argue that you don’t need a website these days, that it’s enough to be on Facebook, Linktree or Substack. But platforms come and go, and with social media you are at the mercy of the algorithms. As publishing expert Jane Friedman notes, ‘your website serves as an online home and hub for everything that you do… Consider it the cost of doing business in the digital era, a necessary business card and networking tool’. But you can’t just build a site and hope people will come. You need to build an email list to drive people to your content and books. Together, web and email form a connected, affordable platform to support your writing goals. In part 1, we’ll look at low-cost author sites, in part 2, the email dimension. Choose your domain name Even on a budget, a domain like www.yourname.com or yournameauthor.com looks far more professional than something like yourname.wordpress.com. If you can’t get the .com, try for something like .net or .me. You can buy domains at places like Namecheap, GoDaddy or NameSilo. If you’re planning a pen name, check domain availability before going public with it. You’ll need to sign up for a web hosting service – effectively rent a chunk of internet space – More

A friend of mine, also a writer, posted about seeking work as a freelancer and having to wade through the naysayers, complainers, and grammar nerds to glean information about where to find work. Admittedly, AI is robbing this group of writers of much viable income. Businesses will take AI cheaply over original work for more cost. There’s a lot of copywriting work that needs no more than what AI can produce. It’s good enough, so to speak. Sometimes you don’t need someone who’s won a Pulitzer to write your copy. But whining was dominating the lists he was on. Being more old school, he saw this as writers slitting their own throats in finding work. Who wants to hire someone like that? Everything you write online gets read by people you don’t expect. Some of them impact careers. Whatever you post online, read the draft as if it can impact your career. Yes, we all have opinions, but does expressing that opinion outrank the effort to find work? Which is more important? If a potential editor or publisher or business executive saw what you posted, would it factor in whether they chose to work with you? And I’m not talking More

Writing is often called a solitary pursuit, yet none of us performs alone. It takes a supportive community including editors, proof readers, critique partners, and beta readers. Words don’t magically appear on the page to perfection, ready for publication. Start at the Library Libraries are filled with words and people who write them. When I retired to a new city, I found “writers” under the adult events tab on the local library’s website. The South Shore Scribes became my first critique partners, exchanging writing prompts and feedback. We learned about self-publishing, marketing and sales by compiling our own book of short stories. Since libraries are public buildings, no one is turned away and not everyone wants the same thing out of the sessions. When I moved to a new city and the local group wasn’t a good fit, I corralled two like-minded members to form our own writing group.  I also checked nearby communities and found one that better matched my personality and efforts in a town just half an hour away. Online Communities I belong to the Gutsy Great Novelist Community, a fabulous online resource of learning and connections. Hope Clark belongs to it as well. There are other online communities with varying More

The words ‘writing retreat’ might summon up images of a week in a lakeside cabin with a posh notebook, a pot of coffee, and birdsong for company. But for many of us, work, family and budgets such images are pure fantasy. But there are ways to create your own retreat even if you have next to no money to spare and can’t leave home. It’s just a matter of setting boundaries and working with what’s possible. Decide you’re worth it – and set your goals If you’re serious about making money from writing, then there will be times when you need to take a break from routine and give yourself space to nourish your creativity and refresh yourself for future writing. Accept that you deserve this! Don’t set loads of big goals for this time, like finishing that novel draft or planning a whole year’s blog content. Maybe your mind is so full of other stuff you just need to think about nothing for a while. Maybe you want a break from your manuscript. Set boundaries Figure out what you can realistically manage. Maybe you can book a few days off work, maybe just an afternoon. Whatever you do, this More

You’ve spent hours crafting the perfect newsletter. Every paragraph sparkles, the call-to-action is clear, and the design looks sharp. You hit “send,” then wait. And wait. But the results are flat. Your open rates are terrible. The problem isn’t your content. It’s your subject line. In publishing, the real battle for attention happens in the inbox. If your subject line fails, the rest of your work never gets a chance—and that failure can mean lost book sales, empty seats at a signing, or missed freelance contracts. The Door to Your Income Think of your subject line as the front door to your work. A dull line like “Monthly Newsletter” is a locked door. Nobody enters. But “The One Mistake That’s Costing You Readers” invites curiosity, promises value, and drives clicks. As a publisher, I’ve seen the difference firsthand. A vague subject line buried an important release, while the same book, retitled with urgency, sold out in days. The subject line was the difference between a financial flop and a profitable launch. Subject Lines Are a Business Skill Some writers treat subject lines like lottery tickets: toss something out, hope for luck. But writing subject lines isn’t a gamble—it’s a craft More

We attempt to polish to perfection. The funny thing to me is that we dare think of being able to achieve perfection. Nobody does nor should they think they can. Weekly I write two editorials: the opening thought, then later the editor’s thoughts. One is more personal than the other. One tends to be more crafty or business-like than the other. Sometimes, however, I just write what’s on my mind. Sometimes I throw something together based upon my own experiences. Time pushes me each Friday to send out the newsletter, and grasping for ideas becomes difficult some weeks. You might be amazed at how many times I write something and deem it over-reaching, stupid, or something most readers wouldn’t care about. Those are invariably the topics most people resonate with. With limited time, I write what’s on my heart, hanging on the tip of my tongue, or niggling my brain. In other words, they are real and raw and fresh. I don’t have the time to polish them until they shine craft-wise. I don’t have time to weight if they are important enough. That often means I don’t have time to edit the raw, genuine meaning and feelings in those More

The submissions database Chill Subs lists over 3000 magazines and 1200 writing contests, many of the contests affiliated with litmags. Most of these are run by passionate writers and editors who work hard to champion great work, often for little monetary reward. But given the size of the market there will inevitably be some dodgy ones with the potential to exploit aspiring writers, either through incompetence or more deliberate grift. Here are some red flags to avoid… Hidden fees Some litmags have ‘tip jars’, with writers invited to donate a small fee to support the publication’s costs. But tips are optional, which means there’ll also be the option of not paying anything. Other mags transparently charge a ‘reading fee’. However, some titles ask for ‘tips’ which turn out not to be so optional. This allows them to get into the ‘No fee’ listings of key submission sites like Submittable under false pretences. In contests, the equivalent is an ‘early bird’ fee that turns out to only go higher as the deadline nears. Always check the final submission page for costs. If the fee isn’t clear until you’re halfway through the process, that’s a red flag. Vague information Watch out for litmags where More

“Have no fear of perfection—you’ll never reach it.” ~Salvador Dalí All of us seek perfection, though none of us reaches it. Improving ourselves, however, is the real goal and quite admirable. We should never stop in that effort. But all too often, we feel we cannot seek perfection so we find ways to shortcut and settle. We write without hiring the editor. We publish via ebook only to avoid the difficulty of paper. We choose self-publishing because we fear traditional. We do not promote ourselves for fear of embarrassing ourselves and not selling what we think we should, so we avoid putting ourselves out there. It’s easier to just mention the book, and hope that word-of-mouth sells enough for us to feel good about what we are doing. And lately, many are choosing AI for fear of not having the genuine, original talent to achieve on their own. (See this piece.) AI is tempting. Using it makes you look smart, intelligent, creative, and professional, but deep down inside, you realize that you didn’t do the real work. The reader won’t care, you say. If the reader knew, though, would they care? Would it impact your image? Would you be willing to tell More

In listening to a podcast this week, I almost teared up at the story of a Christmas song. It is a secular song, but then, it is not. I will never hear it the same again.   In 1939, Montgomery Ward wanted to publish something Christmassy with an animal protagonist for children of customers. Rather than hire someone outside the company, they asked someone already employed. Someone suggested Robert L. May, an advertising copyrighter. He’d never really written a children’s story, but, hey, he was a writer. May, however, was having a hard life. His wife dying of cancer, he was raising his young daughter who didn’t understand what was happening to her family. He started to decline his employer’s request, but then thought of his daughter, maybe even felt this would help him through his ordeal. His wife died before he finished it, and Montgomery Ward offered to relieve him of the task, but May completed it, for his daughter to show that even an underdog, or anyone with a difference, can represent a symbol of hope for all. As a nod to May’s wife’s death, Montgomery Ward gave him the rights to the story. There’s more to the story, More