Newsletter Q&A With Mrs. A

Every person who signs up for any of my newsletters gets a personal welcome note. Sometimes they turn into great conversations, like this one with Carrie Aulenbacher about making the most of a newsletter.

Hulloo, Carrie!

As I anxiously await the printed proof of what will likely be my only children’s book (back to the mysteries!) I think about how easy it is to get distracted from the One True Path (I know; ain’t no such thing; work with me here.)

What could I do to help you stay focused or to keep moving? I’d like to write about that.

Welcome aboard.

Short answer: what you pursue and what you talk about in your newsletter don’t have to be the same thing. I have 2 newsletters for that very reason, and the 2 companies I operate with my wife (web design and virtual assistance to authors) also have their own lists.

Short answer part B: we market me. Our business is Joel D Canfield, so everything has the look and feel and smell and taste of me. Ew. But as an author, I don’t market an individual book, I market myself as an author. Expand as appropriate for your own circumstances.

I’ll write a bit more this Friday on the site about what focus really means, and how to have it (and, perhaps, when not to.)

I’ll give you a reserved “yes.”

We do, in fact, have separate websites for stuff that’s not likely to be of interest to my general fandom. That’s what I ask myself: what will be interesting to my readers?

If you do metal sculpture, that’s art and could be tied into a site that includes your romance writing.

If you volunteer for Greenpeace or the Republican Party, probably not.

Of course, as a writer, it should all go in one bucket. My site has all my business books and my fiction in the same place, they’re just listed separately. But people who love my business writing often love my fiction, and vice versa.

If you need two buckets to keep like things together and unlike things apart, that makes sense. But separating romance fiction from business writing makes little sense to me. Unless you separate them intentionally for artistic or business reasons, that is. Otherwise, your writing voice is going to have some crossover appeal. Allow it.

Back to the reader: who do you want to attract, people who are only interested in reading your romance, or people who are interested in all the other stuff, too?

Write for your audience. The corollary to that is that it’s easier to write for an audience that loves all the stuff you love than an audience that only loves part of what you love. The opposite of that is that sharply pointed focus, creating insiders by allowing some folks to be outsiders, can be powerful.

Which feels right to you, attracting primarily romance readers, or generalists who love romance but also like the other stuff? No wrong answer here, just a little truth you need to tell yourself.

At the moment, I can’t commit to anything like the G+ hangout. I get overwhelmed easily which is why I keep my schedule loose like it is. But an ongoing email conversation is super. Asynchronous communication works best for me. (To give you a hint of how much work video/phone stuff is, the difference between my email only coaching package at $250/month and my deluxe package at $1,000/month is that the deluxe includes phone calls. Massively useful, powerfully draining for me to be completely “on” like that. Far more information than you asked for, I suspect.)

No no no. Not at all. Email is marvelous. It’s realtime communication which would overwhelm me if not kept in check. But email? Email all you want, I promise.

I’ll be compiling your questions and my answers to post at Someday Box on Friday. If you have more questions, send ’em over. It’ll make for a better article.

Again, what serves your fans?

I suspect that while they appreciate early access, they would want your best stuff to be available to others as well. Which is more or less what you suggest.

Video is a lot of work. Limiting who can see it should only be done for very good reason. I’m working with an author on a video training series which they’ll sell. Obviously making that public defeats the purpose. But if your videos are designed to develop readership as well as engage existing fans, they can only do the former if they’re visible to folks who aren’t already insiders.

Make sense?

I’ve made most of my living, seriously, by seeing the one bit most folks miss. Raised by a quality control expert who worked in the computer industry in the 70s and it seems to have fostered some connection-making skills.

Love that video. I laughed sometimes just because you’re so excited and enthusiastic. Good production, too. Looks good, sounds good, fun simple intro/outro.

You’re very photogenic. Videogenic? I hope you promote these videos far and wide. Good way to create fans.

Related read: Ricardo Fayet, writing at John Yeoman’s Writers’ Village, talks about engaging your fans to do your marketing for you.