Newsletter: Black, White, and Blue All Over

An apology. I have been remiss in posting here. My daily Month-of-Recipes on another blog interfered with keeping up with the other three blogs. But, I’m back and will post weekly again.

I’ve been working on the development of a monthly newsletter, Murders with Taste. The newsletter will include information about my books, upcoming events, the occasional book review, and a recipe or kitchen hack, among other things. Isn't the graphic for the newsletter too, cute? I think it signals "cozy mystery" very well.

So what’s the problem? Why am I blue? Well. Here goes. My confession.

I’ve never had a natural affinity for spread sheets or desk top publishing programs. I’m pretty good with Word, and that’s about all I can claim.

When my new publisher suggested her authors should all consider doing a periodic newsletter, I perked up. I love new projects. I love the challenge of identifying interesting content. I can work to deadlines (I write two monthly food columns). And I love new projects. Did I already say that?

How hard could it be, I told myself. Writing content is pretty easy for me. After all I keep up with four blogs weekly, what’s the big deal about a short monthly newsletter?

Uh, a lot, as it turns out.

I didn’t even know the questions I needed to ask until I hit the hurdles, road blocks, and detour signs. I thought I had done my due diligence. I had read newsletters. I read about how to produce newsletters, but there were a few gaps between reading about and doing that had escaped me.

The articles I read about producing newsletters were about creating fresh content and keeping the newsletter a balance of news and promotion and using appealing graphics.

But, um, how do you get readers? How do you let people know you exist? How do people have 10K subscribers?

So I read a few more articles about how to attract followers to your blog/website/Facebook page, et al. I attended a couple of workshops on social media and how to build a following.

Here’s a news flash: This.Does.Not.Happen.Overnight.

Yeah, naïve of me, eh?

So I put out a call to get people on my mailing list and I finally (after viewing a tutorial) learned how to add names in MailChimp. I do not know a whole bunch of other stuff, however. For example, can I just send the newsletter to new subscribers after the initial mail out or do they have to wait until the next month. And there’s more, but I won’t bore you with what I’m still trying to figure out.

I also learned, to my dismay, that I must use the publishing program in MailChimp. I can’t create it in Word and import it. See above for me and desk top publishing issues.

I also would like to use MailChimp for mailing to subscribers content that isn’t created in the Mail Chimp program. But at this point, I can’t see a way to do it.

So the newsletter is done—content-wise. I can’t get the formatting right. I can’t get the pictures/graphics right. And I am very frustrated.

I learn best by doing with someone who know what to do. I read well, but there’s a big step (for me) from reading how to do and learning how to do.

I’m a pretty visual person. So show me. Don’t tell me. Don’t give me only written instructions. Written instructions work best (for me) as a back-up, a reminder of what I was shown to do.

Oh, and so much more is tripping me up. Can you tell I’m frustrated?

So, if you’re one of those already subscribed to Murders with Taste, I apologize that a newsletter I wanted to publish in mid-January still isn’t available. I am working on it, but it’s like working in the dark.

Hey, are you interested in subscribing to my short monthly newsletter? If so, give me your e-mail address, and I’ll pop you into MailChimp. This will happen. I promise!

Facebook: Have you struggled with creating, publishing, and distributing a newsletter? Have you had any of these struggles or are yours different? Sharon Arthur Moore bares her pages for you. http://bit.ly/2FdnpuJ

Twitter: #Authors, have you created a newsletter? Did you struggle with these issues as @Good2Tweat describes? http://bit.ly/2FdnpuJ

Facebook Author Pages

I’ve mentioned in this series of posts that I’ve been attending workshops, reading books, and finding articles about using social media outlets as an author. “Marketing R Us” should be emblazoned on any work about becoming a writer.

Don’t like it? That’s kinda too bad. ‘Cause this is the reality for a professional writer. And that’s you, right? Professional writers do what they must in the craft and business parts of the professional writer’s life.

One aspect that I’m paying more attention to after one such workshop, is my Facebook Author Pages. That’s right. Pages. When you write more than one genre, you need an identity for each, even the as-yet unpublished ones. I subscribe to Christina Katz’s perspective, Get Known Before the Book Deal.

That book was the first book I read on marketing. The year was 2010. She convinced me since I wasn’t known and had no book deals yet. Since then, I’ve published with two traditional, if small, presses and will publish with a third this fall. I’m a believer.

Back to Facebook Author Pages, I didn’t have all four at first. In fact, number four, Caroline Adams Writer, was added this summer. I think by next summer, I may add number five, Olivia Lucas, who writes women’s fiction.

By the way, I’d love it if you’d follow me on all four! Links below. Is that a cheeky ask, or what? Just click on a name to go to the Facebook author page.

So what do they all write, in the order I created the pages, and what do I post for each of them every day? As a side note, the postings I suggest here also work for Twitter! Get a two-fer by posting the same content both places.

Sharon Arthur Moore-Author writes cozy culinary mysteries. Her first book, now unavailable, was MISSION IMPASTABLE. The book will be re-issued from a different publisher as PASTABILITIES this fall. The “Murders with Taste” series is planned as a six-book series with recipes that mostly reflect the titles. A second culinary mystery series (in the planning stages) will be set in Alaska.

She belongs to several affinity groups on FB related to mystery writing and to cooking. On her FB page, she posts recipes, mystery book links, food holidays, and cooking tools and facts. She is also starting a newsletter she is trying to get subscribers for.

Angelica French writes about relationships: romantic, familial, friendship, and business. She is all about communication and empathy. Her first book is an erotic romance (180 degrees from culinary mysteries, thus the need for a pen name. STREETWALKER is a story of trust and redemption.

She belongs to several Facebook affinity groups for romance writers. On Angelica’s FB page, I post links to books I get from other Facebook groups, articles I find online, and links to articles about popular culture.

River Glynn-Author has a bit of an identity crisis. She is, as yet, unpublished, but she’s written a novel with a ghost story and has written a full-length play with a “ghost” in it. She also likes science and science fiction and has some books outlined for topics like the Voynich Document and a future dystopian society. River is also a high fantasy fan and would love to do a fantasy series with paranormal elements.

She belongs to some FB paranormal groups and also follows a lot of them as well as science folks on Twitter.

She posts science events (past and present), weird holidays, links to paranormal, scifi, and fantasy books, links to articles about science facts and paranormal tales.

Caroline Adams Writer is my newest persona. She writes historical fiction and Intrepid Women biographies for middle grade readers. She has an historical fiction romance, LUCINDA, that is as-yet unpublished, though there has been some interest in her work from agents and editors at conferences. She wants to write about a Singuan woman she thinks was one of her previous incarnations. She also has plans for a Viking-settlement historical fiction novel. She is fascinated by many eras in history. Too many? Possibly.  

Caroline belongs to historical fiction affinity groups on FB. I post for her links to historical fiction books, archaeology finds, articles about historical eras, and historical trivia facts.

See, it’s easy to find stuff to post for your FB author page and Twitter. Just keep the focus for your persona.

FACEBOOK: Authors, do you struggle with what content to post on your FB author page or Twitter beyond links to buy your books? Struggle no more with these suggestions that will help. http://bit.ly/2EjWU6b

TWITTER: #Authors sometime struggle with what to post on Facebook and Twitter that isn’t just links to their own books. Try some of these ideas from @Good2Tweat. http://bit.ly/2EjWU6b