Posts by Heather Duff
Will New MailerLite Impact Pricing?
If you’re an author using MailerLite for your email service provider–or you’re considering making a switch to MailerLite–you may be wondering how the new upgrade will impact your author newsletter budget. After reviewing the information on their website and having a quick online chat with one of their service reps this morning, here are the…
Read MoreImprove Your Newsletter with a Better Double Opt-In
I understand the resistance against a double opt-in. Single opt-in email is easier and builds your list faster. With single opt-in, your potential subscriber signs up by simply typing their email address (and maybe their name) in your form and clicking the submit button. One and done. On the other hand, double opt-in requires your…
Read MoreHow to Shorten Footer Content to Avoid Spam
In our blog series kickoff article, we outlined twelve tips to improve your email deliverability. Tip #3 is to shorten your footer info. But before we do that, we need to familiarize ourselves with the CAN-SPAM Act. Commercial communications (including your email newsletter) are regulated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). According to its website,…
Read MoreHook Readers With These 13 Email Subject Line Tips
Every good story starts with a problem. Here is ours. The Problem People who never open your email will never read your email. They’ll miss the blurb about your upcoming release, miss the link to pre-order, miss the fun giveaway. They won’t be making that recipe you sent, so they won’t be sharing a photo…
Read MoreHow to Brand Your Author Newsletter
In a previous post we said the most important reason people open emails is because of the sender. To bring that home, your readers open your email because it’s from you. We also talked about author branding – what it is and why it matters, and what it means for your newsletter. What are your…
Read MoreAre You Using Too Many Links in Your Author Newsletter?
Author newsletters are an effective way to promote your newest release, direct fans to special sales, help other authors promote their books, and more. But including too many links in your newsletter may get you flagged as spam, preventing your email from reaching your reader’s inbox. Why does the number of links matter? How many…
Read MoreWhy Readers Open Your Emails
Last week I stumbled across a statistic. Twice. I posed it as a question in the AuthorCompany Facebook Group. (Join us if you haven’t yet!) Here’s the question: What is the #1 reason people open your email?Answer: Because it’s from YOU. According to research conducted by SuperOffice, “45% of subscribers say they are likely to…
Read MoreHow many images should you include in your email newsletter?
Download “The Takeaway” PDF. We are inundated with information these days, and nowhere is that more apparent than our email inboxes. Email service companies know this is a stress for their users, so they are increasingly filtering email to eliminate unwanted mail. As a result, your newsletter may never make it to the inbox of…
Read MoreA Dozen Dos and Don’ts to Optimize Email Deliverability
This week, one of my clients asked me if I had any tips on how to prevent her email newsletter from landing in Gmail’s Promotions tab. I did have a short list of dos and don’ts, but it was a little outdated. I wondered what the best advice was for 2021, and this curiosity led…
Read More3 Things to Know About Apple’s Mail Update
Thanks to Tina Radcliffe for forwarding me MailerLite’s article on the new Apple Mail update, rolling out September 20, 2021. This is going to impact most of us who send newsletters or engage in other email marketing. These changes will currently impact Apple Mail users, but look for other mail services to follow suit. (This…
Read MoreLet’s Talk About Readers…
As writers, where would we be without readers? We write to explore the stories that inhabit the shadowy corners of our imagination, hoping others will come along for the adventure. We gather readers from obscure ends of the earth, spend more time than we want to (ought to?) on social media in order to “reach”…
Read MoreWisdom From the Cork Board #1
I was displaced by Hurricane Laura last August, and after 11 months, I was able to move back home. I still have most of my stuff in boxes, stacked in the middle of rooms throughout the house, waiting for the contractor to finish the quarter-round trim. (Until then, everything is stacked away from the baseboards and it…
Read MoreA Better Option for Domain Email…and Why That Matters
Domain email is addressed to your domain name instead of a third-party service (like @gmail or @yahoo). For example, heather@authorcompany.com and heather@oxblaze.com are both addressed to my domains. A third-party email address (like @gmail) is easy to get and use, but there are several reasons for having domain email too. Some benefits are non-technical (professionalism,…
Read MoreWhat Is a Landing Page and How Can Authors Use Them?
Some of the people who come to your website subscribe to your newsletter. Some read your bio. Some will click on your Books link and scroll through your list of titles. A portion of these might click on a book cover to read your book blurb. Even fewer will click your Buy link to visit your book product on…
Read MoreBlogging Tips for Fiction Writers
The world of blogging is filled with good intentions, dashed hopes, ambiguity, and a vague, unrelenting feeling that no one will care what you write (including yourself).
Or is it just me who feels that way?
Regardless of how unnerving it can be, there are several great blogging benefits for fiction writers. Benefits that make it worth the effort. Here are a several.
Read MoreDon’t Let Your Website Get Hijacked
It’s a recurring nightmare I hear about in my work as a web designer. I sit across the table (or get a desperate email) from a prospective client whose website has been hijacked by their previous web designer. Here are a few of their stories and how you can prevent this from happening to you.
Read MoreTake Your Online Writing to the Next Level
You have a few seconds to grab the attention of your “online” reader. And even if you hook them with a great opening, every second thereafter is a battle to keep them on the line. People are busy. They’re inundated with messages every day, every hour, every minute. Each piece of information they receive requires…
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