MARYLEE MACDONALD

Hello Reader,

Almost every week someone emails me a version of this question: "Do I really need an email list?"

The answer is yes. Full stop. No asterisk.

Here's why. Social media platforms come and go. Algorithms change overnight. A platform that sends your posts to thousands of followers this year might bury them next year. Your email list is the one thing no platform can take away.

The Number That Changed My Mind

A recent survey of indie authors found that writers earning $10,000 or more per month average over 18,000 email subscribers. Authors without a list earn about 20 times less. That's a staggering gap, and it's almost entirely explained by the list.

You don't need 18,000 subscribers to get started. You need 100 people who genuinely care about your work. Start there.

How To Start Yours Today

Sign up for a free email service. Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is designed for authors and has a free tier. If you don't have a website, ConvertKit lets you easily set up a landing page. Use that to begin connecting with readers who will support your work.

I find Kit to be more intuitive than other email service providers. Mailchimp works too. Pick one and don't overthink it.

Then give visitors a reason to subscribe. A free short story, a checklist of your favorite writing resources, a sample chapter from your book-in-progress. Something they'd actually want.

You don't need your book to be finished before you start collecting names. In fact, the sooner you start, the better. By launch day, you'll have an audience who's already rooting for you.

Sincerely,

Marylee MacDonald

P.S. The readers on your email list are the ones most likely to leave early reviews. Those reviews make or break a launch on Amazon. (I've actually got a book launch going on right now. The book below, Lightning, was published by my small press, Grand Canyon Press. The author was a member of my Arizona writing group.)

800 Blossom Hill Rd., Los Gatos, CA 95032-3567
​Unsubscribe · Preferences​

✦ THIS WEEK'S FEATURED BOOK ✦

Lightning

by Michael Ray Ewing

Here's a thriller that reads like a movie. Mountain biker Adam Barnett rides up a remote Arizona trail, gets struck by lightning, and wakes with half his memory gone and something terrifying on his heels. Across the state, an Army Ranger arrives at a classified lab to find corpses, silence, and a wiped security system. On a Northern Arizona ranch, a woman jolts awake with a killer's voice in her head.

As their paths collide, all three must figure out what escaped from that lab before it figures out where they are.

Available now on Amazon: Lightning, A gripping and action-packed sci-fi thriller​

Michael Ray Ewing is a network engineer, father of three, and avid mountain biker. https://michaelrayewing.com. He's been struck by lightning twice and lived to tell the tale.