You’re invited. Only a select few will receive this invitation. A smaller margin will accept it.

Does it make you feel important when you get a special invite? Or only if it’s personalized?

More people read this blog than I know about. If you want me to know you’re reading, leave a comment. It could be one or two words. Sometimes, I feel like I’m speaking into a void.

According to the analytics, I have about the same number of blog subscribers as I do newsletter subscribers. However, when I compare the two lists, they don’t include the same people.

Why not?

Maybe you found this blog before I was a published author. I wouldn’t have been building an email list at that point.

Maybe you found this blog by following a comment I made on another blog. In that case, you might not even have realized there was an email list to join.

It could be that you like my blogs, but you don’t read books. Plenty of people prefer reading in small bites, and blog posts are best for that.

For an author, though, the list of email addresses I collect is incredibly important.

What’s So Important About It?

This list of email addresses represents my “fans.” (I use this word lightly because it’s hard to imagine anyone who isn’t related to me being a fan of my books.)

This is important to the release of any new books. I can keep my readers posted on the release dates, and if they pre-order or purchase on the release date, it pushes the book higher in Amazon’s rankings.

Authors care about Amazon rankings for a couple reasons. One, it gets their book in front of more readers who are on Amazon searching for something to read.

Another reason is to claim the “best seller” tag. I talked more about this in an earlier post. Even though I got the orange tag on the Kindle World novella I released in March, I don’t claim to be an Amazon best selling author. I explain that in the post, too.

A list of email addresses tells publishers and promoters that there’s a good chance I will sell books. It makes me look like a professional.

If I independently publish another book in the future, the list is important to help me find reviewers, influencers and have a successful book launch.

So, if you subscribe. Thank you.

If you’d like to help with all this stuff, sign up now.

What’s In The Newsletter?

My newsletter is typically about two things:

• New releases from me
• Giveaways I’m participating in

My subscribers see the new covers as soon as I get them. They get a chance to ask for a free copy in exchange for an honest review. If there are sales on my books, I let my list know about that immediately.

I don’t use my list as effectively as I could for launches. Most authors send weekly reminders about these, and I don’t.

Why not? I hate to clog up your email inbox with a bunch of stuff. If I don’t have something new for you, why am I contacting you?

Maybe I’m wrong to feel this way.

If you’re irritated by those people who send you the same sales pitch week after week, I’m with you. And I strive to never be that person.

Why not sign up for my Hero Delivery (clever name, right? Thanks, Social Media Jedi Kristen Lamb for suggesting it) email list now?

Your Chance to Sign Up

This is your chance to sign up. I’ve included multiple links to the sign-up page throughout this post. (Those would be the highlighted words. Just click, enter your first name and email, and you’ll be in.)

I don’t expect you to give me your email address for nothing. Not at all. I’m happy to give you something in exchange for permission to email you every now and again.

As soon as you sign up, you’ll get an email with a link to a free story. Recently, I sent a newsletter that included two links to freebies.

Now it’s your chance to tell me what you wished I included in my emails. Do you want more excerpts? Book recommendations? Tidbits about my writing life? (If you said yes to any of these, be sure to join my Facebook group. I’m starting to share those things exclusively with those followers as a reward for taking a chance on my group.)
Let me know what you’d like to read about in the emails. Oh, and how often is too often? Would you mind if I sent two emails per month even if I didn’t have a new release or promotion?