Newsletter Change Up

The time has come for me to revamp my newsletter list. When I started it over two years ago, I only had Craving under my belt, so one all-inclusive list seemed like the way to go. I've since branched out from paranormal romance into contemporary and romantic suspense, and I realize those genres don't always have the same readers. In an effort to better serve my subscribers, I'm splitting my list into three targeted lists. You'll have the option to sign up for the paranormal romance list, the contemporary romance/romantic suspense list, or the all-inclusive list if you happen to want to hear about my new releases, regardless of the genre.

Aside from making it better for subscribers, I have another reason for this. Earlier this year I participated in a couple of big Kindle giveaways that were run by two different places that specialize in massive email lists and promoting authors/books to those subscribers. It seemed like a great idea at the time, give away a Kindle, grow my newsletter, reach more readers. Well, hindsight is always 20/20, right?

I've come to the realization that a lot of people who subscribe in those situations don't give a flying fuck about the author whose newsletter they're subscribing to. They just want to win that prize. I get it. Really, I do, and I'm not saying every subscriber is that way. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the one giveaway that was focused on paranormal romance readers probably did garner me subscribers who really were interested in my books. The other one that wasn't genre specific and certainly wasn't limited to romance? Probably not so much. I know I've gained readers from these promos, so they weren't a complete bust, and please don't think I don't want you if you signed up this way. That is not the case at all. I want every subscriber who genuinely wants to be here. I love you. Promise!

Anyway, the problem? Of those who didn't really want to be on the list and only signed up for a chance to win, many will simply forget they've signed up and click that the newsletter I send at a later time is spam instead of just unsubscribing. I've never once added a person to my email list who didn't physically sign up at an author signing I've attended, and the only other way to get on the list is to fill out the form yourself, so yeah, it stings a little when you see those spam reports, like I'm some Nigerian prince searching for his long lost relative to help in securing this billion dollars I have lying about. The places we authors use to store our lists and send out our newsletters like Mad Mimi, MailChimp, etc., don't like it when someone reports those emails as spam because it can get them into hot water legally on their end. The more times I'm flagged, the bigger the chance that I'll lose my whole list and lose the privilege to send out newsletters at all. Plus, it costs money to maintain these lists. Believe me, if you don't want to hear from me, I'd much rather you click unsubscribe because I'm essentially paying for a massive list of people who might not really want to hear from me in the first place.

In order to save myself a little money (because the bigger the list, the more money I have to pay to maintain it) and the headache of being flagged as spam, I'm changing things up. I am essentially nuking my subscriber list, so if you want to stay, you must subscribe again. Go up to the newsletter tab at the top of this page, and sign up for the list of your choosing. And thank you so much for understanding and cooperating with me on this. I've been contemplating this change for a few weeks now, and I finally decided to just go for it. I know I'll lose a lot of subscribers, but honestly, I'd rather have a smaller list of readers who want to hear from me than a massive list full of those who don't.