Why a Newsletter by Margaret Brownley

One of my favorite author newsletters comes from Margaret Brownley. I like the way it looks, the short and sweet information about her books, and her fun little tidbits. Today, Margaret shares her tips for creating appealing newsletters. -- Sandy 

Why a Newsletter?

Some people say that social media has made newsletters or ezines irrelevant, but I disagree. If done right, a newsletter is a great way to promote your brand, connect with readers and, of course, sell books.   

Getting Started

Some people design and mail newsletters themselves using free templates found on the Internet. That's how I got started. However, once my subscriber numbers reached into the thousands I soon learned the advantages of using a newsletter service.  

I especially like the fact that new subscribers can be added or dropped through the service, saving a hassle. There will always be a certain number of bounces, unsubscribes and new additions. Handling these might not be a big deal in the beginning but as your subscriber list grows a service can save valuable time. I use Constant Contact and am impressed with their support team, but there are others and most give free trials. Whether you handle it yourself or use a service be sure to use a mobile friendly template.

What's the Cost?

There's a human cost of course, as building a newsletter does take time, especially in the beginning. But once your template is set you'll find you can put it together in a couple of hours. Monetary costs are a bit tricky to sort out as each newsletter service has its own peculiar pricing method, but expect to pay around $20 a month for 500 subscribers. Mailchimp lets you send newsletters free up to 2000 subscribers, but you'll have to pay if you want any special features.  Many authors prefer to send quarterly newsletters. My service allows me to suspend my account for a nominal fee on the months I don't send out a newsletter.    

How to Get Subscribers

Many newsletter services have list-building tools which include Facebook and mobile apps. An effective way to gain subscribers is to run a contest. Also, be sure to give readers an opportunity to sign up during public appearances. Anyone signing up through my website is added to my monthly drawing for free books.

Give Subscribers a Reason to Read Your Newsletter

If you send a marketing tool that shouts "buy my books" subscribers will soon lose interest. Give them something fun or useful.  Make it chatty. Include a recipe or handy hint.  I like sending out fun facts that I come across during my research. I always give away a book or two with each edition as a way of saying thank you to my readers. 

Tracking Your Success

A newsletter service makes tracking a breeze. You get an idea who opened it and when, plus the number of link clicks. Industry stats allow you to compare your opens with others in your field. Keep in mind that the reports aren't always accurate. Newsletters are tracked through images and clicks. Some readers block images and not everyone will click on a link, so these opens won't be counted.    

The Importance of Having Fun

The more fun I have putting the newsletter together, the better the results. So go creative and have a blast. While you're at it, add my name to your subscriber list.

Need a Sample?

Here's the link to one of my newsletters: http://goo.gl/R9lEyQ

Have you created an author newsletter? Do you have any successful ideas for the rest of us to use to make ours more appealing? What do you like to see in another author's newsletter? What do you NOT want to see?

Margaret is a CBA/NY Times bestselling author and past Romance Writers of America RITA finalist with more than 35 books to her credit, including her new release Undercover Bride. She's also written for a CBS daytime soap. Margaret and her husband have three grown children and make their home in Southern California.

Let's Get Emotional by Margaret Brownley

Margaret Brownley

Think back to your earliest childhood memory. You were probably three, four or perhaps even five at the time. Now think about how you felt. You might have been scared or hurt. Perhaps you felt giddy with joy or maybe even lonely and confused. Whatever the emotion, it was strong enough to make a deep and lasting impression or the memory wouldn’t have stayed with you all these years.

The same type of emotional response that fuels our memory banks is also what makes characters memorable. Think back to all your favorite movie and book scenes. Characters that make us laugh, cry or tremble with fear stay with us long after we turn the last page or walk out of a theater. I was only ten when I read Little Women but I still remember feeling sad when Beth died.

Readers choose genres for emotional reasons. They read romances to experience the joy of falling in love. They expect thrillers to excite; horror to shock; mysteries to surprise. If a book disappoints, it’s generally because it fails to meet a reader’s emotional expectations. Readers don’t want to read a story, they want to feel it.

Here are some tips for giving your story an emotional lift.

Make Us Care
There are many ways to reach a reader’s emotional core, but first of all you must make readers care about the character. Melvin in As Good as it Gets was one of the most flawed and unlikeable characters you’d ever hope to meet. Melvin’s gruff exterior wouldn’t have worked without the lonely and vulnerable man inside who made us care.

Make Us Bond
Another way to reach readers emotionally is to make them bond with the character through recognition and familiarity. I’ve never lived in the ocean depths, but I’ve known loss and I know how it feels to be a concerned parent. That’s what made me identify with and care about an overprotective clownfish named Marlin in Finding Nemo. Write about werewolves if you want, set your story on Planet X, but it’s the humanity of your characters that will keep readers turning those pages.

Make Us Feel
Readers are also affected emotionally through theme. Theme is the emotional base beneath the story. We are told to write what we know. Better advice would be to write what we’re
passionate about. What’s important to you? What are your passions? Is it love, freedom, salvation or injustice? The passion of your theme will strike a chord in readers.

Be Specific
Don’t just state an emotion, show it. I don’t want to know that Paul is angry. I want to see him tighten his lips and pull down his eyebrows. The seven basic emotions are anger, contempt, fear, disgust, happiness, sadness and surprise. These basic emotions have been proven to produce certain facial expressions. Learn them and use them.

Show Motivation
A four-year-old I know was on a quest to find a spider. When asked why, he replied “I want it to bite my grandmother.” He then went on to explain that Spider Man got his super human powers from a spider bite. Since his grandmother was having trouble with her eyes, he figured that a spider bite would help her see again. The driving force behind that little boy’s actions was his love and concern for his grandmother and his desire to help her. His motivation was simple, yet compelling, and I admit it made me teary eyed. That’s the kind of response we want from readers.

Write the Truth
Emotions spring from truth; Loss is sad, war is tough, love is grand. Write about truth and your readers can’t help but respond with emotion.

Dora here. Have you read a book lately where a character left an indelible impression on you? Can you pinpoint why?

Gunpowder Tea
Purchase Link

When Miranda Hunt sees the classified ad for an heiress to the legendary Last Chance Ranch, she knows assuming the identity of Annie Beckman is the perfect cover. As one of the finest agents for the Pinkerton Detective Agency, Miranda has been tasked with apprehending the Phantom - an elusive and notorious train robber thought to be hiding on the sprawling ranch. 

But she isn't the only one there with something to hide. Wells Fargo detective Jeremy Taggert is working the scene undercover as well. And although their true identities are a secret, it is impossible for Jeremy and Miranda to hide the spark that flares between them.  

But neither is about to let romance interfere with such a huge case. Besides, Miranda hasn't removed Jeremy from her list of suspects yet. The closer they come to uncovering the identity of the Phantom, the more dangerous he gets - and no one on the ranch is safe. 

But neither are their hearts - the longer Miranda and Jeremy spend working together, the harder it becomes to keep their feelings in check. Their careers - and their lives - depend on solving this case. Love will have to wait.

About Margaret:
Thrills, mystery, suspense, romance: Margaret penned it all. Nothing wrong with this—except she happened to be writing for the church newsletter. After making the church picnic read like a Grisham novel, her former pastor took her aside and said, "Maybe God's calling you to write fiction."

Margaret wasn’t sure at the time if this was true, but she wasn’t about to take chances. She’s now a New York Times bestselling author with more than 30 novels to her credit, Gunpowder Tea has just been released and her work is currently in A Bride for All Seasons, A Pioneer Christmas and A Log Cabin Christmas collections. Not bad for someone who flunked 8th grade English. Just don’t ask her to diagram a sentence.  www.margaretbrownley.com

When the Answer is “Not for Us” by Margaret Brownley

Margaret Brownley

Rejections! Who wants them? Who needs them?

Years ago I would have answered a resounding “no one!” Rejections can be demoralizing and send a writer’s fragile soul into a tailspin. But after having published twenty-eight books, I now realize the value of that dreaded “not for us” letter. Some of my rejections even turned out to be blessings.

My first historical novel was rejected seventeen times. On the eighteenth try it sold and it sold big enough to help launch a new publishing line. That wouldn’t have happened had an editor snapped it up during those early submissions. Nor would it have happened had I not kept revising, polishing and sending it out.

That experience taught me that rejections can offer second, third and even umpteen chances to try again and get it right. Even books that went on to win major literary awards were once rejected, some many times. What would have happened had R.K. Rowlings given up after the twelfth Harry Potter rejection?

Matthew 10:14 says “And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet . . . .” This tells us that we’re to put rejection behind us and move on. Shaking off hurtful rejections is easier done if we don’t take them personally.

Books are rejected for numerous reasons, many of which have nothing to do with quality of writing. Years ago, I attended a conference where one of the speakers introduced herself as “The editor who turned down The Thorn Birds.” I even heard an editor admit to rejecting a manuscript because the protagonist had the same name as her ex. Yep, editors are human, too, and they can make mistakes.

Sometimes a rejection simply means the timing is wrong. The market might not be favorable to your particular genre. Many of my published westerns were rejected years earlier because of the market. I waited and when the market turned in my favor, I pounced and my patience paid off.

Sometimes, you have to man-up and admit that some books don’t deserve to be published, even the ones we love. I wrote four books before selling my first and I will be forever grateful that two of them never saw the light of day. I didn’t realize it at the time, but the sad truth is that those two books weren’t worthy of a reader’s attention.

So how do you know if a book is good enough for publication? How do you keep going when all the rejections say stop? Sometimes the hardest part of writing is finding an honest critic.

Don’t trust a family member or even a friend who says your book is wonderful. Instead, enter contests. The judges won’t worry about hurting your feelings. If you scores are consistently low, you have work to do.

A Bride for All Seasons
by Margaret Brownley, Debra Clopton,
Mary Connealy and Robin Lee Hatcher

I once paid a published author (yes paid!) to read the first three chapters of my book. Pay someone to read your manuscript and you’ll get an honest critique. Her comments were brutal, but I took her notes seriously, did the revisions and the book sold the next time out.

Rejections are never fun, but neither are they the end of a story; sometimes they are only the beginning . . . .

About the Author

Margaret Brownley is a N.Y. Times bestselling author and Romance Writers of American RITA A Bride for all Seasons (with Robin Lee Hatcher, Mary Connealy and Debra Clopton). The next book in her Brides of Last Chance Ranch series Gunpowder Tea will be released October 2013. Margaret can be reached through her website: www.margaretbrownley.com
finalist. Look for Margaret’s story in June’s mail order bride collection,

I Would Write More If Only … by Margaret Brownley

Welcome to Fortifying Friday—a day Seriously Write features guest authors. Do you find excuses for why you haven’t finished writing your book—or maybe even the chapter you’ve been working on? Margaret Brownley shares encouraging words on this common problem.

I Would Write

More If Only ...
by Margaret Brownley

I would write more if only…

This unfinished sentence was part of a survey sent to members of my writing group in preparation for a meeting. Completed surveys were sent to Dr. Kent, a family counselor, who agreed to discuss possible solutions.

Our members all agreed we would write more if only life wouldn’t interfere. Husbands, children, pets, work and next door neighbors—you name it—were cited as holding the creative muse hostage.

Writing that compelling story takes time, concentration, determination, and energy—no surprises there— but according to Dr. Kent it also takes the setting of clear boundaries. “You must have a clear idea of how much time and effort you want to devote to your work,” Dr. Kent told us. “If you don’t take your work seriously, don’t expect anyone else to, including your family.”

She then went on to explain that boundaries start with place. Whether it’s a private office or cluttered corner of the living room it’s important that family members know this area is off-limits. She didn’t say as much but if your office is in the bathroom or kitchen you might want to consider finding another place.

Next, according to Dr. Kent, it’s essential to establish regular working hours. This was a tricky concept for those of our writers who thought being a good mother meant being a full-time mother. Fortunately, this was never my problems. I subscribe to the “don’t bother me unless your hair is on fire” rule so no one ever accused me of being a good mother.

Dr. Kent insisted that consistency is the key. Children (like writers) need guidelines. Dr. Kent pointed out that children tend to be what we need them to be. “If they are making unreasonable demands of our time, it could be that we are consciously or unconsciously encouraging this behavior.” She didn’t say as much but I suspect the same is true for husbands. What she did say was that even if you work outside the home it’s important to have a writing schedule in place—and stick to it.

Of course it’s not just family that hogs our time. We all eagerly pointed to Facebook, Twitter and email as time-robbing culprits. Someone once said that writing is 15 percent work and 85 percent avoiding the Internet—and we all know that avoidance takes as much time, energy, and determination as writing—so why bother?

In the end Dr. Kent made mincemeat out of our reasons for not writing more, calling them built-in excuses for procrastination. This seemed to ring a bell because several members admitted that the number of interruptions increased when the writing was not going well or had stopped altogether. I can attest to this because the splattered paint on the doorknob of my office has been distracting me all week.

The good news is that writing and family—and even an outside job—can be a winning combination by faithfully following Dr. Kent’s guidelines.

• Keep your writing time and space sacred
• Make your goals and boundaries clear
• Limit the time spent on the Internet and e-mail
• Put a sign over your desk that reads “No excuses”

To Dr. Kent’s rules I would like to add one of my own: Celebrate every little success! Years ago when I was still an aspiring writer, I racked up enough rejections to paper the house. Discouraged, I had just about decided to quit when I sold my first magazine article for five dollars and my hubby took me out to celebrate. Soon after, I sold yet another five dollar article and we celebrated again. I was on a roll. By the third such sale my husband said, “Honey, we can’t afford all this success.”

Ah, but I need those little celebrations. That’s what got me through the long haul of writing four books before selling my first. It’s what helped me keep procrastination at bay.

So if you write a chapter, enter a contest, read a writing book, attend a writers meeting, do revisions, query an agent, or simply honor your writing time—you have something to celebrate. I’ll join you just as soon as I scrape the paint off the doorknob.


Have a little faith!

Margaret Brownley has written more than twenty books, including the bestselling Rocky Creek series, and was a 2010 Romance Writers of American RITA finalist for A Lady Like Sarah. Her next book, A Vision of Lucy, will be published in June.

To find out more about Margaret and her books, please visit: www.margaretbrownley.com/
Just for fun: Stagecoach Etiquette:
http://tinyurl.com/4te4tog