What in the world does audience & genre have to do with newsletters?
A lot. Trust me. They are more intertwined than you know.
Most seasoned newsletter veterans know that your audience and genre are key to delivering a successful newsletter.
Don’t believe me? Then ask around.
The ones that know what the heck they’re doing can pretty much have their fans eating out of their hands.
Pretty powerful stuff, eh?
Though to be honest, not all newsletters key in on these crucial pieces. They are missing either the genre or they are speaking to the masses instead of their intended individual.
Okay down to business…
What does genre have to do with your newsletter?
It determines the mood, theme or what you will be talking about in your letters to your adoring fans.
If you write paranormal horror then there is no way in heck that you would be writing about Peter Rabbit in the next letter… not unless Peter had an unfortunate event. Only if the subject relates to the genre that YOU write should it be included in your newsletter.
So if you write coming of age youth stories then you would write about youth related news that involves coming of age topics. You would include promotions for youth coming of age books — like Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl or Percy Jackson.
Genre will determine what giveaways or promos you could give away to your fans. Romance might be candles or youth might call for some cute kid thing-a-ma-bob you could send your fans. Remember your genre is key to keeping your audience ensnared in your news and craving for more.
What about audience? How does that play into your newsletters?
Did you do the exercise from part 2?
If not then here it is…
Write down the one person that you are writing your story for (they can be fictitious if you want them to be):
- What is his/her name?
- Age?
- Likes and/or dis-likes?
- Do they like reading?
- What is the one quality that makes them stand out?
You need to know who you are writing for… down to the last freckle on their nose.
You are writing for that person and that person alone. Not Bo-Jim and not Sally-Ann.
No.
If you chose to write to Billy down the street or little Suzy then that is who you are writing to and only them.
Do not…
under any circumstance…
write your letters…
as though you are…
addressing a huge crowd.
No.
That is not how you do them.
Each letter is meant to be a one-on-one letter. You need to write them as though you are talking to Billy sitting across the table from you. Billy wouldn’t like it if you were talking to him through a megaphone and to the entire cafe.
He will probably get up and leave if you do that. So, don’t do it.
Please for the love of G, don’t do it.
One more thing… keep it conversational.
Alright let’s wrap things up.
As you have read by now you should know that a successful newsletter has two things nailed down:
- Genre – What you write
- Audience – Who you are writing for
Once you have those two things figured out then you’re at least 5% better than the average newsletter that is out there.
If you have any questions then please do not hesitate to ask in the comments. We’re always happy to answer for we’re all in this together.
Thank you for reading Burning Embers’ Newsletters for Beginners Part 3 – Audience & Genre.
Next post will be Newsletters for Beginners Part 4 – Fellow Author Newsletters
Missed Part 2? Go ahead and catch up on Newsletters for Beginners Part 2