JQM Newsletter Thoughts

by James Meservy | Oct 22, 2020 | Monthly Discussions | 0 comments

The Burning Ember Theme for October is Newsletters

I don’t much about newsletters (NL).

I have a NL that I send out monthly, but I am no expert on the subject.  But all the same, here are my thoughts.

Why I send out Monthly:

There are authors who send out newsletters monthly, weekly, bi-weekly, or whenever they feel like it. I chose for consistency sake to send mine out monthly. A monthly newsletter is not too difficult for me to create, and is easy for me to remember to schedule. As a reader, I think weekly or bi-weekly newsletters are too frequent, and anything less than monthly is too inconsistent.

What Email Service I use:

I chose MailChimp. It is not the easiest service for me to navigate, but let’s be honest, there is not an email service that would be easy for me to navigate, and a few friends recommended that I use MailChimp’s free service, so there you have it.

What Type of Content I Share:

It is very important to remember that as an author you have a brand, and you need to share only books and content that fit within your brand. I write YA, Children, and Adult Fantasy and Science Fiction that is clean in content, so I choose to only share books and join group promotions that fit within my genre and audience.

I also choose to share at least one personal tidbit about myself. It is usually something that has to do with whatever I am working on, either personally or in my literature, at the time that I am writing the newsletter. For instance, I am fan of the University of Florida Gators Football & Basketball teams, so when they are doing well, or when they are not doing not so well, I either share my frustrations or excitement with my NL subscribers.

What are NL Swaps, and Where to Find Them:

A Newsletter Swap is where Alicia Scarborough and I agree to share one another’s books with our newsletter subscribers. So I will post something about Potion of the Hound, Mystical Mishaps Book 1 on my NL, and she will in turn post something about The United, The Realm of the Light Book 1 on her NL.

There are a few places to find NL swaps, Facebook, MeWe, Prolific Works, etc, but the place most user friendly for me to coordinate all my NL swaps and Group Promos are in Story Origin. If you don’t use Story Origin to coordinate NL swaps, Street Teams, Group Promotions, Audiobook reviews, and the like, I highly recommend it.

That’s all I have for now, if you have any questions, feel free to comment or email me at jqm.serv@gmail.com

Have a great night!

JQM October Update

by James Meservy | Oct 20, 2020 | Monthly Discussions | 0 comments

Mornin Burning Embers Family

Since it has been so long since I posted last, I thought I would give you a quick update about how things are going for me.

I have been extremely busy trying to fulfill publisher deadlines and deal with personal life.

I have 2 ebooks that were recently published on Amazon, I Am Master Serv, A Realm of Zhestoviya (Rai Saga) Short Story, and A Family of Poets, a collection of poetry co-authored by myself and my twin 11 year old daughters.

I am working on Cross of Roses, my fantasy thriller story, while I have had positive feedback from the BETA readers, I know the story can be improved, and I think I know how. Cross of Roses is due to my publisher on Nov 11^th, and I have my work cut out for me to get it turned in by then.

And book 3 of the Realm of the Light Series, Perfectly Evil, is with the editor.  I am hoping to have it back and turned back in with enough time for a release later this year.

So, if you don’t hear from me again until Nov, it is because I am rushing my hardest to hit my publisher deadlines.

Have a great Halloween Season!

JQM