Tammi Labrecque - Newsletter Ninja: How to Become an Author Mailing List Expert

I've been self-publishing for seven years. That's quite a long period to be screwing up almost the entire time, but I managed it! My whole approach to email was backwards. I did all the donts, ignored all the warnings, missed out on so many opportunities to build myself a happy and engaged audience of readers that it causes me literal pain when I think about it. I dont say this to elicit sympathy. Rather, I hope that my long experience of doing exactly the wrong things can act as a deterrenta giant sign made of bones spelling out Here Be Wolves.

What did I do exactly? I only emailed people when I had a new release. I thought I was being considerate and not clogging up everyones inboxes when, in reality, I was only turning up at their door when I wanted something: their money. This was compounded by my slow production speed, particularly with those painstakingly researched historical novels I seem to enjoy writing for some reason. That problem was further exacerbated by working in more than one genre, so the books came out even slower and the emails were even less frequent. Clearly, I felt I wasnt antagonizing my most loyal readers enough with this set-up, so I decided to have one Frankenlistmy fiction and non-fiction peeps all lumped togetherneatly ensuring that everyone really wouldnt care about at least 50% of the (increasingly infrequent) messages I was sending out.

Yeah, I was officially Bad At Email.

There were more insidious effects too. Deep down I knew I was Bad At Email, but instead of this manifesting in some change of tack, I retreated into myself. Messages became less personal. I lacked confidencedreading launch day instead of getting a thrill of anticipation when hitting my list. Because I knew Id see a continuation of several disturbing trends: falling opens, reduced clicks, less conversions, increasingly tepid engagement, and then people unsubscribing or marking the email as spam as the final kick in the teeth. How did I get here? And how did I climb out of that hole?

I started listening to Tammi, is the short version. She started teaching a course on email and I was one of the first people to sign up. Yes, I was at least partly motivated by wanting to support a friend, but Tammi sounded like she knew her stuff and I was beginning to accept that I needed to radically change my approach. I had already taken one important step: I had separated those fiction and non-fiction readers. But I didnt really know what to do next, and I was hoping Id get some ideas from Tammis course.

Eh, yeah.

Within a month I had started a brand-new mailing list with a five-part automated onboarding sequence, during which I doled out my custom-written reader magnet which was getting rave reviews. I had pivoted to a weekly newsletter approach and weeded out the dead weight on my old list, and open and click rates were climbing.

Within two months I had launched my first book to these new readers, and it hung out at the top of the charts for a considerable time. My newsletter subscribers were responding in greater numbers than ever because my ask (and a new release is still an ask because you are looking for their money!) came after a string of gives for a change.

Within six months I had re-energized my existing non-fiction list and had a brand-new list containing thousands of new readers passionate and engaged and loyal subscribers who not only opened and clicked but actually looked forward to getting my emails. I know this because they email me and tell me! I cant explain to you what this means to me, how much I have been reinvigorated by this. My whole career feels like it has been rebooted, and I look to the future with confidence rather than trepidation. I get a tingle again every time I hit my list.

I dont know where you are in your career or whether you have made all these mistakes too. If you are just at the beginning of your journey, you have the chance here to do things right from the start. But if you have screwed things up as badly as me, I want to give you the confidence that you can turn things aroundremarkably quickly too. Even quicker if you havent ticked every box on the Giant List OMistakes!

So, just listen to Tammi, learn how to put value in every single email, and start building a passionate list of engaged readers. I wish I did it years ago.

Acknowledgements are hard, yall. But here goes:

I would be an ingrate and a fool not to make a special point of thanking David Gaughranfor his wonderful foreword, his insistence that I must write this book, and his many glowing recommendations of the course that gave birth to it. But most of all, I have to thank him for his unfailing friendship. Its by no means a certainty that when you meet your heroes, they will be every bit as wonderful as youve imagined. I got lucky.

Chris Fox has been my dear friend for several years now, and I have literally no idea what my life would be like without him. He was the first person who believed in my ability to be an editor, the first person who told me I could be a teacher, the first person who convinced me that the things I knew had actual real value to my fellow indie authors. His faith in me is the bedrock on which Ive built every good thing over the last 3+ years. There arent words enough to thank him.

The members of Authors Corner have done so much for me, and become a special sort of family. I love you guys so much.

My IPI students make me smile every day, and Im so proud of all their accomplishments, big and small. Whether its a good launch, a high open rate, or an ass-kicking ad, every time they succeed, I feel like part of me succeeds as well.

Sean Platt championed this book with his usual enthusiasmwhich is a great deal of enthusiasm indeedand the rest of the Stone Table buoyed me with their approval and excitement.

Sondra Turnbull, Christine Mancuso, Mike Omer, and Michelle Hart read pieces of this manuscript hot off the keyboard, gave me encouragement and redirection, and cheerleaded (cheer-led?) me ever onward when I wanted to give up. It may be true that only I could have written this book, but I couldnt have written it without them.

And, lastly, while I was building my author and publishing business(es), my daughters Isabella and Caroline didnt see me for longer periods than I care to admit, put up with a lot of penny-pinching, and ate a great deal of takeout without complaining (though perhaps that last part wasnt so bad). You two are my heart and soul, and the best things that have ever happened to me.

The first part of that question is easy (for me, anyway). My name is Tammi Labrecque, and Im an indie author, editor, and publisher. I write and publish my own books under a couple of pen names, and freelance in what feels like every related field, from plot doctoring to editing to ads management. Ive been writing since I was a tween, was traditionally published in the olden days (the 90s), and Ive been doing this indie publishing thing since 2014. You might have seen me on the Self-Publishing Podcast, met me at the Smarter Artist Summit or 20 Books to 50K Vegas, worked with me when I was employed at Sterling & Stone, or heard about me from clients like Chris Fox, Wayne Stinnett, or David Gaughran.