I have not been as active on this blog as I need to, but know if you see me less, that’s because I’m doing more!
Although I have not published much, I have a bit I am working on, including a new potential author client preparing to release her book (throws invisible confetti), part two to #TWWBE (Yep. Surprise), the anthology for Black History Fun Fact Friday, and tons of articles sitting in my drafts, waiting to be picked to go next.
Poor babies. Mommy has not forgotten you. I hope to get part two of Signs You Are Not Ready to Self-Publish out this week, time permitting.
Today, I want to give you an update remixed with a lesson I’ve learned in the process.
I am starting over with my email list, and I am deleting my Business Facebook page at the close of this year.
I have had the same author email list since 2015, and hard as it was for me to accept, I don’t have the same audience. Much has changed between then and now.
I received good email opens but very little engagement. It started to feel like people were watching me, although they were no longer interested in what I had to offer. I got little feedback which made drafting and sending emails less fun. I was also getting a lot of spam sign-ups. That’s when I knew it was time for a change.
This morning, I deleted everyone from the old list* except for the two people who emailed me a reply to say they are interested in being on the new list.
*This is not my poetry list, but my general author list. If you are subscribed to the poetry list, you are good!
I started to backtrack, though. Building an author email list isn’t easy, and neither was deleting over four hundred emails I’ve worked hard to accumulate over the years. I started to send one final email asking people to reply if they are interested in being added to the new list.
Then, I realized this was an excuse to hold on a bit longer.
The truth is the interested people had already told me as such, and I had to accept that.
It is also true quality will always be better than quantity.
In the end, it didn’t matter how many people were signed up. What mattered was who was engaging. How is it only two people replied to me? I decided this was unacceptable.
I also decided to change my strategy. It is not lost on me my part in this. I’ve struggled with my list for some time, and I hope to become better at it.
And instead of deleting my email list altogether, I am starting over. I still believe in the value of the author’s email list, especially in light of how many people have their social media pages deleted.
The lesson can be summed up in the following quote:
“You get to change your mind about things that are no longer aligned with or supportive of your growth.”
– Alex Elle
Simply put, it’s okay to begin again.
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