by Ashley Lister

I read the following in a recent Forbes article extolling the virtues of the newsletter: “Newsletters are imperative in taking your brand marketing to the next level.”

They went on to say: “An email newsletter is basically an email used in a marketing campaign. It contains important news and updates to make your audience aware of your brand or products and other significant information. It’s a cost-effective medium used to boost business.”

Prior to my sudden conversion to marketing and self-publishing, I had no interest in newsletters and deliberately avoided creating one. My excuses were as follows –

1. Who would want to read my newsletter?
2. Wouldn’t it just piss readers off to receive a regular newsletter?
3. What would I put in a newsletter?
4. Does anyone ever get sales from a newsletter?
5. If I did decide to annoy readers with a newsletter, where the hell would I start?

I’ll go through each of these points individually, below.

1. Who would want to read my newsletter?
Newsletters are popular. If you’ve written something, whether it’s fiction, non-fiction, a blog post or something/anything else, it will have been read by someone. If that reader enjoyed what you wrote, there’s a strong chance they would welcome a newsletter from you pointing them in the direction of more of your writing.

2. Wouldn’t it just piss readers off to receive a regular newsletter?
Not really. Studies have shown that readers love it when writers reach out to them. In the simplest terms, if a reader isn’t reading your newsletter, they’re reading one from a potential competitor. Some people (and I’m one of them) do occasionally get pissed off with unwanted newsletters and they then hit the unsubscribe button. Those who haven’t unsubscribed aren’t pissed off.

3. What would I put in a newsletter?
You know your readers. Tell them about what you’re writing. Share links to stuff that you’ve published. Share parts of your life that you’re comfortable with making public. I’m fortunate in that I share a house with a photogenic dog. Is his existence relevant to my writing? No. But I’m sure there are some readers out there more interested in his development than they are in my writing and I believe they only buy the occasional book because they’re hoping the royalties I make will be spent on dog food.
Include links to your writing, links to sales areas and links to reviews. Include links to anything that you think your readers will find interesting or relevant.

4. Does anyone ever get sales from a newsletter?
Short answer: YES. I sell most of my work through Amazon and this means I can monitor sales through the app Book Report. On the two days following the sending of a newsletter I will invariably see a marked increase in sales. Because this pattern is so consistent, I can only conclude that the sales are related to the newsletter.

5. If I did decide to annoy readers with a newsletter, where the hell would I start?
I’m currently using Mailchimp for my own distribution but there are other newsletter tools out there such as Mailjet, ConvertKit, Mailerlite etc. Personally I find Mailchimp easy to use and the fact that it’s free until I reach 2,000 subscribers means that it’s currently cost efficient.

I’m building the mailing list through BookFunnel, which is allowing me to get my work seen by a substantial number of readers who wouldn’t previously have had an opportunity to see my work. Some of those might see my writing and decide they were happier before they’d read my writing. Others (the ones who will stay subscribed) enjoy what they’ve read and want to see more.

As it said in the article from Forbes: “it’s time to realize that newsletters are an important component of effective email marketing and branding. Ignoring them can restrict brands from growth.”
And, although we know that size doesn’t really matter, I’m sure we can all benefit from a little growth.

Ashley Lister

I’m going to put the word consistency in this first sentence as a piece of foreshadowing because, in talking about developing a brand voice, the key is to be consistent.

For example: you’ve written a witty erotic romance that shines a new light on the well-worn fabric of the heteronormative BMG (Boy Meets Girl) story. You’re wanting to shout about it on social media because you believe everyone will get a thrill from this narrative. All sounds good so far.

But, with author branding, you’ve got to keep your brand voice consistent.

Why should we care what others think of our brand voice? Is it worth being political? Is it worth supporting a cause? Should I stop swearing? Are you suggesting I should stop being me?
I’ll answer each of these questions below.

Why should we care what others think of our brand voice?
Whilst we’re trying to sell our books, sometimes this involves selling ourselves: which means making our brand voice an attractive package.

It’s easy to forget that, as writers, we are trying to sell ourselves on a daily basis. But writers do this all the time and we buy into this transactional mindset. I’m looking forward to buying the latest Stephen King. Later this month I’ll be sitting down to read one of my favourite Lisabet Sarai’s. There’s a new Mitzi Szereto just been released that looks like a lot of fun. I often buy books based on who the authors are and this has substantially come about through their personal brand voices.

I appreciate some authors are reading these words thinking, “If someone doesn’t like my brand voice, they can fuck off and read someone else’s books.” This is a wholly appropriate response – and people with that attitude clearly have a forthright brand voice already. It won’t be appealing to everyone but the air of independence and insouciance is attractive to many readers and, if it’s working for you, keep it working.

For the rest of us, the chance to gain some favour with a larger audience doesn’t usually come through telling readers to fuck off. It involves being on our best behaviour, as though mummy has just sent us to a children’s party and we’ve been told to play nicely with the other children. We remember our please and thank you and we only speak after considering those three pillars of communication: Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?

Why should we care what others think? Because, if people think I’m an arrogant piece of shit with a crappy attitude before they’ve learnt that I’m an author, they’re unlikely to throw money at me to read my fiction.

Is it worth being political?
No. But don’t let that stop you if you feel passionately about the subject. I constantly post political material on my FaceBook page and Twitter feed. I have left-wing politics, and there’s a strong chance this is alienating any potential right-wing readers, so I’m thinking of pulling back from such things. Partly, this is because I want to increase sales for my material and I don’t want to antagonise potential readers for something as irrelevant to my writing as my political beliefs. And, partly, this is because I don’t think anyone has ever read one of my shared memes and thought, “Goodness! Ashley’s right. I must change political allegiances.” I’m clearly preaching to an echo chamber of people who share my personal beliefs and I can think of more fruitful things to share on social media.

Is it worth supporting a cause?
It’s always worth supporting good causes. I’m not suggesting this should be done as a way of capitalising on the good name of any charity to improve personal sales or promote brand identity. But if you want to use your work to benefit others, that’s admirable and deserves to be applauded.

Should I stop swearing?
Do you swear in real life? Do expletives and epithets appear in your fiction? If swearing is a part of who you are and what you already produce, then swearing should definitely be a part of your brand voice. Admittedly, this is going to be a turn-off for some potential readers but it saves them being pissed off and giving a one-star review after they’ve bought your book and then being butt-hurt from reading the word shit-weasel. (I used the word shit-weasel in my novella Fearless, although I’ve only heard good things about this from people saying they want to use it as their go-to expletive).

However, if your witty heteronormative BMG story contains no swearing, and is aimed at a readership who eschew taboo language, then I’d say give it a miss.

Ricky Gervais once commented online that people who don’t like the word c*nt, wouldn’t hear it so much if they didn’t keep acting like c*nts. This is a comment from a celebrity whose admirers understand that he swears and they take no offence at the taboo language. Similarly, those people who are offended by his use of the C-word are reminded to avoid Gervais and his particular brand of comedy.

Are you suggesting I stop being me?
Never. Developing a brand voice is all about presenting the version of you that most accurately reflects how you best want to communicate. Are you a witty person? Share jokes and make people smile. Are you an inspirational writer? Share inspirational thoughts and words of wisdom. Share material that reflects the side of your personality that If anything, I’m suggesting we go back to those three pillars of communication I mentioned before and add a fourth one: Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary? Does it reflect the way I want to be perceived? If you can answer yes to all four of those questions, I’d say you’re definitely developing your brand voice.

 By Ashley Lister

 They say that those who fail to plan, plan to fail. Although this is one of those trite truisms that are usually thrown at us by a disgruntled boss after we’ve committed a major workplace SNAFU, I have to agree that there is some weight to this claim.

I’m a great advocate of planning. I spend an hour at the gym each morning, listening to an audiobook that I’d selected the previous evening. Once I’m back at home I grab a shower, feed the dogs, and then try to get a thousand words down on the latest WIP.

I came across a great planning tip the other week from an author who types notes into a blank Word document and uses those notes as chapter outlines to guide where his novel is going to go. I’ve been writing for decades and never come across such a good idea before. Usually I have notepads on my desk and sticky-notes covering every surface. This method means I simply sit in front of the PC, open the WIP document, and I can tell what needs to be written.

A couple of hours of writing usually allows me to hit my target and maybe get a little ahead of myself.

That means I can then take the dogs for a walk (ideally on the cliffs by the seaside) before returning to the office to work on other things. If I’m not working on the 9-5, I’ll spend some time looking at my social media presence. I try to maintain a presence on FaceBook and Twitter, dipping my toes occasionally into the waters of Instagram when I’m feeling young and trendy. The young and trendy feelings aren’t as predominant as they once were. I made the mistake of visiting TikTok recently and that made me realise I’m a veritable dinosaur.

The social media planning all ties in with product branding and is scheduled to reach my audience at optimum times throughout the week. This isn’t about selling my books to an audience. This is all about engaging with readers on a social level.

I’ve got index cards on my desk that remind me what sort of social media engagement I’m using on different days of the week. At the moment I try to keep closed questions to Monday and Thursday (Tea or Coffee? Beer or Wine?) Tuesdays and Fridays are there for open questions (Best novel ever? Favourite James Bond?). Note that these questions don’t particularly relate to my genre. And not all of the questions will relate to every reader. But the social media engagement is allowing me an opportunity to chat with people who read my books and develop a strong relationship with my readers as we discuss things other than the fiction I’ve created.

Later in the afternoon I’ll find time to organise blog content which, again, is to be scheduled for consumption throughout the week. As before, the important thing here is to keep the image branded so that everything conveys a uniform feel of cohesion. At the moment, because I’m writing in a horror genre that deals with blood and ghosts, I’m trying to keep images colour-coded to a gradient between blue and red.

On an evening I might look at promotional materials or marketing strategies. Building media kits is never an easy task. Recording audiobooks can take time. And reaching out to reviewers and different markets involves research and specialist knowledge that costs a substantial investment of time and effort. However, it’s all allowing me to create the stories I want to write, for an audience who appreciate what I’m creating.

Does this mean I’m living the authorly life of my dreams? Of course not. Does this mean I’m trying to humble brag about all the great things I’m doing and achieving. Not really: we all use different scales to measure success. I’m just trying to point out that a handful of organisational strategies have helped me to forge some semblance of order from the chaos that is a writer’s life. If there’s anything you use to help focus your creativity, I’d love to hear about it in the comments box below. 

By Ashley Lister

 The main hurdle to audiobooks that I’ve encountered is not the technological barrier, or the complexity of packaging an audiobook, or even the difficulty of marketing such a product to a cold audience. To my mind, the biggest hurdle to creating an audiobook was learning to like my own voice.

The technological barrier is not really a big problem. Thanks to the world created by Covid I’ve been sitting in front of a laptop for the past twelve months talking into a microphone and faffing about with controls so I better understand the quality of sound I’m producing. I’m not suggesting I’ve got the skills to call myself a sound technician, but I know which end of the microphone gets plugged into the PC, and which end I’m supposed to speak to.

Similarly, the complexity of packaging an audiobook is not a massive problem. I’m using the ACX Dashboard (so my audiobooks are available on Amazon) and the interface is obscenely user-friendly. If it were any more user-friendly, I’d probably need a condom.

This means that the marketing is relatively easy because the product is available on an international platform and I’m able to point potential buyers in the direction of a legitimate site that gives my audience confidence in the quality of what’s for sale.

But, as I said before, the biggest hurdle involved learning to like my own voice.

Like most people in the world, I’ve always worried that my voice has got too much accent. Recordings make me sound like I’m dumber than a rock, probably because I’m hearing what my voice really sounds like, rather than the melodic harmonies that I imagine I produce when I’m simply talking, rather than listening.

However, it only ever takes a single recording and I’m reminded that my voice is far from the Received Pronunciation of a BBC newsreader, or the RSC edge of a Shakespearian actor.

But I’ve recently learned to live with the imperfections of my voice. Partly this is due to poetry performances. I’ve heard some of my work recorded and, whilst my voice isn’t wonderful: it was getting a positive response from audiences, and I think the audience’s attitude toward my voice is likely to be a lot less impartial than my own jaded opinion.

It also helps that I’ve listened to a lot of podcasts recently and they’re a wonderful reminder that not every voice coming out of a speaker needs to sound like Jean Luc Picard or Hugh Grant. Some of the most inaccessible accents are saying some of the most engaging things.

So, as well as working on my series of horror novellas, which are all going to be narrated by me, I’m also in the process of converting my collected poems into an audiobook. Below, you’ll find an audio-clip of the title poem: Old People Sex.

 By Ashley Lister

 As I’ve probably mentioned (ad infinitum and ad nauseum) I’ve started self-publishing some horror fiction. It’s been an interesting journey and I’ve humble-bragged a lot on here about lots of what’s happened.

One of the things I haven’t mentioned is how I talked about this to a work colleague. I was asked what I’d be doing in the pandemic and I explained how I’d self-published some of the novels where rights had returned to me, I’d published a collection of original poetry, an original novel and begun a series of novellas.

“The rights had returned to you?” the colleague (we’ll call her Karen) asked.

“Yes. They’d been previously published by other companies but the rights had returned to me so-“

Karen cut me off. “Oh. I thought you’d done something impressive at first, but that’s nothing special, is it?”

“Well,” I thought. “Until I started talking with you, I thought it was pretty fucking special.”

As a matter of fact, I still think it’s quite special. Book covers, content formatting, promo, sales listings, building an author’s website, organising reviews and blog tours, are not small chores. Trying to do any of those tasks to a professional standard is an onerous task. Trying to do all of them involves a steep learning curve and can be overwhelming. And trying to do any of it when people are suggesting your efforts are ‘nothing special’ makes the task much harder work than it needs to be.

I’m mentioning this here because, as writers, we have to face a lot of negativity. It’s not just the one star reviews which spout shit like ‘I’m giving this one star because I can’t give it zero’. And it’s not the pretentious twats who say ‘I would only ever give five stars to Shakespeare, but this one is OK.’ We also have to deal with the hostile passive-aggression that comes from people saying, ‘Oh! You’re a writer. Are you a famous one like J K Rowling or E L James? You must be loaded.’

‘What the fuck are you, Karen? A receptionist at the clap clinic? A disenfranchised administrator who finds it easier to piss on other people’s dreams rather than to pursue your own?’
Writing isn’t easy. Having the self-belief to think your words are worth the attention of others can fuel crippling anxiety. But never let your faith in yourself be weakened by the careless words of someone thoughtless.

There are ways to deal with this. Being resilient is good. Using positive affirmations helps. Hanging with supportive colleagues is always a bonus, as is replenishing your internal energy by being creative. However, if all else fails, you need to get into an online meeting with your personal Karen, find an excuse to turn off your camera and microphone (I can’t stress how important that point is), and then vent your spleen on their image, calling them every expletive and vitriolic name you can imagine. Trust me, as a form of cathartic expression, it’s a good way to bring balance to your personal universe.

by Ashley Lister

Earlier this week I launched another novella. This is not me trying to publicise my novella. This is me explaining what I did to make the book launch a little bit different.

Cursed is a horror story, the third book in a series. However, this one focuses on a group of Urbex students who break into abandoned properties and share ghost stories. The idea isn’t just a framing device (because the framing device is part of the narrative). But it was this idea of sharing ghost stories that came to mind when I was organising my book launch.

Most advice about book launches suggests we should do something memorable or unusual to make the event stand out. This is tricky because, between you and me, a book launch usually involves encouraging potential readers to turn up so you can try and sell them a copy of your book. This is most often achieved by reading a passage or two from the new release, ending on a cliff-hanger, and hoping the members of your audience are sufficiently well-off so they can afford to buy a copy to satisfy their curiosity.  And none of this seems like a structure to make an event that is memorable or unusual.

I considered my options.

• I could do it naked. (I discounted this idea early on)
• I could do it whilst wearing a mask or make-up. (I discounted this idea early on as well)
• I could do it with cute videos going on in the background which would help promote the book and add to the atmosphere of the sinister I was hoping to create. (This worked)
• I could do it with a cool background, such as the one below, showcasing the book and other titles, to help promote interest. (This also worked)

It was whilst I was brainstorming these ideas that I came up with the notion of people sharing ghost stories. 

Rather than me spending an hour telling people to buy my book (because it’s exciting, entertaining and fun), I simply explained the concept of the novella, gave everyone a little taste from it, and then (as a Zoom audience), we sat around a virtual campfire and shared our tales of the supernatural.  As a matter of fact, the campfire wasn’t that virtual. Some of us had campfire backgrounds. One reader had installed a red lamp so he looked demonic as he read his story. The friend I’d asked to host had a reverb on his microphone so he could chortle like a demon at relevant spots. We were all using the campy gimmicks that are frowned upon in traditional storytelling, and they all worked beautifully.

I was still able to read parts from my novella. And I made sure links were available in the chat boxes so everyone could buy if the mood took them. But this format meant we were able to frighten one another with our personal stories of the supernatural, which leant itself to the exact mood I wanted to create for people who enjoy stories of the supernatural. Rather than it being an hour, we were online for more than two hours. There were competitions with prizes given for the most unsettling stories. Readers were making connectionsthrough their shared passion for the supernatural.

And the reason why I mention this is not to promote my novella, Cursed. It’s simply to say: when you’re launching a book, thinking outside the box can make the event so much more than a simple book reading. 

PS BUY MY BOOK

 by Ashley Lister

 When we release a title into the world, the world should give out a celebratory cheer and the streets should be swathed in a cavalcade of confetti. Our hard work, imagination and effort deserves to be justly rewarded. Reviewers from all the mainstream media should be singing our praises and urging the buying public to rush to local bookstores to demand a copy of our most recent opus magnus. It wouldn’t be too much to ask for a segment on that day’s news.

Sadly, this is seldom what happens. Book releases come and go and all that happens is another book is added to the ever-growing list of titles that people know they should read but seldom do.

That said, there are things we can do, as writers, to make sure that book releases have maximum impact. Whether you write for a large publishing house or you self-publish, making sure people talk about your book release is an important step toward achieving success.

Flagging the book release as an event on social media is an important first step. Your friends want your book title to be successful just as much as you do. Letting them share posts, retweet links or like statuses etc is a powerful way of letting a large audience know about the existence of your new title.

Of course, one of the problems with an erotic book is that some authors can’t (or don’t want to) rely on family to help promote a title with sexually explicit content. Fortunately, this is one way that the erotic writing community is able to help because we’re all happy to share links, retweet posts etc. All you need to do is ask your other writer friends in the genre and they invariably help out.

Blogging about the title is very helpful. I love to experience new authors but there are times when it’s good to understand what sort of writing I’m going to encounter. If the grammar or spelling are unorthodox I need to be in a particular mindset to enjoy such writing. Seeing how someone presents a blog post will give me a strong indication as to whether or not I’m going to enjoy what they’ve written. Blog posts are the perfect advertising medium for the content of the story you’re trying to promote.

Merchandise, giveaways, and competitions are excellent ways to inspire more interest. For writers the idea of a bookmark is an essential sales tool but mugs with your latest cover on the side, pencils engraved with your book title or T-shirts bearing a soundbite from your work, are equally valid. Gifs, photos, short videos and any other electronic promotional information is very useful for potential readers to be captivated by the idea of your story to the point where they will invest in the product.

There are other things that can be done, which I’ll probably discuss at length here in future posts, but the most important one: the one that should never be forgotten, is to always include a link to a place where your latest release can either be bought or pre-ordered: Cursed is currently available for pre-order.

Happy New Year.

Rather than write a proper post, I thought it would be fun to share my list of new year resolutions with you. The ones that are marked with an asterisk are the ones that I’ve already broken.

* Drink less
* Eat more healthily
Try to write 1,000 words a day
Try not to beat myself up if I don’t hit 1,000 words a day
Submit to more publishers
* Don’t get upset by rejections
* Exercise more
Explore ideas that take me away from the familiar
Spend more time with the dog
* Try to avoid Twitter (it raises my blood pressure)
* Approach the 9 – 5 with a sense of confidence and optimism

Be thankful for all the friends I have on here who accept me as part of a vibrant writing community

With love – Ash

by Ashley Lister

  It’s that time of year when, to celebrate the birth of someone who died a couple of millennia back, we honour the occasion with a mercantile demonstration of the constructs of capitalism and conspicuous consumption.

  Some people say this is the season to be jolly. Others say it’s the most wonderful time of the year. And there are people who insist the spirit of the season is all about hope, goodwill to others and love. However, we all know that this is the season of presents. And we all know, the worst people in the world to buy for are writers.
 

  So, as a handy help to all of those who know a writer, or want to treat a writer to a seasonal gift, this is a list of five things to give festive cheer to the most curmudgeonly wordsmith in your life.

  1. If you’re buying for a professional writer, then this means the scope is pretty broad. Given the amount of money earned by professional writers, second-hand clothing, food stamps, tinned food or a contribution toward their household bills will always be appreciated. It might save them from having to spend a weekend sitting in a shopping mall with a sign that says ‘Homeless and Hungry’ or ‘Will Trade Vital Organs for Food’.

  2. Alcohol is always a good choice. Some occupations are known by the predominant body parts of those individuals involved. Consequently, we know about the magnificent muscles of a bodybuilder, the huge, compassionate heart of a care worker, and the fine, distinguishing palate of a restaurant critic. Alongside these consider the industrial-sized liver of a writer and you’ll understand why alcohol is always an appropriate gift for the wordsmith in your life.

  3. DON’T BUY BOOKS. This is just rubbing the writer’s nose in it. A writer will look at the book you purchased for them, look at the mediocrity of their own sales figures for the month, and maybe weep a little. Trust me: don’t buy books.

  4. For writers you don’t know well, reviews are a genuinely beautiful gift. Amazon does funky things with its algorithms and, the more reviews and ratings on a writer’s books, the more often Amazon shoves those books in the face of potential readers. If you have a favourite writer and you’ve never managed to leave a review for them before, make this Christmas a five-star season for them.

  5. Support. This has not been an easy year for any of us. Between the uncertainty of physical health threats from that damned virus, and concerns about economic security because of the problems the virus has caused, we’ve all struggled in some way this year and many of us continue to struggle. This year has been described as unprecedented, tough, challenging and (my favourite) ‘the worst’. If there’s a writer in your life, and you want to give them a truly special gift, one of the kindest things you can do is give them your support and make sure they know you’ve got their back.

If you can think of anything else that might work as a gift for a writer, there’s the comments box below. And, I genuinely hope this holiday season brings you everything you desire for yourself and your loved ones.

Ash