Do you have a mailing list of readers who enjoyed your writing? If so, good for you! Whether it’s through a newsletter program or email, reaching our to your fans is a good way to keep a connection with them. The question is, what do you tell them?

In my semi-regular newsletter I include one piece of “news.” Here are some examples:

*Photos of my events such as book signings, book clubs, speeches or panel discussions

*News about upcoming translations of my books

*News about sales milestones

*Promotions for signed copies (this is good to do around the holidays for gift ideas)

*Photos of fans holding up my books at home or at stores (they send them to me sometimes!)

*News about distribution agreements, e.g. in Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club

*Awards my books have won

In each newsletter I also include links to my recent blog posts. I also encourage my fans to tell their friends about my books so I can afford to keep writing them. While I like to keep my newsletters strictly about my professional life, some author friends of mine have chosen a more personal route. One recently sent out a message about her engagement, while another tackled her feelings about the upcoming presidential election. Yet another addressed with humility how hard it was proving to be to get people to buy her book.

There’s no magic formula for any of this, and every author’s pot of potential “material” is different. So play around with it and see what works best for you. And if/when you begin working on a new book, include your fans in the process! I once had my fans vote on two cover options for a book, and it worked out so well that I’m considering asking them to vote on the title of my next one.

-Maria

This post was originally posted by Maria Murnane.