Hello friends and fellow Unknown Authors!
We’ve got a lot of great info for you in this month’s issue. From introducing you to a new Unknown Author, to a simple way to press publish on starting a newsletter, we’re sharing a few of our favorite writer and author must-know tips.
So, let’s jump into it!
Hello! My Name Is _____
Each month we introduce you to some of the best unknown authors you haven’t yet read. We can’t wait for you to meet them...and, better yet, read them!
This month we are thrilled to introduce you to an Unknown Author, Cindy Arnold. Cindy is a high-school teacher who is inspired by her students, and loves sharing her experiences with others.
She is currently working on a practical, Christian devotional encouraging people to “develop a lens to see how God is involved in everyone’s lives.” She believes sharing life with each other inevitably makes life richer for all of us.
“My closest friend told me once that I haven't really lived something if I haven't explained it to five different people, and that's what drives me to share my experiences with my audience as well.” - Cindy Arnold
As a writer, Cindy says she can’t live without include her Zebra F301 pens, spiral-bound journal and a piping hot cup of tea.
Join us in following Cindy and reading her writing on:
Instagram: @mathteacherpreacher
Facebook: facebook.com/cindymarnold
Or her website: cmarnoldwords.blogspot.com
The Write Stuff
From what we’re reading to tips for life as an unknown author, we’re opening the book on what inspires us.
As a writer and an aspiring author, we know you’re always looking for ways to get your words out in the world. One of the best ways to do that is with a digital newsletter. But starting one can sometimes feel daunting, especially for people who don’t naturally speak HTML.
And if you want to start a newsletter, but you don’t have an email list of people to send it to, what can you do?
Enter Substack. Substack is a free, digital newsletter platform with a built-in email subscriber feature. With Substack, writers create an account, build their newsletter in Substack’s built-in editor, publish and voila, you have a newsletter. Readers can access your publication directly on Substack’s website, through the Substack app, in their inbox (if they’ve subscribed to your newsletter), or on social media if you publish/share your newsletter to your social media accounts. Readers can also subscribe to your newsletter, which helps a writer start to build an email list. Another feature of Substack is the option to charge readers for your newsletter. Substack knows a paid newsletter isn’t for everyone, which is why this feature can be turned on or off. Some writers start a Substack newsletter for free and later convert to a paid newsletter. Others start as a paid newsletter from the beginning, and some only offer a free publication. The choice is yours.
Recently one of our founders, Leslee Stewart, started her own Substack newsletter. After setting up her profile on Substack and publishing her first newsletter, she then emailed family and friends inviting them to subscribe and follow along. Leslee has continued to add new subscribers with every issue she’s published.
Substack won’t offer writers the same level of email marketing sophistication like MailChimp and ConvertKit do, but for writers just getting started in the email newsletter game, Substack is a great option. If you’re looking for a simple way to write and post your words online, and build an email subscriber list along the way, we strongly encourage you to check out Substack.
Rising Above the Rejection Pile
Highlighting stories of writers, authors, agents and others who are creating new ways of getting their words out into the world.
Asking for book reviews is the pits, but it’s not quite as bad as when you’ve spent untold hours ripping words from your soul and flinging them onto the page, finally worked up the courage to publish your magnum opus and thereby vulnerify thineself in front of the whole world — and then hearing nothing but crickets in response.
Hello? Is anyone out there?
You check your KDP dashboard to see you sold three copies. Your mom said she only bought two, so who’s the other guy and why hasn’t he yet written a review???
All kidding aside, we know reviews are an indispensable part of getting our words into the world. Not only do they encourage us Unknown Authors to keep going by letting us know we’re connecting with our readers, but more significantly, in some vague way they help us with the unholy algorithms, as well as letting people besides our mothers know whether or not our books are worth reading.
But knowing reviews are important and actually getting people to write them can feel like two sides of the Grand Canyon. Unknown Author co-founder, Jodi Cowles knows how this feels. She’s been trying to get people to write reviews of her books for the better part of 20 years. That’s why she was so tickled to stumble across author Kristi Ann Hunter’s fresh take on review writing.
Kristi created an Instagram reel that had Jodi applauding her creativity and her witty way of rising above the sometimes tiresome process of asking for reviews over and over again.
We hope you’re inspired by Kristi’s reel and that it provides fodder for a few new ideas of your own. If you do end up creating something new because of this, would you let us know by tagging us? We’d love to share your Reel/Story/Post across our social media accounts to encourage and inspire other club members!
Love this! Such great and useful information. I did not know about Substak. Also, I love the fresh take on reviews. I am a review writer, because I know it can really help a business, but I am terrible at asking for reviews. Thanks for all the info!