To all my fellow USA readers: I wish you a safe and happy 4th of July, aka Independence Day. I had a quiet signing on July 1st at Borders Express in Mays Landing, NJ. Gorgeous summer weather in South NJ generally keeps people out of the malls. Can’t say I blame them.
Small family get together today, although we’re expecting thunderstorm, potentially damaging thunderstorms with high winds and hail possible. Guess nature wants to trot out her own fireworks for the occasion.
I have one scheduled signing left (July 22 at Borders Express in Echelon Mall from 2 to 5pm), although I may schedule more signings. Although I’m quickly running out of KINDRED SPIRIT giveaway items!
Best face forward: Remember, if you see copies of KINDRED SPIRIT in a bookstore near you, I’d appreciate it if you’d turn them face out. Believe me, it helps. And, if you read and enjoy KINDRED SPIRIT, please tell your friends and online acquaintances about it. Thank you!
Newsletter: I’ve been sending out nearly weekly newsletters (to the consternation of a very few some subscribers), mainly to send reminders about these summer signings. It’s hard to attract crowds to the malls during the summer in this area, so I wanted to give anyone interested every possible chance of remembering where I would be on a given weekend. With only one signing left, I expect to go to a much less frequent newsletter schedule.
But another, growing, problem I see with the newsletter is the declining successful delivery rate. My paid mailing list service tells me the percentage of newsletters that were received and “opened”, and for the past year, I’ve watched that percentage decline from a high in the 90% range to rarely more than 50%. Percentages in the 40s are much more common lately. That means that less than half of the newsletters I send are received. And remember, these are opt-in subscribers. For every 100 people who said send me the newsletter, only 40 or so actually receive it.
Why? My guess is spam blocking at various levels: ISP, e-mail client, anti-spam software. Subscribers either never see it because their Internet provider is blocking delivery or because their own software deems the software to be spam, aka junk mail, and throws it in a spam or junk mail folder along with all the actual spam. I regularly check my own spam/junk folders and will find newsletters I have subscribed to in there, mixed in with all the real spam. I pull them out. But I think a lot of people either never check spam/junk folders for good mail or they simply delete everything in there without sifting through all the crap.
So how good is a paid service when its effective delivery rate is 40%? I don’t know. Since the delivery rate has dropped from 90% to 40% in a year, I expect that sometime soon, e-mail newsletters will be practically worthless. What are the alternatives? Postal mail can be very expensive. I spent $300 simply to send postcards to over a 1,000 people. Not much content on a postcard. And I’m not even notified when addresses are bad since there is no return address service on a postcard.
Blogs and message boards and yahoogroup mailing lists are some alternatives. Although the yahoo lists can as easily be dumped into the spam folders. Blogs require readers to either subscribe or keep checking back for new content. As a novel writer, my new releases come out every twelves or eighteen months. Hardly makes for regular blog checking. Message boards are bombarded with spam. I know: I shut my down because I was tired of weeding out all the porn, gambling, Rolex-knockoff, sexual-aid spam entries. Same goes for the site guestbook.
If anyone has any ideas about how to maintain regular contact with readers, let me know.
In the meantime, expect fewer newsletters. In early October, I’ll need to decide whether to renew my annual service. Most likely, I’ll switch to a pay as you go system. That system provides more info about links clicked, etc. so will be more useful as an analytical tool. Even so, I see the author newsletter fading away soon.
Newsletter prizes: Before the newsletter possibly rides off into the sunset, I do need to give away some prizes. When we moved into a new house, I got sidetracked with the giveaways. These prizes will go to subscribers, assuming they receive the prize notifications.
Again, happy 4th of July! And thanks for reading!
-Jack
“Kindred Spirit is an excellent offering by John Passarella… a believability that resonates well with the reader…. the ending is cataclysmic but most satisfactory. Well written, fast paced and quite enjoyable, I highly recommend Kindred Spirit.”
On Tuesday, May 16, I was on the Preston & Steve Morning show on 93.3 FM, WMMR (wmmr.com), but my group (Will Horner, the editor and David Seidman, the illustrator of Modern Magic, along with fellow MM author Christe M. Callabro, and photographer Celeste Giuliano) didn’t actually get on the air until about 10:40. The show ran long, but we did get on. You can listen to the P&S podcast by going to the WMMR site, clicking on the P&S link, then on the podcast button. Select the podcast for 5/16.
If you want to buy a copy of Modern Magic (which features “Undead Air” and 25 other tales of modern fantasy and horror), you can grab a copy at
4th Annual Matthew’s Miles
After weathering some personal turmoil, my family (more specifically Andrea) has decided to move forward with the 4th Annual Matthew’s Miles.
I revamped the site (www.matthewsmiles.org) to match Matthew’s chosen colors for this year: green and white.
There are many ways you can help us raise money for pediatric brain tumor research. (This year we are giving the money raised to the Children’s Cancer Foundation once again.)
If you’re near us (Logan Township, NJ), you can register to walk. If you’re far away or can’t walk that day (Saturday, OCTOBER 14, 11AM, registration begins at 10:15AM), you can donate money through the site, become an individual or corporate sponsor, or you can help us spread the word by talking about the event or by displaying our new banner.
Auction: In the past we’ve had local and eBay auctions. This year, we’re not sure about either. We may have a very limited eBay auction. Locally, we’ve relied on the our pro sports franchises to donate items. But that has become more difficult each year, even though we now have a proven track record and have raised over $65,000 in three years. Go figure.
Keep your fingers crossed we have good weather for this year’s walk, and thanks for your support!
-Jack Passarella