Can We Call Email Newsletters A New Literary Genre?
Molly Fischer thinks so.
In this piece for New York Magazine’s The Cut, she explores the modern email newsletter and its merits as a genre.
It appears that in studying the form, she subscribed to a deluge of newsletters (I’ve experienced this first-hand in my own research), found great satisfaction in what they delivered, then concluded that they lost their allure and failed to provide the escape she’d hoped they might.
The piece (splendidly written), examines the nuances of what a newsletter can be:
“The newsletters of today can be professional editorial operations, like Politico’s Playbook (which casts its readers as fellow Beltway insiders) or The Skimm (which casts them as brunch-drunk sorority sisters). They can also be scrappier, more idiosyncratic missives akin to personal blogs. Newsletters can be like newspaper columns, cut loose from institutional authority. They can be like podcasts that you cannot absorb while running errands, like zines without the photocopy static, like Instagram with the lifestyle recommendations rendered as text instead of subtext. Many newsletters partake in the limitlessly available navel-gazing of online media commentary. Newsletter writers describe the process of writing a newsletter; creators who monetize their personalities through their newsletters report on the ways that other creators are monetizing theirs.”
She then proposes that, while different, what they share is “the direct personal appeal of special delivery.” In other words, they use a 1:1 approach but scale it to become 1:many.
And that at some point subscribing to a person can become tiresome if they are overly self-promotional.
“Understanding one’s self as a cause to be championed risks a certain unappetizing self-regard.”
Plus, she writes, they lack the filter of a collaborative editorial approach.
Molly’s words are poetic, and they summarize the current state of newsletters quite well.
Actually, they summarize almost any self-publishing, transactional venture: a strong relationship with readers is the crux of success. And we tend to only have a few friends we really stay in touch with as often as most newsletters hit our inboxes.
Some will become a part of our routines, others will pile up until we unsubscribe.
A Roundup of Related Articles:
Is There An Art To Saying No To $250K?
Pulitzer prize-winning art critic Jerry Saltz did.
And we’ve somehow hit a theme this issue of what I’m thinking of as “reflecting on the editorial process.”
In this article for Artnet, Sarah Cascone reports on the reasons Saltz didn’t take Substack up on their $250K contract to jump ship from New York Magazine and publish a paid subscription newsletter.
His primary reasons?
The article indicates Saltz prefers to work with an editor and doesn’t want to spend excessive energy asking readers to pay.
Check it out here for a more thorough understanding, then indulge in the Twitter debate about the state and future of media that ensued.
One Media Company’s Journey To 40k Subscribers In 9 Months
In this podcast interview (there’s an accompanying summary article if you want to skim), Jasper Wang explains how Defector Media, a new company formed by former Deadspin writers, is nearing 40k subscribers just 9 months after launching. It comes down to Defector being:
He attributes growth to a customer-centric culture of unity and understanding.
Notable Takeaway: If you want to increase your subscriptions, consider examining your culture, too.
Discovered via The Media Roundup.
A Newsletter Sender’s Guide To Deliverability
It’s not often I find solid newsletter deliverability guides written by actual newsletter senders. Usually they come from the deliverability companies.
This guide from Stacked Marketer provides thorough insights and action steps worth implementing.
Discovered via Growth Marketer.
Psst! Curated users can learn how to set up SPF and DKIM records here.
A New Way To Maintain Email List Hygiene
Apple Mail’s privacy changes are coming. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, take a look at this strategy introduced by Shawn Twing and Andre Chaperon of Tiny Little Businesses. It’s designed to help maintain email list hygiene. They plan to have subscribers who don’t click a link in 8 weeks reconfirm their interest in being on their list.
What I like about it: It allows the reader to express continued interest.
What concerns me: I’m curious about the percentage of people you might clean from your list who missed the reconfirmation request.
If you go this route, you’ll want to consider adapting this approach depending on your send cadence and how link-heavy your newsletter is.
Related: Could recent software and privacy changes mean it’s time for newsletter creators to think outside the inbox? (Discovered via Raisin Bread)
Newsletter Guide Roundup
It seems everyone is publishing a guide to help you start, strategize, and grow your publication. I’ve gathered a few standouts offering different perspectives:
💌 Newsletters are “In” Again
ZeroBounce jumps right in to cover why newsletters are “coming back” and offers practical insight into the benefit of newsletter strategy, why customers prefer newsletters, and how to create bite-sized newsletters, long-form content, and excellent designs.
🛫 Take Your Newsletter to the Next Level
This Newsletter Guide provides information on everything from getting started and choosing the right type of newsletter to monetizing and evaluating success.
🌱 Grow Your Email List
This HubSpot article (that I discovered via Really Good Emails) narrows in on growing your email list with 39 ideas to do so, including segmenting, creating bonus content, and using social media.
Tips For Creating A Successful Newsletter
Want to attend a webinar without actually attending a webinar? Me, too. Recently, Benjamin Quiring and Ashley Hoffman tried to answer the question, “what makes a successful newsletter?”
They included things like:
Take a look and let me know what your favorite tip is.
Related: Want to start a newsletter but don’t know where to begin? These 10 steps will help.
How Rejection Prompted A Successful Newsletter
Nobody likes rejection, but what if rejection is actually the impetus for something better? It was for Eddie Shleyner. After Shleyner didn’t get the job at Facebook, he decided to consistently create and share content via his newsletter, Very Good Copy.
Has a recent rejection spurred you on?
I’ve experienced my fair share.
5 Ways Apple’s Privacy Changes Will Impact Newsletter Creators
No matter how you spin it, Apple’s mail privacy changes will impact newsletter creators, mainly inflating open rates. Brian Sisolek created a list of effects you need to know about, including:
Wait.
None of these really impact Opt In Weekly.
I’ll lose open rate as a metric to measure, but I’m more reliant on the click report and my summary report, which shows me which categories within the newsletter get the most engagement.
Related: Check out this story about how to prepare for the privacy changes from Litmus OR this one about what it will mean for email from Only Influencers.
You Don’t Have To Monetize Your Newsletter
Have you noticed the obsession with people asking how you’re monetizing your newsletter lately?
Newsflash: It’s actually completely ok not to have an income-producing newsletter.
Dan Oshinsky (yes, the same one from the Screen Share video above) took a moment to remind the newsletter writers of LinkedIn about that in this post.
“You’ll find that your newsletter — or any side project — can be hugely successful, even if it doesn’t make a single dollar.”
He suggested that we non-monetizers set goals, such as personal, professional, leadership, and learning goals, to measure the success of our newsletter efforts.
For instance, a freelance writer might launch a newsletter to showcase your talent and attract clients. Or someone with a passion for cooking might start a newsletter that journals their adventures in the kitchen.
Not every newsletter needs a paid subscriber base or sponsorships. It’s still completely ok to do a thing for the fun of doing it, or to build an audience that you might be able to sell something to one day.
Psst! Dan’s new not an issue of Not a Newsletter came out yesterday. There’s a ton of useful info in it for you, as always.
Pssssssst! If you do want to earn cash from paid subscriptions, Curated is now supporting that in addition to the sponsorship tools we’ve offered for years. See Curated News below.
