REACH READERS WITH A NEWSLETTER
Eighteen years ago, novelist and poet Erika Dreifus completed an MFA degree and found herself inspired to share literary opportunities and resources with other writers. A newsletter, she decided, would help her to broadcast this information widely while creating a writing community. In 2004, she launched The Practicing Writer, a digital newsletter published on the first day of each month.
“I was also trying to cultivate more teaching and related opportunities in the writing world,” Dreifus explains. “The newsletter allowed me to alert subscribers about my own services and courses.”
Digital newsletters for writers have been around for decades. Some provide subscribers with writing prompts and short essays on craft. Some feature interviews or author profiles or guest posts by people connected in some way to the literary community. Some, like The Practicing Writer, combine information on contests, competitions, calls for submissions, digital resources, and subscriber success stories.
Writing can be a lonely, isolating business. But as many have discovered, sending out a newsletter weekly or monthly can create a sense of community. (Case in point: I sat in a lecture hall two years ago waiting for an AWP conference panel to begin, and Dreifus walked in. Several people in the audience waved and greeted her with visible delight, recognizing her from the photo in her newsletter.)
