Sending Newsletter Campaigns

BookAuth's built-in newsletter system lets you communicate directly with your readers without needing external email tools. This guide covers everything from composing your first campaign to analyzing open rates.

What You'll Learn

• How to create and compose a newsletter campaign
• Using the rich text editor for professional emails
• Sending vs. scheduling
• Understanding campaign analytics
• Subscriber limits by plan

Creating a Newsletter Campaign

Step 1: Navigate to the Newsletter Composer

1. Go to Marketing > Newsletters > Campaigns from the sidebar
2. Click "+ New Campaign"

Step 2: Set the Subject Line

Your subject line is the single most important factor for open rates:

• Keep it under 50 characters for mobile display
• Use personalization — "[First Name], your next great read is here!"
• Create urgency — "Last chance: 50% off ends tonight"
• Be specific — "New Release: The Shadow King (Book 3)"
• Avoid ALL CAPS and excessive punctuation — triggers spam filters

Step 3: Compose Your Email

The rich text editor supports:

• Bold, italic, and underline formatting
• Links (inline and button-style CTAs)
• Images (upload or drag-and-drop)
• Headers (H1, H2, H3)
• Bulleted and numbered lists
• Dividers and spacers
• Custom font selection from available web fonts

Step 4: Select Recipients

Choose who receives the campaign:

Option	Description
All Subscribers	Send to your entire active subscriber list
By Tag	Send only to subscribers with a specific tag
By Segment	Send to subscribers matching custom criteria

Pro Tip: Segmented campaigns consistently outperform blanket sends. Tag your subscribers by interest (genre, series fans, ARC readers) and send targeted content.

Step 5: Preview and Test

Before sending:

1. Click "Preview Email" to see how the email renders on desktop and mobile
2. Send a test to your own email address to verify formatting and links
3. Review the recipient count to confirm the audience size

Step 6: Send or Schedule

• Send Now — immediately queues the campaign for delivery
• Schedule for... — pick a date and time for automated delivery

Optimal send times by audience research:

• Tuesday-Thursday — highest open rates for most audiences
• 9-11 AM in your subscribers' local time zone — catches morning email checkers
• Avoid weekends and holidays — lowest engagement

Campaign Analytics

After sending, track these metrics in the campaign report:

Metric	What It Measures	Good Benchmark
Delivered	Emails successfully delivered	95%+
Open Rate	Recipients who opened the email	25-40%
Click Rate	Recipients who clicked a link	5-15%
Unsubscribe Rate	Recipients who unsubscribed	Below 0.5%
Bounce Rate	Emails that couldn't be delivered	Below 2%

Newsletter Templates

Save time by creating reusable templates:

1. Navigate to Marketing > Newsletters > Templates
2. Create a template for common email types:
   • New Release Announcement — book cover, synopsis, buy link
   • ARC Call — seeking reviewers for an upcoming release
   • Monthly Update — what you've been working on, upcoming releases
   • Sale/Discount — promotional pricing with coupon code
3. When creating a new campaign, start from a template instead of a blank editor

Subscriber Limits by Plan

Plan	Subscriber Limit	Campaigns per Month
Free	500 subscribers	4 campaigns
Pro	5,000 subscribers	20 campaigns
Business	25,000 subscribers	Unlimited

Best Practices

Content That Converts

• Personal tone — write like you're talking to a friend, not a corporation
• One clear CTA — each email should have one primary action (buy, review, sign up)
• Mobile-first — 60%+ of emails are read on phones; keep layouts single-column
• Consistent frequency — send at least monthly so subscribers don't forget you

Deliverability Tips

• Use your real author name as the sender name
• Avoid spam trigger words ("FREE!!!", "Buy now!!!", "Limited time!!!")
• Clean your list regularly — remove bounced addresses
• Always include an unsubscribe link (BookAuth adds one automatically)

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I import my subscriber list from another service?
A: CSV import for subscriber lists is available. Navigate to Marketing > Subscribers > Import.

Q: What happens if I exceed my subscriber limit?
A: You won't be able to add new subscribers until you upgrade your plan or remove inactive subscribers.

Q: Can I use custom HTML in my newsletters?
A: The rich text editor handles formatting. Direct HTML editing is available on Pro and Business plans.

Q: Are newsletters sent from my custom domain?
A: Newsletters are sent from BookAuth's email infrastructure to ensure deliverability. Your author name appears as the sender name.

Related Articles

• Email Templates & Reusable Layouts
• Automated Email Sequences (Drip Campaigns)
• Managing Your Subscriber List
• Subscriber Tags & Segmentation