ALERT: Join my reader mailing list + get a free steamy psychological thriller!

Be the first to hear about my new books, discounts, giveaways, and ARC opportunities. This Substack is now dedicated to author tips and publishing tea!

Hey there! I have two newsletters: one for readers, and one for authors. Let’s make sure you’re in the right place.

FOR READERS:

If you want to be the first to read my stories and get discounts, giveaways, and ARC opportunities, join my reader mailing list here:

As a welcome gift, you’ll receive a brand-new steamy psychological thriller short story right away. At the end, you’ll find an exclusive sneak peek at my next book, You’re Overthinking This.

FOR AUTHORS:

Do nothing. I mean, keep reading this article and breathing and stuff. But simply stay subscribed to this Substack. This is where I focus on publishing, book marketing, and writing tips for fellow authors, and I’m documenting my self-publishing journey along the way.

If you want to subscribe to both newsletters for the extra behind-the-scenes scoop, I LOVE it, just know there may be occasional overlap.

The reason for the great newsletter split

Since the start of my publishing career, I’ve wanted a direct line of communication with my readers that doesn’t rely on the whims of social media algorithms. I love sharing book updates, nerding out over easter eggs, and gushing about my messy characters.

At the same time, I can’t shut up about publishing. As a former BookBub employee who managed and wrote most of their educational content, I’m basically wired to share everything I know about book marketing and the industry. Helping fellow authors navigate the chaos of publishing is incredibly fulfilling to me.

The problem is, these are two completely different audiences. And up to now, I’ve only had one newsletter for both crowds.

So I’ve held back a lot. I’ve dialed down publishing talk so I wouldn’t bore readers who just want my book news and ARCs. And I’ve hesitated gushing about my stories and boring authors who just want actionable advice.

This year I’m officially making the leap from traditional publishing to self-publishing. I’m so freaking excited to go hybrid, and it means I’ll have more to share with readers than ever. I’ll be managing my own ARC distribution, running promos and discounts on my own terms, and releasing not one but two short stories. I’ll also be spotlighting other fantastic thrillers and romantic suspense books (*cough* newsletter swaps).

And I want to SQUEE about all of it without boring half the room.

I also need functionality Substack simply doesn’t offer. With Substack, you can’t:

1. set up automation besides a single “welcome” email.¹

2. easily segment readers into groups like ARC teams, beta readers, or giveaway entrants.

3. send private one-off emails that don’t also become public blog posts.

4. send emails in batches (like when I want to test something before sending to my full list).

As a traditionally published author, I felt that was fine. As a self-published author who’s obsessed with marketing and wants to do ALL THE THINGS, I don’t.²

On the other hand, Substack is a fantastic place to connect with fellow authors. It’s a value-driven platform where educational content like mine can thrive, with simple paid tier functionality. And since I’ve started freelancing on Reedsy as a book marketing coach, I want to provide more content here to supplement my 1:1 services and provide value to authors on tighter budgets.

So the choice was simple. My author-focused content stays here. My reader-focused content moves to a dedicated email platform.³

Thank you for joining me

Friends, no matter which of my newsletters you subscribe to, I hope you’ll come with me into this next chapter of my publishing journey. Your support makes my entire career possible, and the fact that you’re here (or there!) means the absolute world to me. This coming year will be hard for many of us, and I hope my stories—and newsletters—can be a bright spot in the darkness.

Though, let’s be real… my new stories are pretty dark.

Fun, steamy, and full of forbidden romance and tension that’ll keep you flipping the pages until 3 a.m…. but dark.

YAAAAAAAAAAS.

1. Well, technically two; Substack lets you customize one “welcome” email for free subscribers and another for paid. Since 95% of my paid subscribers are authors, readers effectively get just one.

2. In future articles here, I’ll go into more detail and share how I split and rebranded my lists.

3. I use HubSpot as my ESP because I’m a former employee with a gifted account, but it’s not geared toward authors or solopreneurs. If I didn’t have that, I’d choose Flodesk (with Mailerlite as a close second choice).