Taming the Outbox
A new communication strategy, and a new way for you, the reader, to get some deals
When I started seriously down the path of writing erotica for fun and profit, I knew I’d need to have a presence on a few websites to get the word out about the stories I’m offering. My first step was set up my blog site, CorneliaQuick.blog, partly because I’ve had blogs off and on for about 15 years, so it was a known quantity. Shortly after (like, within hours), I set up my Twitter profile — also an easy step, since I’ve been on Twitter under my secret identity since 2007. Setting up The Eroticist’s Notebook came not long after — I read a few Substacks in my non-erotica life, and it seemed like a good platform for connecting with readers. Goodreads seemed like a good place to be, too, and of course I needed an Amazon author page for people to follow.
And suddenly I was spending as much time, or more, doing admin work on all of these sites, as I was writing smut. A lot of it is duplicated across the three main communication platforms — Twitter, Substack, and the blog — which means that not only am I seeing the same things over and over again when I go to make updates, so, too, are you, dear reader. And that kind of sucks, to be honest.
The solution, of course, is … one more communication channel!
But this one more communication channel is going to actually make the rest of the communication channels a whole lot easier to manage. I’ve added a deals and promotions newsletter, which will go out to subscribers’ inboxes every Sunday, containing links to sales on my titles, erotica promotions that my titles are participating in, links to books by other authors that I think you’ll love, and news about upcoming publications so you can see what’s on the horizon. If you sign up for it now, you’ll get a free story download, and a free download in each newsletter (this may move to a monthly download, as I don’t want to give away the store, but right now I’m feeling generosity and love toward my early subscribers).
This will let me take that kind of marketing material out of Substack and the blog, and eventually will give me better control over my Twitter channel as well. I might even start using Goodreads once the burden of doing multiple marketing updates is past.
I still have some promotional posts scheduled on Substack — announcements of new Medium stories that I think you’ll enjoy — but for the most part, those are going to stop appearing here. This is what I see my communication strategy being going forward:
The Eroticist’s Notebook will be for occasional essays on the craft, business, and culture of writing and reading erotica, as well as reviews of books and stories that have tickled my … um … fancy. My review of Freeuse Wedding and my musings on gangbangs are good examples of this kind of writing. I expect something once a week or so.
CorneliaQuick.blog will be for announcements of publications, including Medium stories and ebooks, as well as links back to The Eroticist’s Notebook. I think of it as the hub of my web presence, where someone can go to see everything that I’ve been up to in one place.
Twitter will still have promotional material and publication announcements, but I’m hoping to use it for a little more reader and writer engagement.
And the newsletter is where I’ll put the links to promotions and sales, news of upcoming publications, and, of course, that sweet free download deal.
This gives you, the reader, some control over the onslaught of communication coming from me. Do you like occasional essays on reading and writing? Sign up for The Eroticist’s Notebook. Do you want to get a heads up every time I have a new story available? Subscribe to the blog, or follow it on Wordpress. Do you enjoy witty repartee in 280 characters or less, plus publication news? Follow me on Twitter. Do you want free stuff and deals? Subscribe to the weekly newsletter.
Of course, nothing’s stopping you from doing all four. In fact, I hope you do! But your experience will be a lot better, because you won’t see the same things over and over again.
Let me know how this goes as I sort out the communication tools; and don’t forget to buy a couple books, too — nothing encourages a writer like a few sales!