If you know me, you know I HATE email. I only have a newsletter because my dad couldn’t remember my website address (morgan Hazelwood dot com) and that I blogged on Thursdays.
Anyhow. Since I’m now a romance addict, and I NEED those bonus stories/epilogues, I’m currently signed up for about 40 newsletters a week. A WEEK! My inbox was getting crazy. I had to do SOMETHING. So, here’s how I fixed my inbox.
Inbox Management for Author Newsletters
Step 1:
I selected all the ones that are just updates (since the kindle app will tell me when a new book comes out anyhow).
Step 2:
From the kebob ‘more’ menu, I select ‘Filter messages like these’.
Step 3:
I originally thought I could filter on a word like “Newsletter”, but the various newsletters not very consistent at using the same terms, probably to avoid spam filters. But, if you’re looking for more granularity, there are plenty of options to narrow your filter.
Since I’m just adding them by email address, I just need to hit ‘Create Filter’.
Step 4:
The filter is created, but now I need to decide how to handle the filtered emails. I like to keep Zero Inbox, so everything I don’t delete goes into ‘folders’ (officially, they’re labels, but they work like folders for my email sorting purposes). For these newsletters, I’ve selected to:
- Skip the inbox
- Mark all items as ‘Read’
- Apply the label ‘Newsletters’
Step 5:
Now, I get to bask in a cleaner inbox! Note: these only apply to incoming email, not emails that are already in your inbox, so you still have to clean out the messages you’ve already received.
Why Not Delete or Unsubscribe?
First off, I haven’t filtered every newsletter I get. There are about 3-5 that have bonus material I can’t get elsewhere that I don’t want to miss. That said, there is a logic to my filtering process.
Why do I keep them?
Sometimes I need to hit book recs! Or as references to find those bonus stories. Plus, when they have something new come out, they’re gonna make me re-subscribe to the newsletter to get access. This way, they’re already sorted.
Why mark them as read?
I mark them as read so they don’t take the hit to their subscriber count — they aren’t ‘spam’, I did legitimately sign up for them. Too many non-opens starts to make email providers think a source is spamming people. I don’t want to have the algorithms punish the people I’m trying to support.
A newsletter can be a great way for authors to reach their readers, especially if they’re not on Amazon. Unlike social media, they’re not subject to the algorithms to show or hide their news. But, that doesn’t mean I’ve got the time to read ALL of them, EVERY week. This is a way for me to hang onto my sanity, and lower my inbox stress.
Do you subscribe to author newsletters? Are you keeping up with your inbox?
WRITING TIPS & WRITERLY MUSINGS 