Reader, I've been a bad, bad email marketing consultant. The last time I emailed my author list was 6 months ago. And that was just a promo commitment I'd made.

For those new here, and likely for those who have been here a while, let me back it up a bit.

I'm a contemporary romance writer. I've written and self-published 11 books, with 2 unpublished sitting on my desktop, staring at me with angry eyes, wondering when I'm going to sort out why Amazon refuses to publish them...but that's a whole other story for another time.

Over the past five years, just like most of us, I've been in and out of burnout, seeking a lot of guidance and therapy on how to get out and how to avoid it.

Divorce came for me. I wrote through it, but I wasn't very good at writing love stories while in my man-hating phase.

But I kept at it. I slowed my publishing schedule and picked up the pace over on this side of my business. And wow did I love it.

I didn't need to use the creative side of my brain for me. I could funnel all of that creativity into building emails for other authors.

And it felt good. My brain rested. And my business grew. And grew. And grew. Until I couldn't ignore the income and opportunity as a single mom and I knew I needed to go all-in on HollyDarlingHQ.

But something had to give. I couldn't write books, grow this business, work my day job that I absolutely LOVE (I teach startup and existing entrepreneurs how to leverage their funding to grow!) and that the bank who holds my mortgage loves, and single parent my kids and care for my aging and very ill parents.

I know you know how this feels.

So I gave up the one ball that could afford to be dropped. Writing.

And again, my brain breathed a sigh of relief.

I had the odd committment I had to fulfill but for the most part, I stopped writing novels.

As for my list that I'd grown and culled and grown and culled and lovingly made the best list out there, I culled. Boy did I cull. I cleared the decks. I told my list I was taking some time off, but that they'd hear from me. And I had them self-select into monthly emails or I asked them to leave.

I went down to 815 subscribers. Holy. Shit. Excuse my cursing but it was nausea inducing.

But I had to do it. Because even though I was hitting the pause button, I had a plan for when I came back. And I couldn't execute that plan when I was ready to do so with a giant dead list. I needed a small dead list. With a segment that wouldn't quit.

And now, it's happening, my friend. I'm coming back. The break was exactly what I needed. And now I'm letting my writer go wild. She has a new identity, a new genre, and is about to embark on a new list.

It's not going to be quick, but it's going to be worth it. And I'm taking you along on the journey with me.

So, here are my goals:

1. Revive the 815 subscribers that I ghosted for 6 months.
2. Introduce them to the new concept and move them to the new pen name.
3. Reduce the number of automations down to one for the current pen name so I can move down to the free plan with Kit.
4. Open up a third Kit acount for my new pen name inside the free plan.
5. Build that list to 500 by March 31, 2025. Modest goal. It might be 5X that, but it won't be less.

So, last week, I began goal #1. Come on back next Tuesday to see exactly how that's going. I need a week or so for it to fully start to percolate. But let me give you a sneak peek.

After one email to my tight segment of true believers...I still have my open rates and click rates above industry average. Segmenting works friends!

Open Rate: 66.7%

Click Rate: 3.0%

I'm going to show you the exact email I sent and it's follow up next week! Then we'll take a break on that project to move fully into holiday marketing to your list mode.

Oh it's here.

In fact, you need to start now getting that segment ready! Maybe grab Learn With Me Lesson: Segmentation to get started! And watch this space for my next 45 Minutes Or Less class. We're Segmenting For The Holidays. I'm just finalizing the date...but think spooky. Think segments. Think Oct 31! I'll announce it for sure next week.

Oh, before I go, are you going to be at Author Nation? I will be for the first time! Make sure if you see me, you say hi! I'm TERRIBLE with names and faces so just keep repeating yours over and over!

I'd love to meet up and talk all things emails and books! And if you want to take one of my two classes, they're both morning workshops, back to back on Wednesday Nov 13! Then I have to run home because this girl has Taylor Swift tickets in Toronto!!

My December content is going to be fire!! I have SO MUCH to tell you about now, that I can't imagine how I'm going to pack all of that in plus Vegas, Taylor, another Taylor podcast appearance, a new website, a true, no-internet vacation in December, my birthday and the holidays? How lucky am I that I get to be this woman? I am truly so lucky.

Okay, so I guess the lesson here is that so-called experts can fall down. But it's how we decide to get back up that counts. And that email bounces back like nobody's business.

Oh and in your life, balls can crash to the ground. It's okay. I mean, what fun would life be if everything was perfect all of the time? So boring. So not fun. So not mindful, demure or cutesy.

Happy Emailing,

Holly

I have ONE audit space remaining for October. Then ONE more in December and that's it until 2025. If you're interested in nabbing one of those two spots, click here to learn more and book in.

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