Happy Thursday, Reader!

It’s 2025 and somehow we STILL need this reminder as writers just out here trying to sell some books:

🔥 Removing disengaged subscribers actually makes our list more powerful. 🔥

When you send to everyone on your list, you do more damage than you think. You are creating a lower average metric for both your open rate and your click rate and that's harming the list's ability to get your emails in front of readers who will ACTUALLY CLICK, not just open and then move on, never coming back to click.

And before you come @ me—take a page from Clearout and Klaviyo… except let’s make it exactly for you, the author, because yes, a lot of our readers don't click and then go buy our books elsewhere so we don't have that ability to see the entire funnel, and yes a lot of readers open in preview panes...but if they're not clicking on something, ever, then you're not doing your best work inside your emails.

You aren't just asking them to buy a book all the time for the click to register. You can create polls, social crossovers, questions, pre-orders, shares, exclusive purchases and so much more.

So, here's what I tell my clients to do:

Step one: segment that list! Figure out who is opening, and who is clicking and who is not doing either.

Step two: Do NOT send to those who are not opening or clicking. Doesn't matter why, just don't. Deliverability is a simple math equation. It's the average sending score over a 30 day period, so if you add in a bunch of 0 opens and 0 clicks, your average score is going down. That's it. It's just math. Nothing personal.

Step three: Take that cold segment and serve them their own little email sequence designed to open and click and try your best not to make it a click tied to a purchase. Make it fun. Make it valuable. Make it wild and crazy. And see what happens.

However, I'll prepare you now. Not much is going to happen inside your re-engagement email.

The magic happens in those that are NOT inside that re-engagement segment, when they are served all on their own with custom content and you cut out those who aren't clicking...because remember, they can open and read all they want but if they're not feeling compelled to engage with you via email, they need to go. Just like with social media, you can have thousands of followers but if they're the wrong follower and will never double-tap to love your content or click a link, why are you spending so much time and money selling to them?

Here's an example of what I mean. I have a client in the paranormal/cozy space and when we started working together her average open rate was below 20% and her average click rate was below 1%. My first move, December 1, was to build some segments and separate the cold from the warm and hot subscribers. Here we are, exactly 2 months later and her average open rate over all time is 33% (her January open rate was 58%) and her average click rate over all time is up to 2.8%. Those stats mean:

• more of her emails are landing in inboxes and not in spam
• more sales generated per email
• more data for her upcoming release

Okay, so action item #1 - segment your list and sit on your hands when you're sending that next email! Email marketing is a marathon. This stuff takes time. You aren't going to see immediate results but it WILL happen. Trust the process!

Master the Art of Email Marketing - From Sample Campaigns to Strategy Transform your author newsletter into a powerful marketing tool with Email Marketing For Authors. Get access to: Proven email templates and campaigns Step-by-step marketing strategies New advanced lessons launching in April My personal swipe file of high-converting emails Special offer for subscribers: Save 20% with code NEWS20 Email Marketing For Authors

I know you're going to have some 'feelings' about this process and you may even decide I'm a raving lunatic. But there is actual data behind this and I have years of experiential data that proves to me that when you create a healthy list, that list earns more for you. I have a client right now that just discovered out of a huge list, only 50% are buying over and over. So why pay for those who have been there for over a year and never bought? This was in the direct sales space so there was actual data to support the removal of those not buying. And then we start again with a healthy list. Grow, test, cut, grow, test, cut.

Think a little deeper about your resistance to employing this method. Vanity metrics are a real thing. I get it. It feels good to look at a large list. But unless that list to helping you earn money, it's just a large list, not a revenue driver!

Happy Emailing,

Holly