Happy Friday + happy The Life of a Showgirl release day! ​
In honor of today's drop, here’s a Swift-coded quick tip you can thow together in 10 minutes. It’s powered by something called the Zeigarnik effect (our brains fixate on unfinished tasks). (Pro tip: Hang out with us inside my membership on the 16th of October and learn more about this Swiftie marketing move!) Here's how it works.

So, by now, we've heard me go on enough about how Taylor plants Easter eggs, then withholds the payoff until release. Sometimes years later. We do not have that kind of time friends. Here's what we're going to do for your very next email!

1. Seed a teeny tiny clue (today).
2. Signal the promise (tell your thirsty readers when you’ll reveal it).
3. Satisfy the itch (pay it off in your next email or next few emails).

5-Minute Template (steal this)!

Subject: I tucked a clue in this email 👀
​Body (short + skimmable) (and bulk this up - this is just a template to get you started):

• Clue: One word, one emoji, and one colour in this email point to my next [book/world/bonus].
• When you’ll know: I’ll reveal it [whenever] and the first 50 who reply with the right answer get an exclusive scene + $2 off the preorder. (that's if you want or can offer discounts or prizes)
• Hint #1: The word you’re looking for is hiding in plain sight…twice. (It would be so fun if the word was hiding in the hint instructions. Get wildly creative and HAVE FUN!)

Swift-style Easter Eggs authors can use today.

• Colour code: Use a single accent colour that matches your next cover. I like to do this over a lengthy time frame. Eventually, reveal why.
• Trope cipher: Bold the first letters of 5 lines so they spell E2L (enemies-to-lovers). Pay it off with a teaser + buy link.
• Lyric breadcrumb: Quote one line that doubles as a plot clue; finish the lyric next send alongside your CTA.
• Puzzle image: Crop 10% of your cover and embed today; reveal the full cover + preorder link in the payoff email.

Your mini-sequence (2 emails, zero overthinking)

Email 1 (today): Seed + promise + timer (set the expectation + incentive).
​Email 2 (payoff): Subject = “Answer unlocked: + your bonus” → Reveal the clue, link to buy, name and celebrate correct guessers, and close the loop.

Or you can stretch this out over a lengthy time frame - like a few weeks, months or if you're really patient...years!

Do / Don’t

• Do: Tie the reveal to a concrete action (buy, pre-order, join).
• Do: Time-box the mystery (exact day + hour).
• Don’t: Bury the payoff—open with it when promised.
• Don’t: Over-egg; one clean clue > five messy ones.

Happy Emailing,

Holly

BRAND NEW PROGRAM ALERT!! (And the place where I am going to spend the year working on the Swifty Marketing Strategy!)

Welcome to HDHQ The Membership. My brand new monthly membership program. (Only $15/month until October 16th!)

What's included?

• Every single course I have that's live and not in draft form. Bought my Mailerlite course? You now have access to allll the courses. Bought Email Marketing For Authors? You've got access to allll the courses. (This doesn't include the worksheets and downloadables.)
• Access to my Thinkific Community Page where you can ask questions and I will ACTUALLY get notified and answer. I'll still host the free, private FB Group, but it's so unreliable over there. I only occasionally know when anything is happening and answer questions sometimes a week later because I had no idea anyone had tagged me.
• Once a month inside the community page I'll be live teaching you a specific lesson on email marketing.
• Guest appearances by friends who have areas of expertise and want to share it with you.
• My evolving Market Like Taylor updates. I'm building this out as we speak but we'll work on working ahead for your marketing and dropping tiny hints to create excitement.
• Me. This will be the easiest place to find me and chat. Or peer to peer network. Find collabs. Create weird and wonderful partnerships with like-minded peers.
• Discounts on audits - save 50% on audits for members. Yup, you read that right. (Want an audit? This is easily the most affordable way to get one!)
• Last minute slot discounts on my service list. When someone cancels, I'll offer that time inside the membership space first at a discounted rate.

We're only just getting started and as I build this up, you get in at a deal. Pre-order your spot ahead of the October 16th launch now for only $15/month. The price goes up to $19/month on the 16th of October and $29/month on November 1st.

AND you'll get early access to the course content as my updates hit the classes. We just had one hit yesterday in fact and I have another coming next week!