Category: Staff Articles

Writing advice and insights from the staff of Indies Unlimited.

Authors with Newsletters Must Get Subscribers to Opt-in Again Per EU Regulations

GDPRpaper-2056025_1920 (002)UPDATE: Please note that while many companies are reconfirming their lists, this may not be necessary. A podcast mentioned in the comments below which can also be found here featured a UK-based attorney who recommends not reconfirming your list. The attorney suggests asking for reconfirmation suggests you do not already have permission, and if you don’t have permission to contact them, you should not be emailing them to begin with. Please note that many newsletter companies are offering templates to revalidate subscribers, so they are expecting at least some subscribers to require additional validation. Use your own best judgment on what to do. We here at Indies Unlimited are not attorneys and do not offer legal advice. If you need legal advice, speak with a lawyer. We have free and low-cost legal services listed on our Legal Resource Page here.

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New regulations passed by the European Union on data privacy are impacting everyone with a newsletter that has EU subscribers. The new regulations require those with EU citizens as subscribers to provide those subscribers with certain rights when it comes to data privacy. The new regulations aren’t hard for newsletter owners to implement, but they do require newsletters to be proactive. So, here we’ll break down everything you need to know about the new privacy regulations and how it affects newsletters.

What is it? Continue reading “Authors with Newsletters Must Get Subscribers to Opt-in Again Per EU Regulations”

Small Indie Publishers: An Overview

small indie press adult-3327336_960_720A couple of months ago I wrote a post about vanity presses: those publishers that are in business specifically to take advantage of authors rather than make money by selling books.  In the comments it was pointed out that I talked about vanity presses, self-publishing, and the Big Howevermany publishers as options, but not small presses. I even made the comment that there were a couple of small (some might say micro) publishers that I’d recommend without any qualms. But … I’m not going to name names. Instead I’m going to throw out a few thoughts on why someone might come to the decision to go with a small or micro publisher instead of self-publishing, and some of the things to consider in making such a decision.

I’ll start with a disclaimer that this is all just opinion. It’s not based on the experience of actually publishing a book using any process, publisher-assisted or not, but from observing the publishing landscape’s evolution over the last several years, reading about author’s experiences (both good and bad), and reading books that resulted from every publishing process out there. Continue reading “Small Indie Publishers: An Overview”

Getting Reviews: Voracious Readers Only

Back on May 1, our own Lynne Cantwell did an interview with Larry Froncek of Voracious Readers Only. Voracious Readers Only is an interesting website with a tantalizing concept. The premise is that voracious readers (you know who you are) can sign up and choose genres they’re interested in. Authors, then, are given the opportunity to showcase their book and give away free copies of their eBook to interested readers. The readers who opt in on a particular book of their choosing are expected to review the book on Amazon, Goodreads, or their own blog, plus they give their consent to be added to the author’s email list.

Sound like a win-win? I thought it did, so I tried it out. Continue reading “Getting Reviews: Voracious Readers Only”

LynneQuisition: Voracious Readers Only

Interviews by Lynne CantwellMarketing gurus these days recommend that indie authors work to build their mailing lists. But how do you find readers willing to give you their email addresses?

In an effort to answer that question, Larry Froncek founded Voracious Readers Only. He’s agreed to take a seat in the comfy chair and answer some questions for us.

Larry, what gave you the idea to start Voracious Readers Only? Are you an indie author yourself?

LF: Several years ago, I read an article about a group of romance authors who each had a sizeable email list and took turns promoting one another’s books. As I recall, these writers became rather successful. Continue reading “LynneQuisition: Voracious Readers Only”