Page Turner Planning: Branding Focus: Set Up and Send Your Newsletter

Photo by erica steeves on Unsplash

This week’s branding focus in Page Turner Planning is about setting up and sending your newsletter.

Email is where the real relationship with readers lives. Social media introduces you. Ads get attention. But your newsletter is where trust is built, over time, one message at a time.

And like all good relationships, it starts with a simple hello.

Start the Conversation (Don’t Overthink It)

If you don’t yet have a newsletter, this is your moment to claim your space on an email marketing platform like MailerLite or ConvertKit and send your very first email.

• Introduce yourself.

• Say thank you for being here.

• Share a short teaser about the kinds of stories you write and what readers can expect from you going forward.

That’s it. You’re opening a conversation—not delivering a keynote.

Then choose one content bucket for your next email. We’ve talked about Content Buckets before, but here’s a recap.

A content bucket is a simple category you use to decide what kind of content you’re sharing with your readers so you’re not reinventing the wheel every time you sit down to write a post, email, or caption.

Think of content buckets as themes you return to on purpose. Each bucket serves a different goal, but all of them reinforce your brand and remind readers why they’re here.

For authors, common content buckets include things like:

• Frontlist / Books – sneak peeks, tropes, quotes, release reminders

• Backlist – highlighting older titles, bundles, rereads

• Personal / Relatable – life moments, struggles, humor that connects to your themes

• Craft / Process – how you write, what you’re learning, behind-the-scenes

• Value / Insight – advice, encouragement, lessons from experience

So for this email, maybe it’s a front-list sneak peek from your current work-in-progress. Maybe it’s a personal moment—a funny frustration, a strange new habit, or a small slice of life that connects to your themes. Write it. Schedule it. Hit send.

You don’t need a massive list to begin.
You just need to begin.

What This Looks Like for Jem Johnson

For Jem Johnson, my newsletter strategy is tightly connected to direct sales. I’m using Klaviyo because my primary focus is selling directly through my Shopify store, and in my experience, Klaviyo integrates best for that kind of ecosystem.

Right now, I’m testing a “sign up and get the first book free” model. It’s growing the list quickly, which tells me the hook is working. Readers are interested. They want the story.

What I’m not seeing yet is the sales conversion I’d expect after that initial free read.

So I’m in the puzzle phase.

I’m digging into this with my Paid Substack Newsletter Subscribers—looking at flow timing, messaging, friction points, and expectations. This is part of the work. List growth and list conversion are two different skills, and I’m treating this as an experiment, not a failure.

In terms of content, I’m staying mostly in the personalized bucket—telling stories about midlife, menopause, dating after forty, body changes, and identity shifts. That content is getting engagement. Replies. Clicks. Recognition.

Engagement is information.
Conversion is iteration.

I’m undaunted. I’m paying attention. And I’ll keep refining the bridge between connection and purchase until it holds.

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Your Task This Week

This week, your Page Turner Planning assignment is:

1. Set up your newsletter.

2. Send one email.

3. Choose one content bucket.

4. Press “send.”

Be sure and check out my upcoming Kickstarter on writing beginnings, middles, and endings!