Homework #8 - strongbad_email.exe

(Hopefully you StrongBad fans out there saw that headline and smiled)

As far as my email list, I’m actually starting from scratch. Sort of. First of all, I have a monthly newsletter that goes out…to my ministry partnership team. They know I’m writing a novel, but I don’t post many writing updates to that list. I run my ministry newsletter through MailChimp (sorry Thomas) and so had started a separate account/list just for my writing updates. But it’s been over a year since I sent something to that second (very small) list that I decided it’s better to just start over. So, I created a MailerLite account just for author newsletters, using my zackaryrussell.com email account. And I’ve been creating a list of topics I want to start writing about.

As for a reader magnet, here’s where I’d like some feedback, because I’m considering a few options:

1) I have a 1,000 word flash fiction already available on my website called Luminous Matter. I could use that, but it was published in Havok several years ago. And it seems too short for a magnet. Important context: this story led to the novel I wrote called Seraphim’s Keeper (and am currently editing).

2) I plan on turning Luminous Matter into a short story / novella (10-20k words), as an extended prologue to Seraphim’s Keeper. However, this would probably make more sense when Seraphim’s Keeper gets a publishing deal.

3) I wrote a 10k word short story called Rate of Division. It needs to be edited but I’ve already got a cover. I originally started writing this as a novel, but I think it works ok as a standalone. It’s not connected at all to Seraphim’s Keeper, although it could potentially exist in the same story world.

Right now I’m leaning toward Option 3 as the best of the bad options. I’d just really like to get going building my email list. Any thoughts?