# Why Write an Email Newsletter?
Are you looking to start an email newsletter for your readers, business, friends, or strangers? As social media platforms come and go and evolve, one part of our online lives has remained as a universal home base: our email inboxes. This May, writer Hurley Winkler shares the keys to her success on Substack and the reasons why you should consider writing an email newsletter.
Benefits of email newsletters:
- Build an audience. Whether you're writing a newsletter for a business or a creative outlet or something else entirely, you can build an engaged audience by sending regular email newsletters. "Regular" does not necessarily mean "daily" or "weekly." Give your audience a clear vision of what to expect, and if you're consistent, they will keep opening and reading your newsletters.
- Own your subscriber list. On social media, you don't own your followers: in other words, if you wanted to leave a social platform, you wouldn't be able to bring your followers with you. With an email list, you can change platforms as many times as you want, bringing your subscriber list along for the ride.
- Get the benefits of social media without social media. A platform like Substack has algorithmic benefits similar to social media, such as Recommendations, which allows Substack writers to recommend publications they love. Just one recommendation can lead to thousands of newsletter subscribers: it happened to Hurley!
ATTEND THE FREE WORKSHOP
Writer's Lab: Launch and Grow Your Substack Newsletter with Hurley Winkler on Tuesday, May 21, from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Regency Square Library. Learn about newsletter content strategies, the benefits of Substack over other social media platforms, and monetizing your newsletter.
Hurley Winkler writes the popular Substack newsletter Lonely Victories for an engaged audience of writers and readers. She leads the Book Club for Writers and teaches classes for writers. Hurley also hosts and produces the Jax Music Hour on WJCT News 89.9, broadcasting every Saturday night at 8. Her writing has been published in The Millions, Neutral Spaces, and Hobart, and she has an MFA in Creative Writing from Lesley University. She is currently on submission with her first novel.
HURLEY RECOMMENDS
If you want to learn more about creating your own newsletter: Substack has a great blog, which is what I used when I first got started.
Favorite newsletters:
- Subtle Maneuvers by Mason Currey, author of Daily Rituals and Daily Rituals: Women at Work
- Austin Kleon's newsletter, author of Steal Like an Artist and Show Your Work
- Brass Ring Daily by Kara Cutruzzula, author of Do It Yourself and Do It (or Don't)
- Monday Monday by Cody Cook-Parrott, author of Getting to Center
- Mom Blog by Olivia Dunn (parenting newsletter with a lot of humor)
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