How Are Your Subject Lines Doing?
Getting Folks to Open Your
E-Mail
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About once a week I get an update from an author with a
subject line that says, “Shameless Self-Promotion from Joe Doe” in the subject
line. It never varies. This subject line may be the most egregious misuse of
subject-line space I’ve come across for these reasons:
- “Shameless self-promotion” implies there is
something to be ashamed of and that doesn’t exactly encourage his audience
to open it. I doubt even his mother opens it.
- It gives no indication of what the receiver
might find within the e-mail, much less how one might benefit from the
information therein.
- There is no variety, no reason to be tempted
to see what’s happening in that author’s life this week than there was the
last time we opened the mail, which was maybe a year ago.
- Though sometimes repetition in marketing is a
good thing, this feels just plain lazy.
Recently I came across a subject line that took me only a
split second to figure out that I wanted to know more. I’ll mention it here,
because it’s an example of a mail that probably got a very high rate of
interest and therefore a lot of clicks to open it. It was “Smart Phones and
Farting the 1812 Overture.” Now, I know you’ll want to read it, too. Find it on
this from journalist and educator Walter Brasch's blog at
That’s not
to say we can spend the time to make every one of our subject lines to deserve
a five-star rating. We have lots to do. But do think “benefits,” “humor,”
and—at least—“variety.”
You can
learn a little more about subject lines by reading up on pitches and titles in
your copy of The Frugal Book Promoter. Many
of the basics are the same. Be sure to also look up “e-mail” in the index for
more ways to make your e-mail dispatches count.
PS: “New Blog Post” doesn’t cut it either.
Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including the award-winning second edition of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor .
