1st Turning Point

Posted By 1st Turning Point Guest Columnist on December 21, 2009

Lisa Hendrix, Author

by Lisa Hendrix
1st Turning Point Guest Columnist
Copyright © 2009 Lisa Hendrix

Would you send out query letters or answer fan mail on letterhead with no last name?  How about on your spouse’s letterhead, or on the cutesy stationery Aunt Margie sent you?  You know, the stuff with the paper-doll silhouettes of you, the kids, and the dog.

No?  Then why would you do the digital equivalent?

Consider the following example:  A couple of email messages appear on an email loop.

They are perfectly fine messages, content-wise, but one has a From heading that shows no sender name and has a return address something like “(frednwilma@localisp.net)”; it is signed Wilma, followed by the writer’s pen name, Isabella Authorname.

The other says it is From “Barney (brock@bignamecable.com)” and is signed Betty Writer.

Do you see the problems I see?

Professional people communicate in a professional format.  In the analog world, that means letterhead and business cards.  In the online world, it means an email account in your business name.  It’s no different for writers.  Your email address and how it shows up in people’s inboxes is the digital equivalent of your letterhead.

Published authors may argue that agents and editors don’t care what address you use, provided the emails and attachments themselves are professional in tone and content.  That’s correct, in an absolute sense; it’s unlikely anyone is going to reject your book based on your email address.

However, consider this:  Every email you send to an editor or agent is an opportunity for that person to see and potentially remember your name.  Also, keep in mind that these are incredibly busy people and, when faced with a six foot slush pile or its email equivalent, your dream editor could potentially skip over an email from Barney Rock if she’s expecting a submission from that funny Betty Writer she met at conference.

Once you’re contracted, you could find yourself in a situation when the in-house publicist fails to equate “frednwilma” with up-and-coming author Isabella Authorname.  Or you might be emailing fellow writers or readers who may not realize Wilma and Isabella are the same person.  Should your recipient have to figure out who you are, or should you make it as clear as possible-as clear as you would if you were sending them a paper letter?

After you’re published, promotion will be a huge part of your life.  Marketing is all about name recognition, and it takes multiple impressions for a name to stick in someone’s brain enough that they’ll recognize it.  Again, if your email is set up to show your name or pen name properly, every time you post to a loop or list, the members see it.  When you send out your newsletter or answer a reader email, the reader sees your name.  When you contact a bookstore, the owner sees your name.  Those are each a name impression, and later, when those people see your name, it may ring bells and make them pick up your book, putting you that much closer to a sale.

There’s one final issue, and it’s a big one in my mind:  In all the years I’ve been on the internet, I have yet to notice any male author, published or not, sending email that pops up with his wife’s name.  I’m sure there are some, but really, can you imagine getting an email from Stephen King that said it was From “Tabitha (steveandtabby@maineboonies.com)”?  Neither can I.  Yet I see it all the time with women, and it makes me want to scream.  Once upon a time, an internet connection may have come with just one email address, making it necessary for family members to share an account, but that hasn’t been true for years.  You’re an adult, and you should have your own email account(s).

So, what to do?

First, set up an individual account, or several.  I have four: a personal address at our local ISP and three at my website domain-one for me, one for my web admin, and one specifically for the contact form off my website.  The latter two can be assigned to my support team as necessary.

If you can’t figure out how to set up personal and pen name addresses at your ISP (e.g., WilmaStone@localisp.net and IsabellaAuthorname@localisp.net), then get the help desk to talk you through the process.  Another approach is to go to one of the big online mail services like Yahoo or Google and set up an account (e.g., IsabellaAuthorname@gmail.com).  If you have your own website, work with your site host to establish a truly personalized address at your domain name (e.g., Isabella@IsabellaAuthorname.com).

The next thing is to set up your email client so that it shows your full name (real or pen) on outgoing messages.  That way, people on the other end see something like “Betty Writer (bwriter@localisp.com)” in the From column of their inbox and on the message itself.  In Apple Mail, you do this by filling in the Full Name blocks, found under Mail/ Preferences/ Accounts/ AccountInformation (be sure to do this for each separate email address).  Google attaches your name to outgoing messages automatically, based on the name you put in when you sign up.  In Windows-well, I haven’t touched a Windows machine in almost 15 years, so you’ll need to ask someone else about that.

Author Susan Lyons (http://susanlyons.ca) contributes this final bit of advice.  “It’s also a really good idea to get the author name email address early.  That’s the mistake I made.  I do have an author email (connected to her website-ed.).  But in order to switch over to using it everywhere, I have to go to every loop, website, etc. that I belong to and change my email address.  I figure it’ll take a day of time.”

An author email address may not be a flashy promotional tool, but it is a tool, and unlike letterhead and business cards, it’s free.  Why not turn it to your advantage?

Immortal Outlaw by Lisa Hendrix ISBN-13: 978-0425228340 Only her kiss can save this cursed Viking warrior. Like the rest of his crew, Steinarr the Proud is condemned to live out eternity as a were-creature-at night he transforms into a lion. Now only one maiden can set him free to love as a man. Named Amazon Best of 2009 in Romance… A finalist for the 2009 RT Book Award for Best Historical Vampire/Werewolf/Shapeshifter Romance “Imaginative, fascinating, adventurous; a fantastic read. Hendrix knows how to blend myth and magic in a way that enchants readers…The second installment, based on the Robin Hood legend, has passion, adventure, history and characters you’ll treasure. ” ~~Kathe Robin, RT BOOKreview Magazine

Categories: All authors, Email Promotion, Guest Columnist, Marketing, Name Recognition, Query Letters, Social Networking
Tags: 1st turning point, agents, editors, email address, email loops, letterhead, Lisa Hendrix, Marketing, name recognition, pen name, promotion, pseudonym