In Kidlit Marketing Made Easy(er)’s last podcast episode we covered what to talk about in your author newsletter. Today, we’re going to look at how to talk about what you talk about in your newsletter… which means we’re covering voice and tone.
You’re probably thinking, “What is she talking about? This isn’t a book. Can’t I just use my own voice?” Yes, you can! In fact, I hope you will! The reason I want to look at voice is because when a lot of authors start writing their newsletter, they find they can’t access their voice. They begin speaking in overly jovial language or swing the other way completely and sound robotic and formal. If you don’t have a problem with this, then just keep the rest of us company today, but if you struggle with finding your voice, grab a pen and paper and let’s fix that!
The difference between voice and tone
As a writer, I’m sure you know all about voice and tone but let’s do a quick summary to make sure we’re all using the same working definition of voice and tone before we jump into today’s episode on how to say what you want to say in your children’s author newsletter.
Basically, writers have a voice, but pieces of writing have a tone. You can write in different tones for different purposes but your unique voice will always shine through. A good analogy is that voice is you and tone is your attitude. So, voice is a constant; tone is adaptable. Voice is what identifies a piece of writing as being written by you and your author brand while tone is what sets the emotional mood for a piece you write. But in the end, both voice and tone deal with the same thing – how you express yourself.
Why are voice and tone important for author newsletters?
You know how important voice and tone are when writing books for children but you may be wondering why they’re important for a newsletter. There are three simple reasons:
- I hope you’re going to have a long and prolific career as a children’s author and, if you do, you’re going to be writing your newsletter for a long time. I want that process to be as easy and as natural for you as chatting to a friend which will make the act of writing your newsletter more fun and more sustainable over time.
- I would also like for your subscribers to really get to know you as a friend so they can connect to you and build a relationship with you—and that is only possible if you’re speaking through the wonderful, authentic and unique voice that is yours.
- Can you imagine pretending to be someone else for years when writing your newsletter, or feeling slightly off because you’re not being authentic every time you sit down to write? I’m willing to bet that’s the #1 reason a lot of people stop writing their newsletter. I don’t know about you, but having to pretend to be something I’m not on a regular basis makes me want to not even try in the first place!
Now, if a writer’s voice is simply a case of you being you, you’d think that using your voice in your newsletter would be effortless, right? But believe it or not, a lot of writers struggle with voice in their newsletter. All of a sudden, they find themselves being weirdly polite, overly professional, a little formal–they dim their light, hide their quirks, and don’t use the particular turns of phrase that make them who they are. But subscribers actually want to get to know you exactly as you are.
What you’re aiming to do with your newsletter is to draw people in with your personality, your you-ness. Sounding casual and sounding like you isn’t a bad thing. Author newsletters should be like a note from a friend; they’re not meant to sound stuffy, bland, academic or corporate. They need to feel like a face-to-face conversation and show your personality. If you’re thinking, “I don’t know how to show my personality!” then you’re overthinking this. Just be you; be casual and relatable and let your personality find its own way out through your words. There’s nothing to it!
How to find your voice for your author newsletter
If your voice is still hiding from you, here are some tips to help you find it:
- Reduce politeness: I don’t want you to become a rude, confrontational version of yourself but I do want you to know that it’s not rude to stand behind your ideas. You also don’t need to apologize for who you are and for what you think. Just chat to your subscribers the way you chat to your friends when you’re out having a pizza together. Doing this presents a confident persona; one your subscribers can get to know, like and trust. It’s impossible to connect with someone when they’re wearing a mask, so don’t wear one. Just be yourself!
- Reduce professionalism: You take yourself and your writing career seriously; that’s a given but that doesn’t mean you have to express yourself in a staid, professional way. Being overly professional sucks personality, authenticity and emotion from your voice. It’s more-or-less the ChatGPT version of yourself! The thing is that most of us aren’t drawn in and engaged by professional-speak. Instead, we tend to feel isolated by it because it’s hard connecting with something that isn’t human, and it excludes us if we don’t understand it. Ask yourself if you’d rather be professional or personable and whether you’d rather read a newsletter that’s professional or personable. I know which one I’d choose!
- Treat your newsletter like one of your writing projects: What do I mean by that? Basically, write your newsletter in the same way you’d write your next story or book. You’re a writer – you can do this! That’s kind of what you do, isn’t it? Be creative and be specific about what you want to say. Here’s an example of what I mean: whenever I want to tell someone they’re great, I say, ‘you’re the knees of a bee’ or ‘you’re the pajamas of a cat’. Twisting those idioms around makes me laugh and I like it. That’s me being me; it’s my voice and I use it when I write for children and in my own newsletter.
What about tone in your author newsletter?
This is where it gets interesting. We all have different facets to our personalities but which facet do you want to present in your author newsletter? Do you want your newsletter to be passionate, upbeat, helpful, enthusiastic? Do you have a light-hearted sense of humour or are you more of a dry and sarcastic person? Choose a tone that you’re comfortable with sustaining over a long period of time and play around with point of view, word choice and punctuation to establish that tone in your newsletter. Have fun with it!
Once you’ve chosen the tone you want to use in your newsletter, all that’s left for you to do now is to sit down and write that first newsletter in your unique voice. Whatever you do, don’t stress about it because the great thing about your newsletter is that it’s 100% yours. You can design it the way you want it to look, you can write in whatever tone you want, you can send it out however many times you’re comfortable with creating it and you can talk about whatever you want to talk about. Having so much say over something you’ve created is great, but do you know what’s even better? You can change what you’ve created whenever you feel like it. If the tone you’ve chosen for your newsletter isn’t working for you anymore, pick one that is and carry on… As long as you’re being authentic, delivering something of value to your readers and being consistent about it, you’ll be ahead of most children’s authors out there!
A challenge for you!
Your challenge today is to take what we’ve covered so far about children’s author newsletters and to make an outline of what you’re going to talk about in your first one. Then write a draft. You can’t practice voice–that’s just you being you–but you can take the content of that first draft and try out different tones. Play with lyrical language, don’t use clichés, be creative, use imagery and choose the right words for the tone you want to set in your newsletter. When you’ve done that, try another voice, and another. Once you find one you enjoy, you’re set to go!
In the Kidlit Marekting Made Easy(er)‘s next episode, we’ll have a look at cadence which is how often you send out your children’s author newsletter. This is a biggie for a lot of authors who can’t always find enough time to actually do what they love, which is to write. So, tune in next time to find out how often it’s best to send out your newsletter and why.
Links
- Kidlit Marketing Made Easy(er)
- What Do I Talk About in My Author Newsletter?
- The Kidlitter Letter
- My Writing for Children and Young Adults
