Data Privacy and Readers

You may have heard that the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) goes into effect in the EU on May 25th. You may wonder if this affects you in any way. I hope, as Seth Godin does, that this will mean that you can be more confident that you know what you’re signing up for when you share your email with a company online, and where that data will wind up. This is one reason I’ve changed the wording slightly on my  “Free Stories” page. I want it to be absolutely clear when visitors sign up for my newsletter that getting free stories is just one of the benefits.

Here’s what I want you to know. (Please keep in mind that I AM NOT AN ATTORNEY AND THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE.)  You have the right to understand that when you share your email with me  you are agreeing to receive newsletters from me. (BTW, when you sign up for a raffle for free books, you’re agreeing that your email will be sent to those authors providing the prizes. Some of my newsletter subscribers have joined my list this way.)

I want you to be thrilled (or at least happy) to receive an email from me, so if you don’t want me to send you information about sales and new books please don’t send me your email. If you’ve already subscribed to my newsletter and you want me to stop sending them, please unsubscribe. I always put the unsubscribe information prominently at the top of every newsletter. Also, I do my best to prevent any unauthorized access to or use of your data and I’ll never share or sell your email address.

I’m in the process of preparing a Privacy Policy that spells this out in more formal terms, and that will be available shortly.

All that being said, if you haven’t signed up for my newsletter yet, please do so. Two of the many benefits are access to two free short stories and early bird news about new releases. Please also consider following me on Amazon and Bookbub.

 

A Free Story For You

I’m giving away a free fantasy story, KOOMB’S TUNIC,  to subscribers to my newsletter. As the folks who already subscribe can tell you, I won’t clog your inbox with chit-chat. What I will do, is tell you when I have something on sale or when I’m getting ready to launch a new book. Subscribers will be offered the opportunity to get sneak peeks and free material, too.

Get KOOMB’S TUNIC  and Sign Up for Frankie’s Newsletter

 

Newsletter Sign-up!

I’ve finally taken the plunge and created a newsletter sign-up, which you can see at the left of this post (while it’s current).

While there are many opinions about how best to promote our work as Indie authors, one thing I’ve seen recommended fairly consistently from multiple sources is that it’s imperative that an Indie author have a mailing list.

Being able to directly contact interested fans benefits both authors and the readers who love their work. Having a newsletter is the first step in building a team of dedicated fans who can help launch new books with early reviews. They get the inside scoop on what’s happening with their favorite characters, and they find out right away when the next book is coming out–without the risk of missing that information because it was filtered by someone else.

I’m looking forward to creating a closer connection to my readers, and I have lots of exciting news to share with them.

I’d love to hear from you about whether you like hearing from your favorite authors, and what kind of information you like to hear from them. Do newsletters help you keep current with their books? If you’re an author, have you found using a newsletter beneficial?