While some writers may think social media is the only effective way to connect with readers and followers, the marketing experts at Web Design Relief know there’s an often overlooked way to build your fan base and readership: Email an author newsletter. Your list of followers on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and other social media sites doesn’t belong to you and could vanish without a trace. But the subscriber email addresses for your newsletter are yours forever! If you’re ready to create your own newsletter to boost your outreach and build your credibility as an author, here are the 5 best newsletter platforms for writers to help you get started.

Free Newsletter Platforms For Writers

Mailchimp. Initial Price: Free. Mailchimp might be the only newsletter platform you’ve seen advertised on TV. This platform is used by over thirteen million businesses, including Vimeo and TED. Your first 2,000 subscribers and 10,000 sends (emails) per month are free. After that, the standard package pricing starts at $17 per month. Features include premade templates, one-step automation, and a subject line helper.

Mailchimp’s TinyLetter option focuses solely on text, making it a popular choice for writers. TinyLetter is completely free to use, but you’re limited to 5,000 subscribers.

MailerLite. Initial Price: Free. Author David Gaughran switched to MailerLite as a less expensive alternative to Mailchimp. Your first 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 sends per month are free, and their Growing Business plan is $9 per month. The MailerLite blog is updated regularly and offers helpful information for beginners who want to expand their email newsletter knowledge. Drawbacks of MailerLite include offering only a limited number of templates, and its customer support team is not available by phone.

ConvertKit. Initial Price: Free. ConvertKit was created with bloggers and authors in mind. Considered one of the easiest platforms to use, this is a good choice for beginners. Your first 1,000 subscribers are free, with the Creator Plan starting at $9 per month. ConvertKit allows you to create unlimited landing pages, which is a useful feature for authors with multiple book releases. On the downside, they have limited template customization options and not many A/B testing opportunities for your newsletters.

AWeber. Initial Price: Free. When it started, AWeber was a popular DIY choice for established authors—it has since become more user-friendly for beginners. Unlimited emails are free for up to 500 subscribers, with paid plans starting at $16.15 per month for up to 500 subscribers and $26.15 for up to 2,500 subscribers. Be aware that you will be charged to host unsubscribed contacts on your account, and you cannot exclude or include multiple segments at once when you send out a newsletter.

Substack. Initial Price: Free. Unlike typical newsletter platforms that charge fees, Substack allows readers to pay you to receive your newsletter emails. You can decide if each newsletter you send is for all your subscribers or only for paid subscribers. Substack keeps 10 percent of your subscriber fees and around 3 percent of payment processing fees. Substack may not be a good fit for you if you plan to share promotional updates—no one wants to pay for you to hit them with sales pitches. But if you are thinking about serializing your book or other types of writing, Substack might be a good avenue for you to earn subscriber fees as another source of income.

Choose the newsletter platform that works best for you, start writing engaging content, and send out a regularly scheduled email author newsletter to effectively connect with your audience and build your fan base. If you need ideas for topics, subscribe to the Writer’s Relief free weekly newsletter, Submit Write Now!

Question: Which newsletter platform suits your needs as an author?