Below is the information contained in the ‘welcome email’ all members received.
Welcome to ARRA! / Thanks for renewing your membership!
We want to make sure that all members know how they can make the most of their ARRA membership (and in return make ARRA stronger) – so we’ve put together some details. It’s kind of a long email, but it will bring you right up to speed!
If you don’t have time to read it now, be sure to skim the headlines and then save the email to read through later.
Below are 25 easy steps to check off. If you manage to check off the first 24, that makes you a super-member!
If you have questions or suggestions at any time – just let us know.
STEP 1
Save this email
This sounds obvious, but really – make sure you save it! Use a special ARRA folder, so that when you want to know some of these details in the future, you’ll be able to find it. The same folder where you’ve saved your membership confirmation email so that you can find your member number when you need it 🙂
STEP 2
Join the Members’ Loop
We have an email group service hosted with Groups.io. (Similar to Yahoo Groups, but much better!) You should have all received an invitation to join this new loop, and we encourage you to do so. This is where members can chat, join in group discussions, ask questions and generally get to know each other. We also have a daily jigsaw. If you prefer, you can swap your options to no mail and just read the messages on the loop homepage when you have the time. We will automatically send an invite to all new members – let us know at arra.inc@gmail.com if you didn’t receive it.
Once you have joined, be sure to bookmark the page: https://arramembers.groups.io/g/ARRAMembers/
(We also have a daily jigsaw, which goes to a separate loop. If you’re interested, you can find it here: https://arramembers.groups.io/g/ARRAJigsaws)
STEP 3
Introduce yourself
If you’re an author who is new to ARRA, send an email to the Members’ Loop to introduce yourself. (Readers are welcome to do the same, but we all know readers are shy J)
STEP 4
Join the Members’ Lounge
This is a special area of the ARRA website that only members have access to. You can find copies of all our newsletters here, plus our constitution, our member logo, minutes from meetings, and a few more ideas still under construction. There’s even a special page for author members, setting out specific details of all the benefits we offer to authors. (Did you know author members get one free ad each year?) You can find the Lounge here: http://australianromancereaders.com.au/2017/10/members-only/
If you haven’t signed up for the Lounge yet, just shoot us an email at arra.webmaster@gmail.com and request a log-in.
STEP 5
Read the newsletter
The newsletter is our primary way of communicating with members. If we are making changes, planning events, asking for members’ opinions, or just passing on good news about romance books or events, you will nearly always hear about it in the newsletter first. When we announce visiting authors, we time those announcements to coincide with a newsletter release. When tickets for one of our events go on sale we will time that to coincide with a newsletter release. Safe to say if you miss out on any news we have it is because you haven’t downloaded a newsletter and scanned through it.
The newsletter comes out on the 15th of each month, and you will receive an email with a download code – or you can find it in the Members’ Lounge. (If you’re happy to read it online, try the flipbook version.)
STEP 6
Read our emails
We really don’t send many emails to members, so when you receive an email from ARRA it is generally pretty important. We try to keep them as succinct as possible; please take a few moments to scan them to see if the information is relevant to you. (This is the longest email you’ll ever receive from us, but we think in this one instance it is worth it.) Add arra.inc@gmail.com to your email address book so that our emails don’t end up in your spam.
STEP 7
Add our logo to your website/blog
If you have a website or blog, why not add our “Proud member of…” logo? You can find it via the Members’ Lounge, or email us at arra.inc@gmail.com for one.
STEP 8
Check your website is listed on the ARRA links page
We have a list of links on our website – for both reader and author members – which is updated once a month. If you have a blog or website, check that it is listed on one of our links pages. If it isn’t email us at arra.inc@gmail.com.
STEP 9
Follow us on social media
Follow ARRA on Facebook and Twitter so that you always see our posts.
https://www.facebook.com/ARRAinc/
https://www.facebook.com/ARRinOz/
https://twitter.com/ARRAinc
https://www.instagram.com/ozromancereaders/
STEP 10
Join our Facebook group
We have an open group on Facebook where all romance readers (including authors) can connect. You can find it here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1456723501294615/ This is a promo-free zone, so you won’t be bombarded with book sales and cover reveals – it is an opportunity for promo-free chatting about romance books.
STEP 11
Enter our competitions or giveaways
We run a giveaway for a $10 book voucher in the newsletter every month. All you need to do is scan the newsletter for a special purple heart and then click on it to enter. Look for the “Find the Heart” article in the newsletter for details.
We also have occasional giveaways on the ARRA blog each month – all you need to do is leave a comment and you’ll go in the draw to win a book. (Hint: you can use the tag “Giveaways” in the ‘What Do You Want to Read About’ widget to take you directly to any open giveaways.)
Sometimes we will also hold competitions to win tickets to our events. We’ll include details in the newsletter. If the event is not in your area, you can help promote the competition via social media.
STEP 12
Come along to one of our events
We put a lot of effort into organising and hosting events that we think romance readers will enjoy. (And of course authors are welcome to attend too!) If you have been hesitant about attending, we recommend you jump right in – they really are a lot of fun! Events will be announced in the newsletter, but can also be found on the events page on the ARRA website (http://australianromancereaders.com.au/events/). You can also find wrap-ups from past events on that page. At the moment we can only host events in major cities where we have a lot of members. If we see a significant boost in member numbers in other areas, we can look at holding events there as well. The turnout to our events is absolutely crucial to keep them happening. Nothing will kill an event series faster than poor attendance. (We also offer members a discount to all our events – don’t forget to check for the discount code and use it!)
STEP 13
Help to promote our events
If you can’t make it along to one of our events, you could help out by promoting them to your friends. Whether that is by word of mouth or by boosting the signal on our social media posts, we would really appreciate your help in spreading the world.
STEP 14
Come along to one of our lunches
We hold lunches in Canberra and Sydney each month, with occasional lunches in Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne, Wollongong and Newcastle. If you live in any of these areas we encourage you to come along to a lunch. If you live in an area where lunches are not currently held, and you would be interested in getting them started – let us know how we can help. The lunches are very casual, but also a lot of fun. You can find all the details in the newsletter each month.
STEP 15
Recommend us to a romance-reading friend
We are always happy to welcome new members to ARRA, so why not recommend us to your romance-reading friends? If none of your friends read romance (it happens, we know – that’s why we’re here!), then why not consider a less direct way to promote us? Ask us for some cards and leave them in romance books at the library, or pop one on a community board. It could lead to you finding a local who loves reading romance just as much as you do.
STEP 16
Join in the discussions
We have regular discussions on the Loop and in the Facebook group. If you have something to add on any topic, don’t be shy! These can be really interesting, especially when more people participate. You are also welcome to start a conversation the Members’ Loop (the IO group) at any time.
STEP 17
Post a reading list
Post your reading list on the Members’ Loop on the 1st of each month. Tell everyone about the books you really enjoyed, and browse through other members’ lists to find your next great read. We collate all the best reads and use that list as the basis for nominating for the awards (all books marked with 4 or 5 stars will be included). Want your favourite books to be representing in our annual awards? Create some buzz for them on the Members’ Loop – this is the best way to help them make the nominations list.
STEP 18
Contribute to the favourites blog
This is a way to tell the wider world about books you enjoy. Once a month a small group of members write a “rave” about the book they enjoyed most that month. We then prepare a “favourites” article for the blog. (You can find them all here: https://australianromancereaders.wordpress.com/category/reading/) There is always room for more to join in with a favourite. Watch the Members’ Loop for a call for “raves”, or contact us at arra.webmaster@gmail.com.
STEP 19
Review a book
We get a lot of review requests from authors – far more than our reviewers can handle – so we are always looking for more reviewers. If you would like to give it a try, we even have a guide on how to get started. (You can find it here: https://app.box.com/shared/akx8qfo2za) Free books in exchange for an honest review is a pretty good deal. And the more books ARRA can review, the stronger our review program will be. If you’re interested, contact Heather at arra.reviews@gmail.com.
STEP 20
Contribute to the newsletter
If there is something you would like to see in the newsletter that is currently not covered, consider volunteering to write a column. It can be a one-off or a regular feature. Contact us at arra.editor@gmail.com if you have ideas.
STEP 21
Boost a post
We have new articles going up on the blog all the time: new releases, reviews, guest bloggers, publisher info. You will get a notice about these posts via the Members’ Loop, or you can subscribe to the blog feed. If you enjoy an article, why not leave a comment for the author? Even just a “great post” would be appreciated. You can also boost our posts when you see them on Facebook or Twitter.
STEP 22
Nominate and vote in the awards
This might sound really obvious, but the ARRA awards only happen because our members nominate and vote in them. The more members who take part, the more representative the awards will be. If the books you love don’t make it to the finals of the awards, it could be because you are not nominating them! The more nominations a book receives, the better chance that it will make the final top 10. And if you feel your reading interests aren’t reflected in the awards, then you need to spread the word about the books you love (see steps 17 and 18). You can find out more information about nominating in the newsletter each month. There’s also lots of information about the awards in the Members’ Lounge (see step 4). (And, yes, authors are allowed to nominate and vote – as long as they don’t nominate or vote for themselves.)
STEP 23
Fill in the annual survey
We run a romance readers survey in August and September each year. This allows us to collect statistics about what romance readers like and to track changing trends. We would love it if all our members filled this in – the higher the response rate, the more informative the stats. You will receive an email when the survey opens. Results from past surveys are available on our website: http://australianromancereaders.com.au/about/.
STEP 24
Volunteer
We can always use more help with our activities. Reviewers, proofreaders for the newsletter, writing articles, graphic design, organising reader lunches, media liaison, hosting author chats, staffing events. If you have expertise in an area you think would be useful, please don’t be shy about volunteering. You can find details on some specific roles in the Members’ Lounge here: http://australianromancereaders.com.au/2017/11/jobs/ – but we’d love to hear from any members who have ideas on how they can be involved.
STEP 25 (advanced step for those who want to be really involved)
Nominate for the committee
If you have the time, and you’re interested in helping ARRA be all it can be, why not consider nominating to be part of the committee? It will be mostly reading and commenting on a lot of emails, but you can be more involved if you have a particular interest in anything. Meetings are held online, so your location should not dissuade you from considering it. We usually call for nominations in January each year. Contact us at arra.inc@gmail.com if you want more details.