Last night, I launched a new and improved version of what was previously known as my mailing list but will henceforth be referred to as the M.R. Mackenzie Readers’ Club. Back in March 2020, when I originally launched my bi-monthly newsletter, I didn’t know a whole lot about what I was doing. I just knew that I wanted a way to keep my readers up to date about new releases and my writing progress, and to give them a little something to thank them for subscribing.

Fast-forward eighteen months and, while it’s probably true that I still don’t know a whole lot about what I’m doing, I feel I have a slightly better understanding of what works and what doesn’t when it comes to mailing lists, newsletters, readers’ clubs or whatever hifalutin moniker you wish to apply to them. So I’ve completely rewritten the onboarding sequence - that’s the series of emails you receive when you first sign up - to make it more informative, more appealing and, perhaps more importantly, to give you more bang for your buck. (Metaphorically speaking, since money isn’t changing hands.) As of today, new subscribers will not only get the exclusive Anna Scavolini short story The Girl Who Wasn’t - they’ll also get my McIlvanney Prize-nominated debut novel, In the Silence, completely free.

For those of you who are already subscribed, worry not - in the coming days I’ll be in touch with a download link so you too can grab your free copy of Anna’s first mystery, delivered to your e-reader of choice with the click of a button.

And if you’re not subscribed, why not sign up today and start reading straight away?