Sci-Fi, fantasy and speculative Indie Authors Review discussion

We are thinking of setting up an email list through our blog. Can anyone recommend a decent service? We don't mind paying for the service (if it's reasonable and preferably has a free trial to check it out). We are looking for something simple, reliable, and (most of all) secure, that people can trust their email address to.

The only one I’ve heard of is "mailchimp" (or something like that) and the name puts me off. I used to run mailing lists on my server, but Google tends to block those, so that does not look like an option with so many people using Gmail.

Any insight (and experiences, good or bad), will be greatly appreciated!

Rob wrote: "You may want to look at what your web-hosting provider offers you already. Most web hosting packages today allow to create at least one or two mailing lists and/or announcement lists (are you look..."

Thanks Rob. I am my web-hosting provider. Running a hosting service is part of what I do for a living (though much these days than 10 years ago).

The problem is that the last mailing I ran (years ago -- maybe 2005 or 2006?), which was very rarely used (not even 2 posts a month), ran afoul of Google. This led to a major hassle. So I'm reluctant to do that again.

I assume (maybe wrongly) that a "reputable" service (if there is any such thing) will have arrangement with Google so their emails get through. A major hosting service (like GoDaddy or, I imagine, Dreamhost) is probably also in good with Google.

But a tiny host like me, Google will crush, just for fun. So we are looking for another way.

I would not recommend mailing lists anymore. Bots trawl them for addresses to spam to, they are associated with spam (hence the low, sometimes non-existent usage), and their use as a communication medium is effectively gone. The value of email as a means of communication was destroyed some time ago.

Dean,

We've heard different things. I tend to agree with you, but other authors swear by them as a way to keep readers in the loop. We have RSS, but it does not seem to be popular and handful of readers expressed interest in being emailed with updates instead.

We'd also would like send out freebies (sample chapters and the like) and know who's getting them. At first, we did that manually, but things have gotten beyond that now. So we are looking for a better solution.

I use Mailchimp, and yes they do need a new name, but it's basically free and uncomplicated, and it works. I don't find it very user friendly, but I don't find most things user friendly, so it could just be me.

Ken wrote: "I use Mailchimp, and yes they do need a new name, but it's basically free and uncomplicated, and it works. I don't find it very user friendly..."

Do they run ads (or other annoyances) with their mailings, or have a paid option? No one has reported their email address being distributed? And I imagine you can see the email list? (Sorry for all the questions.)

I've seen no ads on my mailings (I do have an ad blocker, but I don't know if it would work on emails). They do have features that you can pay for, and I get almost no spam. Yes you can see your subscribers, and your mailings will have an archive at the bottom so that the recepients can access your previous blogs (if that's what you're emailing about). There may be better ones out there, or worse ones, but I'm very pleased with it.

Ken wrote: "I've seen no ads on my mailings (I do have an ad blocker, but I don't know if it would work on emails). They do have features that you can pay for, and I get almost no spam. Yes you can see your ..."

Thanks very much for the info! It sounds as though it have been useful to you then. In spite of the name, I'll check it out.

The gold standard for email providers these days seems to be Aweber (https://www.aweber.com), which is $19 a month for up to 500 subscribers and gives you your first month free. I use them and am happy with them. Then again, I have very few subscribers right now, and I'm not focusing on that. But I wanted to get my list set up at the beginning.

Thanks Michael,

I'll add them to my list to check out.

I use mailchimp and found it pretty user friendly. They give you a Quick Start Guide to begin with; I printed it out and read it through. I was able to resolve other questions by googling.

Their templates look great, very pro! I like the functionality of adding and managing separate lists within the same account. For example, I have another list that generated because people validated their reviews of my book on my website. I offered up a freebie novella as a reward for leaving reviews, so when the novella comes out, I'll be able to send it to this separate list.

It took me a little while to create my first email, but it prompts you to save it as a template, so all my other emails have been really easy to create.

I've also been using it to generate emails for my LibraryThing and BookLikes giveaways. It's worked great for me so far!